Solar Power for home

[Dennis K.]

Hi All,
I've just started looking into solar power systems for my home. What I've found so far is everything from "Build your own solar panels for under $200" to complete systems that would require a 2nd mortgage.
Specifically, what I am interested in is a system that supplements what I get from the grid, and one that can dump power back into the grid when it is running at peak efficiency. The stuff I've found on the web seems mostly hype and sales gimmicky.
Can anyone point me to some resources that they have some experience with?
Thanks in advance -
DK

[Riverrat]

I have been looking at that for the past year or so, found this magazine to be helpful. http://www.homepower.com/404/ Hope this helps out a bit. Everything I read or hear says to start with hot water, and keep building from there.

[Dennis K.]

That is EXACTLY what I need! Thank you!

[wildWoman]

What will really save you money is just curbing your electricity consumption big time. I lived 8 years without power, no 12V batteries, no generator, no nothing, and didn't miss anything. I know, kind of hard to do depending what kind of house/apartment you live in.

Check out the wind up radios that Freeplay offers. They have their own tiny solar panel in addition to the hand crank, come with a 2 year warranty and really work great. Can't say enough about them.

[Dennis K.]

Working on that, too. More efficient usage + More conservation effort has been a great start.
Solar supplement is the next step.
I can't go the "no electricity" route. My income comes from desktop publishing, so I must have a 'puter.

[Rick]

Be aware of those vampire appliances. They can really cost you:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0926065912.htm

[Ouchmypancreas]

This link no longer works, but I would love to get that article and save *myself* a year of research. Can you help me out? Thanks

[Ouchmypancreas]

Oops, the link to the homepower article, is what Im referring to.

[crashdive123]

Are you talking about the link in post #2? It came up for me. Hey - when you get a chance, head on over to the Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks.

[SARKY]

check out www.Konarka.com . They are producing a product called power plastic. It is a thin film plastic that uses inks instesd of silicon to produce photovoltaic power. once in full production it should cost about one tenth that of silicon cells and is a lot more efficient. Normally the big cost in a home/grid system is the inverter which allows you to feed the grid when you aren't using the power.

[endurance]

When I first moved into my house my average electrical consumption was 240-310kwh/month. Through the conversion to CFL lightbulbs throughout the house, going to extremes to have only one light on at a time in the room that I'm in, going from a desktop to laptop computer, and using a bread machine rather than the oven to bake bread, I've cut that down to 140-210kwh/month. This year I bought a Sundanzer freezer that will run on a single 75w solar panel and a deep cycle battery (runs on 12 or 24vdc).

My point being is if you wanted to supply power to your current needs without conservation and more efficient appliances, you'd spend $15-45k. If you conserve and use the best appliances you can have a much smaller system that may only cost $7-12k. While a $1000 freezer may seem expensive, the solar panels needed to run a typical freezer would cost roughly the same amount. As appliances wear out, replace them with the very most efficient and they'll pay for themselves. Buy or borrow a Kill-a-watt meter and find the appliances that are really costing you and focus on them first. I'll tell you straight away, your refrigerator is probably 20-30% of your electricity bill.

Ultimately, there's a number of inexpensive suppliers if you want to do it yourself and be off grid. If you want grid-tied, you'll need a professional installer to at least inspect and wire (but you my be able to mount the panels yourself with some installers to save money). One place to start is your local utility supplier. They may have a rebate program that will pay for up to 50% of your system if you're going grid-tied. If you're going off-grid, you have a lot more flexibility, but nobody is going to give you a tax credit or rebate... but then again, when the lines go down in the middle of the night, you'll still have power...

[UnknownWarrior]

What will really save you money is just curbing your electricity consumption big time. I lived 8 years without power, no 12V batteries, no generator, no nothing, and didn't miss anything. I know, kind of hard to do depending what kind of house/apartment you live in.

Check out the wind up radios that Freeplay offers. They have their own tiny solar panel in addition to the hand crank, come with a 2 year warranty and really work great. Can't say enough about them.

Hello WildWoman,
I would like to know more how you lived all those eight years. WHat kind of problems did you face, how did you manage and how did you feel without electricity all the time?

[Winnie]

Hi Dennis, I'd agree with Endurance. Your first step is definitely to reduce your present consumption. The other thing a lot of folk forget is to regularly descale your kettle, coffeemaker, dishwasher and washing machine. That alone makes a huge difference as the heating element works more efficiently, it also prolongs the life of your machine. HTH

[sgtdraino]

You guys might be interested in seeing Les Stroud's documentary, "Off the Grid," where he and his family build a self-sufficient homestead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg7EaLIJrBw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZCrP2K5IOM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elpPtuj4gvI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x479Nochpw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTTJa-kccS4&

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO01Sy1yy4s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3KrAEvO2VM

[OhioHillbilly]

My son had me look around for some ideas on solar power. I found this sight one day. At that time they claimed that soon they would be able to make solar energy affordable for most people, under a dollar a K hour...if I remember right.

http://http://www.nanosolar.com

[Dennis K.]

Hi All,
I've been at a new job, so haven't signed on in awhile, but glad to see this thread still active.
The phantom appliances have made a difference. Same w/ changed out the light bulbs. Also, I changed out an AC unit, and that cut my monthly utility bill by over $100.
As before, I'm still running into a lot of Solar Power gimmicky salesmen - lotsa hype about how much money I'll make by selling electricity back to the power companies. Maybe I'm a bit too skeptical, but usually, if something seems to good to be true, it is.
So, in my house, I am the "Light Nazi." I keep ramping up ways to conserve, reduce, and re-use. Those are VERY effective strategies. Solar panels are moving up the priority list, especially as I get more reliable information.

[Stony]

we just bought a 2 year old 4 panel, 8 battery system for $5500.
it is complete with cables, inverters, back-up generator a.s.o.
the guy paid $ 12 000 in 2007 and went bankrupt.
he also trys to sell his 40.

we dont need such a large system, so we keep a few parts and sell the rest.

[UnknownWarrior]

If I use a solar hot water heater, would it be able to heat water even in cloudy / rainy / wintery days to some extent given enough time?

Or using a solar cooker / oven having enough panels would be better choice?

I hope someone has used these here.

[Chris]

Remember, the federal government now chips in for 30% of the cost of your solar power system, UNCAPPED.

Get a net metering power meter and dump it back on the grid if you have excess, no expensive batteries needed.

I would get multiple quotes and compare them on a dollars to peak kilawatt ratio.

Also, on the topic of wasting energy, check out this

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blan...ins=B00009MDBU

It tells you exactly how much energy something is using, good for identifying things that use energy even when turned off.

[Rick]

He's from India so dumping back in the grid might not be an option.

If I were you, I would look at either purchasing and building one of three types of heaters.

Flat Plate collector
Integral Collector-storage
Evacuated tube collectors

The first one works by passing the water through a series of tubes on the roof that are housed in a box. The top of the box is clear plastic and the bottom of the box is black to absorb heat. The suns rays pass through the plastic and heat the inside of the box. The water is heated as it passes through the tubes inside the box. The only thing you have running is a small electric pump to pump the water.

The second one is little more than a large black tank or series of black tanks. The sun heats the tanks, heating the water. You can even run this in series with a flat plate collector.

The last one is similar to the first but instead of having the tubes enclosed in a box they are equipped with metal wings that run the length of the pipe and absorbs the suns heat transferring into the water. This one is a little more complicated than the first two.

A standard electric water heater uses the most energy of any appliance in a house. I would think that would be a very inefficient way to heat water with a solar panel and batteries.