Solar anyone?

[dresslered]

Patriot,

I didn't mean to sound negative in my previous post and it really boils down to your needs. If you have great exposure, and only interested in supplementing your ac (or daytime usage) it might make a lot of sense. If you are interested in storing power for night time usage or cloudy days, then it really gets tough to make the numbers work. Some houses don't have a choice of being on the grid, so wind power, solar power, diesel generator power all looks attractive.



Insualtion is probably your best starting point. 60% of heat loss/absorption usually occurs through the roof. I rebuilt a small cabin on my property and insulated the crud out of it. I even have a double layer roof with rigid foam and an air gap. That place almost stays constant temperature all day long. It has a small ac unit and heating unit just to get the temperature to where you want it. I never noticed a change in my home PG&E bill from when I turned the cabin power back on.



At home, I run as much natural gas as possible. At my other home, heating (forced air and water heater) is all run on diesel. Which until recently, was very cost effective (still better than propane).

 

[fest3er]

Go to a boneyard and pick up an old Cummins from a Dodge, and find a 20KW generator to attach to it. A 160HP Cummins, at even 50% efficiency, should be good for 60KW. Running at 1/4 load should yield 15KW, which should be enough for just about any house. If a 6BT is too large, find a 4BT.

If trying to reduce expenses, remember one thing: you don't have to make a profit and you don't have a payroll to meet and associated taxes to pay; utilities do.

Something to ponder.

 

[rscurtis]

You will never be able to generate electricity cheaper than a utility unless you get the fuel for free. Economies begin to come into play if you can use the heat rejected by the engine. There was (is? I haven't looked lately) an outfit by the name of Marathon who had a total power unit that ran on NG and produced 5KW of electricity and captured the waste heat of the special Briggs&Stratton liquid cooled engine. Its life expectancy was 40,000 hours with a once per year service. I'll have to do some research and see if they're still around. It may be the ticket in parts of the country where NG is very cheap.

 

[The patriot]

Another thing to ponder.

The meter used on the side of your house is a 1 way meter. You cant sell electric back to the utility with the meter that's there.



Where I live were on 100x100' lots. I really cant run a generator here anyway. Not full time.

 

[Superdawg]

updated 7-10-11



For those that have expressed an interest in solar panels for producing electricity:



We have a one story house, in HB, no pool, no ac, two refrig/freezers, electric oven, gas dryer and we wash laundry non-stop. From our latest electric bill, we use an average about 19-20 kwh per day over the last year.

Our electric bills average about $100 per month.



We purchased a 3kw system that includes 14 230w solar panels and 14 microinverters made by Enphase.

Our goal was to zero out our electricity bill. This is an example of how this size of a system is working for the amount of electricity we use. Yours will likely be different.



Each inverter mounts to the racking under the solar panel on the roof. Essentially the cost is close to using one large inverter on the side of the house but there are several advantages to using microinverters (according to manufacturer)

no single point of failure (if the microinverter fails, you only lose that one panel, all the rest work)

more efficient conversion of DC to AC

each panel works as a separate system, maximizing it's output (said to be approx 15% more efficient)

Enphase also offers the ability to monitor your system on your computer, (current, daily, weekly, monthly, lifetime production)



On a system using one large inverter, one shaded panel can lower the output of all the panels on that string.

If, (when) the inverter goes dead, the whole system is dead until the inverter is replaced.



Real world results so far:



The system was installed on June 26, 2010.

After having it working for one year, I likely would have had to purchase $1,200 worth of electricity from Edison. With the solar, I only used $265 worth of electricity from Edison.

In December, the system made 50% of the power I use.

Starting in April to present, it is making 100% of my power now. (about 19kw per day +/-





System cost: I got bids from Morh Power, Akeena, some other big name company and Living Green in San Clemente. Only Living Green had a reasonable price. All will deal up to a certain extent. The competition's bids were about 25% higher.



Living Green won the contract.



Initial out of pocket cost, about 15k. The CSI rebate (as of June 2010/sliding scale and getting less) and next years tax rebate cut that cost by about half. I expect payback in approx. 6-7 years.



Contractor:

Living Green in San Clemente

Donn Reese 949. 748. 0701

livinggreenincsc.com

tell Donn you got his number from Tom Bees



Energy Production and Peak Power for

June 2011



Week Peak Power Energy Produced

06/01/2011 - 06/07/2011 2. 78 kW 147 kWh

06/08/2011 - 06/14/2011 2. 72 kW 98. 1 kWh

06/15/2011 - 06/21/2011 2. 75 kW 103 kWh

06/22/2011 - 06/28/2011 2. 77 kW 120 kWh

06/29/2011 - 06/30/2011 2. 55 kW 38. 8 kWh



June 2011's Total: 507 kWh

Previous Month's Total: 557 kWh

Year to Date: 2. 62 MWh







Reference the meter, the power company will install a two way meter, it basically runs backwards when you produce more power than you use.



I don't think it is for everybody but it looks like it will for me.

 

[The patriot]

Thanks. Some great info here.

I only wish my bill was $100. It it was I wouldn't be too worried.



I have since opened up an online account with my electric supplier. This way I can monitor usage and find out how much I pay in Kw/hr. My wife pays the bill then throws it out.

 

[The patriot]

BTW I should ad, there arent any more rebates.

At least not right now.

 

[Superdawg]

I agree, $100 is less than some people's bills but when you multiply it by 12, your are talking real money. Every bit helps.