Solar generator DIY

.......he is a mod.....

 

Many of the [reputable] HVAC GUYS AROUNS HERE are quite reluctant to install heat pump(s) unless there is some solar to help with costs of operation and a back-up heat system for DEC thru FEB.

 

Sounds comparable to the quotes I got also. ROI is way too many years at 100-125 monthly bills.

And yeah, we all know about the tax credit blah, blah, blah. No need to beat that horse any longer!

Understandably, the monthly bills are only going to go up over the years. But why pay $2K over the next 20-25 years on loan repayment instead of paying the monthly elec provider at 1K a year?

Then, add to this the increased cost of homeowners insurance (annually) for the eventual bad weather that will possibly damage the living heck out of those panels. Something not figured into the cost of ownership.......

In my case, I am not quite pleased with the placement of the grid array. Too much shade in the mornings and evenings.

Yeah, I could always cut down a buttload of trees but what would I do with all those logs anyway???

 

Very true, but then I spent $15,000 for a 40 year metal roof. It will handle my loads no problem at all. There are tons of options out there most, don't quite pay, it depends on a lot of things. As JT is finding out as he goes. Quote was at the 12 year payoff point but me don't use much electricity and just get by with 12 380 watt panels. Really need more shade free roof seems the Solar folks have'um 0 to 1 track minds.

 

Hint: Why don't ya burn em?

 

Don't ya mean gas genny is 8000 watts, don't talk about Kw's it is a 8000 watts or 8 Kw don't confuse the two I can confuse myself easily enough I is old.

 

It’s a fancy box with a bunch of batteries inside packaged with an inverter charger.

 

Most of that cost is the labor to install the system.

I’m finding 7-10KW systems for under $10,000 more than capable of handling a 3b/2ba house and the associated amenities for a small family.

 

Sarcasm alert!!!!!!!! I was being facetious. I mean, here we are on a wood burning site....right?

 

The correct MPPT charger will allow wind, solar and a generator connection

 

Apparently not enough coffee had been consumed early yesterday morning

 

That is a tricky question since I have panels on 3 sides of my hip roof; 7 panels on east and west sides, and 6 panels on the south side. So, I never get the "full" output of the whole array at one time. My house is just off axis to the cardinal directions too. I've only had solar for just over a year, so I don't have any averages for production. Add to that that this summer and fall were extremely cloudy (I mean dark cloudy), and I rarely got peak production and my best month was in May, instead of June or July as one would expect. Below you can see that my 8,000kw array had a best day of 49.3 kwh on June 22. My top for this month is 9.0 kwh and that was on the 12th.

I have a 1000w nuker and it pulls 1,300-1,500w.

 

That quote really isn't that bad. I got my price locked in May of 2022. That was shortly before they upped the tax credit from 22% to 30% (a nice unexpected bonus), the supply chain crashed and worker shortages began. My 20 panel array, with 20 microinverters, cost just shy of $26k for everything. At that time I was told a 3-day battery backup would be more than the entire array install, so I didn't even have them quote that.

I did not have to take a loan as I had saved up for a 14x20 garage that I'd gotten a quote for $24k in early 2021. In mid 2021, that price went up 30% , then added even more in early 2022. I could not justify spending $40k plus to keep the frost and snow off my vehicle (especially since I started WFH), so took the money I'd saved and put it into solar.

I figured my ROI would be about 15 years (accounting for the 22% tax credit). But, it protects me from wild fluctuations in electricity prices - and that was before the 100% increase that was imposed in August of 2022. The price was reduced this August and will be reduced again in February, so it will all even out in the long run. I also have pretty good net metering and can roll over the $$ indefinitely or take a payout in March. My bills were negative from March thru October so I'm currently using my overage from the summer to run the mini split for heat instead of the pellet stove (with pellet prices this year, that is huge).

And another little extra bonus that I didn't figure in (or even know about at the time), was that I get paid for each MW of power I produce as RECs (Renewable Energy Credits). Yeah, ain't going to make me rich, and I have to claim the quarterly payments on my taxes, but still not going to turn away money.

When I added the array to my house insurance, it did not go up. I'm probably a bit over-insured anyway. But I would rather be over-insured than under-insured (known people who were in that boat and it wasn't pretty).