Texas turns to Natural Gas after Wind Energy fails.

[westwall]

Once solar panels are installed, the price is now free...........so my main question is the calculation methods to determine the time period used to factor the overall cost of a system over the lifespan of the system.

If a company says it is good for 25 years, and uses this data for the cost per Kwh hour the data will be skewed............

Those who push the product will give it high marks............It all depends on how you rate the life of the panels and system.

I priced a 10 kva system, installed for about 35k a little over a year ago...........that didn't include the battery bank...................according to the article the low end is $5 bucks a watt.............or 50k for the system. that's not a cheap system unless it lasts you a lifetime.

I've had a solar array for 30 years now. When I first put it together I was getting about 14% efficiency. Now I'm down to about 8%. I keep them as clean as possible but they were never able to power the whole house. I do have a water wheel as well and that has been the best investment I ever made for electricity. We're screwed when the water freezes up but other than that it is solid 24/7 power.

I've been watching my power consumption trying to figure the way to use less power...........My mega bills were in the winter............one of the key problems being the large heater...........and the insulation had loosened on the wall causing it to suck partially into the side of the blower motor.............Causing it to be a major flow problem.............reglued it...................but it's still a 57k btu heater which uses a lot of power................

I'm considering doing this.........and would probably do it sooner until I found out that Alabama power has figured a way to steal the electricity you produce...........a $5 per K a month...............so I'm looking for off grid options.................to keep from paying for power I'm producing..................but the batteries are VERY EXPENSIVE...............

I'm thinking of possibly going for it later this year..............but I have to sell my wife and that ain't no easy sell.....................LOL..........End of the year to get the Tax Credits in only a few months............Your getting 30% back on the taxes................so I continue to do the research............

Thanks for the input..........any suggestions and help would be appreciated.......primarily with who has the best panels and inverters...............

30 years ago I was THE guy to go to for that info! I am far, far from current now though!

 

[eagle1462010]

Once solar panels are installed, the price is now free...........so my main question is the calculation methods to determine the time period used to factor the overall cost of a system over the lifespan of the system.

If a company says it is good for 25 years, and uses this data for the cost per Kwh hour the data will be skewed............

Those who push the product will give it high marks............It all depends on how you rate the life of the panels and system.

I priced a 10 kva system, installed for about 35k a little over a year ago...........that didn't include the battery bank...................according to the article the low end is $5 bucks a watt.............or 50k for the system. that's not a cheap system unless it lasts you a lifetime.

I've had a solar array for 30 years now. When I first put it together I was getting about 14% efficiency. Now I'm down to about 8%. I keep them as clean as possible but they were never able to power the whole house. I do have a water wheel as well and that has been the best investment I ever made for electricity. We're screwed when the water freezes up but other than that it is solid 24/7 power.

I've been watching my power consumption trying to figure the way to use less power...........My mega bills were in the winter............one of the key problems being the large heater...........and the insulation had loosened on the wall causing it to suck partially into the side of the blower motor.............Causing it to be a major flow problem.............reglued it...................but it's still a 57k btu heater which uses a lot of power................

I'm considering doing this.........and would probably do it sooner until I found out that Alabama power has figured a way to steal the electricity you produce...........a $5 per K a month...............so I'm looking for off grid options.................to keep from paying for power I'm producing..................but the batteries are VERY EXPENSIVE...............

I'm thinking of possibly going for it later this year..............but I have to sell my wife and that ain't no easy sell.....................LOL..........End of the year to get the Tax Credits in only a few months............Your getting 30% back on the taxes................so I continue to do the research............

Thanks for the input..........any suggestions and help would be appreciated.......primarily with who has the best panels and inverters...............

30 years ago I was THE guy to go to for that info! I am far, far from current now though!

I'm keeping this thread going to post some of my findings..................Too many sites out there claiming to be the BEST SOLAR SYSTEM there is.......................LOL.......................

I'm pretty much sold on the Mono Crystaline design.........as they are the most reliable it seems..............tried and tested.................but I'm unsure of the impact resistance of the outer glass...............That does make a difference in the ability to survive a storm which we have down here...................

So far the best contenders are Solar City.............Canadian Solar............and Grape Solar.............as they are getting some good reviews.................but it's still in the air on which ones are the ones that will last................and are better built...............just improper QC on the solder joints could make the panels fail early............

So I'll keep looking until I make the leap.............and possibly have to live in the dog house for a while.........LOL