solar energy
 

Has anyone purchased solar panels and have a storage system for energy?

No one yet huh?

Look at Will Prouse Videos. Keep in mind he is in Nevada. Anyone in Northeast only gets 3 months where the solar power is more than you use, if A/C is not on. Ideally with 6 battleborn batteries and running a 24 volt or more system
With correct manager and inverter, you can run most anything except electric heat. Cost doing it yourself is 12K which is 1/4 of similar system done commercially. Need lots of Sun . If you only want to power LED lights, you can put a system together for 2k with a excellent battery. Don't skimp on batteries, Battleborn lasts 10 years. https://m.youtube.com/user/errolprowse

I would imagine in the right situation they have their place. I looked into them when I built my barn/shop. For just the panels of a basic system (doing an online calculator) it was going to cost about $15G. I dont think batteries were considered or even hook up. I figured for the amount of electric I would be using it would not be worth the expense. I would love to have them if they were economical and eliminated another bill, but I just dont see it. I have a customer whom bought his own years ago and said he is still waiting for a return on his investment. As far as Solar City and all of the panels that they installed all over the country I believe they were working off of Govt' subsidies. I would like to see the fine print on one of their contracts. Once the govt' programs stopped solar city went out of business. That business was owned by Elon Musk's brother.

I'm moving to Florida and the energy cost there are almost half the charge that the are in NJ. Seems less effective down there. Much longer payback time.

Thought about it here, but I'm in the NE and my electric bills are about $1300 a year. Would take 30+ years to break even on the system as I'd likely only save about $500 a year.
Probably a totally different story in Arizona, with a decent battery system you'd probably never have an electric bill, but you'd still have to use a lot of power to make it worthwhile to pay for the system.

necdb3- can I ask how much your "Generation Charge" is? ie: 'X' cents per kilowatt hour ?

Just over $.10 per kw up to 1000kw, $.12 over 1000kw. That's delivery and everything. You have a delivery fee IIRC about $06.5 per kwh plus I pay over $.13 per kw in NJ.

roughly half

Our AEP Energy Supplier charge is .0879, we get "offers" every so often to switch, all other rates are 10c and over. The JCP&L "comsumption' is roughly 1/2 that. We have Residential Geothermal & Heat Pump Service, we had rebates/discounts when it was installed years ago, don't know if they apply anymore

I just got a quotation for my home for panels, batteries, installation, and the necessary switch to the utility companies facilities - about $75K.

You guys would have to buy a LOT of carburetors !!!

Jon

I have had a 35 panel system on my roof for over three years. It supplies about 70% of my annual electrical consumption. The co-generation credits I receive from my utility provider are enough to offset the power I purchase from them. In other words, I really have no electric bill.

The monthly loan payment for my system was about $50 less than my average electric bill at the time we installed the system. At today's rates, the difference is more than $70 per month (wholesale prices in Texas have increased an average of 40% per kilowatt this year). It was a 15 year loan, but with the utility rates on the increase, I'll reach breakeven before then. Once that happens, I literally have free electricity.

I do not have a battery at this time, but will probably add one next year. We were about 30 minutes away from major pipe bursts in the big freeze of 2021. If you think about the potential repair costs, it doesn't take much to justify the battery. Other points to consider are food costs or medical equipment needs that would suffer during a typical storm power failure.

Now for some questions that get asked: 1) What if I move? Solar loans are typically transferable to the next home owner. 2) Does my insurance go up? It might in order to cover replacement of the panels from storm/fire damage, however mine stayed the same because the panels are actually tougher than a composition shingle roof. They are tested to golf ball sized hail and wind rated to 135 mph. Additionally, they keep your roof (and attic) from getting so hot which adds life to your roof as well. 3) Doesn't it make my house hard to sell? No. In fact houses with their own solar system generally sell 40% quicker. After all, if you had you choice, would you want a house with a $250 per month electric bill or a house with no electric bill? 4) But the systems cost so much! Loan payments are usually kept below the homeowner's current average utility payment and solar loan companies have designed their financing plans to help the homeowner make the best use of their tax credit (Still 30% of the system value this year) when applying it to the loan balance.

So how do I know so much? My wife has been a solar system consultant almost five years. She is in the top 2% of independent reps with Powur, PBC., a $400,000,000 company in 2022. They are the eighth largest solar provider in the United States and she is currently selling in 24 states. She's passionate about what she does, and it has obviously rubbed off on me - especially since solar systems work! Choosing a well established and well funded vendor is critical to having the job done right and there are many "Chuck in a Truck" solar companies that promise a low price and don't deliver a quality installation.

If anyone wants to explore their options further, she'd be happy to answer your questions without any obligation.

This is a You Tube link to a couple that built a home in the mountains of Idaho:

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...es+solar+power

They pretty well cover how, and why, and how much it cost them. There were a few snags that they had to iron out, but they are 100% off grid because of how far their property is from power transmission lines. They have batteries, and can run their needs 100% from their solar panel setup all year long, even during winter months.

What is the lifespan of solar panels?

20 -30 years depending on quality.
Keep in mind the BEST ones are only 22% Efficient... sooo, you Will need a bunch And you will need to be an area with a lot of sun, high in the sky.
In New England the sales folks tell people "The solar panels work from just ambient light" . While true, they are mostly 20% efficient, and don't produce squat on cloudy days. We have 3 months where the panels "could work" well but thats at 100% sunny days. Paying for a system with only 3 months of "real" power is a tough stretch, But many think they are doing themselves and the planet a favor...
In California they just STOPPED buying your solar produced electricity ( its a miniscule amount they pay now) so people are FORCED into buying a (Tesla) Battery power wall).

I have a friend w a solar company in north east. He’s sells a lot of them but when out alone, no one listening he tells me Total waste of money! But that’s in north east

When I lived in NJ, the electricity cost was near twice what I'm paying in FL. Pay off wasn't bad up there, but for over priced reasons. It's definitely not worth it here in FL. Hopefully, Fl doesn't drastically raise the price to force it like NJ did.

Actually, solar panels do produce electricity when overcast or cloudy due to irradiance. PV ( photovoltaic ) panels produce electricity when light hits them, not just sunlight. That is why the panels are completely covered during installation until the electrical connections are made. Other factors are important when purchasing a PV system; how much sunlight during peak hours of the day( 9Am to 3PM), exposure to that sunlight including any obstructions( trees, hillsides, etc) and the number of panels needed for your application( how much power generation do you need). In addition, do you have available space on your roof or does the array ( panel groups) need to be installed distant from your home.

Kinda why I was asking the lifespan of the panels. I was told by a contractor that was installing panels that he wouldn’t do it at his own house. He said that by the time they paid for themselves that they would be at the end of their lifespan. That was probably 10 yrs ago, so I was wondering if the technology has improved to make it worthwhile.

We looked into it. Our west exposure could support quite a few arrays of panels. Problem is our roof is steep, pitch is near 12-12. Also have several monster oaks that do shade the west exposure for a good part of the afternoon & early evening. That shade definitely helps with our lower electric use during the warmer months in a much larger place than our prev home. Add in the cost of installing several Tesla "Power Walls", gets very expensive for small return.

No trees shading the roof, 3-12 roof pitch, & a utility that will buy back your unused energy, makes more sense.

My electric bill last month was $3.82 and my solar loan payment $194. Without the solar system I averaged $250+ per month. My loan payment will never increase. Utility rates do. We'll have free electricity in about 7 more years. My wife is in the top 2% of independent solar consultants for Powur, a $400 million dollar solar system provider. They currently operate in 23 states. She'd be glad to answer your questions.