Solar power?

[PoorOwner]

Does anyone have experience with solar power?

Would like to know different options ranging from installing 15W panels from harbor frieght / coleman and running DC voltage carts, or have contractor come install a system that will feed the grid and gain you credits.

I live in a more inland part of CA and there is less clouds just lots of sun, was thinking of taking advantage of the tax credit being offered by the government for 2007.

 

[HOTFR8]

Have a look at this topic. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8444

The US set up would be a little different to mine.

Tried a Google search of US web sites ?

 

[rotus7]

I've briefly looked at this magazine. Looks like it has lot's of useful information. They even have several articles in PDF format you can download.

http://homepower.com

 

[1320stang]

I think wind power would work better. But keep in mind, they buy the electricity back at wholesale price and charge you full when you get it back. I know some guys that sued the electric company because they thought they ought to be able to buy back what they sold at the same price.

 

[PoorOwner]

I think wind power would work better. But keep in mind, they buy the electricity back at wholesale price and charge you full when you get it back. I know some guys that sued the electric company because they thought they ought to be able to buy back what they sold at the same price.

Hmm when I talked to a booth at home depot the guy told me the meter would spin backwards if the solar is bigger than usage at the moment. So I was assuming it was a 1:1 buy and sell ratio. I could be wrong though, better check this fact.. Thanks for the heads up.

Instead of getting 10k to 20k of equipment I am thinking of getting a inverter and battery to power some of the stuff like air filtration and some lights and computer in my garage.

 

[gboezio]

One easy way to take advantage of solar power is to heat water, black water panels are way more efficient than the electric solar ones, so if you are using lots of hot water like for showers these are a good bet. I have seen insulated water tanks with hot water coils inside. A pump moves the water from the roof panels to the basement tank. Space consuming tough but hot water is a big electricity eater. Not sure about tax tough, my .02

 

[1320stang]

It will spin backwards, but they only credit you the wholesale amount as I understand. I don't know how it works, that's just what I heard.

I agree on the use of solar to heat water. I don't think the panels that HF sells are going to do you any good as they're not efficent enough, I'm afraid you'd be wasting your money.

I had the option to buy my electricity from wind farms we have here in Oklahoma. I pay an extra $2 per month for this and get a tax credit with it. I don't do my own taxes, so I don't know how much credit, but I figure for $24 a year, I'm doing some sort of good.

If I had natural gas, I'd look into getting an instant hot water heater, they make electric ones too, but I think the gas one is more efficient.

 

[PoorOwner]

It will spin backwards, but they only credit you the wholesale amount as I understand. I don't know how it works, that's just what I heard.

I agree on the use of solar to heat water. I don't think the panels that HF sells are going to do you any good as they're not efficent enough, I'm afraid you'd be wasting your money.

I had the option to buy my electricity from wind farms we have here in Oklahoma. I pay an extra $2 per month for this and get a tax credit with it. I don't do my own taxes, so I don't know how much credit, but I figure for $24 a year, I'm doing some sort of good.

If I had natural gas, I'd look into getting an instant hot water heater, they make electric ones too, but I think the gas one is more efficient.

My water heater is gas right now, so far the natural gas price is not costing too much to run. I put in a 5000W garage heater though, so some kind of solar power to offset the cost would be great. I wasn't serious about getting the HF panels, but I did find better brands that are not that much more price-wise.

I plan to convert some of the constant run appliance like HEPA air filtration or add a small fridge for drinks in the garage, that all run on solar

I figure a very small DIY system takes about 2-3 years to recoup the cost of the panels watt by watt, after that they don't cost anything to run. I also read the tax incentive, goverment is subsidizing the cost 30%, I didn't see any clause that says it needs to be contractor installed, so I think can get 30% back on the cost of the panels, inverter, battery, wires etc.

 

[HOTFR8]

I got sick of the power going off here and not because I forget to pay my bills but just due to power failures.

When I built this place some 8 years ago I got my electrician to wire in a closed circuit that has 5 power points. They are wired to a standard caravan / RV / motor home power inlet. With a short extension lead I then plug this into a power invertor that is connected to two six volt long life batteries. If this fails I just diconnect the lead and plug it into another mains power point.

