SOLAR POWER

[Snook]

I've been seeing many websites promoting DIY Solar Power. We indoor growers and now, those motivated to purchase electrically powered vehicles, would/could benifit grately from solar power. Does any one use solar power? I've read that solar panels (system) can be purchased and installed for numbers like $12,000 to MANY more thousands of dollars. I do not have that kind of money lying around and at my age (60s) the ROI would never come to zero, in my lifetime, and is not advantagious to me. But DIY solar has potential, as I see it. ICMag is for real people (not you, LEO, you just tug on the publics balls) so do any of you know of a DIY solar system that is actually DIY and works?

 

[Bmw1000c]

And if it works, how much would the DIY version cost?

 

[greenpinky]

I wish, there is a few micro growers that use small solar panels. But I haven't seen anything big enough to do 5kw or better

 

[billy_big_bud!]

if i. ahem! when i build a house there is no way i wouldnt go solar. it is ludicris not to.

 

[SeaMaiden]

I don't. This last summer we had our entire home converted to solar, 12KW array with an 8KW back-up gennie. We're tied to the grid, using the grid as our power storage instead of having to install a battery bank. I won't mention in an open forum what it cost us, but it's a 15yr loan (California Homebuyers Fund, energy retrofit program funded by Obama's federal stimulus funds) and once it's paid off we own the system outright.

Because we went this route there was not a single aspect about the project that was DIY, but our loan payment (@ 0%APR) is the same as an average PG&E bill.

There is a LOT to know about going solar, and most of it has to do with the tangle of laws that make it so difficult to convert yourself from utility company power to generating your own. The final approval for our project came not from the government, not from the lending program, but from PG&E.

 

[Iron_Lion]

I'd love to deck my house out in panels but it's far too expensive an endeavor right now.
The sick thing is, is the power companies don't really want to you be energy independent. The power company wants to be green and own fields full of panels to generate power to sell to you but don't want it to be the other way around.

Another cheaper option is to just get a small array large enough to run your water heater, dryer or electric stove, you'd be amazed at how much you save by just taking your biggest power sucking appliances off the grid.

 

[Snook]

And if it works, how much would the DIY version cost?

^^^EXACTLY! And greenpinky: there is a few micro growers that use small solar panels< who?? where? And seamaden: There is a LOT to know about going solar.. can you shed some light?? < how much is the average PG&E bill?? I live in Florida. I'll go for the cheaper version, Ironlion... if it works... No one uses them?? Even a small array? Cut costs, not eliminate them, totally. but totally would be good...

 

[HempKat]

I've been seeing many websites promoting DIY Solar Power. We indoor growers and now, those motivated to purchase electrically powered vehicles, would/could benifit grately from solar power. Does any one use solar power? I've read that solar panels (system) can be purchased and installed for numbers like $12,000 to MANY more thousands of dollars. I do not have that kind of money lying around and at my age (60s) the ROI would never come to zero, in my lifetime, and is not advantagious to me. But DIY solar has potential, as I see it. ICMag is for real people (not you, LEO, you just tug on the publics balls) so do any of you know of a DIY solar system that is actually DIY and works?

I don't know of any DIY systems but I do know in recent years the cost of solar has been declining (down about 13% from last year) also that with the dropping in prices more options are available such as leasing.

 

[greenpinky]

Ya I cant find the link to that micro grow but it was a cfl grow and the guy lived three miles to the nearest power line.it was amazing the guy was pulling 20g a week off of 4cfls 20w I think. But they sell panels on e bay and u got to remember that guy that got the house set up. He has 15yrs to pay it off, ha ha I don't think ur panels will hold up 15yrs. And if u want to be able to sell power back to the power company u half to go threw them

 

[Scottish Research]

"I won't mention in an open forum what it cost us, but it's a 15yr loan"

This about sums it up.


R.Fortune

 

[HempKat]

"I won't mention in an open forum what it cost us, but it's a 15yr loan"

This about sums it up.


R.Fortune

Not necessarily, not everyone needs a 12KW array many could get by on less then half that.

 

[Donald Mallard]

Not necessarily, not everyone needs a 12KW array many could get by on less then half that.

absolutely ,,
we have 3 kw and still receive a cheque from the electric company ,

the only drawback in australia is we can only have max 5 kw ,
a plus is they pay us 3 x what power is worth for our green power..

