Solar

[John M]

My barn is 100% solar, but it only has lights and a couple of outlets on each wall. (They seldom get used anymore.) I could/can run my small compressor but thats the biggest thing I have run on it. Its a small system.

 

[rustyfarmall]

I have a solar powered electric fencer. It does what I need it to do.

 

[Hemmjo]

My personal belief is that solar and wind have their place. For it to be cost effective for any individual situation, you MUST gain as much understanding as possible in regard to the real installation, operational and maintenance costs. Just like you should do when you purchase a new piece of equipment.

I see them on many roofs around here. Here in Ohio they should facing directly South and angled 26 degrees in winter, 50 spring and fall, 74 summer. (vertical is 0 degrees) I know for a fact that none of the roofs these panels are mounted on meet those specifications. YES they will still make some power, but the further you are from those numbers, the further your panels are from producing their advertised output.

I have thought about setting-up a small system, just large enough to run some essential systems in the event of a power outage. Our rural utility was not very reliable. The longest outage was 2 days, but a few hours was a 5-6 times a year event. I was just about ready to install a small system when the utility began a major upgrade. At that point I could not justify the cost. A small generator I picked up cheap, because it would not run, has been working for me for over 15 years now.

If I was going to install one the panels would not be on the house. They would be free standing. Storage would not be in or mounted on the side of the house. It would be outside close to the panels.

Here is a link to a good place to get information on solar systems. This link sells a book, but you can get a lot of information from the link. There are online calculators you can use to see how your site should be set up, worksheets to help determine how much power you need to generate for your needs, how much storage capacity you need to have to get though the night and a few sunless days, etc

One final note, my fireman friends are not at all fond of solar systems mounted on roofs and storage banks on or in houses.

Solar can be a good thing, or a very costly toy. Do your homework. KNOW what you are talking about before you get a slick salesman to oversell you a system that does not work for you.
Solar Electricity

 

[showcrop]

We have a system here on my barn roof that provides nearly all of our electricity with a pay back time of nine years. We are tied into the grid so the utility buys what we aren't using and supplies us when the sun isn't shining. Our array faces nearly due south and gets very little shade. I see many arrays on the north side of buildings. The payback time for them has to be pretty long. Many people have them financed through the solar company which can result in a hic-cup during a sale of the property.

 

[Hemmjo]

Do you have storage or do you just used it as generated using the utility when you system does not meet your demand?

 

[DRussell]

yes, my house is all electric.

 

[DRussell]

I have no storage, it is tied to the grid. It feeds my house first, and all excess goes to the grid. The only downside is if the grid goes down, the solar panels also shut off.

Meanwhile, the electric company buys the excess electric at retail rate, not wholesale rate. My electric meter literally runs backward when the excess is going back to the grid.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Vito.
No solar here.

I would like to see the numbers, the math, when someone says it will pay for itself in X years.
Does the payback include paying interest on the loan you take out?

I invest in many things that make me money.

My latest investment is FDIC CDs paying 5.5%.
You can get paid interest on a 6 month, yearly or even a monthly income.

If I put $40k in a 5.5% CD it will pay close to my total annual electric bill, $2100, and my house, garage and pole barn is totally electric.

And at the end of the day, I will still have $40k cash. I can move to another state and not worry about taking my solar panels with me.

How much does it cost to insure your solar panels?

Do solar panels add to your property taxes?

How often do you need to clean solar panels?

What do you do with your excess electricity?

Neighbor lost two inverts. That can't be cheap.

I know Indiana and Illinois have different rules when it comes to the power company buying back your excess electricity.

Solar may be a money maker, not sure.

As for me, there are too many unknowns, too much uncertainty.

 

[Vito]

George,

System is just under 40k. The state of CT passed a law where the towns can't increase your property tax for having the system. Not sure on cleaning. Excess electricity goes back to the grid and you get credits for future use. CT does net metering. The Fed is giving a 30% federal tax credit and the state incentive is approximately 7k over 20 year paid quarterly by the utility company.

Our electric bill is projected to be around 4k next year. The utility is raising the rate by .10 kWh 1/1/24. The rate will only go up from here.

The numbers do work.

Vito

 

[Vito]

Depends on how much they keep they keep raising the rates. One thing I do know is they are not going to lower them.

