Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

series_hybrid t1_j1lplwn wrote

Let's just say that solar costs more than it would save you on your electric bill. That's called a long "Return on Investment" / ROI.

Perhaps you're not "handy" at installation, so you pay a company $15,000 to buy and install everything. As a result your "average" savings is $100/month. It would take 150 months to "break even". That's 12-1/2 years.

But what if your region occasionally has power outages? Sometimes a back-up system is not about ROI, sometimes its about having electricity to run the gas heater controller during a cold spell.

6

Xyrus2000 t1_j1lwpyt wrote

$100 a month? Where do you live where electricity is that cheap?

Where I live the average electric bill (before the recent price increases) is around $230 a month. I got my system 4 years ago, and combined with the SREC payments I'll hit breakeven in a few more months.

You're also making the assumption that prices won't rise over that time period.

Solar doesn't make sense everywhere, but a large segment of the US receives enough solar energy to make it worthwhile.

2

series_hybrid t1_j1m5ne0 wrote

I'm not saying $100/mo is my total electrical bill, I'm suggesting that a $15K system might reduce my bill $100/mo. These are just hypothetical numbers to form the basis for a discussion of ROI, which seems to be the main counter-argument against adding solar to homes.

In the four hottest months, my bill doubled from roughly $100/mo to $200/mo (from using the A/C). I have a small house and I try to be frugal. I live near central Kansas. Power outages have not lasted long, since the system here is dialed-in to that issue. However, a power outage remains a concern for me.

Rebates and power-feed-back to the grid vary from region to region. This is one area where Germany is way ahead of the rest of the world. They are at the same latitude as Canada, but in spite of the low solar gain, they have structured the addition of solar systems to be almost zero cost to have installed by a professional.

This is an effort to avoid building more of the centralized power generation that has been the norm for over 100 years.

1

RicksterA2 t1_j1m9ok3 wrote

I live in Michigan in a 2,100 sq. feet 1998 Cape house. My TOTAL energy bill (gas & electric) annually is around $1,500 or $125 a month.

If I installed solar my energy company (DTE) would be thrilled since they would get most of the energy, not me. So far solar makes no sense for me.

$230 a month for just electricity! How does someone waste that much electricity?

−1

kornkid42 t1_j1mcd4t wrote

My bills this summer in vegas were near $400 for a 1800sq ft house.. Where you live has everything to do with usage and price. I spent 17k (after rebates) on solar and won't be paying anything going forward for electricity.

3

robot_tom t1_j1ms8eo wrote

>But what if your region occasionally has power outages? Sometimes a back-up system is not about ROI, sometimes its about having electricity to run the gas heater controller during a cold spell.

Backup power requires batteries and a suitable island-mode / EPS enabled inverter, which is additional to a normal install.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that you need to think of these things up front.

2

daleelsayarat-cars OP t1_j1lpug1 wrote

What about intermittency?

0

series_hybrid t1_j1m4qke wrote

I'm unfamiliar with the term. What does intermittency mean to you?

1

daleelsayarat-cars OP t1_j1m7v3r wrote

intermittency (intermittence) problem (the sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow), a problem for which there is, as yet no workable solution.

1

Warm-Sorbet3937 t1_j1muk1j wrote

Our solar system can pull enough on a completely overcast day to run the house. At night, our battery covers most of our needs. Also have an EV. So our solar system powers the car.

We also have peace of mind that we will have power if the grid fails. Plus, we have a smaller carbon footprint.

2

daleelsayarat-cars OP t1_j1mvlfp wrote

Okay, what if meteorologists say: that the next month will rain cats and dogs, what can you do in this situation? (If not connected to grid).

1

Warm-Sorbet3937 t1_j1myxs5 wrote

Our system pulls enough power to meet our needs on cloudy and rain days. I have yet to see a day when this has not been true.

But we are connected to the grid, too. We pay a small fee each month to the utility company to maintain the connection. Our system automatically switches to utilty-provided power if our battery is depleted at night. This connection to the utility company allows us to give surplus power back to the grid- which is when our battery is recharged and our system is producing more than our needs. The rate for producing power is significantly lower than the rate they charge to produce power. However, even after covering the monthly utility fee and charging the car, we got money back from the utility company last month.

1

series_hybrid t1_j1mbm3p wrote

I plan to buy a dual-fuel Gasoline/propane generator for those rare occasions when the battery has run out. Here's my plan:

  1. add a large battery and inverter to power the heater system when its cold. Battery will be 48V and expandable to add run-time. (I have inverter, plan to buy Nissan Leaf modules)
  2. Add dual-fuel generator ($1200?)
  3. Add solar panel array, basic 48V and ensure its expandable.

Edit: the reason for paying extra for dual-fuel is that gasoline is problematic in the winter, and propane is more likely to start during a severe cold spell. Also, relying on only gasoline or propane is limiting. In a power outage (which can happen at any time of year), I want to have options such as solar, gasoline, propane...

1

DragonflySharp3811 t1_j1oma5s wrote

Does the electric grid not exist where you live? If so then it would pull from the grid IF the Sun stopped shining 365 days out of the year. Solar does need to run all day for it to generate power also. Within 10 years we should already be at a good enough point with battery technology that you can add it on later while still saving now if you did go Solar.

1