On 3/28/2012 8:15 AM, Pat Barber wrote:
On 3/28/2012 7:53 AM, Doug Winterburn wrote:
1850 sq ft. Heating and hot water is NG. We averaged about 1100
kWh/month for the two years before installing solar - about 500 kWh min
and 1800 kWh max. We are somewhat more careful in turning of lights etc
since. The 6kW system so far has produced:

Dec: 736kWh
Jan: 818kWh
Feb: 945kWh
Mar: 1100kWh (projected since it's currently 986+ approx 40kWh for 4
more days)

The June number should be the max and I'm guessing 1200 - 1400 kWh


Ok...that makes more sense to me now... 1100 kw is a pretty impressive
output for solar.

NG for heating and hot water really saves the $$$

Water heater, dryer and heat pumps are the big ticket items for lots of
KW's.

People are anal about the lights, but you could leave ALL the lights on
24X7 and still not burn many kw's.

Say 1000 watts a day for 30 days = 30,000 watts per month / 1000 = 30kw
x .08 = $2.40 per month for the lights. (10 100w bulbs burning 24x7)

PS: Electrical Engineers may now jump in for corrections.



if you own the system, you don't get a check. you get a credit for
future bills in the next year. i don't know what happens if you're
leasing the system.

last year i generated 14200 kwh, which resulted in a $200 credit at the
end of the year. my total charges for 2011 was $430 (including fees),
about $1650 under what i estimate i would have paid without solar. i
have a 2800 sqft house with 2 ac units, and run a couple of electric
kilns a lot, so my typical usage is higher than yours.

so far this year i've generated 2890kwh, more than i've used so i've
been generating more credits. since my bills haven't totaled 200 yet, my
1st 3 bills this year so far are $0.

you can upload your data and plot your generation at http://pvoutput.org
to compare your generation with others. my system is
http://pvoutput.org/list.jsp?id=1569&sid=1200

regards,
charlie
cave creek, az