Does Anyone Here Use Solar Energy for their Home?
 

Does Anyone Here Use Solar Energy for their Home? Does it save u money in the long run? I have heard mixed reviews.:2 cents:

The initial set up costs are killers. They have programs here, to have it placed on your home and after 20 (?) years you own it, But in 20 years the equipment will be totally obsolete. So you would have to start from square 1 again.:2 cents:

One of my neighbors has 5/8 of his roof covered in new panels. But I live in the desert and it's intense sunlight 350 days a year.

I would imagine that having such a big part of his roof shaded from the panels has to be saving something on that aspect alone.

My son's pool is heated with solar and it gets so hot they can't use it during the summer.

We dont have it. We do however plan to use Wind on our next home some time next year. We have the sun here with the intensity and time values needed but from all I have read Wind if it will work for you is much better.

I'm moving into a town house June 1 with some solar power. Pretty cool considering even high end places in Malaysia have sparse hot water systems. This system is supposed to supply hot water to 5 bathrooms and two kitchens. We'll see.

It really depends what your intentions are and where you live as to if it's worth it or not. I've never messed with grid tied, but set up a few off grid systems.

The systems I've done, 100% of the power came from battery banks charged by solar. I've done 4 RV's now and a off grid cabin. Each of these were obviously worth it, because they had no other access to power and the solar was capable of powering everything needed.

I'm not 100% sold on houses which are grid tied. It's a lot of money for the install and how much are you saving over 10 years when compared to your current electric bill?

IMO if you are going to do a grid tied house on solar, it really needs to be designed to use solar, not just retro fitted an older house. I guess if you have a $500/mth electric bill, then the solar would pay for it's self in a reasonable time, but if you have a $150/month bill it's going to take much longer to see the value of the solar.


As for baddog saying his son can't use his swimming pool in the summer, well it's pretty dumb to be heating a pool in the summer , be it on solar or not. They should have a shut off on their system, that's just common sense..

Warranty at most solar companies mean they guarantee 80% efficiency after 20 years of usage. This is not totally obsolete! :pimp

I'm a fan of solar, but right now so many companies go out of business after a few years making a 20 year warranty is useless. Almost all panels come from China so try tracking down a Chinese company in 20 years..

The best option is to order direct from a Chinese manufacturer if you are ordering more than a few panels. I did this with my last set up and saved a ton of money. Got the panels with in 2 weeks as well. But far as warranty, unless the panel is broken when you get it, it's unlikely you will get much help past a year or so..

With that said, I've never had a bad panel or had one go bad.

There is big upfront cost and fast obsolence

What I think the gov should "encourage" commercial builders to add solar panels on the enormous roof foot prints

I also think the government should offer more incentives for alternative power. I'd like that for my next house...

I open the blinds and FAP in the sunshine, about as solar as I get. :2 cents:

I disagree with the obsolete aspect. Just because a "newer" model has come out, doesn't mean your panels stop working. Also the technology usually revolves around making the panels smaller or cutting the cost of manufacturing..

This means if you have a 250w panel, a newer 250w panel will still put out the same amount of power (ie it's still 250w). It's just more likely that the new panels will produce that power in a smaller package and will probably be cheaper over time.

Yes, hasn't saved us any money yet, coming up on 2 years for the oldest systems.

I've revised the numbers many times since installing, typical system efficiency is 50% max And constant monitoring of components. Batteries are a nightmare to maintain.

I figure to start breaking even in 2 years, off grid

Dont get me wrong

I would love to start installing solar panels in my roof , we have sunshine in the sunshine state.

The pricey component is the power inveter. I think I remember hearing something about a new tech that will cause the prices to drop.

As far as batteries, tesla just announce thier new batteries , which are supposed to be great and inexpensive

Tesla's batteries are not great, in fact they are so not great you can't cycle them daily, weekly only.

Want to ruin a deep cycle battery crazy fast? Deep cycle it.

The priciest part of the inverter is the hidden cost, they typically lose 20% in the conversion.

And I've never ever seen full output from a panel. I use strictly Renogy only for panels, the best.

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That's probably going to be the best use of solar power this century :winkwink:

We in the process of doing this now really. My power bill ranges from $139 to $456 a month, I live in Northern California, and own a two story 3400 sq ft house.

Assuming I understand the numbers correctly.... We will be installing 30 panels on my house, and after some incentive programs the cost will be $32k. I will also be able to write off a portion of that off my taxes, which will be great. My monthly payments will be $266 for ten years, which will be coming out of my escrow account. I won't have a monthly bill at all really.

lol really? That would suck...Isn't there some sorta thermostat?

Wow...that sounds like a Good Deal...almost a little too good. What company are u using?

Actually the hungarian gov was the first to put extra crazy tax on solar panels. :Oh crap :(

Agreed. I looked into it here and its just not worth doing, at least not yet. And it gets even more expensive because I think to do it right, you need the solar panels to be able to move with the sun, especially in the winter months when we get so much less sunlight and the sun is closer to the horizon for most of the day.

What's cool though is that like all technology, the prices are dropping and the technology is improving. Maybe in another few years it will make more sense.

i also use solar my bill is way low
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My wife is using a solar sex toy :)

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjAwWDYwMA...HgQ~~60_12.JPG