Solar Panels for Garage 110 volt

[rockyridgefarm]

Like MossRoad said, you can easily teunnel under. You can also go overtop using rigid conduit. It can lay over top or be just under the surface. But the trench would be the best.

Your Co-Op might be the best source for the wire, too. Ours beat the supply house prices by a long shot, my friend who isn't even on it bought his from ours and cane out way ahead...

 

[DannyD]

I wired my barn, completely, even the breaker box, so not a problem there. As for coming from the house, well this box is sort of almost full. 200 amp service at the house, 100 amp box at the barn, with service.

As for tunneling, yeah I could do that, or just take up some asphalt around the shed to the barn. That would incite the wife to kill me, so the problem would be fixed.........

guess I am stuck with contacting my senator about a resolution for some competing electric companies to set things right.

 

[DannyD]

Well when I built the barn, it was going to be 600.00 labor to run the electric from the house to the barn........and the facility charge was 10.00 a month. I dont mind the 15.00 if they would check the meters for accuracy etc.

At the time also there was no fee for the hookup of a seperate service, and I wanted 100 amp there.

 

[SLOBuds]

Economics for a small project like this are not compelling. The photovoltaic equipment is indeed quite expensive. However, if you plan to stay in your place for awhile, I would highly encourage you to take a look at a larger project - solar for your entire house.

I am going to explain the setup in California. It is very similar to many other states, so most likely you would be able to achieve the same benefits.

California still has tax incentives for photovoltaic installation. California also has a mandated utility buy-back program. This means that the electricity you produce will be purchased by the utility UP TO the amount that you consume.

This 'buy back' program is called 'on grid'. It means that you do not have to mess around with batteries - I did not want that hassle.

The process is to 'size' the requirements for your site by estimating your kilowatt usage. If you put in a system that is larger than what you actually use, it is a waste of money because you are generating more electricity than you need - and the electric company will not buy it from you.

The tax incentives from California are based on the number of kilowatt hours of your system.

My personal system is not installed yet. However, my friend just installed a 10,000 kwh system for (cash after tax incentives) $45,000 at his ranch. His electric bill before installation was $600 per month. His electric bill after installation is $0 per month.

As we talked through his installation, both of us were a bit suspicious that he may have oversized the system.

The payback period at this time is close to 6 years. But that does not consider increases to utility charges which will continue to move up as time goes on.

The system has a 25 year life span, which gives him somewhere close to a $140,000 profit on the installation.

It's worth looking at.

The lesson for me here in California is to get the system 'sized' as close to possible to your actual use. And at least for now with the tax incentives, the setup looks pretty good over the longer period of time.

Best and good luck,
Martin Petersen

 

[willywildes]

Martin Is his system solar or wind

W.W

 

[gws]

If commerical power is already available on the property, SOLAR is almost NEVER an econoical option.

If all you want to do is power lights then it might be cost effective.