What Do You Know About Residential Solar Power?

[08FJR4ME]

So a lot of the youngin's that are going to get there electrical licenses are installing these systems to meet there apprenticeship quota's. So now you have all these 18 year olds up on your roof who have no clue doing the work.

Good luck,

Dave

 

[garauld]

My system was installed by a great crew in a day for $3.30 a watt and I'll get back roughly 40% of the cost in tax credits. I think you can buy just the equipment for half that but of course, you would need to install it yourself and have it certified by an electrician. Doing it yourself might cause you to lose some credits too so it may be a wash.

Here, you still buy power at retail and sell over what you use at wholesale

That is true here in NY (at this time) but any over production is only sold on the true-up date once a year. The key is to have the system designed so you use up all you generate. Since I had a small amount of overage last your, I am thinking of getting an electric space heater to displace some of the gas-fired heat in the down-stairs. It would be on a timer so it only runs during the daytime when I am generating. I have only bought power on the night schedule rate (which tends to be less) since my system was installed.

 

[deagle]

Great thread. Really interesting read. Didn't know so many people did this.

 

[russperry]

There are interesting dynamics in this business. Out here in the west there are a lot of sunny days, but with real estate prices skyrocketing in California, we don't typically have large lots or roofs to install huge systems. My house is good sized but its two story so not a lot of roof area, and its on a postage stamp lot so my system cannot produce nearly what my family consumes (5 refrigerators, about 8 televisions, 6 PCs running all day, etc....).

I get the feeling that in the midwest or east a lot of people have bigger lots so can put bigger systems into play. Even if there are more cloudy/rainy days it sounds like many of you can produce in excess of your demand. I'm very jealous!

 

[Auburn]

There are interesting dynamics in this business. Out here in the west there are a lot of sunny days, but with real estate prices skyrocketing in California, we don't typically have large lots or roofs to install huge systems. My house is good sized but its two story so not a lot of roof area, and its on a postage stamp lot so my system cannot produce nearly what my family consumes (5 refrigerators, about 8 televisions, 6 PCs running all day, etc....).
I get the feeling that in the midwest or east a lot of people have bigger lots so can put bigger systems into play. Even if there are more cloudy/rainy days it sounds like many of you can produce in excess of your demand. I'm very jealous!

There are panels that will be (and some are out already) that are actual roofing shingles with the solar built into them. That may be the best solution for those in your situation in a few years when they get all of the systems worked out.

 

[Uncle Hud]

Not residential, but maybe helps one understand how things are changing in our world:

Georgia DOT is seriously considering installing solar arrays inside urban interstate interchanges. You know, in all the grassy areas adjacent to merging ramps and inside loop ramps. There is a LOT of space In many of these interchanges around Atlanta's Perimeter (I-285). They are also looking at the roadside along I-95 near the Atlantic coast.

The technology is there, and GDOT intends to use the power for their own highway lighting and freeway sensors, cameras, and overhead message signs. Don't know anything about whether they will connect to the grid, and -- if so -- what financial deal they'll strike with Georgia Power. They also consider constraints including safe roadside areas for cars that are crashing; shadows from buildings, bridges, trees, and 18-wheeler truck traffic; and the political constraint when the local electric company realizes how much revenue they will be losing

Motivation comes from the number of school flashers, surveillance cameras, and portable message signs that are currently 100% powered by solar, and from (no kidding) a French company that is manufacturing solar cells that can be installed on highways, in the travel lanes. GDOT has that experiment already working at the Welcome Station near LaGrange. Idaho DOT is testing the same stuff near Sandpoint, and MoDOT is doing something similar at the Route 66 Welcome Center near Conway.

I know other DOTs must be looking at all their sun-drenched empty roadsides and seeing dollar signs.

Maybe it isn't a good deal for your mother, HotRodZilla, but it's a good deal for some folks now, and will become a good deal for most of us within a few years.

 

[Bounce]

FAA tested geothermal installations on some overpasses to see if they were (cost)effective at helping mitigate icing. Heated liquid from the ground was circulated through "tubes" sandwiched under the roadway. The plan was that, if convection didn't provide enough flow, solar panels nearby could power a small pump.

One installation was a small, but deep, footprint. One was a shallower, but larger footprint. Both are reported to have done their job and were planned to be used based on soil content and available space.