Definitely no reason to apologise. You required answers to questions and ppl here are kind enough to provide the knowledge
Hey, I'm mad and here to learn
- Thread starter randd0
- Start date
The people here are very kind and helpful. We need the TCO of solar to come down and the technology to continue to advance. I'm sure that people who profit from traditional energy infrastructures are doing everything possible to limit alternatives. I found an example of that today when doing research on Louisiana's net metering legislation.
It may very well be practical for you to install solar but i will need to really inquire regarding our energy consumption and costs to advise. At the moment I’m in the UK but live in Australia and have seen massive savings that will pay back my installation within 4 years but that may be different for you. It is late here so will ask further questions when I’m more awake
Bud Martin
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2020
- Messages
- 4,833
32c in my Bay area.
I am working on this issue, myself. It's a long road.
If you want to reduce your bill, you can consider a DIY approach for auxiliary appliances around your house (as opposed to having your solar connected to the grid and home). Pool equipment, outdoor fridges, lights, and fans, etc.
If you DIY the whole operation, you might recoup your expenses after a few years.
@randd0 - Definitely try to reduce consumption where possible. Additional insulation would be a great way to start if it is practical in your house. Trying to schedule your A/C systems might give good payback as well if parts of the house are not used some times of the day.
Take a look around and see what you can easily do to lower your energy usage.
Take a look around and see what you can easily do to lower your energy usage.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
Will take a very large system for over 100Kwh per day.
Forget the grid tie, the $0.13 per Kwh is cheap. For a backup system to run the fridge, you can do that cheap enough. Inverter generator might be a better choice.
As for the window units, are you cooling the house this way currently? I'd look into more efficient units first such as an inverter mini split or an inverter window unit like the Midea.
Learn all you can first before building any system. Conservation is key, when you conserve, it not only saves you money but if you do decide to buy a generator for backup or install a solar system, the system size won't need to be as large.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
SEER and COP ratings?
7 tons is a big power draw. I'd be looking at some home improvements concerning insulation.
Solar Guppy
Red Cobra Guppy
This is a common path, high energy bills spur those to look into options to reduce costs.
The most efficient use of money is to first work on the demand side of the equation, it is always lower cost to do the following than build a energy generation system ( doesn't matter the type, IE: solar , hydro, wind ect )
#1 Home insulation. By leaps and bounds this has the best payback. Most homes built lack adequate insulation, adding insulation from builder standard ( or less ) typically would cost 1-3 thousand. Pay someone to do this nasty work and at least around me, it is cheaper to pay a company to blown in the insulation than you purchase the materials and rent the machine yourself.
Typical energy savings can be 25-40%
#2 Energy audit. Find where the energy is going. This doesn't required any tools, look at the ratings for your AC/Heat pumps, pool pumps, refrigeration and water heating, the most energy is used in a typical home usage. If you wish, they have devices that you can measure actual demand to help find where energy is going.
Heat pumps have SEER ratings, the higher the better. Just replacing an older AC, heat pump could lower electric demand 25% or more. There are newer technology's, called variable speed heat pumps that can be in the mid 20's for SEER, vs. older units that depending on age maybe as low as SEER 4-8. I would recommend you take a look at the ducted mini-split systems. SEER's in the 20's, 1/3 the cost of purchase and while it may take some effort, just hire a company to use the equipment you purchased.
You mentioned a pool, that is a perfect DYI job to go with a variable speed pump for the filtration system, one could expect 50% or more lower electrical usage ( pool part of demand ) without any impact on water quality.
# Home appliances. How old are the major appliances. Refrigerator's, large screen TV's even old computers all have improved in efficiency. See what you have and compare to what is available.
Once all the above has been address is when it may makes sense to invest in Solar if the goal is reduce grid energy purchases further.
The most efficient use of money is to first work on the demand side of the equation, it is always lower cost to do the following than build a energy generation system ( doesn't matter the type, IE: solar , hydro, wind ect )
#1 Home insulation. By leaps and bounds this has the best payback. Most homes built lack adequate insulation, adding insulation from builder standard ( or less ) typically would cost 1-3 thousand. Pay someone to do this nasty work and at least around me, it is cheaper to pay a company to blown in the insulation than you purchase the materials and rent the machine yourself.
Typical energy savings can be 25-40%
#2 Energy audit. Find where the energy is going. This doesn't required any tools, look at the ratings for your AC/Heat pumps, pool pumps, refrigeration and water heating, the most energy is used in a typical home usage. If you wish, they have devices that you can measure actual demand to help find where energy is going.
Heat pumps have SEER ratings, the higher the better. Just replacing an older AC, heat pump could lower electric demand 25% or more. There are newer technology's, called variable speed heat pumps that can be in the mid 20's for SEER, vs. older units that depending on age maybe as low as SEER 4-8. I would recommend you take a look at the ducted mini-split systems. SEER's in the 20's, 1/3 the cost of purchase and while it may take some effort, just hire a company to use the equipment you purchased.
You mentioned a pool, that is a perfect DYI job to go with a variable speed pump for the filtration system, one could expect 50% or more lower electrical usage ( pool part of demand ) without any impact on water quality.
# Home appliances. How old are the major appliances. Refrigerator's, large screen TV's even old computers all have improved in efficiency. See what you have and compare to what is available.
