A newbies DIY solar install

[Oaktree]

I don't think some people understand the payback is going to come faster and faster as rates go up up and up.

Maybe, maybe not. This assumes that solar system pricing will remain the same or drop which isn't guaranteed.

With Lithium batteries, there's no battery maintenance. Obviously if your system uses golf cart batteries, it's an entirely different story.

They may not require maintenance per se, but they still have a finite life, and lithium packs are quite expensive.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

At least a couple TBNers have solar with battery and generators.
My retirement house will be much smaller, more energy efficient, so I’m hoping a much smaller off grid system will suffice.
Now I just gotta retire.

 

[cqaigy2]

Maybe, maybe not. This assumes that solar system pricing will remain the same or drop which isn't guaranteed.

They may not require maintenance per se, but they still have a finite life, and lithium packs are quite expensive.

The lithium packs i've looked at have around 3-5K charging cycles, equate to around 8 years. They don't give them away, for sure. You can do better price wise by building your own, if you are so inclined. We lose power many times throughout the year. So far i haven't convinced myself to make a big enough pack to tide us over for an hour or so, instead of firing up the propane power generator. For me it would be mostly to reduce the noise for while, before having to turn the generator.

 

[ning]

The lithium packs i've looked at have around 3-5K charging cycles, equate to around 8 years. They don't give them away, for sure. You can do better price wise by building your own, if you are so inclined. We lose power many times throughout the year. So far i haven't convinced myself to make a big enough pack to tide us over for an hour or so, instead of firing up the propane power generator. For me it would be mostly to reduce the noise for while, before having to turn the generator.

3k charging cycles gives a bit over 8 years at one cycle per day (ie, off-grid use).
Hopefully will get more than that with grid tie / backup use.

 

[cqaigy2]

3k charging cycles gives a bit over 8 years at one cycle per day (ie, off-grid use).
Hopefully will get more than that with grid tie / backup use.

Yes, one would assume so. That's assuming discharge down to 20% and charging 80+%. By that time, im sure battery tech will be different.

 

[jk96]

Panels are getting a test tonight. So far so good but we are getting wind gusts in the 80+ mph range. A few strong enough just now when I was outside checking panels that they were pushing me sideways and hard to stay on my feet. Looks like I may have a small amount of shingle damage on the roof. Will have to check in the morning. Big props to our electric coop. They do a great job of line maintenance. Most of our nearby city is out of power and ours hasn't even flickered.

 

[jk96]

This was a nice site to see this morning. I know of 2 people that lost panels last night. Lot's of downed fences, trees, etc. Highest wind gusts recorded in our area were 85 mph. We never lost power but the outage map showed 27,000 without last night.

 

[ponytug]

Great job on the construction!

All the best,

Peter

 

[cqaigy2]

Good job, nice to see all your panels still there.

 

[beowulf]

A bit on point: I heard yesterday that PG&E - a supplier of electricity and gas to the northern two-thirds of California (as well as other suppliers) are petitioning to increase the cost of solar customers to be connected to the grid. For me, it is now $5 per meter per month and another $9 or so as a charge for below a minimum use of power from the grid per month - so for me - about $15 per meter (we have two). So, about $30 per month to be connected seems fair enough - our bill without solar would be today about $400 a month.

The proposal:

"Currently, the owner of a typical 6-kW rooftop system pays PG&E $9.52 per month to be tied to the grid under the net metering 2.0 arranagement. Under the new proposal, PG&E customers would pay a fixed “default rate” of $20.66. In addition, they would be charged a monthly “grid-tie fee” of $10.93 per kW. So, for a 6-kW system, the monthly charges will be increased to $86.24, a nine-fold jump."

The reasoning is that so many people have gone to solar that it has increased the burden of maintaining the grid to the non-solar cuseomers. Existing solar customers would be grandfathered until they have had their systems for 15 years.

I am guessing the solar installation companies will be soon using this to push for installations asap.