Totsie7944
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2021
- Messages
- 1
Hi All. I am new to the forum and hoping someone can help me with this question/setup. I've been interested in solar for years, however I don't cosmetically want solar panels on my new roof, plus we have a lot of eaves/peaks. We built our new house in 2017, right when the Tesla solar roofs were coming out, but unfortunately they weren't ready in time. It's a 5,000 sq ft house in Connecticut, but since everything is new (e.g., HVAC, fridges, well insulated, etc), everything is relatively efficient and our average electric bill is around $200 each month keeping the house at 72 degrees during the summer, etc. We have 4 fridges running; One full-size refrigerator next to One full-size freezer, and then a beer fridge and wine fridge (separate units). I also have a mini-split 18 seer for my garage to keep it climate controlled. Our whole home HVAC is 13 seer.
Our average monthly KWH is 830, or about 27KWH per day.
Recently, I have noticed our electric bill sneaking up, and most of our bill isn't usage, it's all the other costs the electric company stacks on per KWH that's driving me nuts.
I don't want to go full solar or off-grid, but after a bunch of research, I think I have an idea that I needed help with. I effectively want to power about half to two-thirds of my circuits with a solar/battery generator full-time, but like our favorite youtuber, I would probably just layout my solar panels on my driveway on real sunny days, or some other makeshift DIY wooden design for about 1,500 watts of solar. I want to cover at least half of my current electric usage.
Here is my proposed set-up:
1) Reliance 10-Circuit manual transfer switch: Question - can I install two of these so I can power more of my panel? I have about 30 circuits in my 200 amp utility fed panel.
1A) See #2 below, but if Titan comes out with a 2.0 battery setup, I could probably just install a whole manual 200 AMP transfer switch and power the whole house as needed, versus only powering 10-circuits.
2) Titan is apparently working on a 2.0 version of their battery that will be released in 2022. It will be capable of running a 220V well pump, AC, etc. I would likely get 2+ of these. Similar to my question one, any concerns with running two of the manual transfer switches, each fed separately by a different Titan battery? I'm not an electrical expert but got some mixed advice reading online about issues with neutral panels, using more than 1 generator, etc
This may an irrelevant question if Titan 2.0 comes out and I just install a whole-home 200 amp manual transfer switch like a Generac.
3) SanTan used 250 watt solar panels for $55 a piece. Again, I know these wouldn't pass an inspection, but I don't think I need to pull permits if I'm not roof mounting and just throwing a few of these outside daily to charge up my Titan batteries?
store.santansolar.com
I'm sure someone has thought of this before. But the payback period for me to do this based on prices and installing the transfer switch(es) myself would only be about 5-8 years. Thanks!
Our average monthly KWH is 830, or about 27KWH per day.
Recently, I have noticed our electric bill sneaking up, and most of our bill isn't usage, it's all the other costs the electric company stacks on per KWH that's driving me nuts.
I don't want to go full solar or off-grid, but after a bunch of research, I think I have an idea that I needed help with. I effectively want to power about half to two-thirds of my circuits with a solar/battery generator full-time, but like our favorite youtuber, I would probably just layout my solar panels on my driveway on real sunny days, or some other makeshift DIY wooden design for about 1,500 watts of solar. I want to cover at least half of my current electric usage.
Here is my proposed set-up:
1) Reliance 10-Circuit manual transfer switch: Question - can I install two of these so I can power more of my panel? I have about 30 circuits in my 200 amp utility fed panel.
1A) See #2 below, but if Titan comes out with a 2.0 battery setup, I could probably just install a whole manual 200 AMP transfer switch and power the whole house as needed, versus only powering 10-circuits.
2) Titan is apparently working on a 2.0 version of their battery that will be released in 2022. It will be capable of running a 220V well pump, AC, etc. I would likely get 2+ of these. Similar to my question one, any concerns with running two of the manual transfer switches, each fed separately by a different Titan battery? I'm not an electrical expert but got some mixed advice reading online about issues with neutral panels, using more than 1 generator, etc
This may an irrelevant question if Titan 2.0 comes out and I just install a whole-home 200 amp manual transfer switch like a Generac.
3) SanTan used 250 watt solar panels for $55 a piece. Again, I know these wouldn't pass an inspection, but I don't think I need to pull permits if I'm not roof mounting and just throwing a few of these outside daily to charge up my Titan batteries?
Used SanTan 250W Solar Panel | SanTan Solar
store.santansolar.com
I'm sure someone has thought of this before. But the payback period for me to do this based on prices and installing the transfer switch(es) myself would only be about 5-8 years. Thanks!
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