Anyone Have Solar Panels?

[BarkingGhostar]

What kind of party was this? Was it one of those suburban sex parties?

 

[Paratus]

Wait, did both of you actually go do work on the ISS at one point? That's awesome.

I spent over a decade doing ISS operations, (electrical power systems) from mission control.

 

[rh71]

are you talking about solarcity?

my friend was thinking about getting them installed.

A friend used SolarCity. He says they're leasing and saving $50/mo. and get a tax rebate from the state at the end of the year.

Personally our electric bill is about $130 and we have very high rates here. But leasing at something like $65 does not make a big enough difference imo.

One other thing - I was told that the panels must be on the south-facing roof here in the northeast. If that's true, that's the front of our house and it's just plain ugly that way.

 

[Paratus]

A friend used SolarCity. He says they're leasing and saving $50/mo. and get a tax rebate from the state at the end of the year.

Personally our electric bill is about $130 and we have very high rates here. But leasing at something like $65 does not make a big enough difference imo.

One other thing - I was told that the panels must be on the south-facing roof here in the northeast. If that's true, that's the front of our house and it's just plain ugly that way.

In the northern hemisphere the sun tracks from the southeast to the southwest. Since power falls off with the cosine of the angle to the sun, if you can't point them south facing, you'll be giving up most of your energy production.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Basically what's happened in the past 2-3 years is all these panels were ordered in bulk and are starting to hit the wholesale/market. (many are current or older technologies)

Panels are useless when sitting on a pallet in a warehouse. The companies are making deals with power companies and knowing that the newer panels to come out in the future will be more efficient...so the assets are actually depreciating much faster than they can handle. So a lot of companies are setting up leases and other deals to simply move them fast.

They're still not economically suited for most people on the grid....but the market is driving the price down, so in another 10 years, it will be a lot cheaper to own some panels.

Remote application of these are great for heating water or supplementing power where it makes sense. I like the concept of using evacuated tubes to heat water, but it really requires a good heat exchanger tank because evacuated tubes can generate too much heat (water upwards of 450 degrees) if there's nothing to transfer the heat to. I read somewhere that either a 30 or 60 tube array melted pex. I'm wanting to eventually get a system like that for radiant heat in my garage, but will likely have to build a custom heat exchanger for it due to space restrictions.

 

[Apple Of Sodom]

Hahaha yeah pretty much this.

I always think it would be cool to go solar, then I remember, we don't get enough sun to make it worthwhile.

Now if we could find a way to convert snow into energy...

I am in Alaska and thought the same thing, but then they showed me the numbers for it. One thing I did not know is that heat reduces efficiency in the panels. So, we might not get as much sun as AZ, but it is cooler so the panels are more efficient. Yes, there are Nov - Feb is low on production, but apparently March and April are the best months, better than even June and July due to heat reducing efficiency.

 

[Imp]

I found "Solar Power Your Home for Dummies" to be pretty informative when I read it about a year ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Power-Yo.../dp/0470596783

Only $10 on Kindle.

 

[Blain]

Nice renewable power rules & regs matrix, state by state

 

[disappoint]

I found "Solar Power Your Home for Dummies" to be pretty informative when I read it about a year ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Power-Yo.../dp/0470596783

Only $10 on Kindle.

I guess. Not such great reviews from some reviewers but oh well.

I prefer Quantum Electrodynamics for dummies. Even if it's just for laughs.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/string-theory-and-quantum-electrodynamics.html

Take this example:

Also (and perhaps more important from a physics standpoint), a quantum field theory (at least those that seem to match our real world) quickly reaches infinity if distances become too small. To see how these infinities can arise, consider both the fact that electromagnetic forces get larger at small distances (infinitely larger at infinitely small distances) and also the distance and momentum relationship from the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.

What? The theory reaches infinity? WTF are you saying dummy?

 

[Red Squirrel]

No, batteries are not needed. Your appliances don't turn on and off. The inverter is in phase with the line coming into your house.

I think an easy analogy is with water. Imagine you're hooked up to the city's water supply. And, you drill a well and put in a water pump in your basement. Let's say that at time A, you're using 10 gallons per minute (LOL) in the shower, but your well pump is only providing 9 gallons per minute. The city water will pump 1 gallon per minute in, which you will be billed for. Let's say at time B, you're using 5 gallons per minute, and your well is pumping 7 gallons per minute. Your extra 2 gallons per minute flow out of your house into the city water system, and your meter "runs backwards." But, the water from the city and water from your well is identical. Your shower can't tell the difference, nor can it tell the difference which source it came from. (There are two different types of metering in this case, some that do, more or less, run backward, and some systems have separate meters for the amount that goes out, and the amount that comes in.)

Also, batteries can add a huge expense to the system. While the photovoltaic panels have lifespans of 25 or more years, the batteries have lifespans far less than that. E.g. a decent marine battery runs around $100. At a guess, you'd need a couple dozen of them, and would replace them roughly every 5 years (wild guesses by me).

I was talking if the power goes out, and you were to run the inverter straight off the panels. (after isolating from grid for safety, this could be automated through a relay) Say your panels are producing 5000 watts and you're using 4500w worth of stuff, and clouds go over now your panels arn't producing enough and stuff would turn off or maybe you'd even blow something. But with batteries, even a really small bank, you'd have a buffer.

Basically: Panels -> charge controller -> batteries -> inverters

 

[boomerang]

Just ran across this and thought of this thread.

http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/13634/Solar-City-Horror-Stories.aspx

 

[IronWing]

We bought a 30W panel and a 28Ah battery/inverter to provide emergency backup power for a medical device. It works.

 

[EdwinLaferrier]

Just came back from some party. Lady approached me and tried to upsell me solar panels for my home. She said that it's a 20 year lease at 65$ a month. If we sell the home, the panels stick with the home and we aren't hooked for the lease. Gave her my email and she's going to send me some more info.


Anyone know anything about solar panel? Any helpful information would be nice.

Questions off the top of my head are..

Who is responsible for the panel if one of them breaks? Twenty years is a long time, something will break in that time frame.


Does the solar panel store energy in a big battery for night use?


Can I realistically save money with solar? Solar needs to generate at least 65$ a month to cover the lease before I can start seeing a return. Is this feasible?

Personally I have heard lot about these panels, mixed views..I do believe these panels are effective if plenty of sunshine is available in your region