1. Yes, it's a whole new look! Have questions or need help? Please post your question in the New Forum Questions thread Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Seeing tons of unread posts after the upgrade? See this thread for help. Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice

A solar install story and update a month later

Discussion in 'Homeowners Corner' started by hornerjo, Jul 22, 2008.

  1. hornerjo

    hornerjo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2002
    Messages:
    1,332
    Likes Received:
    25
    For those interested in home solar systems, from ExtremeTech.

    Loyd Case, back in Jan 08, started to investigate solar for his home in CA.
    http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2250276,00.asp

    By May he selected a system and completed his installation.
    http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2308674,00.asp

    His setup contract ran around $36K after rebates, for 27 18% efficient 225W panels. CA rebates look to be about 10K off a 50K system, then adding another 2k for federal tax credit. VA, as people have already found out, doesn't have anything beyond the 2k fed tax credit. Yay VA! :p

    Its interesting to note that he and his wife work out of the home during the day, and he runs a PC lab (4+ computers).

    His first bill after 19 days? $11.34.
    http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2326042,00.asp
    In CA, which I believe is the same as here in VA, you can't make money selling power back to the utility. $0 is the best you can do per month even if you provide back more power than used to the utility.

    Pretty cool, its neat to read how more of these systems are popping up every month. What I can't wait to see is how newer technology in the upcoming years that could offer a 4x performance increase in solar efficiency (such as this report http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/11/2017237) and how they effect the dreaded initial investment and yearly return cost.
     
  2. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2005
    Messages:
    2,769
    Likes Received:
    2
    Do you think that as technology improves and we achieve economies of scale that such systems will become more standard on homes? Or as an available option? Will be interesting to see how this plays out...
     
  3. hornerjo

    hornerjo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2002
    Messages:
    1,332
    Likes Received:
    25
    Would be very cool to see it as an option on building a new home. To me this is all still in its infancy. I think the magic number would be $10K installed for a ~5kW system. Thats a dream now, but in 4-5 years? Who knows.
     
  4. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2005
    Messages:
    2,769
    Likes Received:
    2
    And then there would be no need for a government rebate--it would simply be a cost-effective option that would pay over time...and perhaps be a selling point to increase resale value...any idea what the estimated cost savings would be right now over the course of a year? just looking for payback numbers.
     
  5. hornerjo

    hornerjo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2002
    Messages:
    1,332
    Likes Received:
    25
    Thats actually a question that doesn't have a set answer. I took an energy class back in college where we detailed all this out, but that was about 11 years ago. :) Back then solar was at 4% efficiency.

    Off grid solutions (like the ones others on here tried to get quotes on) are ungodly expensive and, from what I gathered, will take eons to pay themselves off. Grid tied system (no batteries) on the the other hand are fairly cheap (50-60K) and can pay themselves off in around 10 years... but... and this is a big but, things change. In 5 years the price of energy may double, and your extra 5 years to pay off may suddenly drop to 2 more years. In 4 years maybe the technology goes berzerk and solar cells drop in price by a factor of 10 and the power goes up by a factor of 40. You replace your cells at a slight cost and your 6 more years to payoff drops to 2 more.

    So payback is something you can calculate now, but you have to keep in mind that the payback year number you are looking at as one of 'that energy cost will remain the same and the system will never change'.
     
  6. hornerjo

    hornerjo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2002
    Messages:
    1,332
    Likes Received:
    25
  7. kholbert

    kholbert Member

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2002
    Messages:
    193
    Likes Received:
    5
    I think we need to look beyond simply looking at our personal return on investment when considering solar for our homes. Think of solar as part of an overall energy portfolio. You don't put all of your eggs in one basket when you invest in stock right? Well that’s what we are doing by relying solely on VA Power. Whenever the power goes out we rue the day we didn’t buy a generator or battery backup.

    If you invest for the long term, you buy some emerging, less proven stock. Well that’s solar’s role in your energy portfolio. Start by investing in a small home system then as technology improves and cost come down, buy more. Will solar ever provide more than 50% of our needs? I doubt it, especially in our area (weather, latitude impact on access to sun). But solar combined with efficiencies from insulation, conservation (unplug your vampire appliances like chargers).

    Government has a role by providing incentives (more than 2K VA) to help us make better energy decisions that will improve the country overall. In part, the tax incentives and HOV perks helped some of us decide to buy Hybrid vehicles. All those hybrids helped reduce US oil demand which reduced gas prices recently (along with us driving less, switching to more efficient vehicles, etc). With the right incentives more home owners will choose to produce more of their own electricity. Solar aided homes will help reduce demand on the electric grid and help maintain or reduce rates.

    Heck, if Ewing oil man Actor Larry Hackman can go off the grid with solar, why shouldn’t I?

    http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/10/inexpensive_diy.php
     
  8. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2002
    Messages:
    5,358
    Likes Received:
    250
  9. KTdid

    KTdid Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2006
    Messages:
    3,430
    Likes Received:
    148
    I read that Toyota is "toying" with the idea of putting solar panels on their hybrid or electric vehicles.
     

Share This Page