Solar Power Cost Blog

Archive for the ‘grid tie solar’ Category

http://homepower.com/home/

http://www.nrel.gov/solar/

solar is one of those things that is mainly for rich people. Your average person doesn’t have the capital to invest in 25,000 dollars worth of PV. That won’t always be the case.. they are making breakthroughs in solar practically every day, but for now.. it’s just not practical – for the typical person.. And I know you are going to say Tax right offs and subsidies.. but States are broke.

I don’t think so.. I think you still lease the lines that attach to your home from the utility pole. But you could always detach from that.. you just need enough PV, or wind, whatever to meet your own personal demand. Maybe a backup generator for cloudy days or eclipses?

Yes. The system is designed so that what you sell all year equalizes your needs and when you are out — at work, school, shopping — you supply your neighbors and are credited. At nioght you use the grid, and if the system is designed correctly, you equal out by years end. Payback to own your own power is typically 8-12 years on a system warranted for 25 years. It’s really a now brainer that people owning their own power source is a good investment. People who don’t believe seem like Oil sheep and misinformed

I do not agree at all. I live in Phoenix which is one of the few ideal locations for solar. A system for my house will break even in 11-13 years, but only getting almost half of it paid for by the taxpayers and Utility rebates. If the system had to stand on its own, it would never break even. Also the break even does not include any maintenance and replacement costs which is inevitable. In most areas, these systems will not do as well as here.

Tax dollars are not FREE. It is hard-earned money by millions of hard-working individuals. Most of us do not have $20,000 laying around to install a system. Only the rich do. Using my tax dollars to help the better off to justify or sell a money losing Solar system is WRONG!

Let the market work! Don’t use my money to prop up these systems. Build Nuclear Power, or help people that really need it if you want to spend my money. Again – Tax Subsidies are not FREE.

I would like to set up a solar power array in my apartment, but I’d like to just bypass a storage battery. If I set up a solar power array and hook it up to an inverter that will then tie into a power socket into the grid itself, do I need a battery? I just want to save money on my electricity bill and not have a standby in case of a power failure.

Grid-tied solar system are the most common type in the USA these days. They do not require batteries. However, the inverter has to connect to the grid through the breaker panel, which may not be accessible from your apartment. You would need to coordinate with your landlord, which might be tricky at best. If they will allow it, you can look at some grid-tied systems here, http://www.altestore.com/store/Kits-Package-Deals/Grid-Tied-Systems/c569/

The best way to save money on electricity is to use less. I know, pretty obvious, but it is cheaper to save electricity than to make it. Change out all of you light bulbs from incandescent to CFL, look for phantom loads that stay on when you turn the device off, like TVs, stereos, PCs, and connect them to a power strip that you can turn completely off at night.

is there any government grants for individual home owners in georgia to go solar.im trying to go wind and solar panel grid tie for my residence.i don’t know where to look or how to get started.

I’M LOOKING FOR THE SAME THING IN WASHINGTON. I WILL SAVE YOUR QUESTION AS I CONTINUE MY SEARCH.

Do these plug in grid tie inverters work? Or is it going to burn my house down?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Solar-Grid-Tie-Inverter-12-volts-250-Watt-240-V-new-/120655951451?pt=UK_AudioElectronicsVideo_Video_TelevisionSetTopBoxes&hash=item1c17a7b65b

.I don’t see this particular unit or company listed as tested and approved for use.
It can only handle 200w continuous. I looked at their website but did not find further info on this model. Be sure that it has indeed been tested and approved for use in your country.

A better know small inverter is the Enphase Micro-inverter..
The idea is to use several of these rather than one large inverter

Online stores selling solar photo-voltaic generation kits gives specs indicating the power generation capability of the system. For example, Solar World Grid-Tie Solar Electric System with 245W Panels & PV Powered PVP2000 Inverter, 1.2 to 2.4 kW. This seems to indicate that the system can generate 1.2 to 2.4 kW. Is that per day? Per month? I’m trying to calculate the return on investment, but can’t because I don’t know how much power a system such as this will generate in a month.

There are several items here.

1) the panel produces 245 Watts of energy that can either be used directly to power items or charging batteries up to the output of the 245 Watt panel. Loads in excess of that amount would be fed via a battery up to the amount of charge on the battery or the capacity of the inverter.
2)The size of the battery determines how much and how long you have power and the size of that battery determines how effectively you can charge it in a day.
3)the inverter is the device that is converting that Direct Current from the panel and stored energy in the battery to Alternating current for unmodified AC appliances, entertainment, etc. The size of the inverter determines how much current you can draw from it at a maximum of 1.2 Kw continuous to 2.4Kw peak intermittent, such as starting an electric motor. The rating is in effect instantaneous ratings.

To determine what size panels you need, you first need to know what your current usage is per day in Kilowatt Hours.

To figure out how long it will take to pay for itself, take your current Kilowatt Hour charge on your electric bill, divide that number into the total cost of the system, multiply it by 4.1 and that gives you the hours you need that system producing energy in terms of Kilowatt hours, so however long the weather and daylight permit you to reach that amount of time should be considered your break even point of cost recovery.

