Anyone use solar panels at home?

thought about it just like you. I live in So cal and we had some good incentives but i just couldnt get the math to work out. It was going to take over 20 years to pay off. If there is a cheaper solution on the horizon i will definitly reconsider but until then it is just another squelched idea.

 

20 years..yeah. Same math here. But the next 20 or so years with energy prices inflating would be pretty sweet.

I've priced it.. though.. and can't fully bring myself to actually making that purchase. Maybe in another year or two when this house is "complete" then i could tinker with solar panels.

 

From the outset, I tell people that if you are looking to solar ONLY to save money, you will wait a long time to recoup your costs. We knew going in that the return on the investment would be about 10-15 years. We did it for environmental reasons, primarily, although the money saved on the electric bill somewhat balances out the payment on the home equity loan we used to pay for it. Solar is our big middle finger at Bush's patholgical inaction on global warming.

Maybe in California, real estate people aren't thinking about energy, but I would differ. If energy costs continue rising, and they most assuredly will as we run out of most of the energy sources readily and cheaply available, a house with solar and other energy saving features will definitely sell for more. One agent told me that a full system (2kw and up) is the equivalent in resale value to adding another bathroom or major remodel. Think of solar this way: you are paying a fixed fee NOW for energy you will use in the future. If energy goes up per kilowatt hour, you will already have paid for it.

In January of 2005 we commissioned our 2.1 kw photovoltaic system; in the previous November, we commissioned our solar water heating system. This is in Seattle, mind you, with less hourly sunlight than most of the country. The system is worth it, both for the energy cost reduction and the satisfaction of doing something pro-active about global warming rather than grousing about Bush's breathtaking indifference to same.

Our house is all electric, so the energy produced by the solar units affect our whole energy profile. Results: The winter bills last year dropped about 30%. The summer bill dropped a whopping 90%. Our electricity bill for July-August of 2005 was twelve dollars.....that's TWELVE dollars. six dollars of which was for the service charge on the account, which means that we used a total of three dollars worth of city electricity for each month.

Going solar is great, but you should make sure your house is energy efficient to begin with before you commit the funds for photovoltaics. Replace out your refigerator, washer and dryer if they're more than five years old; use compact flourescent bulbs where possible, and connect appliances that have remote controls, to power strips so you can turn them off. We found 200 watts/day of phantom electrical useage from computers being left on, from extra clocks, and from applicances that stay on even when you turn them off, like TVs with remote control.

I'd be happy to share our experiences with you off line.

Bob

 

Oh good... something I know something about before my Prius comes in.

First off, yes, I have solar. I use it to power my home AND my car. Here are some details and pictures: http://www.darelldd.com/ev/solar.htm

And in my case, it was a no brainer. The short story:
I refinanced my home, and took the extra money out to install the solar. My extra loan payment for the solar comes out to about $70/month. For that payment, my solar lowers my power bill by about $75 on average. So this system literally cost me nothing, and I'm *making* $5 per month while I have almost eliminated my gasoline bill. With Time of Use metering, my solar system covers my entire household electricity usage AND the power for our EV that drives 10-12k miles per year. I can't afford NOT to have solar.

YMMV.

I only wish I could power a plug-in Prius with solar. Being forced to use gasoline to charge my batteries is a bit of a bummer for me.

 

Same here... Suprisingly, New York Offers great subsidies. Combined with Federal Incentives, it would bring the cost of a $10k system down to about $2500. But like you said, at current prices, it would never make back the price. Of course, that is not the only reason for installing. There is the ability to have some power in the event of disruptions in the grid, environmental benefits, etc.

Say a $10k Cost for a 1 KW system
NY State Tax Credit (25% of Cost)
Fed. Tax Credit (30% of Cost)
NYS Rebate $4 a watt ($4,000 for a 1kw system) This is paid directly to a certified installer, so the 'cost' for the system is $6,000

NYTC $1500
Fed TC $2000
Net cost $$2500

(I am not an accountant & these numbers are not meant to be an accurate representation and should not be relied on. Void where prohibited, not valid in States that begin with the letter Z , see your tax advisor, etc etc etc)


Based on my electric costs, I would save $100 a year. You can see the 'numbers' aren't there... Of course, if utility prices keep going UP UP UP.....

 

We plan on doing this in a few years. I've decided on using Solar Slates, and also plan on getting enough to power the entire house. Unfortunately this will run about $30k (before any incentives, etc).

As for an increase in home value, I think it's rediculous for htem to say there won't be a significant value added. Just imagine the buyer being told, "Oh, by the way, you won't have an electric bill in this house!" Somehow I think that is worth some extra cash on the asking price. Will you get every penny you put into it? No, probaly not, but you will surely get a good portion.

 

We are commiting to a 20k system, lg house, pool, pond, work shop etc.
With extreme care biggest bill last year was $320 summer. Sitting about 220 right now.
Working the numbers gives us a 10-12 yr pay back (we hope to out live that time frame) All electric home in AZ with power company struggling which usually means they will be raising the rates. Asking for a 20% increase this year. Have a pass thru rate approved by the commission last year (if fuel goes up that makes the elec they can pass thru the cost immediately)
Our elect co subsidizes $4/kwh, fed tax credit of 2000 state 1000

Still mentally struggling with the cost of the system..................

