another hiccup to going solar?

[Mtsoxfan]

They put solar panels on about 20,000 acres near me, but I haven't seen the sun in what seems to be about 3 weeks. I wonder how it's working?

I know it's not much, but in winter, covered with 2 or so inches of snow, same with a rainy day, my system created power. I was good about keeping roof clear, even for the small amount it would produce.

 

[1Mech]

Nuscale Power is a start up in safe modular, small scale power production. There first power plant is scheduled to go online in 2029 in Utah. They recently recieved thier approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commision for thier "Small Modular Reactor".
As you can see by the 2029 date, building new nukes takes time.

And some tree hugger may discover a rare, endangered tiny animal that only lives at the construction site that no one ever heard of before. So now they need to do even more environmental impact studies, more delays and more expenses!

 

[1Mech]

Ok.....maybe not lowest....but lower.

Most residential households use the most electric from about 6p-10p. Thats when everyone is home....cooking, TV, laundry, showers/hot water, lights, cranking up the thermostat if you set it back in the morning...etc.

However.....thats when residential solar output is starting to sharply decline for the evening down to nil when the sun sets.

Thats the point I was making

Peak demand will vary with the seasons and area. During a heat wave in a Texas summer, the afternoon hours will likely be the peak, during a cold snap in New York, there might not be much difference in usage between day and night. But the capacity needs to be present to produce for peak demand, whenever it occurs, or we all end up like California with brownouts!

 

[1Mech]

So, in this scenario the grid goes down and the ev’s supply the grid? What happens when the ev owner wakes up and wants to drive to school/work/etc and the batteries are dead?

In California, the state probably would require the employer to give the EV owner the day off with pay! Stick it to the job creators.

 

[1Mech]

The US is a net exporter of coal... we export more than we import.

Our largest customer is India, followed by China, Japan, and the Netherlands.

Great read here:

Coal imports and exports - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Amounts of annual U.S. coal imports and exports, top five destination countries of U.S. coal exports, and top five source countries of U.S. coal imports.

www.eia.gov

That is good, lots of jobs being paid for with those exports! Seems our "leaders" would rather see those coal mining jobs go away!

 

[1Mech]

I just read a news article where the power companies in California are requesting a change to the way customers are billed. They want it changed to a fixed rate based on income.

• Households earning less than $28,000 a year would pay a fixed charge of $15 a month on their electric bills in Edison and PG&E territories and $24 a month in SDG&E territory.
• Households with annual income from $28,000 – $69,000 would pay $20 a month in Edison territory, $34 a month in SDG&E territory and $30 a month in PG&E territory.
• Households earning from $69,000 – $180,000 would pay $51 a month in Edison and PG&E territories and $73 a month in SDG&E territory.
• Those with incomes above $180,000 would pay $85 a month in Edison territory, $128 a month in SDG&E territory and $92 a month in PG&E territory.

These fixed rates are very low, even for high income households and it seems investing in renewable energy is not even considered. What the hell?

A fixed rate never encourages conservation, which is what is needed. If I pay a fixed amount for most anything metered, I will want to get my money's worth. Kind of like going to an all you can eat place. I always overindulge in those places, so I don't go very often!

 

[1Mech]

I think Most of it ends upon the east coast. It apparently is affecting a lot of peoples brains. LOL

Especially in Washington DC!

 

[1Mech]

Net Metering is changing here as it proved too much of an incentive.

Just received my annual True Up statement along with a $360 check.

This is after deducting minimum monthly charges, etc.

I expect next year to be a fraction under the reduced kW buy back.

Might be time to installed electric water heater to use more of what I generate... which tends to average about 10kW a day most of the year... not too shabby for circa 2007 160W panels.

How many panels?

 

[TractorTech]

Knowing Gavin Nuisance, he probably will require illegal alien labor at time and a half

 

[Skeletor]

I got a system being installed on the 15th. Supposedly it will totally eliminate my electric bill as I over shot the system a bit. We will see on that. 10kw system. I got them doing a 200 amp service upgrade and they’re running 240 out to my garage. I financed that into the loan and I can get 30% tax credit in that too so I figured why not. Fingers crossed…………

 

[ultrarunner]

How many panels?

