Posted on 11/25/2021 12:45:48 PM PST by Captain Peter Blood
I have been researching putting Solar Panels on my home and would like to know out there who has done this. How did it work out and what suggestions or opinions do you have.
I live in Arkansas and my home seems to be a good candidate for Solar Panels, it is finding the right company and getting the price that makes sense.
So far on Monday I dealt with a company here in Arkansas and I received a estimate for $35,000, without a battery backup system. That would cost and extra $25,000. Well I can't make those numbers work even without the battery backup system.
The recommendation was for about a 9.62 KW system.
The plusses on any Solar System are a 26% Tax Credit on the cost of the system, plus my energy provider, Entergy, would buy my excess electricity and run that as a credit on my monthly Bill.
After talking to this first company I decided to see what Tesla had to offer just as a comparison. Their bid was about $21,000 including the Backup Battery System. Huge difference here and I can make those numbers work for me.
So now I have something to compare to and will look at other installers in my area to see what the average deals are. Not sure Tesla even has a company they affiliate with in my state. Will find out.
I sent the Tesla bid to the first company I talked to and told them if they could match this we might be able to do business. Of course I have yet to hear back and probably will not.
“A 6.3 kw system cost me $14k, was tax deductible, and saves about $2,500/year.”
In Texas, that system would only save me a bit over $1000 per year, which still isn’t bad.
A lot of what you mentioned is in line with what I was suggesting. I like solar thermal and have developed several designs….. it’s arguably the most efficient and generally trouble free method to capture energy that exists for a homeowner who is not near moving water or something like that. I hear you on the drainback issue... go solar thermal air instead of solar thermal water and you don’t have that problem. However, you do need to do a conversion back to liquid to have heat stored at a decent density. By the way, Gary at Build It Solar is a good resource for a bunch of things… particularly solar thermal. https://www.builditsolar.com/
Totally agree with not putting any of this stuff on the house roof… The best scheme in my view is to have a separate two storey car garage and put it all there. Or if you have a barn as in your case, put it there.
Nice to here from someone who understands the important role that concrete plays in this discussion…. Nothing beats having a healthy amount of thermal mass in order to store heat, moderate temperatures and act as a hedge against utility failures. I always laugh at homes in northern climes where the contractors have put insulation on the inside of the basement walls. Idiots… all that thermal mass needs to be on the inside of the insulation, no on the outside. In the late summer if you want to let the temperature go up a bit a bit, you can certainly defray some of the fall heating costs. Same in the spring…. You can let the house go a bit cooler as the warm days approach. And if there is a complete failure in the dead of winter, it takes much longer for the house to lose temperature.
Here is one big tip I meant to mention earlier…. Having the right kind of shading over windows has a massive impact on air conditioning requirements. People just don’t understand how much solar heat comes in through windows that face the sun. I’ve seen cases where air conditioning bills were dropped by 70% through the use of good shutters.
Question for you since you were talking about batteries and have a bunch of them…. Batteries are fairly expensive but on youtube, there are a ton of videos by folks how have reconditioned them. Have you ever done that? Was it as successful? Here’s an example of one such video….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_36W26K77fk
I am toying with hydro power. I have a small creek with some good head. It’s an interesting project.
Solar farms and alternative energy is heavily subsidized which means it’s tax payer funding that pays for it. If it weren’t heavily subsidized no private company would mess with it. Ever hear of Solindra? Someone has to pay, it’s simple economics. Even simpler is the math. How much will a given system produce and how much will that same system cost to build. The latter is ALWAYS more.
tesla energy reviews OR ratings
https://www.google.com/search?q=tesla+energy+reviews+OR+ratings
btw, Tesla Energy is nothing more than a new name for Tesla’s SolarCity, which is pretty much the worst possible solar company to deal with:
solarcity reviews OR ratings
https://www.google.com/search?q=solarcity+reviews+OR+ratings
good luck in re-roofing your house next time it needs a new roof ... also, are hail storms prevalent in your area? if so, forget about it ...
“We have a lot of Solar Farms now in this state, so someone thinks they make sense.”
yeah, anyone who wants free money from the Feds ... 100% of those Solar Farms were paid for with taxpayer funds ...
I have done minimal research on this, but am not ready to install it, yet. My wife and I are going to be able to sell our house in three years and buy a modest home with cash.
I am one of those that sees solar as a lifestyle issue. My main thing is that I want complete energy independence and power when the local power is down.
I will set mine up as a totally off grid system and have power 100% of the time. It’s important to me that anyone in my home with medical issues (currently, my mom) has electricity to run any medical equipment.
So, I am not really crunching numbers like most people would. It’s really primarily about personal safety and well-being.
Another option for might be to use some sort of generator backup (Generac) instead. I’m still just doing minor research, but I’ll bookmark this thread and read every word before I make my final decision. There are a lot of intelligent folks here and I appreciate you all.
My System 2000 is one of the early ones with a 10 zone controller so I can put heat from any source exactly where I want it.
