Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
Posted to misc.consumers.house
|
|||
|
|||
Solar power
Quick but maybe trick question:
My house does not need extra-power supply. a couple oftvs, fridge, 2 computers, washing machine (not on all the time)... etc Would it be possible to get solar panels to produce enough energy for the house? if so, are these things stupidly expensive or it is worth the cost? (I have sun most of the year, including winter) Thanks. PA |
#2
Posted to misc.consumers.house
|
|||
|
|||
Solar power
"alves" writes:
Would it be possible to get solar panels to produce enough energy for the house? How much power solar panels on your roof will be able to produce depends on how sunny it is in your area, whether your roof has the right exposure and is free from shadows, and whether there's sufficient surface area on the roof to install enough panels. If your location and roof exposure are a good candidate for solar panels, then your panels will at times be able to produce a goodly amount of energy, but not enough to provide for all of your energy needs. You'll have to get the difference from the electric company. There may actually be specific times at which your panels are producing more energy than your house needs, in which case the extra gets fed back into the grid, and they pay you for it. It doesn't make sense for solar electricity systems to include batteries to store power for later, since the batteries would make the systems much more expensive and it thus makes more sense to treat the electrical grid as a big battery. if so, are these things stupidly expensive or it is worth the cost? (I have sun most of the year, including winter) The last time I checked, they were not terribly cost-effective, and they probably still aren't, although the time when they will be is coming closer. They will probably eventually pay for themselves, but it will take many years. Some relevant articles: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/...244917959.html http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...6/b3970108.htm http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/b...1b13solar.html -- Help stop the genocide in Darfur! http://www.genocideintervention.net/ |
#3
Posted to misc.consumers.house
|
|||
|
|||
Solar power
You'd need to check on your local energy providor.
In certain areas the local utility gives rebates on it. When its a new system in the area (and they are promoting it) you might be able to get locked in at a great rate when sending electricity into the grid. Over the course of a few years the system can pay for itself depending on your area. The higher the chargeback fee the faster it'll pay for itself. alves wrote: Quick but maybe trick question: My house does not need extra-power supply. a couple oftvs, fridge, 2 computers, washing machine (not on all the time)... etc Would it be possible to get solar panels to produce enough energy for the house? if so, are these things stupidly expensive or it is worth the cost? (I have sun most of the year, including winter) Thanks. PA |
#4
Posted to misc.consumers.house
|
|||
|
|||
Solar power
alves wrote: Quick but maybe trick question: My house does not need extra-power supply. a couple oftvs, fridge, 2 computers, washing machine (not on all the time)... etc Would it be possible to get solar panels to produce enough energy for the house? if so, are these things stupidly expensive or it is worth the cost? (I have sun most of the year, including winter) If you're interested in solar energy, you might want to consider solar water heating. That's a good way to save energy and is less complicated than trying to power your home's electrical needs by solar. Thanks. PA |
#5
Posted to misc.consumers.house
|
|||
|
|||
Solar power
"alves" wrote in message
ups.com... Quick but maybe trick question: My house does not need extra-power supply. a couple oftvs, fridge, 2 computers, washing machine (not on all the time)... etc Would it be possible to get solar panels to produce enough energy for the house? if so, are these things stupidly expensive or it is worth the cost? (I have sun most of the year, including winter) Thanks. PA Hi PA, You might want to go to this link and read up on their approach. I think you need to be in New Jersey for this and your post does not indicate where you are, so the chances are slim that this can in reality apply to you. However, it has a good explanation of it. I installed a south-facing rooftop solar system with these folks a few years ago at zero cost to me. I pay it off via the energy I produce and the assigning of the energy commodity credits to them. My current savings month to month is about 12% over what I was paying to the electric company beforehand. I pay 2 bills now: one to the electric company for the net amount I use (my meter goes both backwards in the day and forwards at night/cloudy), and the other bill to these folks for about 80% of what I generate. I don't think that they are doing the zero up front cost thing anymore, they note a nominal up front cost now whatever that means, so I am glad I did it when I did. For me this was a no-brainer with these conditions: no cost to me, I pay net less for electricity month to month, and I did a good thing for the planet. Tomes |
#6
Posted to misc.consumers.house
|
|||
|
|||
Solar power
Tomes wrote: "alves" wrote in message ups.com... Quick but maybe trick question: My house does not need extra-power supply. a couple oftvs, fridge, 2 computers, washing machine (not on all the time)... etc Would it be possible to get solar panels to produce enough energy for the house? if so, are these things stupidly expensive or it is worth the cost? (I have sun most of the year, including winter) Thanks. PA Hi PA, You might want to go to this link and read up on their approach. I think you need to be in New Jersey for this and your post does not indicate where you are, so the chances are slim that this can in reality apply to you. However, it has a good explanation of it. I installed a south-facing rooftop solar system with these folks a few years ago at zero cost to me. I pay it off via the energy I produce and the assigning of the energy commodity credits to them. My current savings month to month is about 12% over what I was paying to the electric company beforehand. I pay 2 bills now: one to the electric company for the net amount I use (my meter goes both backwards in the day and forwards at night/cloudy), and the other bill to these folks for about 80% of what I generate. I don't think that they are doing the zero up front cost thing anymore, they note a nominal up front cost now whatever that means, so I am glad I did it when I did. For me this was a no-brainer with these conditions: no cost to me, I pay net less for electricity month to month, and I did a good thing for the planet. Tomes It makes sense in the peoples republic of NJ because the politicans put a utility tax on everyone's electric bill, including the poor, to raise money to pay to subsidize solar. So, if you install it, you can get a rebate of around two thirds the cost. So, a 45K system only costs you maybe 15K. If you had to pay the real cost, which of cost in the end the rest of us are paying, it would never make economic sense. Oh, and last time I checked the politicians have $100Mil+ of the alternative energy surcharge money raised sitting in an uncontrolled checking account, with no controls as to who is spending it or for what. That is currently under investigation. Home Depot is pushing BP solar systems. You can get info there. But be careful. Last time I checked on the BP website, they are pulling shyster games too. For example, in calculating the payback, they include the tax write off benefit of a mortgage, assuming that you finance the cost. But they conveniently never include the interest cost of the mortgage as an expense, only the tax benefit. Bottom line, in the real world, it's not cost effective. If you live in a area where it's subsidized, then it can be. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Solar? | Home Ownership | |||
Solar | UK diy | |||
old TI-32 Solar help? | Electronics Repair |