We've gone solar! - Now with pics! Now with CAD Drawings!

[marvdmartian]

**SIGH** I contacted the company that did Adul's system, after checking out their website.

Wouldn't have really saved me any money on a lease, according to their figures, and having them install it at my cost would be ~$17K. Still, doesn't hurt to ask them to come out and check it out.

Got a nice e-mail from them, saying that the area where I live has been inundated with so many requests for solar power systems that they're not sure whether they'd be able to get the power company to pay for the rebate (which is what makes it profitable for them). So pretty much, they're going to wait and see what's happening with that, before they invest any more money in this part of Texas.

Really too bad, as I would happily be willing to give them part of the money I'd normally spend on a power bill, instead of giving it to the power company!

 

[Eli]

w00t! You broke 1,000kWh this month!

Impressive. :thumbsup:

So this was your first full month.. How much did it offset your electricity bill?

 

[Rubycon]

Still going!

Financial Rewards
$1,195 worth of electricity
generated since you
installed solar.

You can see the shorter photoperiod as the minimum has passed.

 

[Fritzo]

You missed a few spots on your roof. I hate sloppy work

 

[lothar]

I still don't understand how it was cheaper for you to lease than to buy.

http://solarleasedisadvantages.com/
Based on the info on that site, buying seems like a no-brainer to me. Are there things on that website that are factually incorrect? If so, what is?

 

[CLite]

Interesting stuff, I was just doing some ASCE 7-10 calculations the other day, they seem to have a nice automated program for that. I am curious if they did anything beyond just pull out force because for those panels I'd be more concerned about flow induced vibration during a windstorm creating unbalanced pressure distributions leading to bending forces rather than just a static pressure pull out force.

Btw, you are breaking your confidentiality agreement implicit on those drawings by posting them and they also have a lot of information about you, like your phone and address. So you might want to take them down or photoshop it out.

 

[roguerower]

Pretty cool stuff. My parents were asking about ways they could save on their bills when they finally go to build their house. Besides the usual stuff, like IG windows, higher R-value insulation, skylights, low consumption plumbing fixtures, etc., I suggested they go with a vertically installed geothermal setup. Pays for itself in a couple of years and since they'll supposedly be in North Carolina it'll be great year round. Hook it up in tandem with the HVAC & hot water heater and you can really start saving.

I still think solar is too expensive for widespread use. Better putting money towards other features that will help save money.

 

[skyking]

You probably have the decimal two places to the right there. Even a 0.75% decrease is stretching things a bit! The wires are TINY!

They also make glass that has no wires and heats up too.

Of course the OP probably rarely sees snow.

The drawings look good. They do have a confidentiality notice though - hope you got permission before posting them as links.

On the specification of encapsulation it does mention 3.2mm tempered glass. This should withstand most weather (hail) conditions although I'd rather see 10+mm thickness in areas that can get grapefruit sized hail. If that cover glass is shattered the panel is toast.

The reality is somewhere in between. Shade really nukes a panel's output.
"A shadow falling on a small part of a panel can have a surprisingly large effect on output. Not only will the cells that are shaded be producing less power, but as the cells within a panel are normally all wired in series, the shaded cells affect the current flow of the whole panel.
If the affected panel is wired in series (in a string) with other panels, then the output of all those panels will be affected by the partial shading of one panel. Therefore in a situation where partial shading cannot be avoided, there may be a case for not having the panels wired in series to produce the higher voltages that can be used with some inverters."

http://www.solar-facts.com/panels/panel-efficiency.php

 

[Modelworks]

Your tax dollars at work. Better to go to someone for solar than a politician I guess.

 

[yh125d]

I'm surprised they would supply drawings to you. Drafting services aren't cheap, and they'll only wind up with ~11k out of you in the end, over 15 years. Although I suppose they may have been required for approval/legal reasons, but I'd think for a company that does this all the time a full set of dwgs for each instance would be unnecessary

 

[lothar]

Your tax dollars at work. Go to a solar leasing company for solar, who will then use those saved tax dollars to lobby politicians

Fixed.

 

[Modelworks]

Fixed.

The money went to the solar panel manufacturers who will continue to lobby politicians to keep paying for panels. Nothing about solar is economical.

 

[VtPC83]

What happens when you need to replace the roof tiles? Do you have to remove the whole setup? It looks like it covers most of the roof so I assume it would be a PIA to replace any of those tiles...

 

[Rubycon]

What happens when you need to replace the roof tiles? Do you have to remove the whole setup? It looks like it covers most of the roof so I assume it would be a PIA to replace any of those tiles...

Those tiles should last many times longer than the panels. Surely they would be inspected for physical damage before installation so a roofer could remedy this beforehand.

 

[roguerower]

I'm surprised they would supply drawings to you. Drafting services aren't cheap, and they'll only wind up with ~11k out of you in the end, over 15 years. Although I suppose they may have been required for approval/legal reasons, but I'd think for a company that does this all the time a full set of dwgs for each instance would be unnecessary

Nah, they'll have a guy in house doing all the CAD work and an electrical engineer who reviews and stamps the drawings. I don't know exactly, but they probably have a base schematic on file and everything is adjusted based on the panels being used. most of the basic stuff in those plans (i.e. the architectural and mounting details) are designed once and stored. Just yank em and throw them in and change the headers.

 

[911paramedic]

Nah, they'll have a guy in house doing all the CAD work and an electrical engineer who reviews and stamps the drawings. I don't know exactly, but they probably have a base schematic on file and everything is adjusted based on the panels being used. most of the basic stuff in those plans (i.e. the architectural and mounting details) are designed once and stored. Just yank em and throw them in and change the headers.

My friend does automatic sprinklers (fire) and his engineer pumps out schematics all day long. Structural drawings are an entirely different story, those will cost you quite a bit.

 

[roguerower]

My friend does automatic sprinklers (fire) and his engineer pumps out schematics all day long. Structural drawings are an entirely different story, those will cost you quite a bit.

Yep. Working out those calcs to prove everything is a bitch. Everything that's singular is gonna cost some serious dough. But when it's just repetition (which this is) the costs won't be that high.

 

[Eli]

I don't have my own solar array, so I have to live vicariously through you. I probably look at your solar output profile more than you do... lol.

I've had your page open nearly non-stop since you posted this thread. It occupies one of my coveted first ten tabs.