Went solar

[RobertN]

Over the last 8 months, we have gone solar. First we did hot water, now we have a 6Kw array on the roof too. Still grid tie, but we are making our own power. We had both installed. I did a roof tearoff and re-shingle. Just did not have time to do the solar installation.

Anyone else using solar?

I would like to put a panel on my 5th wheel too. Not a priority at the moment; TnT for my TC40 will probably come first...

 

[weedpharma]

We went solar HWS 30 years ago and PVs 2 years ago. The 2KW PVs give me about 110% of my household usage. The best thing is getting the electric company account and seeing they owe me money even though our import power cost has risen nearly 50% in the last couple of years.

Weedpharma

 

[farmeratheart]

We had a 4kW system installed this year. It was completed in late August. There is a great deal of satisfaction in generating most of your homes electricity demand with the silent array on the roof ! In a couple of years, we'll probably look in to the solar hot water systems. Good luck.

 

[Thomas]

We did looking into solar system early this year,but there were more cons than pros..living in snow belt,sun 11ish to dark do to shaded mountain we live on,so now we checking out wind power but also coming up against issues..city permits,zoning laws,insurance extra cost..almost to point its not worth it,for its just Mrs. and I living 2000 sq.ft home total electric and highest bill dead of winter about $110.oo also have wood stove for back up.

Do you get some sort of tax break etc. by going green?

 

[eepete]

Here's mine:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/178663-my-solar-panel-power-project.html

Pete

 

[Phils]

Anyone else using solar?

I would like to put a panel on my 5th wheel too.

We have been off-grid since we bought in 1977. PG&E wanted too much $$ to bring power to our house location.

In the early years it was just generators. Later, the generator also charged a battery bank supplying an inverter (do a load of wash and we had electricity for the rest of the day and the next day).

Still later we started adding solar panels (first array was 300 watts). My "measurement" was simply "how much are we running a generator?". More solar meant less generator.

We are at a 3KW solar array now and only have to run a gen during dark rainy periods. We have also migrated from propane refrigerators to electric, and have added a mini-split air conditioner. Loads grew, so array grew.

We run on three different inverters, having divided our loads 3 ways ("water pressure", "entertainment + lights + A/C", and "appliances".

Our fifthwheel has one solar panel mounted on the roof, and another panel that is portable because we like to park in the shade.

Just lemme know if/when you need any information or help.

Phil

 

[MossRoad]

Over the last 8 months, we have gone solar. First we did hot water, now we have a 6Kw array on the roof too. Still grid tie, but we are making our own power. We had both installed. I did a roof tearoff and re-shingle. Just did not have time to do the solar installation.

Anyone else using solar?

I would like to put a panel on my 5th wheel too. Not a priority at the moment; TnT for my TC40 will probably come first...

What do you estimate will be your energy savings payback time? I.E. how long will it take for the system to pay for itself and if there were no tax incentives, how long would it take? Also, what is the life expectancy of the system?

 

[sodamo]

4.5kw system here with diesel backup for the cloudy/rainy times. One of the best times was a couple winters ago when a neighbor up the road was making a Costco run. Told my wife her husband said it was alright to go shopping now that their 3 days of power problems seemed over. My wife, "really, we hadn't noticed a thing."

Seems whenever solar is brought up, so is the payback question. Perhaps the followup question to the inquirer should be, When do you expect to finish paying the power company?

 

[MossRoad]

Seems whenever solar is brought up, so is the payback question. Perhaps the followup question to the inquirer should be, When do you expect to finish paying the power company?

I would counter that with this...

When do you expect to realize you spent more money on your solar system than the total cost of your utility bills over the life of your system and used my tax dollars doing it?

Payback is a huge issue for financially responsible people.

 

[clemsonfor]

My aunt bought a instant hot water system from some mail order green company. Anyway i was looking through the cataloge and it had a chart for size pannel and Kwhrs and so forth to see the size of the pannels you would need to supply your power usage. Anyway with out my wife and i having kids i would have needed something like $150-180K worth of solar pannels to produce 100% of my power, i cannot afford that i would need a second morgage to pay for that. Maybe there prices were 3 times higher than other sources but i have not even looked farther than the what the hey first look i gave it. That was uninstalled too!!!