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Solar Power

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I got a proposal today for a photovoltaic system....panels, batteries,
control system....the works. With the subsidies & everything, it worked
out to give me a 1.7% return on investment. This didn't even take into
account repairs & replacement.

I can see why it's not popular. Oh, one more tangible benefit...
No need for a generator when there's a power outage.

But I will be building Mr Solar heater for my shop. I'm buying
components from a company that will help me design it.
The company's owner offered his personal tech help.
 

Altfish

Veteran Member
I got a proposal today for a photovoltaic system....panels, batteries,
control system....the works. With the subsidies & everything, it worked
out to give me a 1.7% return on investment. This didn't even take into
account repairs & replacement.

I can see why it's not popular. Oh, one more tangible benefit...
No need for a generator when there's a power outage.

But I will be building Mr Solar heater for my shop. I'm buying
components from a company that will help me design it.
The company's owner offered his personal tech help.
Does it take into account that oil will get scarcer and more expensive.
 

Wu Wei

ursus senum severiorum and ex-Bisy Backson
I was shocked to find, on a back road, not far from my house, one of these

img_5770-4e35d0a-intro.jpg
 

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
I was shocked to find, on a back road, not far from my house, one of these
One??? They breed?
My brother says he put his on his roof. (He lives in a rural area, outside of Placerville, California.)
Thinks his setup will pay for itself in about 10 years. He turned 65 in May. Knock on wood he lives long enough to see it paying for itself.
 

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
No need for a generator when there's a power outage.
So they say, .... but my brother says he was left powerless for two days (up in Placerville, California) due to the Electric Company's complete shutdown during the recent high temps. Would have used a generator to get him and his heat-intolerant wife through the high temperature weather, but he didn't get one with a lithium-battery and was out of gas. Sounds weird to me, but don't ask me to explain: I don't understand mechanics explained verbally, and barely figure things out when looking at a mechanical setup right up close. [I just kinda go brain-dead when he talks about the stuff.]
 

Wu Wei

ursus senum severiorum and ex-Bisy Backson
That looks like enough for the whole neighborhood. Was it a community thing?

No idea, is not a picture of what I saw, but it is darn close to it. And I have no idea what it is there for, I was was on a back road and saw it. It appears to be in someones backyard.
 

Wu Wei

ursus senum severiorum and ex-Bisy Backson
One??? They breed?
My brother says he put his on his roof. (He lives in a rural area, outside of Placerville, California.)
Thinks his setup will pay for itself in about 10 years. He turned 65 in May. Knock on wood he lives long enough to see it paying for itself.

We looked into it, but we will not be in this house long enough for us to get much from it, and I have giant trees around my house, so....
 

Daemon Sophic

Avatar in flux
One??? They breed?
My brother says he put his on his roof. (He lives in a rural area, outside of Placerville, California.)
Thinks his setup will pay for itself in about 10 years. He turned 65 in May. Knock on wood he lives long enough to see it paying for itself.
Of course if he sells the house, then he could get most or all of the investment costs back in the sale.
$$:D$$
So they say, .... but my brother says he was left powerless for two days (up in Placerville, California) due to the Electric Company's complete shutdown during the recent high temps. Would have used a generator to get him and his heat-intolerant wife through the high temperature weather, but he didn't get one with a lithium-battery and was out of gas. Sounds weird to me, but don't ask me to explain: I don't understand mechanics explained verbally, and barely figure things out when looking at a mechanical setup right up close. [I just kinda go brain-dead when he talks about the stuff.]
No battery = No stored energy. So he only gets power to his house minute by minute while the sun is shining. (The wildfire smoke is probably not so good for his solar panels too.). :(
 

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
(The wildfire smoke is probably not so good for his solar panels too.)
Yeah, so he said. Said he was getting about 50 KW thingamajiggies on sunny days, until the fires, when power production dropped to 30-40 KW thingamajiggies, ... and he's not even real close to a fire.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
We had panels.fitted when we bought bought the house. There were all sorts of subsidies, a government subsidy of 60%, interest free finance, tax break (couldn't use that because we were taxed in the UK) and the icing on the cake, the electricity provider bought any unused solar power generated at 3 1/2 times (yes three and half times) the meter rate.

We bought the house but only lived here for 6 weeks per year until we sold up in the UK some 5 years later.

Before we moved in the system was paid for.

Unfortunately the high divided for green energy ended soon after we moved here but still, we generate enough in the sunshine season to pay for any extra needed during the cold months with s bit to spare.

We have had a couple of outages, power cut and our own high demand drained the batteries. A learning curve to discover how long the batteries last.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
Of course if he sells the house, then he could get most or all of the investment costs back in the sale.
$$:D$$
No battery = No stored energy. So he only gets power to his house minute by minute while the sun is shining. (The wildfire smoke is probably not so good for his solar panels too.). :(

Not good at night too. Lack of lightning could be a problem
 

bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
I got a proposal today for a photovoltaic system....panels, batteries,
control system....the works. With the subsidies & everything, it worked
out to give me a 1.7% return on investment. This didn't even take into
account repairs & replacement.

I can see why it's not popular. Oh, one more tangible benefit...
No need for a generator when there's a power outage.

But I will be building Mr Solar heater for my shop. I'm buying
components from a company that will help me design it.
The company's owner offered his personal tech help.

You got lucky for me, I couldn't use the electricity with a power outage because it would cause a danger feeding back into the lines. So power collection would be shut down until, I got a feed from Utilities. I also learned the panels lose a percentage of efficiency every year the cheapest ones need to be replaced in 5 years or efficiency is to low to justify their use.
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
I got a proposal today for a photovoltaic system....panels, batteries,
control system....the works. With the subsidies & everything, it worked
out to give me a 1.7% return on investment. This didn't even take into
account repairs & replacement.

I can see why it's not popular. Oh, one more tangible benefit...
No need for a generator when there's a power outage.

But I will be building Mr Solar heater for my shop. I'm buying
components from a company that will help me design it.
The company's owner offered his personal tech help.
Depending on where you live, solar heating is still more economic than solar power. The collectors are cheaper and longer lasting. But don't overdo it. Get the necessary heating and you'll probably have some square meter left for a little bit solar power - for the heat exchanger.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
This technology (both the panels, and the batteries) is changing so fast that I'd be hesitant to buy anything. Maybe in 10 years it'll be more obvious.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
One??? They breed?
My brother says he put his on his roof. (He lives in a rural area, outside of Placerville, California.)
Thinks his setup will pay for itself in about 10 years. He turned 65 in May. Knock on wood he lives long enough to see it paying for itself.
ROI, return on investment, depends on location, amount of sun etc. Also being somewhat or fully independent of the grid can have important value where power is problematical as it is in places here due to problems associated with fires (google PSPS).
 
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