Eric. Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I just saw an episode of Ask This Old House where they were installing solar panels on a home through a "power purchase agreement." The way I understand it is the power company installs the panels for free, then you share the cost savings with the company. Don't know the details or where it's available...check it out: Click on "scene selection 2" once the video comes up... http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/ask-toh/video/0,,20577330,00.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Wilsbach Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I just saw an episode of Ask This Old House where they were installing solar panels on a home through a "power purchase agreement." The way I understand it is the power company installs the panels for free, then you share the cost savings with the company. Don't know the details or where it's available...check it out: Click on "scene selection 2" once the video comes up... http://www.thisoldho...0577330,00.html that sounds like a better deal. i'd be down for it since i get a lot of good light throughout the year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Around here (Phoenix) I'm pretty sure the deal is your little solar plant supplies power to the grid, and the electric company actually buys this power from you. Then you buy power to run your home from the power company, just like you always did. The net effect is usually just a reduction in your power bill, since your solar plant isn't going to be doing anything useful at night or on cloudy days. In general, you can't power your house directly with the electricity generated by your solar plant. There are two reasons for this. First, it wouldn't be practical, because without some way to store some of the power, you would be SOL at night and on cloudy days. The other reason is that when your house is burning down, the fire department needs to be able to throw one disconnect switch and be 100% sure that the power is completely turned off. -- Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 There are things you can operate via solar panels. However, you need to hook up enough to run them. The better thing to do (using only solar panels) is to hook a few up in series to an inverter, to change DC to AC, and run smaller tools from them. You can also connect this to a deep cycle battery, then run that through the inverter. You need to make sure you have a float charger of some sort on the battery, though. This is usually good for some hand power tools, but not the 220v Dust Collectors. It is possible to run your house using the solar panels, or the shop. What has to happen, wiring theory wise, is that the power runs into the house main panel, the solar panel runs into a sub panel, the main and the sub panel meet in a charge regulator (which acts as a switch, drawing power first from the solar panel, and making up the difference from the main power. The advantage to this set up is that, when your house is not drawing all that much power, the charge from the solar panels will then go back into "the grid," where the power company can use it.) The regulator then runs to your main breaker panel, which distributes the power as normal. Even if you add these additional panels in, you still need an agreement with the power company to purchase back your unused power. The costs of the additional boxes, regulator/switches, and panels, usually are not cheap. And you will not be recouping this in a mere month. This page is one of the ones I've seen that gives a rough breakdown of how much sunlight your area will provide that can be used to charge and/or power solar devices. This page only handles the US; I'm sure there are ones out there for other areas, but I don't know where they are off hand. I do know that Siemens has an equation they license that is installed in their chipped items, but I don't know where they get it or what areas it covers. And the FedEx facility that famously regenerates power and actually makes money on their utilities is based in California, with upwards of six hours a day of usable time and massive amounts of solar panels on the roof. (not to mention the green building practices.) This warehouse is not in use around the clock, from what I understand, so they do save on power bills that way, too. The average household will only save themselves something like 15 percent on their utility bills (don't quote me on the exact numbers) by installiing a few solar panels. part of the problem is that you need a large amount of solar panels to generate the power, part of the problem is the location your home is in the universe. Which is why I intend, eventually, to add solar panels into the total equation, which also includes wind generation and thermal power generation. (I'd rather use the vertical turbine generator than the windmill style, but that's personal preference more than anything else.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted March 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Most people here mount them on the roof. What happens when you need to reshingle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Then it's a large project... The nice thing is that the shingles get protected from the sun for a little bit.... downside is that there's now extra weight and stress on the roof. Setting up a solar array in the back yard relieves the stress on the roof, but takes up valuable real estate in the yard. Check with your local codes as to what is allowed. Between the two options, I'd go for the roof mounted version, but codes may dictate otherwise. (wind shear, rain damage, bird nesting habits, wildlife studies, environmental concerns from runoff, sustainability, etc. All this is something that needs to be taken into count. Which is why a local consultant is absolutely a great idea, and the second call you should make since the first is to your local building codes inspector.) I can give all the advice I want from here, but there's no guarantee that it would be legal, or work for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 A quick google search yielded this nugget: http://www.find-solar.org/index.php?verifycookie=1&page=rightforme&subpage=&external_estimator= Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 The average household will only save themselves something like 15 percent on their utility bills (don't quote me on the exact numbers) by installiing a few solar panels. Given how the local Woodcraft gets swarmed when they have their occasional 10% storewide sale, you'd think woodworkers would be all over saving 15% on their utility bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I haven't given up looking on this subject. This gem of a blog (and specific entry) comes via a link, courtesy of Fine Homebuilding's email-based newsletter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.