Vito

 

[mdm1]

We have solar at our cabin. It's a small system with a battery pack for storage. We run everything we need lights, on demand water pump, fans, 110v welder and even a window air conditioner. It won't run the air all night but will run it all day. I have a generator that I can plug into the system to run everything and charge my battery pack. My inverter is a charger-inverter. It would be cost prohibitive for me to run power to the cabin even though it would be available. And I don't have a monthly electric bill just for being connected whether I use any juice or not. I would not hesitate to do it again. But as been mentioned there is a learning curve. Would I do my house? No. I like to have the convenience of using whatever I want. So under certain situations it is a good thing.

 

[DRussell]

Cleaning the panels isn't necessary. You will get a slight reduction in production if they are dusty, but the next rain will wash them, and production will be back where it was.

I have two pieces of advice. First, get a top-of-pole mount, not a roof installation. They are a bit more expensive, but worth it in the long run with the extra production. Heat is a big killer of production. It's harder to get rid of the heat with a roof mount system. Top-of-pole mounts can also be aimed directly at solar south...again, increased production. That is highly unlikely with roof mount. Also, snow load kills production. The low angle of most roof mounts won't allow the snow to slide off readily. With top-of-pole mount you can change the angle so the snow will readily slide off.

Second, get an inverter that is tiered. A tiered inverter has pretty significantly increased efficiency. Increased efficiency equals more production.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Vito,
Here is my annual electric usage.
I pay a fixed $173/mo, $2100 a year.

I got my new estimate for the next 12 months.

I think it will be about $10 less a month.
I'll have to wait and see.

When you invest in anything you should get a return on your money. Don't say it will pay for itself in 12 years.

If you make 5.75% compounded interest in 12 years your money will be doubled, not just paid for.

I think if solar is a true money maker, why doesn't some sell solar panels and after 12 years the solar panels are paid for and yours?

Doesn't the output of a solar panel decrease with time?

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 10:07:36 11/07/23) Cleaning the panels isn't necessary. You will get a slight reduction in production if they are dusty, but the next rain will wash them, and production will be back where it was.

I have two pieces of advice. First, get a top-of-pole mount, not a roof installation. They are a bit more expensive, but worth it in the long run with the extra production. Heat is a big killer of production. It's harder to get rid of the heat with a roof mount system. Top-of-pole mounts can also be aimed directly at solar south...again, increased production. That is highly unlikely with roof mount. Also, snow load kills production. The low angle of most roof mounts won't allow the snow to slide off readily. With top-of-pole mount you can change the angle so the snow will readily slide off.

Second, get an inverter that is tiered. A tiered inverter has pretty significantly increased efficiency. Increased efficiency equals more production.

ow many poles and sq ft to run my summer A/C load of 70kW?

 

[Vito]

There is some degradation. I believe at the 20 year mark they have lost 8 percent if I read it right. The panels that are specified have a 25 year bumper to bumper warranty. You are lucky you have a good rate on electric. Only chance of making or saving money depends on how much higher the KWH price goes

Vito

 

[Vito]

We looked at ground based units originally. Capture rate was 95 percent as opposed to 78 percent on the roof. The salesman said the roof mounted system was the better option. Low pressure salesman here. The cost difference was around 15K more for a ground based system. We explored getting a battery system but decided against it. Would have been an additional 32K.

I appreciate your input

Vito

 

[tractornate]

I have 26 panels, ground mounted - about 6 KW. I did most of the installation myself - just had the professionals do the actual electrical connections. Was no harder than installing a drain line. System has long paid for itself with interest. Havent paid a power bill in about 12 years. Never done a bit of maintenance or had any maintenance costs either.

 

[DRussell]

My 10K system is 48 panels and on 4 poles. My panels are
210 watts each.

What are you cooling that takes 70 kW of power?

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 12:31:11 11/07/23) I have 26 panels, ground mounted - about 6 KW. I did most of the installation myself - just had the professionals do the actual electrical connections. Was no harder than installing a drain line. System has long paid for itself with interest. Havent paid a power bill in about 12 years. Never done a bit of maintenance or had any maintenance costs either.

ounds like I need about 300 panels.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Vito or anyone.
I've researched green energy companies, wind or solar, on the NYSE. I've yet to see any stock that pays a dividend that exceeds the cost of inflation.

If green energy is such a money maker, please list the company that's on the NYSE.
I would like to research their dividend history.