36 panels each 165W with SunnyBoy Inverter.

Panels made by German company Schott circa 2009

 

[LD1]

I got a system being installed on the 15th. Supposedly it will totally eliminate my electric bill as I over shot the system a bit. We will see on that. 10kw system. I got them doing a 200 amp service upgrade and they’re running 240 out to my garage. I financed that into the loan and I can get 30% tax credit in that too so I figured why not. Fingers crossed…………

What is your average monthly usage? ANd how many kwh/month is the system supposed to produce?

Hopefully you have been in contact with your power company and not just trusting the solar installer/sales pitch with regards to having a $0 bill.

I am curious for future feedback in the months to come and if you do end up with a $0 or next to nothing bill, that would be great for you

 

[Roric]

Here is a
Momentary snapshot of power generation and use.
7.5kh solar array that generates just short of 9 mega-watt-hours per year.

 

[Ktm rider]

Sometimes solar isn’t the best option for some peoples situation but for my household it makes perfect sense. We live on top of a mountain and don’t use air conditioning at all. We don’t need it. We also get a ton of snow and we are the last on the power line. We lose power quite often. So, I installed 20 solar panels (5kw ) along with all the necessary equipment, inverter, batteries, charge controller etc. I just ordered 20 more panels to run wifeys hot tub and to make us completely grid free.
We also have a very nice creek on our property so I installed a micro hydro system that produces around 1.8kw continuous.
This system completely powers our not so efficient house even in the dead of winter. I installed a Mrcool 5 ton inverter heat pump and I also use a wood / coal stove in the basement.

 

[ultrarunner]

Sometimes solar isn’t the best option for some peoples situation but for my household it makes perfect sense. We live on top of a mountain and don’t use air conditioning at all. We don’t need it. We also get a ton of snow and we are the last on the power line. We lose power quite often. So, I installed 20 solar panels (5kw ) along with all the necessary equipment, inverter, batteries, charge controller etc. I just ordered 20 more panels to run wifeys hot tub and to make us completely grid free.
We also have a very nice creek on our property so I installed a micro hydro system that produces around 1.8kw continuous.
This system completely powers our not so efficient house even in the dead of winter. I installed a Mrcool 5 ton inverter heat pump and I also use a wood / coal stove in the basement.

Would love to see pictures...

Those off grid always make me think of the pioneers that settled the frontier...

 

[Ktm rider]

Would love to see pictures...

Those off grid always make me think of the pioneers that settled the frontier...

Here is my weir I built and the coanda box to catch the water. Also two of my 5 solar arrays and the battery bank. For some reason Indont have a good pic of my inverter/ solar charger etc..
and a pic of the house which isn’t exactly frontier roughing it but it is out I. The country and secluded

 

[grsthegreat]

funny seeing those. if you were to divert a natural stream out our way and put something like that, youd be fined and probably tossed in jail.

we had a good friend that simply tried to use some stream water to irrigate a small patch of field. was fined. how they determined this i have no clue.

 

[ultrarunner]

My cousin's husband had a working mill with mill pond on the farm in first class order... goes back to when his grandfather did milling for local farmers and then his father.

The last time I visited I wanted to see it again... all gone.

A tree fell and did some damage but the reason it is no longer there is people kept trespassing to see it and my cousin's husband got tired of that...it really was magnificent...

 

[Ktm rider]

funny seeing those. if you were to divert a natural stream out our way and put something like that, youd be fined and probably tossed in jail.

we had a good friend that simply tried to use some stream water to irrigate a small patch of field. was fined. how they determined this i have no clue.

I researched it throughly beforehand. It is a non navigable waterway that dries in the summer so no aquatic life and we actually own the water rights for years back to boot.

 

[1Mech]

funny seeing those. if you were to divert a natural stream out our way and put something like that, youd be fined and probably tossed in jail.

we had a good friend that simply tried to use some stream water to irrigate a small patch of field. was fined. how they determined this i have no clue.

I have two streams at my property in Arkansas, the state says I can use up to one acre foot of water per year with no permits required.