HAPPY FATHER'S DAY
ALL YOU GREAT GUYS OUT THERE!!!
I have to give it up to all of you who make the big decisions in life and get all those cool tools for gifts. Here's hoping you didn't get another tie!!
Say hey California!!! It was another gorgeously cool morning as I sat on the patio. This day required a coat. I'm not complaining though ... I'm just using my house fans to fill up every square inch inside with cool air. I also contemplated the solar data that was streaming from my head like fireworks. Good grief .... so much to learn!!
I had one nice thought ... the crispy grilled cheese from Starbucks. I never go there for anything since they refused to let the police (who for some weird reason were wearing their guns) into the store. However yesterday when I went through the drive thru for the coffee test, I was hungry. The grilled cheese sounded pretty good.
I have to say the bread was fabulous. Crispy, tasty sourdough. They should have used a REAL slice of cheese instead of the 1/8 inch piece of white something it had, but overall it was mighty tasty. NOT quite $6.95 worth, but it hit the spot.
Having retrieved this quilt from my quilting gal, I went straight to work sewing on the binding. It's done, just in time for Father's Day. Yes once again I will be cooking breakfast at the Elks Lodge where today, everyone eats for free. It shouldn't be too bad since we are not expecting that many people and the menu has been cut in half. YAHOO!!
I then spent a couple hours finishing up this lap quilt with her chosen fabric. It actually looks better in person than it does here. She can't complain ..... it's free.
In between sewing, I've been contacting contractor after contractor about the solar. It's become a dirty word. For every company that I talked to, two have not even bothered to call me back. It seems there's different panels, different amounts recommended and completely different costs.
It appears SunRun is digging into people's wallets, charging $28,800 for 14 panels, producing only 6% more than I'm using at the moment. $23,000 if they keep the tax refund of $7,500. You can do the math.
They tell me they have micro-inverter panels that continue to produce electricity even if one or two are covered with shadows. It's interesting to note that some contractors have never heard of this before.
Having dug through the sludge for several hours, I finally called two contractor friends to get the real scoop. I trust these guys ... they have solar on their own houses ... and know the rules in California. I even talked to people who had these contractors install their solar, just to be sure everyone was happy.
Here's the latest ..... 20 panels for $20,800. The price is right and they will all fit on my garage, not the front of my house. The frame setup in my pasture got the kibosh when I got the price for digging 35 feet underneath a concrete carport for the wiring. With a $5,400 federal tax deduction, the price is even better while the output is double what I'm using now. In California, if you don't use all you produce, it goes into a pot that you draw from when it's cloudy. At the end of the year, if you used more than you made, you pay the difference.
There's more investigation to be done as I learn more about solar than I ever wanted!! I'm too old for this stuff!!!!
I'm off this morning to put on my Chef's hat. It should be a pretty easy morning since I'm NOT cooking one thousand pancakes!!! My part only includes sausage and biscuits. Easy peasy!!!
I could see if you had a family of teenagers would be a good reason for getting solar, but for one person and your sweeties I just don't get solar. Couldn't you just close off the rooms not being used and use your a/c? The $$ just seems way too much to me..Awww nice of you to be cooking today!
ReplyDeleteTrue ... it's a lot of money. I already have all the rooms closed off and vents shut. Were I to actually use my air conditioning, it would cost me around $500-600 a month. That's what all my neighbors pay.
DeleteMr Ed whatever system you get for solar panels and installation you will get an inverter the only difference is u change the inverter to a micro inverter which run anywhere from $85-$300 depending on your wattage
ReplyDelete90% of the solar panels today produce wattage when it’s cloudy it may only be a trickle but they still produce So if 20 solar panels are just giving you a very small percentage of wattage they’re still producing
If you take a 415 Watt sunpower solar panel Divide that times your monthly electric usage Let’s say you only use 1000 watts that’s only three panels how does your contractor come up with 20 panels
Have you ever had a green door audit for your whole house an Have you ever had that energy audit done on your house And where is the biggest culprit
Deletethat’s what you need to address As to where you’re wasting electricity
Two questions if you put your projected 20 panels on the backside of your garage Is the measurement going to fit .. and there’s nothing in the way on that side of the garage…. and is your roof clay tile or asphalt tile
DeleteRoof is some kind of upgraded comp. I've actually done just about everything possible, including changing all lights to LED's (that was expensive), never using my electric ovens (toaster oven) and keeping all the lights off unless I'm wandering around in the dark. It's crazy that I can use so very little and it still costs so much!!
