House Solar I Promised !

[tara11]

HI, when we bought our house the first power bill was almost $400.00 for one month, ouch, we have a pool, so we looked into solar, after we researched alot and this is what we had installed, the power company paid about 20,000 of it and it has already paid for itself twice, our power bills are about 50 to 80 dollars a month now, we have all the stuff you guys have like refer, computers, kids ( lights left on, computers left on etc ), electric juccizzi, pool, outdoor night lights etc, so the sun basically gives it all power, during the long months we make on average 17 to 22 kilowatts a day, in the winter with the fog ( I live about 1/2 mile to the ocean ) and all the overcast days we make on average 8 to 11 kilowatts a day, I guess you could say we are doing our part , but it is really cool having it ! I also have two attic fans with solar (small ) panel and they cool the attic in the summer and winter !
There is a battery reserve set up, we did not get, but could add at any time, just could not afford it all, but like I said it has already bought itself ! If you have questions, I will try to answer, we have had it for about 6 yrs or so !
Will tey to post the pics !


Craig

 

[tara11]

This is a Palapa my son and I installed last week, I think it is pretty cool !!

 

[Bryan 2530]

Thanks for the pics, look great. I'm in the same situation on the east coast. Live about 1/4 mile from beach with a great facing souther exposure. Been thinking about Solar for sometime. I'm sure I'll have questions after I think about it for a little while.

Does you state give Tax credits and grants for the install??

Is that the whole setup?? Does the inverter go right into the meter?

 

[tara11]

hi Bryan,
Yes you get all kinds of credits, the sun goes into the panels, then into the inverter, then into our meter, and then supplies the house, on the side of the house that I did not take a pic is a master shut off, the power company has to have a way to shut down in case of a power emergency so they do not get hurt if they are working on dead lines and we are basically back filling the lines with power, our meter is not a normal meter, it is different for two reasone, one we have very aggressive dogs and two we have a meter that is for our set up and can be read wireless from not seeing at all ! Just ask away, I know alot about our set up and the whole process here and how it all works, have no idea where you live, but if i can answer, ask away !
Craig

 

[Megabyte]

550 volts DC! :shock:

Looks like you have room for a few more panels. 8)

 

[Themis]

Your post made me go out and buy the solar energy ETF! (TAN)

 

[Principal Reeler]

Craig...

AWESOME :!:

Al Gore could take lessons from you :wink: !

Mac

 

[dougmacf]

Craig,

Great summary! I've been thinking about solar for the house, boat battery charger, shop and work trailer backup power. The numbers work out less favorably here in the cloudy northeast but that just means looking at additional sources such as wind, passive geothermal, passive solar (hot air, hot water), etc.

A PV company here in Mass is on the verge of producing flexible thin film plastic with pv ink "panels" that would be cheaper to produce, easier to install and much more efficient.

In the meantime...

By the way, what was the original capital outlay on your part before credits and power company rebates?

Thanks, Doug

 

[tara11]

I think this is what you are asking, we put a 1,000.00 deposit, that got us on the list for the rebate, we got a number, once our number was called so to speak, then everything moved forward, we were out of pocket less than $10,000 I am pretty sure, I forget the exact numbers, but at that time it really hurt us, but not as bad as the power bill every month, it is nice, I feel we are doing our part, and my kids think it is cool