Link in that thread works fine for me and several others that commented on the video, so may have been a YouTube issue, not operator, we’re a pretty intelligent crowd here. Give us “some” credit. ?
Solar power is not just for rich people.
- Thread starter Mattb4
- Start date
I spent many years living in Seattle working for Microsoft, Compaq, Boeing and there’s one thing I do know….. it only rains once there per year, it starts in Oct and ends in May. Don’t miss that place one bit!!!!
cs1234
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- May 9, 2022
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- 2,302
They should really put something in the legislation preventing this type of price gouging when tax credits / rebates are put in place. It defeats the entire supposed purpose of the legislation, unless the purpose is to pump extra tax dollars into an industry and not increase adoption.
I was born in Seattle (In a galaxy far, far away) and lived outside a small town (Issaquah) that at the time was really remote. I think the first time I saw the sun was around my 11th birthday. Took some time to understand what it was. My family would travel to Eastern Washington to escape the drizzle but often could not escape the clouds.
Western Washington, and worse the Northern Pacific Coast, is not an area to want to rely on solar power. Even if you are rich.
I lived in Cheeney Wa (outside Spokane) any miss it terribly. Eastern Wa is certainly a different world from western…
Issaquah was a cute little town, I worked in Samm A, one of the Microsoft building over on the north side of the freeway near Costco and Albertsons or Safeway (forgot which it was), lived in the Park Place Apts on the hillside... beautiful area... hi neighbor. Totally understand the sun issues, seems like the clouds moved down 90 from Seattle and just hung there above us at the mountains stopping and dumping of grey for weeks on end... I don't mind rain but the grey for months on end is suicidal.
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Yeah, but rarely do solar systems come with 15year lease or mortgage… many people see a car as a payment, not a purchase price… plus the car gets around where people will see how cool it is… solar just sits there.
Gotta complain about something. “I don’t have any bills in my wallet small enough for the vending machine”
Back when I was a child Microsoft did not exist. Towns like Bellevue, Redmond, Renton, Kirkland were small suburbs of Seattle and the hwy over Snoqualmie Pass was just a single road and not a major interstate. Lived in several areas of Washington through the years and visited even more.
Hated to see all the changes in Washington both population and political so moved away back in the 90's.
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
Back to the OP, and in out of the rain, I see the advent of AIO's to be a major shift in the world of solar. Not too long ago you had to make everything via component and there weren't that many options out there and it was very much a Rich Man's Game. Then the AIO's came out and people could rig up an autotransformer and make the systems work.
Back not too long ago it was an unfortunate thing that people would post threads trying to make small systems and there was a very heavy bias towards the high end equipment. I don't know how many threads I read where people would be trying to build a small cabin system or workshop system, had a budget of $1000 or so, and right out the gate would only get recommendations about "Ya gotta spend $800 on this Victron thingy, and another $600 on that Victron Doodad" and so on completely blowing a budget out of the water and there was very much an air of "What? You're too poor for Victron? You can't do it? Well, sucks to be you."
It was kinda disheartening to read those threads and see again and again the paywall involved in getting into solar. Once everyone and their uncle started making AIO's and MPPT controller clones, that paywall got a little shorter, but I think what really turned things around was the early grid tie systems getting upgraded and panels coming down to the 2nd hand market.
Now granted, I may be just high on pollen and rain, but I remember when theHarbor Freight Fisher Price My First Solar kit was a good deal, poly panels could be found on sale for $2/watt, and golf cart and WallyWorld batteries were THE option unless you wanted to try to build your own batteries and had a 1 in 3 chance of your cells not showing up from AliBabaXpress Store 8675309 for a LOT of money.
Things change quickly. Look through some of Will's old videos when he was still in the RV and compare the parts he specced at the time to what's available for the same money now. Big changes!
Like I said, there is a significant paywall still. Grid tied systems are still something that is onobtanium for a lot of people. The market is getting better, but who knows what clusterf#$k will happen after each election around the world.
