Anyone doing solar?

[wrongwayric]

Wind towers. Check all your state, county and city laws carefully before putting one up. Some have height restrictions, some have noise restrictions and some even have what they call "eyesore" laws. My brother had 9 acre farm, closest neighbor was 1/2 mile away and he looked into putting up a wind tower. The county wouldn't give him a permit to build it because it was considered to "detract from the local esthetics of the scenery" So the 1/2 mile of power poles running to his house and the nuclear plant 20 miles away don't? Somehow i think ComEd, who owns/runs the nuke plant bought off the county government. Non competition contracts should be outlawed.

[crockett]

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.

check out this website..

http://www.solarhouse.com/

It really just depends where you live as to how well it will work for you, but there are also some very interesting new solar and wind technology in the works. On the side note to take full benefit, the house really needs to be designed from the ground up to get the full potental.

[lasersailor184]

http://www.dsireusa.org/  This website lists federal, state and local initiatives for all renewable energy sources for both a residential, and a commercial application.

[lasersailor184]

http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/sse/register.cgi?email=&task=login&next_url=/cgi-bin/sse/ion-p&page=globe_main.ion&app=gri

This is the website to look up your local conditions.

[Nilsen]

We are thinking hard about getting a solar panel set up at the summer house. Its close to the ocean so im guessin the reflection from the water will help and maybe help even more when the sun is not shining directly at the panels.

Will be a small test system though. Only for powering the lights on the pier and a small electric pump for the dingy. Could be fun to try   

[NUTTZ]

LePaul.... I also use Oil Heat, I own a single story rancher, about 1700 square ft. I bought a wood pellet stove Rated for 1500 sq. ft. WOW it does the whole house nicely. My Oil consumption is only limited to the hot water now. sofar since Holloween i used 110 gallons to heat the water and house. Natural gas is not in my area.
My stores in Philly I put in 2 wood pellet stoves and turned off the gas. I burn about 3 to 5 dollars of pellets per day.
thats about 130 bucks a month compared to my old gas bills of 12 to 16 hundred per month.
I use 3 bucks a day tops! to heat my house. LOWE's usually sells their stoves 50% off in March You can pick one up for 400 bucks.

Nuttz

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.

[Chairboy]

I'm fascinated with energy production too, but unsatisfied with battery storage for energy.  The losses are high, and the replacement costs plus limited lifetime for chemical batteries really make it a tough sell to me.

A technology I'd like to see developed more is flywheel storage.  A heavy flywheel cylinder in a vacuum mounted to magnetic bearings w/ a coil wound into it that can either be used to inductively accelerate it (when you have power coming from wind/solar) and then be used to extract energy from it when those sources aren't on.  It's a moving part, but built right, could probably last decades.  Batteries have a very Logan's Run-esque hard-kill date.

[NUKE]

The thing for me is, how many people are going to stay in the same house for 20 years until the system helps pay for itself.

There is a company I found awhile ago that will install a complete system on your home, but they still own it. It was like a lease type deal and they'd maintain it all. I'll try to find the website, because it was a interesting idea.

And they would move the system to a different home if you moved.

[lasersailor184]

They use Flywheels in large scale corporate uses because the batteries kicking on aren't always constant, or instantaneous. 


Nuke is talking about a Power Purchasing Agreement.  Basically, they build a system FOR FREE on your house (though its mostly done in a commercial use).  They use the government incentives to offset the cost, and then sell you electricity at less than electric power rates.  After 15-20 years when they've made a decent profit, the system automatically transfers ownership to the building owner.

[NUKE]

I'm fascinated with energy production too, but unsatisfied with battery storage for energy.  The losses are high, and the replacement costs plus limited lifetime for chemical batteries really make it a tough sell to me.

A technology I'd like to see developed more is flywheel storage.  A heavy flywheel cylinder in a vacuum mounted to magnetic bearings w/ a coil wound into it that can either be used to inductively accelerate it (when you have power coming from wind/solar) and then be used to extract energy from it when those sources aren't on.  It's a moving part, but built right, could probably last decades.  Batteries have a very Logan's Run-esque hard-kill date.

The best method as far as energy efficiency seems to be mini-water turbines installed in PVC pipe. You have to be near a stream, but not very much of a stream can create a lot of power through them.

[Chairboy]

Nuke, that sounds like a great system, but I'm talking about energy storage.  Even a measly 2% efficiency from "Source X" would be fine with me if it's cheap enough that the 2% is worth it, but an inefficient storage system that craps away a bunch of whatever I gathered and needs to be replaced every few years for lottabucks (batteries) takes some starch out of my sails.

[Ripsnort]

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.

Do a home equity loan, buy a sky stream. My brother-in-law sells and installs them. take about 7 years to recoup your money, but then you start earning money that the power company pays you:

[LePaul]

What's a sky stream?

If you're gonna plug your brother, post some links!  (I can't beleive Im asking YOU of all people to post a link  LOL)

I'm watching to mortgage markets like a hawk, ready to refi once it gets lower.  I'd like to talk to a someone who can quote out the best system for my place.  I like what Nuttz has said about the wood pellet stoves.  Between that and solar, plus perhaps adding in a Rinnai water heater to the house...and replacing the furnce to a modern one...........I dunno, I just really want to make the house as efficient as possible.

[rpm]

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.

Welcome to page 1.

[rpm]

Here is a better link. Skystream 3.7