These Batteries charge during the day from two Solar Panels on the works roof and at night from the mains via a Deltrans Battery tender on a time switch.

At the moment the computer and accesories run on this as well as my fax and phone etc. I can plug most items in if need be.

If the mains power goes off during the day nothing can stop me from working on and if at night I usualy decide to stop after I finish what I am working on.

Moved this so you can read about How I set up my place.
My system is what you would call a UPS ( Unlimited Power Suppy ) I still rely on mains power but do not have to for anything like my computer etc. I still have Solar Hot Water and in Summer here the power is turned off to that. I am also considering going over to solar and wind as the two work well together with the feedback to the mainsas it will save me a lot of money in the long term.

 

[PoorOwner]

HOTFR8 that is an excellant idea with the cord to switch between invertor output and the house electricity, in case the solar system is not work and you need a way to use those outlets..!

Do you have any pictures and can you give me some detail of your 2 panels how many watts do they put out?

 

[HOTFR8]

As I type this I have about 8.6 Amps charge from my two 80 Watt panels to the batteries (with the batteries running at about 13.6 Volts) so I am fully Solar powered today. This system works 12 months of the year for me but as the days get shorter for winter it is not so good. ( Just at the end of Summer here and do not forget Solar will work 12 months of the year as all you need is daylight ).

Sadly when I went to post the photos in the other section of this forum when I made that post yesterday I had them in the wrong format so must look into that later when time allows me.

 

[Down Under Bloke]

Welcome Hot Freight,

You seem to be fairly energy efficient, what do you do for heating in the colder months.

 

[HOTFR8]

Hi DUB's,

Winter I have a wood heater made from Truck Brake Drums located in the workshop end of the place ( 60 x 30 Colorbond Shed ) as my cars are in the other end. The Wall where the heater is located acts like a radiator and you can even feel the warmth outside the building some days. Has to be very cold here to have the wood heater going.

 

[gboezio]

Here's my idea of cheap solar panels, you know these plastic signs looking like cardboard, but made of plastic, I wish I remember how it's called, they use them to build heat exchanger cores. Well I thought of using some of these black panels and these black plastic pipes grooved with a saw, the panel would actually slide in the groove and be glued in place. There will be one hose at the top(feed) and one lower (return). These will provide a huge amount of energy, specially if the are covered with glass to avoid being cooled by the wind. A jet pump will be needed to adjust the flow(not to split open the glued joints) and a temperature sensor need to shut the pump when the roof temp decrease, not to cool down the water tank. This is a setup I wanted to build for years but never had time and the house is oriented the wrong way to get full sun blast. The efficiency of heat panels is tenfold what the electric can supply, but as I stated earlier, you must first need heat, hot water/heating to replace the consumption so you can actually save money.

 

[HOTFR8]

you know these plastic signs looking like cardboard, but made of plastic, I wish I remember how it's called,

Do you mean like the Signs the real Estate Agents Use ???
If so that is called Core Flute and commonly used in the back of Solar panels.

 

[gboezio]

Exactly, thanks. These should be able to contain water assuming there is a good bond between the pipe and the panel, there is some 1/2" thick.

 

[Kent in KC]

Check out thesolar.biz

 

[rwk246]

I think wind power would work better. But keep in mind, they buy the electricity back at wholesale price and charge you full when you get it back. I know some guys that sued the electric company because they thought they ought to be able to buy back what they sold at the same price.

Cannot comment on Oklahoma, but in CA if you go on net metering, which I did when our solar system was installed @ beginning of the year, the meter runs both ways- you're adding or subtracting from the zero point set at the time of startup of the system, depending on whether you're using or consuming more at any given moment in time. They do not "pay you wholesale rates and charge you retail rates" - it's simply the reading on the meter, which they still read once a month, and report to you where you stand at that time. At the end of each year, the account is brought current- if you used more than you generated that year, you pay up at that time. If you generated more than you used, they say "thank you very much for ccontributing to our power grid"- they are not required to pay you the difference for any net generation you contribute; I have heard there is a grassroots effort being made to require power cos. in CA to pay net (small generators), but for now, they do not.