Anyone doing solar?

[LePaul]

I was reading about the systems that feed power into the grid and credit your power bill as a result.

There seem to be some modest systems for $4-5K. 

Anyone use any such system?  Im not looking to live off grid, we just dont have enough sun-light for that up here.  But from some of the reading I've done, many people wind up paying very little, or actual wind up being owed $$ by the power company.

Right now, my powerbill is skyrocketing.  I thought this might be a decent way to lower my costs.

[Holden McGroin]

For a 1500 watt house load x 24 hrs you get 36 KH hr / day load.

You realistically get about 5 hours a day  with a non-suntracking system.  so 24 / 5 ... you need about 5 times your 1.5 kw load or about 7500 watts to be making all the electricity you need.

I am building a 45' x 40' pole barn, and one slope of the roof is facing due south.

I talked to a solar contractor yesterday, and he said the cost of an installed system is about $8 / watt.

I have enough roof for a 10 KW system, but 80 grand was a little more than I had expected.

Oregon will allow a $6000 tax credit over four years, (1,500 per year) the Oregon Energy trust will pay $2 per watt up front, and there is a fed incentive, but all the incentives seem to max out at about $14K. 

That still leaves 66K for my max system.

[rpm]

Welcome to the darkside.

I'm not doing any solar, but I am saving up for a Skystream 3.7 wind generator. EcoVantage is the place I'm looking to buy from. They have solar as well as wind power that feed the grid.

[lasersailor184]

I'm doing some research into solar systems.  When I get my hands on my binder (which I forgot my key to get into my locker), I'll post some of the information I have here.

[LePaul]

Well that's the catch...getting the right sized system...that pays you back...in your lifetime!

I've been reading about these systems:  http://www.solarmarket.com/frontier.html

But honestly, I don't know my needs.  I need to research that.  And have someone do a site survey to make sure this is workable for my location.  My garage roof faces south and we get a ton of sunlight, so much so that we have to shut the blinds or cook during the warmer months.

With oil skyrocketing, and my state refusing to allow a nuclear power plant to be here, I just want to put a dent in the power bill.  Then use whatever savings into what I'll get screwed buying heating oil  

I see there are two on grid systems...one simply feeds straight out to the grid and builds a credit.  The other uses an inverter to power your usage...if you arent using it, it goes out to the grid, generating a credit.  I like the sounds of #2 but its obviously going to be a more expensive system.

My home is a ranch, 1-story home with a full basement.  Not huge by any means, so possibly a good candidate for savings.

[Holden McGroin]

In Oregon (again) they used to pay you for any over generation, but now they keep it on account and if you are a net generator in long summer days, and you get it back in the winter.

They zero your acount in March and any net generation is put into the po'folks fund.

I've been looking into it for some time now, and RPM might look into an inverter panel that handles an input from your PVs and has a second input for your wind generator. (they exist)

Oregon has a credit system for wind but you need a average yearly wind speed of something like 10 mph.  I need a recording anemometer and track speed for a year and see if my site qualifies.

I am an engineer at a Natural Gas Turbine powerplant and I would like to be a net generator at home.

As for payback, hot tubs and flat screens don't have a payback...  If I could get the cost to where I would feel ok about spending the money, I would do it just to have it.

[LePaul]

Im at the end of a very busy, 11,400ft runway...so I think the restrictions on wind generation will be huge for me.

(Hey, we get C-5s and KC-135s in the pattern almost daily...those guys could keep my wind mill cranking for quite some time!  I could be the first to cash in on wake turbulence!)

This is good info, I should followup on the Maine regs on this.  (Found some info:  http://www.nrcm.org/solar_rebate.asp )

[lasersailor184]

Oregon has a credit system for wind but you need a average yearly wind speed of something like 10 mph.  I need a recording anemometer and track speed for a year and see if my site qualifies.

No, you don't.  I have my hands on a Nasa website that shows you collected data per region of both Insolation (average energy kWhrs/m^2) and average wind speed over a 10 year period, per month.  I'll try to remember to post it tomorrow.   

[Holden McGroin]

No, you don't.  I have my hands on a Nasa website... 

If I were in the Columbia Gorge I wouldn't... but the US Renewable Energy Map says my locale is rated less than marginal.

Believe it or not, a good 75% of Oregon is high desert, and that is where I am… it turns out my solar potential is better than if I were living in Arizona!  Hot weather degrades solar panel performance so we are better suited and my altitude gets me above 10% of the atmospheric interference.

I look forward to your link regardless.

[Toad]

In Oregon (again) they used to pay you for any over generation, but now they keep it on account and if you are a net generator in long summer days, and you get it back in the winter.

They zero your acount in March and any net generation is put into the po'folks fund.

So let me see if I have this right.

You get to spend $80k for a system that generates power. In March, if you have generated more power than you used during the year, the surplus power/value will be involuntarily taken from you and put into the po'folks fund?

Is that right? If so, may I hazard a guess that the Oregon legislature is dominated by the Democratic party?

I've no beef with donating power to the po'folks. It's that "we don't need your permission" part after YOU spent the $80k on the system.

[Holden McGroin]

So let me see if I have this right.

You got it right.

[SD67]

Most states here in Oz pay you for power you feed into the grid. there was one guy in a neighbourhood I used to live in that always got a monthly cheque from the power company.
Then there was the system that a guy who I may or may not know with similar electrical engineering background designed for someone he knew in the *ahem* horticultural business that cost an absolute fortune, but then so did his previous power bills. The power room was almost as large as his production facilities and required as much ventilation and cooling, but it worked well for him.

[Modas]

Welcome to the darkside.

I'm not doing any solar, but I am saving up for a Skystream 3.7 wind generator. EcoVantage is the place I'm looking to buy from. They have solar as well as wind power that feed the grid.

+1 on the skystream.  From the research that I've done, it can be installed for a little more than 10K, with a 1.8KW output if you have an 12mph average windspeed.  We happen to be on the third tallest hill in the county we live in, so wind isn't an issue for us 

The only thing I've found, but haven't been able to confirm it, is if you have a wind turbine, and you are connected to the grid, if the grid goes down, you won't have access the the power generated by the wind turbine.  The only way to have power at that point would be to have a battery storage room.  I'm not sure why this is (why the power can't be used directly).  It may have to do with the way the turbine gets hooked into the grid (so you can sell excess power back).

[indy007]

Grid-tied with battery backup ftw.

I personally don't like going all in 1 direction. Solar panels + wind turbine + hydro turbine (if available on your lot.. needs enough elevation to provide the head pressure to generate a useful amount of power).

All of that can be really nice... but it helps even more to reduce the load on your system completely if you're building a new home. In-line water heaters, programmable thermostat, effecient appliances, z-wave/x-10 everything electrical in the house and hook it up to a PC to automate it and keep things off that aren't being used.

I don't want a system that just pays for itself over time. I want the power companies to be cutting me a check

[MORAY37]

Living in Florida... yes.  Just had the house lined up for a system, though small.