diy solar

diy solar

Surprised by energy usage

robby said:
If your grid tied and running an AIO unit it makes zero sense to plan your system around the peak power usage.
The system will be very expensive and under utilized most of the day. Plan your system around your average daily consumption and then let the Grid handle the couple of hours per day of really high usage.
Your electric bill will be super low and you won't have to shell out an additional $10K just to handle a $50 per month bill.
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Not everyone is Grid tied so peak draw makes a difference.

It does to me.
 
Nobodybusiness said:
Another misconception is that is what you are getting charged for also.

If you used 19kw for an hour then yes but if only used 19kw for 5 minutes then your charge would be a lot less.

It does give you an idea of peak draw though.
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Yes, that was just a peak draw for maybe 10 minutes. Been drawing anywhere from 40-70 KWH per day for the last week. Here in TN, thats about $5-8 a day.
 
I am on a tiered system in California, first tier rate is 31 cents a kWh, second tier is 40 cents, never made into third tier myself but I am sure it is painful.
 
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Loadtoad said:
Yes, that was just a peak draw for maybe 10 minutes. Been drawing anywhere from 40-70 KWH per day for the last week. Here in TN, thats about $5-8 a day.
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So lets say your system can supply half of the utility power per day, so 35kWh x 0.11c = $3.85 you will save, or $115.50 a month.
The money you will be spending to produce 35kWh per day may take a long time to recover.
 
WDB said:
I am on a tiered system in California, first tier rate is 31 cents a kWh, second tier is 40 cents, never made into third tier myself but I am sure it is painfull.
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Yep, I am trying to stay on tier rate 1, we are paying a lot in Cali, my PG&E is asking for another rate increase, the natural gas price is also high too.
 
I'm at 4+ years into my journey to offgrid my home. It's 2600sq ft and I've converted to all electric via whole house heat-pump and hot water heat-pump.

My 13.7kw PV array (48 panels) produces 18,600kwh/year and after losses there is 15,400kwh/year of consumed power. I'm generating ~52% of my overall consumption with no conservation. I have plans to go up to 16.2kw PV - which will get me closer to 60%. I could get up to 75% overall but it's the winter 3 months that is the issue! I'd need 200 or 300 panels for those really bad (thick cloudy) weeks - just too much for my neighbors even if I paid the $.

So I have propane + kerosene heat and propane generator options but fuel is not renewable and would burn thru my few 100 gallons in short order.

Overall I'm pretty impressed with how much power one can generate with minimal effort thru panels.... and for me, it's totally worth it. But its the reality of winter heating vs no sun that's just a big nut to crack and that part of it is a disappointment.
 
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I'm curious as to how much the power production drop during the winter for you? Down to 50%? 25%?
 
Bud Martin said:
Yep, I am trying to stay on tier rate 1, we are paying a lot in Cali, my PG&E is asking for another rate increase, the natural gas price is also high too.
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I am on SCE, the rate went up here this year due to the increased natural gas price. I can get close to 700 kWh for a month in mild weather, in the summer and winter I use a lot more. SCE is always asking for a rate increase.
 
Bud Martin said:
I'm curious as to how much the power production drop during the winter for you? Down to 50%? 25%?
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Here's the last 3 years by month. I'm in Southern Oregon with normal weather (e.g. not like Portland that's cloudy most of the year)
If we take 2300kwh for July and 550kwh for Dec, then Dec is ~25% of summer in round numbers.
1675304130657.png
 
OffGridInTheCity said:
I'm at 4+ years into my journey to offgrid my home. It's 2600sq ft and I've converted to all electric via whole house heat-pump and hot water heat-pump.

My 13.7kw PV array (48 panels) produces 18,600kwh/year and after losses there is 15,400kwh/year of consumed power. I'm generating ~52% of my overall consumption with no conservation. I have plans to go up to 16.2kw PV - which will get me closer to 60%. I could get up to 75% overall but it's the winter 3 months that is the issue! I'd need 200 or 300 panels for those really bad (thick cloudy) weeks - just too much for my neighbors even if I paid the $.

So I have propane + kerosene heat and propane generator options but fuel is not renewable and would burn thru my few 100 gallons in short order.

Overall I'm pretty impressed with how much power one can generate with minimal effort thru panels.... and for me, it's totally worth it. But its the reality of winter heating vs no sun that's just a big nut to crack and that part of it is a disappointment.
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That's a hellofa nice setup you have there. Cranking out some serious kw. Nice work!
 
Bud Martin said:
Holy cow! You are paying only 11 cents per kWh?
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That's what we were paying here in East Texas as well for many years. Last year they increased it to 13 cents. I'm always in shock when I see CA rates. But whatever your rate is, wherever you live, it's almost certainly not going to go down in cost. I look at rate increases as appreciation in value for my solar.
 
You know, this is a solar forum for sure. But another part of offgrid that we did, similar to solar, is rain water harvest.
We capture 2000sq ft from our roof using existing gutters. This is ~1,000gal / inch of rain and we get 18inches/year on average. We have 3 x 2500gal tanks + shallow well pump house (pump -> filters -> Class A UV) and the system works smoothly. We go 8-9 months with no conservation. Have to change filters and UV light now and then - but it's not bad.

We even put in 12v motorized valves, so I can switch between city/rain by a rocker switch in the kitchen - easy :)
1675305496062.png
 
OffGridInTheCity said:
You know, this is a solar forum for sure. But another part of offgrid that we did, similar to solar, is rain water harvest.
We capture 2000sq ft from our roof. This is 1,000gal / inch of rain and we get 18inches/year on average. We have 3 x 2500gal tanks + shallow well pump house (pump -> filters -> Class A UV) and the system works smoothly as shallow well pump components are widely available / easy to run. We go 8-9 months with no conservation on this. Just have to change some filters and UV light now and then.

We even put in 12v motorized valves, so I can switch between city/rain by a rocker switch in the kitchen - easy :)
Click to expand...
We were making serious plans to capture rainwater off half my shop roof and the wing off one side - about 4000 sf of metal roof. Then we had the drought last summer and went 5 months with a total of one inch of rain. We run cattle so I gotta have water and I realized that money might be better invested in a deep well. We were fortunate and never lost service from the community water company that serves this area, but I can't count on it. So a well is on the agenda in the next year or so. I may circle back to the rainwater later. I like the concept in general.

Maybe if we get a well I can rig up some solar to run it.
 
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