We do have solar hot water (love it) and solar pool (heats ok)

 

I *really* want solar panels but I just can't afford the up front costs for an undetermined and unreliable rebate from the government.

I am determined that when my hot water heater goes I will put in an on demand system. I think I can swing the $1000 for that. But I just can't afford the $20,000-$30,000 up front for solar. Really too bad because my roof is the perfect pitch and orientation.

If they every do come up with a significant reduction in cost without a significant reduction in effectiveness maybe someday I'll be able to afford if. But if it's not within 10 years I never will. I'll be retired and on a fixed income by then.

 

NOTSURE: We're having the same discussion and probably have the same situation as you. And in fact live in Mesa, would like to discuss off line. Call me if you can 807-9391
Arnie

 

Go the American way and *finance*. Seriously, if you can refinance your home and take out extra cash, there is ZERO up-front cost, just a monthly payment that will be similar (and off-set) by what you're now paying for your electricity.

Or to look at it another way, the costs are less than the Prius, and it will be working FOR you (by providing energy credity) for the next 30+ years. What will your Prius be doing for you in 30 years?

 

Hey Jack... you're in Winters? I'm just up here in Davis. Howdy, neighbor. :wave: Come by and see my system if you'd like (easier to look at the pictures on my site... looks the same in person. But if you come up here, you can even get a ride in a REAL electric car if you'd like. Stealth mode? I have it at 80mph/full throttle, and for 100+ miles. But I digress...

As for the rebates, they aren't any better than before, but WAY better than being removed!

 

Hey Bob,

Kudos on your commitment. We are in the same region. I'd like to know more about your setup and calculations. We are on Puget Power and are looking into adding solar panels this summer. It would be great to hear the details of what you have installed and how it's performing.

- Will

 

We have been off grid here in Montana with solar electric and wind power for 15 yrs. And we finally got the car we've been dreaming of: '05 Prius. I've yet to convince my mom to get a hybrid but in June she did install a 2000 watt solar electric grid-intertie at her home in Butte. She is on a fixed income. It is awesome to see her electric bill drop to 0 each month. Montana has decent incentives and for $7000 she has also coverted from expensive natural gas to an electric dryer, range, and possible electric on demand hot water. This is not a fantasy. And we are thrilled to be promoting something good for ourselves and the planet. Now, when is Toyota going to come out with an all wheel drive plug in Hybrid that we can charge with sunlight?!!

Christopher
Whitehall, MT

 

We checked into the on demand when our tank just went out, but the electric on demand is not good enough to keep up. This is according to the people that sell the systems. Gas is great electric not great.

 

I have solar pool panels, and ~500 watts of solar electric at the present time, which I plan to expand to ~1Kw this year. But, I have an additional incentive: power outages from the hurricanes! My wife wanted some kind of backup power, and I've always tinkered with solar stuff, so it gave me a good excuse to build a starter system. It came in VERY handy last year, when we were hit with the third hurricane in 13 months. I also bought a 24 volt DC water pump, directly powered from the PV, so we had continuous whole-house water from my well!
I now have an Outback Grid-Intertied inverter, so I can sell the extra power back when we're not using it.
Most of my friends relied strictly on gas-powered generators during the hurricane outages, and had to deal with trying to find gasoline for them all the time. But, when they saw my system, and saw how it is almost infinitely sustainable, they all want me to help them put something together before the next hurricane season.
I'm also adding solar hot water heat ASAP. B) With FP&L just getting a 19% rate raise, its making more sense all the time. We're now at ~12 cents per KwH.

 

I have the gas model in my new condo and it's great. That combined with good isolation and modern energy eff. doors and windows combined with energy star appliances through out made my energy bill go from $250 last winter (at old place) to $112 this winter even though my new place is ~50% bigger!

The difference was VERY suprising to me and another bonus is that energy eff. appliances tend to be quiet.

I want to do solar panels on the roof next but I've heard the rules in MA sux for it. Need to investigate. This wouldn't be for making money but for the environment though it needs to lower the energy consumption quite a bit still.

 

I have thought about solar a lot, just haven't gone any further. Now that I am closer to retirement and plan on RV'ing, we will have total solar power on the RV rig. It is very popular since you are alking about a much smaller living area and lower power needs.

 

I think it's great that a few of you have been able to go PV! I'm envious!

We don't know how long we'll be in our current house, but once I graduate and we're relatively settled, I'd like to do PV eventually, but before I go there (and I probably would go the refinance route for the PV), I plan to:

1) "Tighten" house and add heat exchange fresh air ventilation system.
2) Perhaps "seal" the crawlspace - I saw this on the solar homes tour here, and it seemed like a really good idea
3) Tubular skylights in the den if we stay in our current home
4) Solar hot water heater (a no-brainer! - short 6 or 7 yr pay back time not counting the tax credits)
5) Perhaps get more efficient heat pump, ours is the original one at SEER 11.

I've already done some other efficiency improvements, and a have a few other small projects. I may do the PV a little earlier with a smaller system, maybe aiming for 10 - 20% of our usage. I've seen some package systems that look good for this. NC just started allowing selling back to the utilities, so that makes it even nicer! Although, I think if you sell to NC Greenpower instead you get more $$ back.