The question comes down to: Reduce Bill to Electric company? or Electrical Independence?
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Both. LOL
Reduced bill right now..... Eventual electrical independence later. This will happen when we can get a min of 10kw on the roof AND at least 20kw hours of battery backup capacity. (With a good Honda gas generator as a backup to the backup.)
I actually asked about batteries, which they do supply, but it adds a huge amount of $$$ to the system. The sales guy who came over for our initial estimate told us to wait a few years for the costs to drop before even thinking about it. Right now, with our typical grid-tie system if the power goes out from our utility it will go out in our own home as well. This is actually a safety precaution to keep solar panels from backfeeding into the grid while electric company employees are working on the lines.
I didn't know that, about the safety issue. Is there a version that doesn't have that drawback? Another way of preventing backfeed? One of the selling points, for me, would be having power in case of an outage. We get quite of few of those, here. Well, not so much lately -- they happen most often in thunderstorms, and those are a thing of the past!
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
I didn't know that, about the safety issue. Is there a version that doesn't have that drawback? Another way of preventing backfeed? One of the selling points, for me, would be having power in case of an outage. We get quite of few of those, here. Well, not so much lately -- they happen most often in thunderstorms, and those are a thing of the past!
Yes, it is called the battery backup. lol You really do need some even to regulate the power. If you ran your solar panels directly into your electronics they would soon be fried (the electronics) because of how variable the panels output is with them changing every time a puffy cloud passes over or even a birds shadow falling on them.
Yes, it is called the battery backup. lol You really do need some even to regulate the power. If you ran your solar panels directly into your electronics they would soon be fried (the electronics) because of how variable the panels output is with them changing every time a puffy cloud passes over or even a birds shadow falling on them.
The ones you're looking at don't have batteries, so, do they only feed back into the grid (when there's sun), and never actually power your house directly? When it's sunny and the house is using power, will the meter sometimes spin forward, but slower, and sometimes backward? There must be some kind of regulating going on there.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
Question: I see you live in AZ. It seems most everyone there has a pool. Do you have a pool? And if so, will the solar system also have a heating system for your pool. Funny as it sounds, I have heard that alot of people do have solar systems to use their pool when the water temperature drops below 80. ???
__________________ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Question: I see you live in AZ. It seems most everyone there has a pool. Do you have a pool? And if so, will the solar system also have a heating system for your pool. Funny as it sounds, I have heard that alot of people do have solar systems to use their pool when the water temperature drops below 80. ???
We do not have a pool. Funny thing about swimming pools here, the season you can actually use them is not much longer than in Northern states. The reason is the humidity, or lack thereof. We went swimming when it was 106 outside and the parts of our bodies above the water was absolutely frigid due to the 4% humidity. So people do use heaters on them quite a bit.
We're not actually using the solar panels for heat. We looked into getting a system for our hot water but it was WAY too expensive for the 15 bucks a month we pay in natural gas to heat it. A couple of thousand dollars AFTER all rebates and tax credits.
The ones you're looking at don't have batteries, so, do they only feed back into the grid (when there's sun), and never actually power your house directly? When it's sunny and the house is using power, will the meter sometimes spin forward, but slower, and sometimes backward? There must be some kind of regulating going on there.
Not exactly. The power produced from the panels goes into the inverter to exactly match the power (AC) from the grid. Your house gets first crack at that power and any dips in the draw than come from the grid. At least that is the case in our system. Any power produced above and beyond what the house used then backfeeds into the neighborhood. Many do exactly what you mentioned and ONLY feed into the grid -in fact that may be the norm. I had questions about this as well.
Just got off the phone with our rep and the project is a go! We're installing a 4.95kw system on our roof. It's expected payoff is in 5 years -after that it is free energy.
Randy, I've been looking a little at solar. I live in puerto rico so I'm not sure how the panels would sustain hurricane winds. What are the parts of a complete system? Panels, generator, what else? do you have a website with complete info? I was looking at home depot, but they showed products seperately not a complete system.
The panels, all the mounting equipment for the panels, controllers and inverters and a few safety switches, and a whole lot of cable.
ON our system, knowing the efficiency of the panels and the exact angle they will be placed AND the estimated amount of sunlight we get here in a year, there is an expected 102 dollar reduction of our electric bill every month.
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