 

[Snook]

I don't know of any DIY systems but I do know in recent years the cost of solar has been declining (down about 13% from last year) also that with the dropping in prices more options are available such as leasing.

greenpinky: I've never given panel 'lifetime' a thought.. your inuendo is they do not last 15 years.. What happens to them? How do they deteriorate? What is the life expectancy of them?
Leasing? Never gave that it a thought either... I'd think the leasing companies know the life expectancy. 13% (down going costs) of $12K is almost $1600 and if one takes energy rebates (given by the local power company) which I have no idea what that would amount to, lets say another $1600, that would make that $12K investment under $10K.. my average bill is about $250 so approximatly 4 years of $250 payments (plus intrest, if there is any).. approx 4 years to smaller, if not no energy bills... add the fact that energy prices are rising, might not be crazy investment.. and like you said, not everyone needs MAX array... I want to know more... how does one know who the best makers/distributors/installers of solar panels are? How much is too much to pay?

 

[rives]

Check out Home Power magazine, both on-line and print versions. The cost of alternate energy isn't competitive if you have reasonable access to the utility. I have both back-up generators and a back up battery-based inverter system with automatic switching, but it is because we have such frequent power outages.

In answer to your question, the life of solar panels is usually considered to be 20 years. Also, their output diminishes over time.


http://homepower.com/home/

 

[foomar]

Subsidised installation and crazy high green energy buyback prices made it popular in the UK till it was oversubscibed and policy changed.

Effectively , if you had ten grand invested anywhere else you were garanteed a much better return on solar , people were borrowing at 8% and still in the money.

Spoke recently to a guy who has installed systems locally for one of the bigger players , says they really have a MTBF of ten years in UK midlands and efficiency drops below 70% of initial quite fast , these figures may be nearer the truth than advertised , also most installations produce a lot less than promised by the salesman.



Useing solar to heat water is more within DIY and repays costs very fast , a third of our electric consumption was to heat water and a fortune saved over thirty years , log burner takes care of the winter.

Energy costs are bound to increase every year in real terms , even paying for an installation must make sense , simple proven tec.

 

[hup234]

In Hawaii a system that kicks out 600kw a month costs $18,000 installed tax credits cover 65% about $12,000 so out of pocket is $6000...now I just need 6 large...

 

[cvk]

I wish, there is a few micro growers that use small solar panels. But I haven't seen anything big enough to do 5kw or better

Check out Schott Solar I am running 10k all day every day

 

[supermanlives]

solar has come a long way. there are several promising tecnology. they make that shit in rolls now. applied like shingles sort of. i been considering solar for a while now here. back east we had solar and wind power setup.

 

[huligun]

I don't care how cheap solar panels are getting. A panel that is about a meter square is 60 watts on a good day. Unless you live someplace with a lot of good days you are in trouble and you will still need a lot of panels. Now you make DC with a solar panel and generally have to convert (invert is the correct term actually) that to AC for most of our commercially available lighting fixtures. Inverters are not that good with inductive loads, like ballast and whatnot. A lot of power is wasted on inductive loads. Then there are the batteries. You have to store the power you generate with solar panels. That means a wall of batteries, lead and acid making hydrogen and oxygen in the charging process (both flammable and possible explosive in concentrations). You want to make sure your batteries are vented well to make sure you don't make your home into a bomb. There are a lot more reasons why these would not work for growing, especially high intensity discharge light growing, but I think I made my point. Not worth it to even try.

 

[Snook]

WOW! Now this is what I'm looking for... great replies.. thank you all... first, living in Florida, yes, we do have many, many 'good' days of sun, huligan, second, I'm not thinking batteries and trying to get away from the power company completely,like Iron_Lion said, so a 50% reduction in power bill over a year... utoh! on that return on investment that I spoke about before, just became longer if the panels degrade to 70% relitivly quickly. Now, I like what you are saying: hup234 >In Hawaii a system that kicks out 600kw a month costs $18,000 installed tax credits cover 65% about $12,000 so out of pocket is $6000...now I just need 6 large... Will 600Kw power most of my home? I will check out 'home power.. (thanks for the link, rives) but what does : The cost of alternate energy isn't competitive if you have reasonable access to the utility. mean? also Schott solar, cvk. 10K all day. Humm.. 600Kw/month vs 10K/day?? straight math: 10K a day is 3000Kw/ month? If it were $6K total, I might jump in. Does one need permitts for these installations? How would I find out about tax credits? Thanks again, all.. BTW, foomar, MTBF <what is this? I must go look at utilty bill, never looked a Kw vs dollars b4.