Back not too long ago it was an unfortunate thing that people would post threads trying to make small systems and there was a very heavy bias towards the high end equipment. I don't know how many threads I read where people would be trying to build a small cabin system or workshop system, had a budget of $1000 or so, and right out the gate would only get recommendations about "Ya gotta spend $800 on this Victron thingy, and another $600 on that Victron Doodad" and so on completely blowing a budget out of the water and there was very much an air of "What? You're too poor for Victron? You can't do it? Well, sucks to be you."
It was kinda disheartening to read those threads and see again and again the paywall involved in getting into solar. Once everyone and their uncle started making AIO's and MPPT controller clones, that paywall got a little shorter, but I think what really turned things around was the early grid tie systems getting upgraded and panels coming down to the 2nd hand market.
Now granted, I may be just high on pollen and rain, but I remember when the
Things change quickly. Look through some of Will's old videos when he was still in the RV and compare the parts he specced at the time to what's available for the same money now. Big changes!
Like I said, there is a significant paywall still. Grid tied systems are still something that is onobtanium for a lot of people. The market is getting better, but who knows what clusterf#$k will happen after each election around the world.
If you head to the foothills out in Monroe it starts in August and ends in July. ?
KITROBASKIN
Solar Enthusiast
Back out in the rain again.
Columbia River Gorge, ~ hour east of Portland near Bonneville Dam, average 74 inches of rain a year. Lovely waterfalls, Occasional horrendous wind.
Germany is not known for their abundant sunshine yet they are big on solar. Rich country Germany is, I guess.
Columbia River Gorge, ~ hour east of Portland near Bonneville Dam, average 74 inches of rain a year. Lovely waterfalls, Occasional horrendous wind.
Germany is not known for their abundant sunshine yet they are big on solar. Rich country Germany is, I guess.
BlueMarblePA
Solar Enthusiast
I was wondering why you can't get tax credit for used panels? No receipt?
Never heard one way or another what kind of climate Germany boasts. Perhaps it has a banana belt.
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
I was told when I got my pallet that I could absolutely use them for the credit siince I had a reciept. Maybe not so much if you bought them for cash on Craigslist or the like.
sparrowhawk
Christian Prepper
Sadly there are more than a few on here who love to berate those who bought cheaper AIOs and are having issues with them. Some of us including myself can't afford $8000 plus dollar AIOs. So these people either have never had to live on a small budget or have forgotten what it's like to.
Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2020
- Messages
- 20,506
We make fun your English too! You heel!
It's not fair! Rich people who pay infinitely more tax than me get to pay less tax if they spend money the way Congress wants them to!
by a zero.
KITROBASKIN
Solar Enthusiast
From Wikipedia and no source cited, but a german scientist friend of mine also told me:
Germany has about the same solar potential as Alaska, which has an average of 3.08 sun hours/day in Fairbanks.
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
Ouch! Quantity over quality is a thing over there.
Only 3 hors of sun? Double ze panelz!
Pi Curio
Sunlicious
I wouldn't spend time on things like this.
Instead, I'd help out folks that could use some guidance with their solar project.
Simple as that.
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I've been installing residential solar for a number of years. I started off doing it for a home builder GC and eventually adopted it for myself. Think under $20k, but it requires a skill set that exceeds most electricians and the "PV installers" do not want to get involved in one-off consumer installs with equipment that they didn't supply. Why? Because their margins (at least here) are near 100%.
The other issue is that in MANY parts of the country you cannot grid tie yourself. In the closest major city, to install PV, you 1M in liability of insurance to start. That makes it too expensive to "self install".
And then, don't kid yourself, one day the economics may evaporate. My last "self install" of 6KW would have paid back in 8-9 years under net metering. Our power company decided that we don't want to end up "like California" (note, 1.7% of our homes have solar) and they threw out net metering. That self-install will pay back now - probably in 20-25 years. To do it faster, I need to add batteries and meter use out.
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