I have baseboard and under floor hot water heat throughout most of the house, and a huge block of concrete under over 1/2 of the kitchen floor, and another in the barn to dump heat into.
I was very glad to rip out all of the head clinking ducts from the FHA system that previously existed.
Much less dust now and much more comfortable heat that varies very little.
My OLD solar system was drainback. My present one is open loop with Amsoil Propylene glycol antifreeze, and the one I'm presently installing is closed loop with the same anti-freeze.
The barn is attached to my house, no electric solar going there, and even if the barn was detached, I wouldn't put electric panels on it.
I like keeping all of my electric panels and systems portable, so when I leave, some or all of my electricity comes with me.
My Victron controllers have resurrected several batteries that I thought were beyond hope.
For really low ones, I've had to add a good battery in parallel for a short time so the controller would have enough voltage to work.
Really. I see a lot of systems on roofs that are going to become a nightmare when it comes time to re-roof.
That's one reason why I mount mine hinged to the south end of my barn.
If I need to paint or replace clapboards, I just do it in the summer when I have the panels tilted up out of the way anyway.
I live out in very sunny Perth, Australia and have a 6.6KW system. Made great financial sense for me. A few considerations:
You need sunny days. Cloud cover is a killer and render the system almost non-existent
You need to consume the power at the time of consumption - unless you have a battery. This means running the dishwasher and laundry during the day when the sun is up.
No savings at night unless you have a battery
If you have a pool with a clorinator, you will most likely recoup in a few years. With the subsidies we have here, my system only cost 3500AUD and was paid for within the first year (mainly due to the pool)
Winter won’t provide much savings
Rain won’t provide much savings
Clouds won’t provide much savings
In reality you gain during 6 months if the sky is clear. The good news is that these are the six months that you are likely to be running A/C and this will offset the cost significantly. Run the A/C on low even when not home to keep the house cool and realize that it is taken care of by the sun.
Compare the price of power with the above in mind. I’m not sure it is worth the financials for your area, but those hot , sticky summers may push it to an advantageous position. Particularly good if you have a pool.
Best of luck
Saves me $2,500 in California.
About half.
California.
“Saves me $2,500 in California.”
Yep, I get the same numbers at 30 cents per kwh, which is what I suspect you’re having to deal with. In Texas, it’s closer to 10 cents, so the math is completely different.
One thing I’ve decided on is Li-Fe batteries because they are more durable and safe than Li-ion, though the power density is lower.
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Li batteries are great for storage density although they are all sensitive to miss-managment. When I first set my system up I got plain lead acid flooded batteries because I read that I would ruin them and I should get the cheapest batteries I could until I learned to take care of my system. The advice was good and after about 6 years I ruined my huge battery bank. It was OK, I had business dealings with a company that had taken 4 sets of batteries back from a customer that didn’t pay for them so they gave me the 72 2V cells for free. I re-arranged them in to 3 48V batteries. I travel a lot so I wasn’t always there to catch the low water level, when that happens say goodbye to that cell.
After nearly 6 years I decided to get a new battery but I also decided to never get flooded batteries again. I looked seriously at Li but they also require attention and eventually decided to get lead acid glass matt. They don’t require any maintenance and will last over 30 years as a backup battery. Actually they can last much longer than that if kept cool, I keep mine in the basement where it is always under 70°F so the batteries will last longer than me. These batteries weigh 150 pounds each and were rated at 250ah at 20 hr discharge rate. I put them in four banks. Although I have tested them several times for short periods they have been used one time since I got them for about 1 day, their voltage didn’t even drop a half volt. I paid $3400 for them from a company in China and got $2000 for the recycle of my old batteries. I couldn’t find the same batteries in the States for under $10k.
If I were living off grid I might seriously consider Li, they are expensive but can be discharged much more than lead with out really hurting them. I don’t think I would ever run my lead glass matts lower than 80% of charge, that is keeping them at 80% of full charge so as to get max life from them. Keeping them at 80% they are rated at over 3000 cycles, a very similar life to Li at 40% Since I don’t discharge them and keep them in float most of the time, since they also don’t vent they will last a very long time, much longer than me. The best thing about them is that once you get your charging system set up they require no attention whatsoever. I can travel and not worry about them.
Again, I really enjoy the security of knowing my freezers will always be on line. I got mini-split heat pump/AC units for two rooms in the house so even if I have to live on the solar I will still have heat and AC. I really highly recommend it to everyone who has any loads they simply must not loose.
good luck in re-roofing your house next time it needs a new roof ... also, are hail storms prevalent in your area? if so, forget about it ...
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First, Solar panels simply unplug and are easily removed and replaced. Solar panels are made to resist hail storms, they aren’t a problem nor are hurricanes and thunderstorms a problem, they are certified for all that.
Your panels will need to be paid off before you can sell your house, unless your buyer is willing to pay off the balance. No mortgage company will be willing to fold the pay-off amount into a new loan for the buyer.
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