Any Solar Wizards here?

[Redmt]

Add up all your loads or take a look at your kw's you use a month and figure out your daily use, consider what you'd need to buy PANEL WISE ONLY to do that kw for a day.

Then consider the efficiencies in play. That'll reduce that number. Batteries. ATS. Inverter. Thosell increase the cost.

Then mounting, do you have land or mounting on your roof? If roof, consider roof replacement before install. If land, consider how much you're okay looking at and wasting.

This is before oxidation, clouds, rain, snow, ice, cleaning etc.


See below:




as much as it is, it also prevents liabilty against others ineptitudes. Most who dont do permits, cant swing legit work.

Well... this is birds of a feather

There are. See above. You're low density, generally means low response.

If you're looking to be up when others are down, get a GOOD generator and an ATS, you're flavor of fuel. Call an electrician, do it right. Be done, move on.

Your convenience isn't worth the risk of backfeeding and killing someone.

That's the advice info I'm looking for.

I have more than ample room. The roof is relatively new.

Permit=$$ or lack of. You nailed that on the head!

We have an excellent 20 k propane generator. It ran 600 hrs last year. We're around 400 so far this year.

B in law is a 30+ year commercial electrician.

When everything gets totaled up, it will probably not be a good investment.

 

[2rocky]

That's the advice info I'm looking for.

I have more than ample room. The roof is relatively new.

Permit=$$ or lack of. You nailed that on the head!

We have an excellent 20 k propane generator. It ran 600 hrs last year. We're around 400 so far this year.

B in law is a 30+ year commercial electrician.

When everything gets totaled up, it will probably not be a good investment.

Since you have a backup generator, then you have a double throw switch to prevent backfeed of energy into the Public utility line...GOOD.

I'd wire the solar panels into the Sub panel your Generator is in. You will have to switch to that supplemental energy source to use the solar. Then use the Solar during the day and generator at night.

A battery is like a back up water tank versus having a running spring that only runs when the sun is out. What you don't use just goes away down hill....

Up until this last June there were real good incentives for permitted solar installs. I got in under that, and anticipate a 5 year payoff. The local Credit union even financed it at 5% over 10 years. The Tax credit for battery and Panels will be i the 5 figures for this year. As for Permit and Grid power credits, the Company that installed took care of that headache. I think we were 3 months from bid to install. There is some warranty stuff on two panels but they are working. My monthly "power bill" now is about $150 over my previous energy bill, but I'm paying for a battery bank that powers all my circuits 20 Amp or less.

If I were you I would have a solar company give you a quote so you can look at the system size you would need for your house. you don't have to buy it. Incentives have gone down as of late but there might still be a payback.

 

[trackerbacker]

Since you have a backup generator, then you have a double throw switch to prevent backfeed of energy into the Public utility line...GOOD.

I'd wire the solar panels into the Sub panel your Generator is in. You will have to switch to that supplemental energy source to use the solar. Then use the Solar during the day and generator at night.

A battery is like a back up water tank versus having a running spring that only runs when the sun is out. What you don't use just goes away down hill....

Up until this last June there were real good incentives for permitted solar installs. I got in under that, and anticipate a 5 year payoff. The local Credit union even financed it at 5% over 10 years. The Tax credit for battery and Panels will be i the 5 figures for this year. As for Permit and Grid power credits, the Company that installed took care of that headache. I think we were 3 months from bid to install. There is some warranty stuff on two panels but they are working. My monthly "power bill" now is about $150 over my previous energy bill, but I'm paying for a battery bank that powers all my circuits 20 Amp or less.

If I were you I would have a solar company give you a quote so you can look at the system size you would need for your house. you don't have to buy it. Incentives have gone down as of late but there might still be a payback.

You're paying 150 more a month now, im assuming that's the loan at 10 years?

 

[2rocky]

You're paying 150 more a month now, im assuming that's the loan at 10 years?

Yep. Every situation is going to be different. Any good solar company is going to give you a projection on payoff depending on incentives and energy buyback.

 

[trackerbacker]

Yep. Every situation is going to be different. Any good solar company is going to give you a projection on payoff depending on incentives and energy buyback.

So how are you figuring a 5 year payoff if you're paying the bank 18k over 10 years?

Are the incentives cash basis? Credit? Tax defray? Combo?

 

[2rocky]

So how are you figuring a 5 year payoff if you're paying the bank 18k over 10 years?

Are the incentives cash basis? Credit? Tax defray? Combo?

i don't have my particular payoff scenario right at hand to refer to, and i'd rather not share my personal finances on an open forum.

The difference of ~150/month is mainly the battery system and below does a good job of talking about how the incentives work.



California’s top storage incentive, SGIP, provides businesses and homeowners in CA an upfront rebate for installing an energy storage system.

This incentive is a tiered-block program, meaning that the incentive values decline over time as more battery installations occur throughout the state. In addition to your utility company’s incentive “block,” your rebate value also depends on the size of the battery you install. For most residential customers, SGIP is currently in Step 6, or $200 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of stored energy capacity. For the popular Tesla Powerwall 2 battery, this comes out to $2,700 in savings.

You can confirm the current SGIP block for your utility company on this dashboard.

Equity Resilience Incentives​

As a part of the SGIP program, California offers an extra incentive for “Equity Resiliency” projects, including low-income households, customers living in high-risk fire areas, customers who experienced Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) events on two or more distinct occasions, and critical facilities that provide services to the affected areas. If you fall into one of these buckets, you’re eligible for an SGIP rebate or either $850 or $1,000 per kWh (more than four times the value of the standard SGIP incentive!) For most home energy storage options, this added incentive can cover the entire cost of installing a system.

For more information on the eligibility criteria for SGIP’s Equity Resiliency incentive, visit the California Public U


With the federal investment tax credit (ITC), you can claim up to 30 percent of the cost of your solar battery as a credit towards your federal taxes. For most homeowners, the ITC can help decrease the cost of a battery by an additional $3,000 to $4,000.

Importantly, standalone storage is not currently eligible for this credit – but it will be starting in 2023 thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act! To claim this incentive for the remainder of 2022, you need to charge your battery with an on-site renewable energy source (like rooftop solar). If you have a residential solar panel system and you charge your battery with electricity from the grid, you cannot take advantage of this credit right now.

 

[Elkmagnet]

We don't even have a school anymore. We pay for it but don't have it.

 

[jpcoll01]

I'd have a manual transfer switch installed and set up your panels and inverter as the input to that much like you have your genny set up. I set up my cabin system from altestore.com the folks there were super knowledgeable and the prices seemed fair. What you seek to do is possible and you might just find that, with some focused tuning you may just be able to run from the right amount of solar (but would need some batteries).