In short- that system might be enough to eliminate the need to plug in an RV to an AC source, or for a small cabin or home. with maybe 1 kilowatt hour to 2 kilowatt hours of usage each day assuming a lot of sunny days. Assuming heat is not electric and hot water is not electric. and that you are not powering a well for irrigation.

If you are looking to go off grid, in one fell swoop, 245 Watts is not enough for an average family without some serious changes to usage patterns. 2000 Watts of panel "might" be adequate for some, but people still need to change usage patterns.

If you are looking to have a system installed, you can get some idea of some components and vendors through http://www.builditsolar.com and http://www.homepower.com The latter’s magazines tend to read more like a sales brochure than a magazine.

If you plan on doing the work yourself- be sure to get it inspected for a multitude of reasons. You can get some additional pieces through http://www.northerntool.com From panels, to inverters, to controllers, etc. Just look in their alternative energy section.

If you happen to have aboutt 30,000 dollars to drop on the installation and you plan to live their more than 10 years, talk to your power company and they can set you up completely.

I know that kW means kilowatt but does 3kW mean it produces 3 kW per day or what? If my home uses 2-3 kW per day, does this mean a 3 kW system that is tied to the grid, would result in close to a zero electric bill for that month?

Using your numbers.

You use 3 kWh per day on your home
You install a 3 KW solar power sytem. If you only got 1 hour of sun a day you would zero out your electric bill. But normally we get more then one hour a day. It is all based on how many Peak Sun hours you get in your area. If you get 5 Peak Sun Hours a day in your area with the same 3kw system you would get 15 kWhs from the system.

Read this link http://www.oynot.com/grid-tie-only-how-to.html

I’ve been doing some research, and I found a company that would build a 2kw system for $8600 in my city with an additional 2700$ off after the tax rebate. They could do this because of the electric company rebate of $2.43 per a watt.

I determined the cost of materials from a seperate provider for a 2kw system that included the panels, tie grid power inverter, railing, and wiring to be about $6500 but after rebates and credits pretty much free.

Could I get an electrician to install my solar panels? Can I file my own permits? How much of the construction can I do?

You need to check your local building codes for those answers. Some/most city’s require installation by certified licensed contractors that also have to register with the city to prevent fraud. Also, the local electric utility has requirements you must follow to tie into the grid.

Hi if anyone was is a solar expert of some sort, can you please help me and answer my interview questions? Its for a project and I need to interview someone with some sort of general knowledge of Solar power and technology

My Questions are:

Q1. What is it like working and putting together Solar equipment for people who are starting to go “green” and looking to save some money?

Q2.What are some of the benefits when working with a Solar company?

Q3.Are there any dangers when working with Solar equipment?

Q4. Do you think most of America will switch from Grid-tied energy and go to more eco-friendly solar power by the next decade?

Q5. What are your thoughts on solar energy and the effect it has on global warming?

Q6. Do you currently own any solar equipment of your own?

Q7. How often do you go out and set up solar equipment for other customers?

Q8. Do you like working with a solar company? What do you like about it?

Q9. How much money does solar power save you?

Q10. What are other benefits can you gain from using solar energy?

I’m not what you’re looking for, but maybe I can help a little? I’m doing a physics Masters in cadmium telluride solar cells. I work with a group of research scientists.

Q1: I don’t make panels for people. We build small ones in labs using different techniques and then test them to try and work out how to make them more efficient, so companies can help people ‘go green’ more cheaply later on :p the physics is very interesting & challenging though.

Q2: I work in a university, so I’m still a student. That’s fun!

Q3: Most solar equipment has very little danger, but we work with cadmium telluride, which is toxic. We have stringent safety procedures, although we only use tiny amounts (15g of the stuff coats about a square metre – the solar panels are very thin, about 5-thousandths of a millimetre).

Q4: No. It will take several decades; but I’m convinced that during the next decade some techs will become cost competitive in the US. We need to develop alternatives; porphyrin dye solar cells, copper-zinc-tin-sulphur cells or organics before we can provide countries worth of power.

Q5: It’s clean and can produce huge amounts of power without taking up much land like wind power does. You still need backup or energy storage, but it’s going to be very sensible in sunny places. I’ve calculated the heat flow changes and solar panels reduce global warming.

Q6: I have a solar charger for my phone and battery equipment that I was given as a gift & I use on camping etc. I wouldn’t buy any for a few years yet though: I live in northern England!

Q7: I don’t set it up for other people. I test cells pretty much every week though. With some periods of programming & writing in between.

Q8: I like being a student and researching something that other people haven’t done yet. The challenge of the unknown is great.

Q9: Zero, right now :p

Q10: Right now it’s too expensive, but in future it will be cheaper than grid power, and cleaner. Less air pollution = better health. Less global warming and insulation from price shocks when petrol and gas prices shoot up.