Home solar panels?

[littletommy]

Does anybody have solar panels on their house? I know the ones years ago that looked like they were about to slide off the roof were pretty useless, but lately I’ve been seeing a few houses around with what looks like the entire roof covered in panels. I’ve been thinking about alternate energy for a while, and my daughter spoke with a guy from a place that installs panels, and of course, his sales pitch sounds promising.

I’m planning on doing some research, but thought I’d ask here first, since we have a wide variety of experiences.

My main concern is, will this power the entire house while eliminating my electric bill? I have plenty of southern exposure roof, by the way.

Anybody own a solar panel setup?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

 

[bwframe]

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Does anybody have solar panels on their house? I know the ones years ago that looked like they were about to slide off the roof were pretty useless, but lately I’ve been seeing a few houses around with what looks like the entire roof covered in panels. I’ve been thinking about alternate energy for a while, and my daughter spoke with a guy from a place that installs panels, and of course, his sales pitch sounds promising.

I’m planning on doing some research, but thought I’d ask here first, since we have a wide variety of experiences.

My main concern is, will this power the entire house while eliminating my electric bill? I have plenty of southern exposure roof, by the way.

Anybody own a solar panel setup?

Here’s a thought: call up your electric company and ask them what your maximum KW demand is for your home. My REMC can tell me. Add at least 20% to that number. That will be the minimum sized sonar farm you’ll need to live off the grid at your current lifestyle.

 

[radar8756]

The ones the Power Companies Install for you are setup to Feed Excess Energy to Power Company at 10% of what they charge you

You need the style that has its own Battery Bank ( double or triple cost )

 

[littletommy]

The ones the Power Companies Install for you are setup to Feed Excess Energy to Power Company at 10% of what they charge you

You need the style that has its own Battery Bank ( double or triple cost )

Yeah I would definitely go with the battery bank.

 

[wcd]

Not sure about whole house? But we have three of them out back from Harbor Freight. There are panels hooked to 3 marine batteries in a series it provides power in the pasture and runs a fence controller.

We looked into solar for our home seems like tva has a sweetheart deal that lets them pay next to nothing for the energy you pull from the sun. The estimated cost with a battery tower was around $30k. If you go that way diy is your friend and will save you a bunch of money.

 

[bwframe]

Here’s a thought: call up your electric company and ask them what your maximum KW demand is for your home. My REMC can tell me. Add at least 20% to that number. That will be the minimum sized sonar farm you’ll need to live off the grid at your current lifestyle.

What about all of those solar farms that REMC has placed (virtue signaled) along the highways in every which direction?

I really haven't noticed much of a savings on my bill from these?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

What about all of those solar farms that REMC has placed (virtue signaled) along the highways in every which direction?

I really having noticed much of a savings on my bill from these?

Notice too there’s no dashboard where you can log onto to check to see how much they’re contributing to the grid? Looks like they’d put that info in a prominent place.

 

[dieselrealtor]

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Done, done, and I’m on to the next one...
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[Cameramonkey]

Notice too there’s no dashboard where you can log onto to check to see how much they’re contributing to the grid? Looks like they’d put that info in a prominent place.

Oh, that is THEIR money they pocket that they keep to make more money.

You want discounted electricity, gotta install your own.

And I thought they phased out the tax credits and rebates that made them worthwhile to install? And I thought I heard that a lot of the utilities were stopping paying you for excess power that flowed back into the grid. I know originally it just made the meter spin backwards so you were paid the going rate for power. Then they started paying only a percentage of the retail cost per KWh.
I wont be surprised if they start telling us "if you want to be green, its on you. And if you have any extra capacity, thanks for the free electrons, sucker! Oh, and by the way, rates are going up again."

 

[***Ironhead***]

Just curious how is a new shingle roof installed after you add solar panels?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Just curious how is a new shingle roof installed after you add solar panels?

You pay an electrician to remove and reinstall the panels.

So Id suggest a new (steel?) roof before you install those panels. you want as much time as possible before its time for a new roof.

