A question about solar panels

[4antares]

I'm seconding the recommendation of Gexpro. Scott is great and their prices are better than anything I could find online or anywhere else.
Also of interest on the topic is that Elon Musk of Tesla fame is investing heavily in the development and mass production of lithium ion storage batteries for renewable energy systems which could totally change solar battery storage.

life is short. enjoy it

[bluesboy]

quote:

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Originally posted by HPPGuy

Thanks everyone, there is a lot to mull over here but a good start! I don't think going totally off the grid with solar would be a good option for us. We have visitors frequently and I would just feel better having regular electricity in additional to solar, just in case.

I think I am going to call Solarman as Big_Island suggested and see what he suggests and start from there.

thanks again!!

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You would just feel better about throwing away money? I envy you!

[PaulW]

You don't think $20 a month is worth it for the convenience of being tied in to the grid?
As he said, he gets visitors. What else would you suggest, buying a generator?

[Delta9r]

Tying into HELCO's "grid" will prove to be problematic given their current stance of "our systems cannot handle the increased load" presented by net metering PV systems.
The insurance alone will greatly exceed the cost of a good PV setup.

Regarding generators, not all are created equal. The crap generators for sale locally are nearly always high RPM gasoline type, and they are naturally more prone to mechanical failure compared to low RPM diesel powered sets.
If you bought a single cylinder, low RPM, diesel powered genset, you can have an excellent backup for high draw appliances at an operating cost which is competitive with HELCO's present price of nearly $0.50 per Kwh.

Even if your electric bill is as low as $75 monthly, the aggregate cost exceeds what it would cost to buy new batteries every five years.

As for any supposed "benefit" to being gouged by HELCO and their tendency for power outages every time the wind blows or a car takes out a power pole, I see no advantage over a stand alone PV system. Then there are the voltage spikes and sags for which HELCO refuses to take any responsibility. I would much rather be responsible for my own power generation than be at the mercy of HELCO.

"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."

[ericlp]

Still debating Solar. My power bill fluctuates between 50-70 a month. Hard to reason sometimes solar. I have a friend with a propane fridge and he says it eats up 1 4 gallon tank every 3 weeks. Sounds like one would just be switching paying helco for a propane bill. Granted I cook and shower with propane (why power bills is so low) but even at that, we can eek out about 4-5 months on the shower and 2 months on cooking. So every six months we use about 20 gallons or 80 bucks worth of propane. Around 12 bucks a month for gas.

Because our fridge is / was the most efficient I could find at HomeDepot/Sears @ 1KW a day. It's the biggest power consumption we have. I run around 3KW a day and the fridge alone is sucking down a third of that. The rest is cooking with a rice maker, Vitamix Blender makes the lights dim. I sometimes wonder if a solar setup would handle making smoothies? I'm not sure how are washer and microwave would work out on solar. I hear so many things that can't be run off of solar. But point I was originally trying to make was getting back to the refrigerator, one might consider looking at stone cold here in Hawaiian Beaches that sells a smaller fridge that 10CUFT (doable) that according to him says will run at half of my fridge .5 KW or just 500 watts per day.
Might be worth it vs a propane fridge. Unless there is something wrong with my friends fridge and you can get a 4 gallon tank to last 2-3 months?

[Guest]

Im a little torn on this... yes, if your elec bill is $75 or more a month, than having to replace batteries every 5 years is cheaper.

But what about the 8-20K you paid for your initial install ? You would need to have up to a $400 a month electric bill for it to make sense to install.. (20k divided by 60 months.)

[kalakoa]

Two amortization schedules: assume a 20-year life on the panels, controller, inverter and wiring. Batteries last 3-10 years, depending.

Assuming a hypothetical $2000 "cabin system" + $1000 worth of batteries that are replaced every five years: about $25/mo.

Propane or DC refrigeration made more sense when panels were $8-10/W.

When comparing to "grid rate", don't forget the SSPP and installation fees...

[Delta9r]

I do my own installations & maintenance, as well as add to my system incrementally as finances permit, so my initial installation cost was much lower than $8k.
The new panels are warranted to about 80% of rated capacity for 25 years.
Even my old (35+ years) Carrizo quad-lams still produce acceptably.
With 8 180 watt Kyocera panels feeding into 4 Interstate 6 volt 2400 Whr deep cycle batteries, I can run a full sized electric refrigerator/freezer (1.5 amp), a smallish chest freezer, water pump, 3 cup rice cooker, a hotplate (experimental), lights (LED), flat screen TV, computer, and other assorted small electronics, all at the same time.
I've even run an electric cement mixer from this system. (Less than 1 hour)

A 60 month amortization is applicable only to batteries. My latest battery bank is approaching 5 years of age and is showing very little degradation. You need to consider that the PV panels will last much longer than their 25 year warranty. (300 months, not 60, equals approximately $66 per month for $20k worth of panels)

A $50 per month electricity bill means you probably don't have a clothes washer/dryer, and most domestic PV systems are not running washer/dryers as well. A $20k system probably will be able to run such high draw appliances, but using such a figure is not applicable to my system.

Call me "happily avoiding HELCO."

"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."

[kalakoa]

quote:

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I do my own installations & maintenance, as well as add to my system incrementally as finances permit, so my initial installation cost was much lower than $8k.

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Yes; permits/licenses will double the system cost, and this too must be factored in.

[Delta9r]

No permit here. No license either...

"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."