Adding Solar Panels Thoughts?
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Spencerthebuilder
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Waste? Couple of well placed shape charges. I foresee a new artificial reef. Otherwise known as dumping them.. Looks like they are out by the Tuna grounds near Hudson Canyon. Probably not too far from the wreck of the Andrea Doria. Well offshore, but not far from the shipping lanes.... It's above my pay grade to know the implications. but don't let silly questions get in the way of idealism.
Still a painless and smooth process. It's only been three weeks since we signed the contract. Inspections, design, Arizona Power approval and today installation was completed. Now it's just wait for Arizona power to give ABP (solar co.) a sign off and final approval to throw the lever and fire it up. We were told that would be about 2 weeks from now so basically as soon as we get back from vacation. Just looking forward to getting it running, not that anything noticeable will change other than saving a few dollars a month.
jswordy
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Wow, that looks good. Smaller array than I would have figured, which is good too. And SPEEDY! I am impressed! Do you have battery backup? If so, where did they locate it? Thanks for the pic.
jswordy
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Oh heck, if the planet turns into Mars I don't think we'll need to worry about the waste.
That's literally what it's going to come down to.https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ge...e-blade-recycling-program-with-veolia/591869/
https://blog.ucsusa.org/james-gignac/wind-turbine-blades-recycling
https://www.evwind.es/2020/05/26/strategies-for-the-recycling-of-wind-turbine-blades/74876
We decided against the battery, for now at least. Our power supply here has been very reliable. The system has 22 - 8.03kW panels that are supposed to produce 13,942kWh (our total usage last year was 10,163).
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Spencerthebuilder
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Good decision. Let the grid be your battery. Let the numbers guide the decisions. An 8 kw system is a nice size
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We're kind of splitting the difference between the cash price and their full loan amount.
Cash was 24,552 less fed tax credit of 6, 382 for a total of $18,168
vs 25 year loan of 33,399 less 8,682 for $24,717 BUT at 1.99% or 106/mo you'd end up around $31,800
We're planning on making the minimum 106 payment for 4 years.
We're scheduled to pay off the house in 48 mo. then apply that payment amount to the solar paying it off in a little under 5 years total.
Total estimate cost total of $25,000.
That's roughly equal to 14 years of our current electric service costs BUT that's not accounting for utility increases which have approximately doubled over the last 13 to 15 years.
Whether reasonable or not I'm justifying it as paying for all my future electric needs now while we have the extra money. Another step towards being as debt free as possible as we age.
Cash was 24,552 less fed tax credit of 6, 382 for a total of $18,168
vs 25 year loan of 33,399 less 8,682 for $24,717 BUT at 1.99% or 106/mo you'd end up around $31,800
We're planning on making the minimum 106 payment for 4 years.
We're scheduled to pay off the house in 48 mo. then apply that payment amount to the solar paying it off in a little under 5 years total.
Total estimate cost total of $25,000.
That's roughly equal to 14 years of our current electric service costs BUT that's not accounting for utility increases which have approximately doubled over the last 13 to 15 years.
Whether reasonable or not I'm justifying it as paying for all my future electric needs now while we have the extra money. Another step towards being as debt free as possible as we age.
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If you want to do solar, don't let cost effectiveness be the sole driver. There are other intangibles. We don't do it with such vigor for planting grapes, golf, a new vehicle, rv or other hobbies. Sometimes we do it for the warm feeling we get inside.
Ty520
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I just had a 24 panel system installed, and can offer some insight.
I wouldn't install unless it will cover your average ANNUAL usage. Make sure that whoever is designing your system accounts for loss in efficiency (usually only a loss of 10% over lifespan of system), and uses conservative numbers in case they're wrong. If you're only supplementing, you'll still be cutting a check to the local power company,and like most,they're probably starting to steadily ramp up costs to offset federal efficiency laws placed on them.
Demand a guarantee on system production - usually should still be producing at 90% at 25 years. If they refuse,walk away.
Demand a warranty for ALL parts. A good system will warranty the panels AND inverters for 25 years - this is the average lifespan of systems today, so if the warranty is for less, again, walk away.
Demand a good warranty on work to your roof - no less then 10 years. Solar rigs require lots of holes in your roof. Again, if they refuse, walk away.
Make sure there is some sort of protection on your loan if the company goes under.
Crunch the numbers to prove to yourself that the return on investment is worth it: if energy savings plus credit over the course of the warranted lifespan of the system doesn't add up to what you paid then reconsider it's worth.
Verify the source of production. Unfortunately, there are Many bad companies our there who will sell you bad panels produced in bad countries like China that use child slave laborers in places like Africa to mine the rare earth metals needed. A good company will source products made here,in places like California or Oregon, and will source raw materials from places like Canada. The other problem with cheap foreign panels is that when there are issues with political relationships, acquiring parts can come to a stand still. On that note, all of these issues come together in that, companies that will try to sell you cheap foreign panels will probably not warranty their work and will probably not be around in 5 years. Choose a business that's been around a while. Avoid the ones that chase you down in places like home depot - they're usually the fly by night companies hawking junk panels
I wouldn't install unless it will cover your average ANNUAL usage. Make sure that whoever is designing your system accounts for loss in efficiency (usually only a loss of 10% over lifespan of system), and uses conservative numbers in case they're wrong. If you're only supplementing, you'll still be cutting a check to the local power company,and like most,they're probably starting to steadily ramp up costs to offset federal efficiency laws placed on them.
