Solar electrical systems?

1. First do an energy audit of your home. What is your energy demand?
2. Understand it is always more cost effective to hold onto what you already have vs. "go get more." Conservation and efficiency are the most cost effective.
3. Look into "Time of Use Metering" that uses a high kWh rate from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m., then shift your electricity use to off peak, 7:00 p.m. to 12 noon.
4. You can start small, then add more panels as your budget permits.
5. Act with confidence and knowledge knowing you are part of a "Distributed Power" supply system (vs. a mega centralized power plant) that is climate appropriate.
6. Look forward to the 2010+ Toyota PHEV Prius. A Liter of electrons is cheaper than a Liter of gasoline and is taxed less.

 

perhaps you could jump a lot more insulation into your house and do the low E window thing. AC alone seems to be bloating out your needs and costing you a lot of money. Finding ways to mitigating that (get creative to circumvent the HOA if you have to) see like they'd be very worthwhile.

 

Good for you. You drive around LA out in the desert, and you see all those windmills--you don't see that in the East--yet. Have had a heat pump for 25 years with electric backup. The electric backup is now cheaper than oil or propane backup.
Solar conversion is difficult because of cost. Better for new construction.

We will need more electric power in the future. I don't see how they can avoid increasing nuclear, which has been used safely in Europe for decades. Strict regulation and safeguards are necessary.

 

Wow, that's an excellent price. For that quote I'd fly a crew over here and pay for their hotel rooms too.

You might want to talk to local PV users-- contact your local utility or re-post these questions to a local discussion board (or your Sierra Club or Prius Club or wherever you're going to find a number of PV owners). Nothing wrong with that price but there are always references and "wish we had" comments from current owners. You also specifically want to know if their systems are actually producing the KWHrs they were promised by the installer. The installer is probably not lying (and usually not stupid) but they can't do much about the sunshine, clouds, & shadows.

You might also want to take a look at the credits for doing the installation over two years, even if it's just October & March. IIRC some federal credits may expire at the end of this year or you may have state/utility credits that are different from ours. Most installers are very busy in Nov/Dec as homeowners try to get the credits before it's too late.

DSIRE: Incentives by State: Incentives in Federal

I don't know anything about air conditioning but I know about sunshine. Radiant foil insulation on our attic rafters, reflective roof paint, and radiant foil in our walls has made our place a lot cooler. It's the only insulation we have (and really even need), although for A/C you'll probably want something that also reduces external airflow through your house...

 

I have had a 3.6 kw system with a 80-gal solar water heater in our house in TX for the last 8 months. If you want I have a spread sheet that will calculate the return on your investment (I attached it to this post I think). BTW if you have the roof space you can save a bunch of money on panels that did not meet top standards. ie 180 w panels that only produce 155 w would be sold as 150 w panels and so forth for 160, and 170.

Edit: The Solar file has an ROI tab. You will have to enter the information for your area and expected system parameters. I also have my data in there for the past 8 months so you can get an idea of what predicted vs actual may look like.