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NutmegCT said:
Guy - that's the way it works here in Connecticut. And if you sell the house, the new owner has to buy the lease - or you have pay to have the hardware removed.

I swear, at least here, it would be beneficial for us poor average Joe's to just lease the roof space to the generating company. They'd pay us monthly to use our roof (or backyard, whatever). Instead, we buy/lease the equipment and hope we eventually make our investment back. Buying (or leasing) the hardware from a company that bought it with big state subsidies, and can't guarantee (1) what you'll make on the system to pay back what you've already invested), and (2) can't guarantee what the system will be generating - or even what the system is worth - 10 years from now ... that's too risky for most of us.

Edit: and as Don says, you're not powering your house with the electricity. You're just selling the electricity to the power company, at a much lower rate than you're paying them for what you're already using. I pay 20 cents per kwh, but I can only sell my generated power at 8 cents per kwh.

About ten years ago, Connecticut announced a huge "solar incentive program", where they offered thousands of subsidized solar generating systems. But the contractors swooped in, bought them all within a few days, and now we have to get buy/lease the systems at higher prices.

/rant off
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've done your homework on this deal.
like Don, I've got good year round exposure & was ready to pull the trigger on a deal last year.

But i punted the project to my son (a lot more savvy than me) & he basically said it ain't worth it yet.
However, the thought of getting "off the grid" by supplying the grid is certainly appealing.
 
basically the tax credits are about this
first yr Fed 9Kand state 3.5K
second yr state 3.5k

This is what they projected,take it as you may. The monthly electric bills were with my 2 kids,both gone (Jan and Feb were 130/month), and before I did spray foam in the attic

3rd yr .5kView attachment 47555
 
Last edited:
We had Solar City install panels on my roof in August 2015 under a power purchase agreement. They charge me $0.15 per kW-hr, and have responsibility for all maintenance. No cost to us except for the power we use.

PG&E charges $0.16 for Tier 1, $0.19 for Tier 2, $0.28 for Tier 3 and $0.34 for Tier 4, depending on how much we use. The solar system is designed to keep us out of tiers 3 & 4, where we were normally before.

So yes, it has worked out.

As for power storage, we don't generate much extra, but PG&E has a pumped storage unit where they pump water to an upper reservoir during the day and run that water down through electric turbine-generators at night.
 
"As for power storage, we don't generate much extra, but PG&E has a pumped storage unit where they pump water to an upper reservoir during the day and run that water down through electric turbine-generators at night."

:applause:
 
Visiting Australia about 35 years ago I stayed with family friends. On the evening I arrived I was going to take a shower when they said "you know we have a solar water heater watch out". I thought they meant it would run out quickly and said should I take a short shower? He said "no set the water temperature before you get in the water can get up to 140 degrees in the tank." It was a very simple system. Tank on the roof with a reflector and some pipes. No pumps just thermal siphon.

Looked for a similar system here but so far not found anything as simple.

David
 
Dave - Take a look:

View attachment 47585

You can make one yourself with black painted copper pipe in a ziz zag "grid", feeding a storage tank.

I heat my house with solar (passive air system) in winter.

Tom M.
 
Don - what's the latest?

Got the system installed and cranking out those kilowatts?

I know there are several guys here interested in your solar project, so please keep us posted.

Tom M.
 
It's been running for about 2 weeks
I got my last electric bill but had only 6 days on it so it was a little confuing to follow.
Was going to wait until I had a full month to show data.
I'm averaging about 40KW a day. And I found out I was wrong on the way it's done
I use what I am producing and what is left over is sold back to SCE&G
Here's a shot of a daily production
View attachment 47914
 
Thanks Don. I think power companies hire specialized people to make the monthly statements confusing.

Neighbor has his own generating system, and says he only gets power from it when it's sharing power with "the grid" - so if neighborhood power goes off due to lightning, he gets no power from his system. Weird.


I assume you have to offset the electric savings with what you're paying for the system. Are you happy with your system (installation, output, etc.) so far? Any surprises?

TM
 
When the power is off I can't make power. That's to protect the workers on the line I guess.
If I had a big battery sink I could do it then but until I have storage When the power is out I'm dark

It's still to early to tell on my system but if I continue in the 40-50 KW range I will see the best savings during the June - Sept months when I will use all the juice I make to help cool the house.
MY average daily use for that period is

Sep, 20161657
$255.0550.212
Aug, 2016
302238$344.7774.6
Jul, 2016292001$308.1669
Jun, 2016331775$273.2653.788

So my bill in June- Sept should be close to $0

And The other 2 will be less than half ,I hope
 
Well that chart didn't copy and paste correctly
The last column is KW per day
 
Don - you can also just do a "screen print" and save as a jpg.

I have some details to ask. Could I PM you about the system?

TM
 
DNK said:
When the power is off I can't make power. That's to protect the workers on the line I guess.
If I had a big battery sink I could do it then but until I have storage When the power is out I'm dark
Click to expand...

We have a small backup generator hooked into our home. Instructions said to flip the main disconnect where power comes in from the utility dep't. to isolate the house when running the generator. Can you not do that?
 
We also have a back up 20kw generator, it's fully automatic when the power goes off it comes on, but at the same time, the transfer switch isolates it from the power company's lines. 15 seconds after the power comes back on, the transfer switch shuts of the generator and again locks into the power line. Wonder if it's possible to hook up a transfer switch to Don's system so power could be had during an outage? PJ
 
No, because my connection is before my meter
 
DNK said:
No, because my connection is before my meter
Click to expand...

Yup, I see what you mean, my system is behind the meter. PJ
 
So a snap shot of my first bill with solar the whole month
Well heck with the snap shot as I can't post pics

well anyway I produced more than I used so my bill was nothing
 
DNK said:
So a snap shot of my first bill with solar the whole month
Well heck with the snap shot as I can't post pics

well anyway I produced more than I used so my bill was nothing
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, based on savings, have to calculated how long to amortize the cost of the system?
 
"I produced more than I used so my bill was nothing"

But what are you paying monthly for the solar system itself? And how many months do you have to make that payment?


That's always the part I wonder about.

Thanks.
Tom M.


 
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