Home Solar panels

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 12 2007, 08:33 PM) [snapback]389236[/snapback]</div>

I'm in socal. I used advancedsolarelectric.com They did all the paperwork necessary to get the rebate from the utility companies. Then when I filed my taxes there is a form specifically for the tax credit:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdf

Your installer should be able to help you out. Good luck.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 12 2007, 05:33 PM) [snapback]389236[/snapback]</div>

There are both state and federal incentives, and they are different in each state, and with each tax year. NOT fun. Your best bet is to ask around to find a local installer, and they'll be able to answer all those questions for you. With your cost per kWh, and your consumption numbers, you are a pretty good condidate for PV. If you also owned an EV, you'd be throwing money away by NOT having PV on the house.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 12 2007, 06:33 PM) [snapback]389236[/snapback]</div>

So are you moving to a new house that's all electric meaning electric water heating too? If that's true you should definitely look into solar water heating. There's a fed tax credit for 30% of the cost of the system. The fed PV incentive is capped at $2K for residential. Like Darell said the state rebates very wildly from nothing to pretty darn good. Here in CO they cover about half of the cost of the system.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Feb 12 2007, 08:51 PM) [snapback]389254[/snapback]</div>

Thanks. I'll be shopping for an installer soon. They are on my list.

 

The web site listing federal and state renewable energy incentives:

www.dsireusa.org

Excellent magazine fo rresedential solar etc:

www.homepower.com

 

Just pokin' my head in here.

I ordered solar panels for my house last summer. I live in NJ, where we get a rather excellent rebate (about 50% of the total cost). The company I went with (http://thesolarcenter.com/) basically take a deposit. They apply for the rebate on your behalf (you sign it over to them). They apply the rebate to your bill, and you end up paying the difference.

I did practically zero paperwork - they did it all for me. They also offer a service where they'll sell your 'green credits' on the market for you, and pocket 10% of the cost. But they tend to get better prices as they sell in bulk, (100's at a time) whereas I'd have about 12 to sell if I did it personally.

So.. like the others above said - Look to your local installer. I bet they'll do similar.

Steve.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 14 2007, 12:14 PM) [snapback]390274[/snapback]</div>

Here is SA, our utility gives us this great deal - 1) they look over your plans and bless them, and 2) they provide you with a bi-directional meter. That's it. The kicker is, they take the power you put on the grid and don't give you anything for it ... no credits, no "reduced" rates, nada, zip, nothing.

So, during a bright summer day while I'm at work and my home electricity demands are relatively low ('cause no one is at home but the dog and cat), my utility takes any the extra juice PVs would provide without even sayin' "Thanks." I'm certain a moderately sized PV system would provide more than is used during a normal work day, and there's not enough wind here for a turbine.

While Austin is only 80 miles away, the handling of alternate energy by their utility and ours is tremendous. I just want a sniff of a chance of a PV installation paying for itself in some reasonable time frame.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 14 2007, 11:14 AM) [snapback]390274[/snapback]</div>

Check out Real Goods. This is for CO but it does show the price of unsubsidized PV systems. They figure on $9/Watt installed.

The buy back part is called net metering and this varies from state to state. You'll have to see what TX offers in that line. It's definitely possible to produce more than you use, but you'll need to make an effort (probably) to reduce your use. There's a lot of "low hanging fruit" that will help you cut your consumption down. The first step in a PV installation is figuring where you can cut out waste. This will enhance your ROI and get you closer to having the system cover or exceed your usage.

If you have electric water heating you'll want to install solar thermal water heating. Using PV to heat water is VERY expensive and really makes no sense, esp given where you live. If you're heating with NG then your OK. Solar thermal installations are considerably cheaper than PV so if there are no subsidies for you you might wanna check it out. It really depends upon what your requirements are.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 14 2007, 10:14 AM) [snapback]390274[/snapback]</div>

No, electric companies do NOT all buy back excess. What normallly happens is that you total everything up for an entire year, and if you owe money for your use, you pay up. If the electric company owes YOU at the end of the year, then you get nothing for it. I have heard of ONE utility that actually paid for extra power, but I can't remember where.

And most definitey your house can make more power than it can use. On a money basis, my little system (just 2.5kW) makes enough for my entire house AND our main car. If I were to cover all my S-facing roof, I could power both of my neighbors as well.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 14 2007, 02:05 PM) [snapback]390463[/snapback]</div>

The whole idea net metering is that when you are a net generator, you simply spin the meter backwards and the utility sells your energy to your neighbors. At night when you are a net consumer, you spin the meter forward and use energy from the grid. At the end of the year you total it all up and see how you came out. In fact there isn't much to total as you just read the meter to tell you what the net result is. There's nothing to turn off. If you generate more than you use in a given year, you've just done the world a nice favor (as well as your utility!). With net metering you still have grid power at night, so battery backup is not needed. Adding storage means that you can survive off the grid, but it also doubles the cost of the sytem, and requires maintenance.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 14 2007, 03:05 PM) [snapback]390463[/snapback]</div>

Perhaps that's because they're taking state incentives into account? Here in CO we get a pretty substantial rebate ($4.50 per Watt) but other states have no rebates. Jersey has pretty sweet rebates as does CA.

 

Without subsidies it will take a while, to be sure. It's sorta hard to calculate because the price of energy isn't constant. In general it goes up over time with occasional spikes in areas where there is substantial power generation from natural gas. So, more than likely your pay back time will be a little shorter because what you're paying now will likely be cheaper than what you pay in 10-15 years.

 

Oddly enough, I just saw this google ad on PriusChat, that may interest you:

http://www.solarsunsolution.com/

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Feb 17 2007, 09:23 PM) [snapback]392195[/snapback]</div>

This was posted somewhere else and the discussions seem to conclude it is a scam of some kind.

 

Citizenre, the company behind solarsunsolution.com has been featured in a couple of articles over at RenewableEnergyAccess.com recently.

First one

Second one

It seems like a load of bollocks to me and as Godiva mentioned I think that's the conclusion that others here at PC have arrived at but the articles above provide some detail that I find interesting. Of particular note are the comments at the bottom of the articles. It seems that some of the Citizenre blokes chimed in and (sort of) argued against the points made in the articles. Makes it all the more interesting. Take a look and decide for yourself.