Demand a guarantee on system production - usually should still be producing at 90% at 25 years. If they refuse,walk away.
Demand a warranty for ALL parts. A good system will warranty the panels AND inverters for 25 years - this is the average lifespan of systems today, so if the warranty is for less, again, walk away.
Demand a good warranty on work to your roof - no less then 10 years. Solar rigs require lots of holes in your roof. Again, if they refuse, walk away.
Make sure there is some sort of protection on your loan if the company goes under.
Crunch the numbers to prove to yourself that the return on investment is worth it: if energy savings plus credit over the course of the warranted lifespan of the system doesn't add up to what you paid then reconsider it's worth.
Verify the source of production. Unfortunately, there are Many bad companies our there who will sell you bad panels produced in bad countries like China that use child slave laborers in places like Africa to mine the rare earth metals needed. A good company will source products made here,in places like California or Oregon, and will source raw materials from places like Canada. The other problem with cheap foreign panels is that when there are issues with political relationships, acquiring parts can come to a stand still. On that note, all of these issues come together in that, companies that will try to sell you cheap foreign panels will probably not warranty their work and will probably not be around in 5 years. Choose a business that's been around a while. Avoid the ones that chase you down in places like home depot - they're usually the fly by night companies hawking junk panels
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Ty520
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Unfortunately, that warm feeling you get may only be just that...the seven year old slave miner digging up the cobalt while wading through toxic sludge isn't impressed.
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I have a 6kw grid-tie system in Minnesota. Panels made in Minnesota. 22 micro inverters. Geothermal heat/air conditioning. System supplies 75% of my electric needs. Got 30% federal tax credit. Monthly generation credit from utility. High generation bill credit and low usage during summer at high electric rates. Lower generation credit and higher usage at low electric winter heat rates. All credits stay with account to be used during high usage months. 27 cents per kw-hr rebate for annual total generation from State of Minnesota for using Minnesota-made panels. Will continue for 10 years. Paid cash for system. Panels and installer must meet performance guarantees in order it be eligible to participate in the Minnesota Dept of Commerce program. With monthly savings and rebates, system will be paid for in 7yr, 5m after installation. My current 12 month average electric bill is $45 per month. I am satisfied for a Minnesota installation.
When I was doing sustainability analyses for my clients a couple years ago, the wind equipment we were using was largely made here and the PV was largely made in China. There were a few PV makers here but one went out of business, so that will be one of the ways we can catch up is getting more PV made here. Renewables were subsidized during the Obama administration but not the most recent, but Biden is sure to refocus on it.
jswordy
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I read this article when it originally came out and thought that was a cool idea. If someone installed a metal roof and used these, it would solve a lot of problems inherent to other systems. Wonder why it didn't just take off?
https://www.motherearthnews.com/ren...xible-solar-panels-for-any-roof-zmrz18fmzgsch
https://www.motherearthnews.com/ren...xible-solar-panels-for-any-roof-zmrz18fmzgsch
So here's how it's working. We got activated a couple of weeks ago and have been experiencing really hot weather since then. During this entire week we've had record highs recorded almost daily and expect that to continue through the weekend. Our daily production has been as high as 53Kwh and low as 46.6 (monsoon overcast much of the afternoon yesterday) and usage while keeping the house at 75 around the clock.... drumroll please..... 37.6Kwh!
We absolutely have surplus energy even in extreme conditions and are feeding that back into the grid. Thanks everybody for all the shares and thoughts while we were looking into and deciding on doing this.
We absolutely have surplus energy even in extreme conditions and are feeding that back into the grid. Thanks everybody for all the shares and thoughts while we were looking into and deciding on doing this.
jswordy
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That is outstanding Mike! The best possible outcome.
jswordy
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@Kraffty For future reference? Here's a cool idea.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/06...G4kg3VOfU9DAwKyu_yUJ-GSwwi4j3_KWwMU9W_xd7tCg4
Growing up, I lived in the area of the largest railroad switch yard (then) in the USA. They had an ice plant there with a huge flywheel and motor. At night when rates were cheap, they would spin up the flywheel and then they would run the plant's mechanicals on it for most or all of a production day.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/06...G4kg3VOfU9DAwKyu_yUJ-GSwwi4j3_KWwMU9W_xd7tCg4
Growing up, I lived in the area of the largest railroad switch yard (then) in the USA. They had an ice plant there with a huge flywheel and motor. At night when rates were cheap, they would spin up the flywheel and then they would run the plant's mechanicals on it for most or all of a production day.
