1st year results with Solar

Nice. I'm tracking our energy useage (kWh/mo and therms/mo) and getting an idea of what size system would make sense. We need to replace our old fridge, which will save us around 50 kWh/mo, which is a decent chunk of our monthly usage. I have 2 years of DEC-JUN data and highest monthly usage is 471 kWh/mo and the lowest is 311. So shaving 50 kWh off of that will be substantial.

The next step is looking at our insulation, particularly in our crawl space. Our biggest cost is NG, not electricity, so knocking our therm consumption down is key to saving money on our bill. I've wrapped the water heater and installed a low flow shower head, but our crawl space is a huge source of heat loss (I'm pretty sure anyways).

The other thing I'm considering is putting in an EPA phase 2 wood stove to heat the house. I've got an excellent source of wood which is basically free (save petrol and labour). That would save loads on our bill.

Glad to see that you've got a surplus. How does that work with PG&E? Do they cut you a check at the end of the fiscal year?

 

Congratulations!! Well done!

 

Great!, keep making a difference and showing the ignorant an alternate way.

 

Codyroo, which Pleasanton are you in? I'm assuming CA given the temps that you site.

 

PG&E would be CA.

 

Congrats! I bet that is such an awesome feeling.

 

Congratulations, I've always wanted to add solar panels and a turbine for that matter.
What is considered a good price for solar panels? I have read on various websites that between $6 - $10 per watt (price inclues all other addition equipment needed) is considered the average price. Our electrical usage is very similar in my house our consumption usually is about 600 KWH per month . If I understand correctly I would need to generate average 20 KWH per day. So a 3.8 KW system would need about 5 1/2 hours of daily peak sunlight for me to be even.
Before any Rebates a system like that would cost approx. $22,800 - $38,000 ???

 

AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!

Post like that make me mad! When I moved into the present house, the five giant oak trees completely shading the house looked like a good deal. Taking a big chainsaw to a few 100 year old live oaks has crossed my mind....but I'll just be mad at the OP instead.

 

ZippyPri .... what a pompous and arrogant statement .... you must be one of the chosen few

 

Unfortunately, 100 year oaks get mighty big and can cover a lot more than a house. Also. Freestanding solar needs a lot of special considerations for hurricane winds. There are plans afoot for a solar future, but probably not in the present house.

It's hard to argue with the right answer, even harder when coming from an "motivating" source. (I was looking for the politically correct word for hottie, but there does not appear to be one.)

 

bah, PC is for tossers.

 

Codyroo,

Thanks for the info. How much area do the panels cover?

I've found the solar sizing info on the web to be ridiculously obtuse rather than helpful. Doesn't the industry have any clue? I mean how hard would it be to say an X square foot system in your location is anticipated to produce Y kwh on average? (Yes, I understand about exposures and angles and geographic location, but the "sizing software" doesn't seem to do the most basic, obvious things.)

 

Codyroo,

Thanks for the additional details. That's about the size I figured it would take to produce that much juice. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the effective cost can be cut in half in the next few years so that solar panels will become a desirable standard item in new construction. Paying an extra $10,000-15,000 in the original construction would not be much of a hurdle since the return would probably exceed the additional finance cost--depending on the local electrical source costs. I suspect there would be some combined savings with an integrated initial install anyway rather than a retrofit. (Perhaps less roofing material with a flush mount? Cheaper to pay an electrician for one larger job initially than two separate jobs, one being a retrofit?)

 

you want them raised up a few inches to allow air to circulate, so they'll run cooler.

there are also PV's built into roofing material, e.g., roofing shingles that are PV cells. this is just an example. I'm not pushing any particular vendor.

as a general rule, you want to explore all other options first - adding insulation, solar hot water, energy star appliances, upgrade your windows, move to CFL's, etc. first, these options provide the most bang for the buck. e.g., get your energy usage under control before investing in PV's.

hopefully in a few years they'll be cheaper as another poster postulated, and PV's will become much more common in residental installations.

 

pewd,

Thanks but I moved to CFL's four years ago because the payoff was incredibly short--I was living in Texas when natural gas prices began driving up electric rates (all the geniuses switching from coal to "cheap" natural gas at the same time created a predictable scarcity.) The windows here were recently upgraded. Appliances and AC will be changed as they wear out--I've done some cost to benefit allowance and even though I want to change refrigerators for various reasons including age, the economics for such a change are weak (1-2% per year, maybe 3% if I am generous with estimates of additional cooling load in summer.)

Other than solar the HVAC unit here has the most potential since it is older. Efficiency can be improved but the worst bottleneck appears to be in the blower/ducting and perhaps the A-coil. I would like to use a much smarter control scheme to properly distribute air between various levels (getting "free" cooling or heating where possible and making better use of natural convection.)

Insulation improvement presents limited possibilities in this house, although I do intend to go after the low hanging fruit (DIY project.) The solar water heating payout is not likely to be any better than PV with the layout of my house, and I have greater concerns about it as well. If I did it I would want to integrate it with PV (it would be subordinate in determining location.)

The biggest remaining potential appears to be solar. I heard about the solar shingles a few years ago but am not seeing much happening with them.

(I've considered a few other ideas like venting PC fan exhaust out of the house during summer. Wish I had a good way of capturing low level heat from appliances and putting it into the ducts for recirc in winter or venting it outdoors in summer.)

 

sounds like you've done your homework.
check out this solar power forum - lots of PV experts on that board