 

[littletommy]

Just curious how is a new shingle roof installed after you add solar panels?

Yeah I thought about that too. From what I’ve read elsewhere, I think I’d be happier going with a whole house generator like I’ve been wanting to do for years.

I really don’t have any major complaints with duke energy, our rates are pretty reasonable to begin with because we’ve made the house more efficient over the years.

I know the cost of going solar has gone down over time, and I would love to have a self sustaining power system, just still not sure if it’s feasible.

 

[***Ironhead***]

Yeah I thought about that too. From what I’ve read elsewhere, I think I’d be happier going with a whole house generator like I’ve been wanting to do for years.

I really don’t have any major complaints with duke energy, our rates are pretty reasonable to begin with because we’ve made the house more efficient over the years.

I know the cost of going solar has gone down over time, and I would love to have a self sustaining power system, just still not sure if it’s feasible.

I understand, that is were are at. For us we are trying to decide if we do a whole house generator will it be propane. Our furnace (emergency heat) as it is a heat pump, water heater, stove are propane. Our electric bill isn’t bad but propane has been unpredictable in price.

 

[Hawkeye7br]

I have solar thru PSG, and Duke Energy is my electric company. We have 24 panels. Our house faces south and we have 12 panels on the south side of the house (rooftop) and 12 on the east. The west is largely blocked be neighbors trees. My April bill was about $44, the recently completed May billing period put us at $12. My payment to the solar finance company is $144/month.

My setup is not as efficient as all south facing panels. A freestanding setup for a country house (I live in town) is more efficient.

Tax rebates came to about $9,000 and all of it goes to the finance company to reduce our loan term.

I'm more impressed with the high tech attic blanket with technology developed by NASA that we installed at the same time we put in solar. We also added solar powered attic vents. The difference in the house temp due to the attic blanket was immediate. Previously, the AC would run 24/7 in July-Aug and it went to run 10 minutes and off for 5. My gun room on the corner of the house stays cool all day long without AC running. House feels tighter, they seal all the ducts and ceiling lights so no air transfers up or down from living space to attic. We routinely are invited to dinners where others with the solar blanket are very happy.

Because we installed both NASA tech insulation and solar at same time, we can't decisively separate the savings. Much of Duke savings is based on future rate increases that we will only pay a portion of. Prime savings is spring and fall when outside temp is 55-75 degrees and you use neither heat nor AC.

Open invitation to come to Terre Haute and view what I have.

Duke, and other utilities, no longer pay customers full retail price on the energy we put back into the grid. They own the statehouse.

What else? Happy to talk here about it.

 

[shibumiseeker]

95% of my power is solar. But I’m off-grid.

 

[indyjohn]

We have a solar/battery/generator system at the cabin. It's not a big building, it's 120V only, every light is LED. The biggest electricity consumers are the mini-split HVAC, well pump, and refrigerator.

I use solar to keep the batteries topped off and only use the generator when I have not had enough sun to recharge them. I think the key advantages to my setup is that I don't have a need for 240V and bought the LiFePO batteries, which are very resilient and charge back to maximum pretty quickly.

It's not a 15kW system, but it does what I need and I have less that $5,000 into it. When I built it a few years ago, the batteries where about $6.00 per Ah for 12V with an expected 10+ year life span and the solar panels were $1.00 per watt.

I think the house with all propane appliances are best suited for adding solar/battery because the draw is so much less (obviously). As well as all high-efficiency / low draw appliances are a plus too. Preparing the house for a new energy source helps a lot with that initial system sizing and ultimate cost to install.

 

[Butch627]

I heard that the efficiency of solar panels drops off over time and they have a definitive lifespan when they need to be replaced. Any truth to that?

 

[Mgderf]

I heard that the efficiency of solar panels drops off over time and they have a definitive lifespan when they need to be replaced. Any truth to that?

This, and some used to contain hazardous materials that required special disposal techniques.
It used to cost a chunk of change to get rid of the old solar panels.