DeleteBy simply learning the basics of electricity will help you to understand the concept of Solar itself. Imagine running water in your sink. You have a feed and a drain. Electricity has a Positive and a Negative.
ReplyDeleteEd's calculations are close for a Single Phase but the Contractors are looking at a Three Phase setup which you would need to run your AC.
Thanks for the Father's Day shout out.
Be Safe and Enjoy your cooking.
It's about time.
Rick
DeleteLook at your circuit breaker or fuses to the disconnect dedicated to the A/C/Heat compressor circuit. If you see three fuses or three switches, it is 3 phase. If it is two switches or fuses, the equipment is single phase.
Technically most homes are single phase if you have a 120 v house You double/Split it you get 240 Which runs your single phase AC unit an or laundry Air dryer And in some ((( rare )))cases in well pump
Most houses are only 120v split 240v single phase. But a woodworking / Machine shop can run120v 240v 480 v 3 phase motors
Note if you have a saw that runs on 120v … and a motor that runs on 480 V .. the 480 motor is more efficient and uses less electricity
I'm completely in the dark when it comes to all that stuff. I trust these two contractors ... they know what would be required I guess. According to my actual usage, it will take 14 panels to break even. That's NOT using my AC's at all!!
DeleteInteresting about the differences between solar providers. I would be leering of that feature that no one else has heard about. They are usually on top of the latest technology.
ReplyDeleteTrouble is, there are so many providers around here, you don't really know what you are getting!! Some people have really been taken to the cleaners!!
DeleteMister Ed
ReplyDeleteBasically here is the way most solar installers calculated installation if Gladys uses 1000 W of power over a 30 day. And the installer has only 200 W panels He’s going to calculate five solar panels =Equals 1000 W. Or if Gladys uses 2000 W in 30 days he’s going to use 10 panels
So you can see it’s a break even wattage for wattage now without getting into the fact that most panels are not fully efficient even under the most ideal circumstances he’s going to figure that into his calculation I’m not going to do that here simply because I do not know the amount of wattage that Gladys is using in a 12 month cycle Most solar installers have that figure readily available and compensate the difference by adding more panels
The biggest consideration you need is a is the size of the solar panel itself the newer solar panels now you could probably get up to 415W so if Gladys uses 1000 watts in 30 day. She’s going to need at least three of those panels the third panel helps being the buffer
So you see using three panels with a buffer does the same thing as the five panels. but less wattage But more efficient
When you’re talking about putting solar panels on the house screw the solar guys they’re in it to make money the guy that you want to talk to Is a (((independent solar engineer))))that works for YOU not for the solar company … That’s where your savings comes in
If you can’t buy it outright think of two things one is you’ll never get out from underneath it .2 you have to make sure that the seller disclosures to the buyer what it’s going to cost him For the future Because he can’t rewrite the contract
Some states you can sell the excess electricity back to the grid it’s usually called reverse cycle at the end of the year your numbers are calculated and that’s what you pay or receive keep in mind there are some state utilities that will not allow that or if it is it is extremely low not worth the effort unfortunately
Definitely buying it outright. I'll recoup the money when I sell the house.
DeleteNancy, if I understand your blog post, you are wanting to put solar panels of your roof to sell power to your electrical power company to offset your costs, you are not wanting to run your house on solar, I hope.
ReplyDeleteAt this stage of your young life, will you ever make up the cost of doing this, even if you have the funds now to pay for it.
Does the roof on your garage ever need to be replaced, if so, who pays for taking those panels down and reinstalling them when the new roof is on. Here in Canada where most homes have shingled roofs, this will happen at least once. my brother-in-law has had to do it, and he paid to have the panels removed and reinstalled.
Something else to consider is the sale of your home down the road, can the contract you have with the power company be transferred and how do having the panels effect the sale of your home.
sorry for throwing more at you along with all the garb ally goop already here.
See what I mean? SO much to think about. My roof is an upgraded comp roof ... I will die before it has to be replaced! LOL. I'm just trying not to pay so much for electricity. My bill will go from $250-300 a month, down to about $12 a month
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