Show Off Your Solar!

I thought I'd start a thread where we can talk about renewable energy, share photos of our solar/wind/etc system, share net metering statuses, and ask and answer any questions about the process of going renewable.

I'll start with my current 5.56kW system I purchased from Solar City.



And a screenshot of a recent daily net metering report. Not all days have been this good, but once the dog days of summer are over it should look more and more like this, with a "sell back" of nearly 10kW for the day.




I'd be more than happy to answer any questions about grid-tie systems based on the one I have now, and I can also answer questions about fully off-grid solar power systems as I lived off-grid at a previous location for six years.

 

Here are some photos of the fully off grid system at one of my office locations. It produces roughly 12kW, and has about 3,000 amp hours of battery storage with 30kW backup generators.

 

Got our first Net Metering (yearly) bill for the power we produced/used. $-28. 10.1 Megawatts produced.

 

What's the lifespan of the batteries? Just always wondered

 

subd.

 

There's so many variables that it's impossible to tell for certain. Quality built batteries treated and maintained well can last 10 - 20 years. Cheap batteries or even good batteries that are run too hard, discharged too low too often, aren't watered properly, aren't charged or equalized properly can be dead in a couple years.

 

we're actually having it installed pretty soon. We're gonna be leasing, because purchasing just doesn't make sense (for us). The payments are about the same, and with a lease it's warranty covers the life of the lease (20 years) whereas with purchase its only 10 years. Probably going Sunpower, as their panels and whole system is more compact than others have quoted.

Luckily, we have nice, high roofing. So the panels aren't visible from ground level (I think they're ugly).

 

PV production was affected by a celestial event today.

 

Curious about your home set-up. Are you running any sort of battery bank on the system or is it strictly tied into the grid and only supplies power during daylight hours? If you do have a battery system would you mind sharing some pictures of the battery bank as well as the inverter, interested in the size/spacing requirements of a home system.

 

PV/Inverter only. No battery. I was heavily considering one of the battery backup systems, but for the cost, it would be WAY cheaper to buy a big standalone generator and a transfer switch if/when the power goes out.

 

Another full year on solar, another rebate for the total net metering power usage. Last year we generated 10,347 kW and got a refund from Edison for $30. This year we generated 10,038 kW and got $11 back from Edison. Again, for an entire year's worth of electricity usage, Edison owed us.

 

@Maticuno

If there is a grid power outage (on a sunny day), does the solar system still supply power to your home? I assume it gets cut off from the grid via transfer switch, but can you still power some things in the house like TV and appliances?

 

I have one of these that I use when we're camping:

https://www.bioliteenergy.com/products/solarhome-620




Solar is on my radar for when we build our 'permanent' home, but it's moderately cost prohibitive to put on this one since we're not planning on still being in it 5 years from now.

 

Does this count?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkqcLsHHEyl/?taken-by=bigpermtaco

I put a 6.7kW system on my last house. It was from Freedom Solar and included whole house power monitoring, which was pretty cool. I sold that house and will for sure be getting a full system, this time with batteries, for the next house.

 

Are you planning to stay in Maine? Just wondering how the cost benefit thing would work out being so far north. Or are you looking mainly at emergency backup power with grid feed as a secondary benefit?

 

Solar as a primary works fine in Maine, especially if you supplement it with a turbine (since around here, if the sun isn't shining the wind is usually blowing). You just need to have the panels set at a steeper angle (usually around 45 degrees, if I remember correctly).

 

No. When the inverters sense a power outage they shut down. This style inverter does not have a way to regulate the amount of energy it produces. It's either all the way on or all the way off, so it can't sense how much power it would take to only supply load to my house.

 

Does it count if I'm running solar on my Tacoma?



I use it for camping, charging batteries for tools, etc. ..
Getting 75w at 18v, with 3 panels, I have a 4th panel that can bump it to 100w.
Dual battery in the truck bed, and a 1200 inverter that I plan to replace.

 

Following this thread. Want to outfit our pop up with solar