25 kW Solar power project in Iowa.

[Redneck in training]

So after you take $20,000. from your neighbors, friends, family and every taxpayer in the US you will still owe $33,750.00 which you will recoup at the rate of $21. a month. At $21. a month it will take you 133 years to break even if the loan was interest free.
Am I still missing something?

1.) I pay more taxes than most people make per year.
2.) You are reading it wrong. My electric bill will be about $300 lower. The system will pay for itself in about 11 years.
3.) You got tax write off for your mortgage and nobody accused you for taking from neighbors or did they?
4.) Oil and gas companies get subsidies from our pockets too and they still stick it to us. Complain about that.

 

[tnmike]

Keep us posted and let us know if you find a bank that will finance this venture.

 

[tcartwri]

The biggest advantage with the microinverters, is that in the event of any partial shading of the array, the unaffected panels will still produce full power. That is not the case with a common inverter, where a shadow the width of your finger can almost shut the entire array off.

 

[piller]

What I'm surprised at is the price for the system, you are going to build a 25 kW solar array using Enphase micro inverters for $53k? That sounds pretty low to me.

 

[Redneck in training]

The biggest advantage with the microinverters, is that in the event of any partial shading of the array, the unaffected panels will still produce full power. That is not the case with a common inverter, where a shadow the width of your finger can almost shut the entire array off.

Shading is not an issue in my case. I just didn't want to deal with 400 to 500 V DC able to produce 50A. The problem is that you can't turn the panels off when illuminated.

 

[Redneck in training]

The biggest advantage with the microinverters, is that in the event of any partial shading of the array, the unaffected panels will still produce full power. That is not the case with a common inverter, where a shadow the width of your finger can almost shut the entire array off.

Shading is not an issue in my case. I just didn't want to deal with 400 to 500 V DC able to produce 50A. The problem is that you can't turn the panels off when illuminated. I also plan to add panels as needed or when money allows. That is pretty straightforward process with microinverters. I also read somewhere that panels with microinverters built in are coming to the market soon.

 

[BeezFun]

Am I still missing something?

Civility

 

[tcartwri]

Shading is not an issue in my case. I just didn't want to deal with 400 to 500 V DC able to produce 50A. The problem is that you can't turn the panels off when illuminated.

You can, but the number of cycles for the switch gear is typically less than 200 before they fail.

I had one panel where the lug terminal on the back of the panel was loose from the supplier. I failed to catch it, although I did notice that one array had slightly less voltage than the other. I put it up to the tolerances in the panels. It survived a week, and then the lug was completely vaporized, and a hole was blown through the panel.... :ashamed:

Be respectfull of the power involved in these things.

 

[DarkBlack]

So after you take $20,000. from your neighbors, friends, family and every taxpayer in the US you will still owe $33,750.00 which you will recoupe at the rate of $21. a month. At $21. a month it will take you 133 years to break even if the loan was interest free.
Am I still missing something?

re-read the #10 post on the 50k loan @ 279/month. That kind of double dipping math/accounting lands people in jail.:laughing:

 

[dave1949]

Before using some alternate to the standard rails and clamps for panel mounting, it would pay to find some install manuals on-line and read the mounting recommendations, warranty invalidation for non-approved mounting methods and so forth.

I noticed the installers used a torque wrench on every bolt in my system. I am assuming it matters.

Attaching the panels to a wood frame without the mounting rails might be a risk. The wood can warp, cup, twist, shrink, expand, etc. The aluminum frames on the panels aren't going to like any of that. There is also the chemical reaction possible with treated wood in contact with metals to think about.

Some things to consider before you decide the cost of rails and clamps isn't worth it. Just for the ease of installation, I would think those are worth quite a bit.

If you do build your own mounting frame, I would consider designing it to easily allow adjusting for three fixed panel angles -- winter/summer/fall+spring. I assume in Iowa snow depth accumulation is not much of a problem, ground mounts would be my choice for ease of install, maintenance, etc. on a large system.