Once all the above has been address is when it may makes sense to invest in Solar if the goal is reduce grid energy purchases further.
i'm at 118kwh/day and that's with me being an energy grinch. we have bad windows (deposit put down for new ones) and a 18 yo 3ton unit that is an energy hog. I'm building a 13.4kwh battery bank system to power all but the hvac and stove. those are the two hogs. I also think the original ductwork in this house has horrible seals and i'm cooling the neighborhood. last two energy bills are about 575 each.
let's go brandon!
Geokilroy
New Member
There are many things to consider before taking the plunge into solar. The cost/reward being the biggest factor. Also what I can do to make my home better to conserve energy.
Led Lighting
Energy Efficient Appliances
Insulation
Shade Outside of House From Sun
Change Your Energy Habits
What we did:
Four years ago my wife got an inheritance when her father passed. She was restricted in the use of the money. We decided to go solar on the house.
In Las Vegas NV it cost about $40k. Talked to 6 different companies and chose the middle bid. They came recomended by a friend. The tax credit was about $12k. So net cost about $28k for 28 panels and grid tie system installed, and all permits. After the first year (took about a year for the banked kw to build up) our power bill has been the minimum due to only the taxes and add-on fees. We pay nearly $13 a month. Went from $275 in summer and $250 in winter to $13 year round.
Our house is over 30 years old so insulation isn't/wasn't so good. We recently had to replace the heat-pump, and water heater. Both with high efficency ratings. After getting them installed we had new insulation blown into the attic space. Big difference in cooling the house. Much more even cooling throughout.
We also set up shading for the south and west sides of the house. Some plants and some lattice panels to break up the sun. We may even put up a patio cover on south and west sides. Another big difference. No more hot walls in the bedrooms.
In Las Vegas we have excellent sun for solar. Sun-up @ 6am -- Sun-Down after 6pm. Best sun between 8am and 5pm. Temps in 100's for 3 to 4 months. We don't have power outages (one time in 20 years for about an hour). The cost per kw is about $.13. I believe we are on an 80% sell/buy-back plan with the power company.
The solar panels cover most of the tiled roof on the south and west sides. Even if it was a shingle roof the panels would protect it and extend their life.
Solar was one of the best investments we have made.
I now subscribe to this forum and am working with DIY solar on my motorhome. I am in my 70's and cannot do all the everything I did when I was younger. When we put solar on our house we knew nothing about it and called a professional. Our system is fully insured on our homeowners policy. If I had gone DIY I may not be as insured as with a pro company installation.
Me Too: let's go brandon!
freedomlives
New Member
Regarding insulation, does anyone in the US put polystyrene on the outside of their homes and then stucco it? That is what we do here in Europe, so it allows quickly increasing the amount of insulation beyond what is in the wooden frame.
Goboatingnow
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2022
- Messages
- 1,325
Every time I run the numbers , I get 12 + years ROI on roof mounted PV. Hence to me it makes no sense. The grid is better technically and uses my money in a more reasonable way. Capital is now getting more expensive anyway, roof PV , professionally installed , simply doesn’t make economic sense. Prices need to fall by 60 % to bring the ROI down to 3-4 years to make it financially viable in my view. ( not to mention the opportunity cost of that money over 12 years )
Your pv pricing is very similar to my quotes
Your pv pricing is very similar to my quotes
houseofancients
Solar Wizard
they just raised prices in the netherlands between 0.50 and in some cases 0.70 euro cents/kwh
freedomlives
New Member
Is this some peak pricing scheme with smart meters? My daytime price in Slovakia is 0.16€/kWh (nighttime 0.12/kWh), but I'm planning my system ROI assuming this is going to double at the start of next year.
Goboatingnow
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2022
- Messages
- 1,325
Yeah I had till recently night rate at €0.085 ( 8.5 cents ) and day at €0.26 , a KWh , that’s all effectively doubled now but offset somewhat by a few Gov cash backs
i'm all LED and high efficiency appliances except for the hvac which is the greatest consumer of energy... we have to keep it cool due to medical conditions but the goal is to take some of the burden off into a semi-portable solution so i can take it to the farm relatively easy in a SHTF scenario. Still need help coming up with a components list for the system if anyone is out there who can help guide me.
Sverige
A Brit in Sweden
Here in Sweden I just signed up to a new fixed price 12 month contract at 2.64 Swedish kronor per kWh - that’s 25 cents (USD or Euro, is same right now). I thought I was hard done by, but seeing those numbers you‘re quoting I see others have it worse. Lucky the OP doesn’t have his power hungry house in Europe or he might be feeling even more mad about things.
The only consolation I see in high prices is it shortens the payback time on the investment I’ve made in solar, so that‘s one silver lining!
houseofancients
Solar Wizard
here electricity prices are coupled to natural gas prices .
there are some folks here getting filthy rich of the back of others
Nobodybusiness
Solar Sponge.
That’s ridiculous because it doesn’t cost that much to that generate or distribute.
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eabyrd
Solar Enthusiast
apology certainly not needed here
houseofancients
Solar Wizard
i am "lucky" , my contract at 0,21 is still valid for another year and a half, but i agree it is rediculous
Well, that was an interesting read, and it certainly makes me realize how lucky we are here in Quebec, Canada. Considering the low price of electricity here, a home solar system would make no sense. I just went and checked my consumption for the last 12 months, and I paid 7.6 cents (in US dollars) per kWh. Average daily consumption: 87 kWh.
iamrich
Solar Addict
I am paying $0.1273 USD per kwh on my current house. The plan goes until January. The new house hopefully will be mostly (or all) solar. The last three months here in Central Texas have been my highest usage in the 16 years I have lived in this house.
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