Solar power

[Redneck in training]

Before I decided on PV I was looking on wind generators. I was surprised how expensive they were. PV is about half price of wind generator not speaking about reliability. Another problem with wind is that the maintenance is at least 80 ft in air. If you want disconnect PV just flip the switch and you are done. That is not always the case with wind turbine. If your house doesn't use all the energy generated you need to waste some to prevent the machine from furling. In other words the control system might be more complicated than you would like.
PV is not perfect either. It might take lot of space, shading is big issue etc. If you want to use it off grid proper selection of the inverter/controller is major concern for well functioning system.

 

[dave1949]

The company that installed my grid-tied solar system does all sorts of alt energy, including wind turbines. I was asking them about wind and they said they have put a few in and taken most of them back down. People tend to over estimate their true wind resources, at least around here. The central plains states are where the best wind resources are located - in general.

We also have tree-caused turbulence to contend with which means the turbine has to be really high, like 120', and/or be willing to cut a lot of trees.

Given the initial expense, footprint, difficulty of maintenance, as Ladia points out, I would be very certain about wind before purchasing a unit.

 

[Beltman60]

PV is boring
that's what I like about it

 

[buickanddeere]

Wind turbines need to be mounted very high as in 75ft minimum on flat ground and 50 clearance above any obstruction. 40, even 60ft is a total waste of time and $.
Wind turbines should be mounted down wind of your residence or the wining whirling swishing sound will drive you daft. The noise is the reason for 95% of the removals. Lightening strikes and the resulting failures are another.
Wind turbines need to be sized at least 3 to 4 times larger than the actual desired output.

Wind turbines do work at night and on short cloudy stormy days.

 

[dodge man]

I am a land surveror and we did a job for an older couple that had a pretty decent sized array on top of their house. They were very earth friendly people and they did it in an effort to conserve the enviornment. They didn't store any of the electircity, but there meter ran backwards when it was making excess power. This made the cost a lot less for them. They always owe the power company money, but some months the bill it pretty small. They were the first in our area to do this with the local rural electrical co-op.

 

[Redneck in training]

Wind turbines need to be mounted very high as in 75ft minimum on flat ground and 50 clearance above any obstruction. 40, even 60ft is a total waste of time and $.
Wind turbines should be mounted down wind of your residence or the wining whirling swishing sound will drive you daft. The noise is the reason for 95% of the removals. Lightening strikes and the resulting failures are another.
Wind turbines need to be sized at least 3 to 4 times larger than the actual desired output.

Wind turbines do work at night and on short cloudy stormy days.

Power of the wind turbine is proportional to wind speed cubed. Therefore every mph speed increase adds a lot of power. But it works the other way around too. Every mph decrease makes for big loss of power. It also means that energy of strong wind will not be utilized because, without protection, the power generated would twist the turbine like a pretzel.
10 kW rated power turbine produce little less than 16000 kWh/year in 12 mph average wind speed area. Needless to say at ideal condition. Wind turbines are usually rated at 25 mph wind speed.

 

[pwright]

I am a land surveror and we did a job for an older couple that had a pretty decent sized array on top of their house. They were very earth friendly people and they did it in an effort to conserve the enviornment. They didn't store any of the electircity, but there meter ran backwards when it was making excess power. This made the cost a lot less for them. They always owe the power company money, but some months the bill it pretty small. They were the first in our area to do this with the local rural electrical co-op.

That's curious. Several of the people I work with have put in solar systems in the last few years and most get money back from the power company every month. But these were probably more recent installs.

 

[dave1949]

That's curious. Several of the people I work with have put in solar systems in the last few years and most get money back from the power company every month. But these were probably more recent installs.

The net-metering regulations, under which grid-tied solar systems work, vary widely across the states. It all depends on the state rules.

 

[sseelhoff]

Reading this thread has inspired me. I have reached out to several companies to get a site analysis and bids.

 

[Beltman60]

I've been thinking about it myself
I put up solar out at my barn myself but would want to look into having it installed on my house by the pros
with doing it myself I couldn't take the tax credit advantage

 

[Redneck in training]

We installed our PV by ourselves to cut cost. The tax credit doesn't require it is installed by a professional but state code might. To get licensed is apparently quite easy I heard from other people. There is not net metering where I live so to cut cost was imperative. Professional installation will more than double the cost. Some installers might let you make a deal with them so you could contribute your own work for discount.

 

[NorTracNY]

As mentioned, solar rules and rebates vary with states. I know that NY has made solar an amazing deal. It was a no-brainer for me.

 

[RobertN]

i'm looking at some digital calipers for at work. Turns out Mitutoyo makes 4" and 6" digital calipers, in a solar version. From what I see they are like a solar power calculator.

ABSOLUTE Solar Caliper Series 500

My solar at home has been crankin the last couple of sunny spring weeks here in the N Calif foothills. We got 5Kw of panels, and a 6Kw inverter for a little future growth. Mid afternoon we have been bumping 5200W. Solar hot water has been cranking too.

I'm looking at a swamp cooler as alternative to power hungry existing heat pump/AC.

 

[Redneck in training]

America now has more solar energy workers than coal miners : TreeHugger

Interesting statistic. No black lungs either.

 

[MtHam]

If you are on the grid, solar makes no sense as a back-up. The cost, as compared to a generator, is too high, and given the few days (hours?) per year it would be used simply does not justify the cost, unless you only want to run a few hundred watts worth of gear. A 5-6kw genset can be purchased for about $600 and will take care of most of your needs unless you are a energy hog.

 

[Redneck in training]

Solar tied to grid makes sense. It lowers or eliminate your utility bill. Especially when you are in a place where electricity is expensive and utility gives you "net metering" contract. The pay back on the investment is quite short. The ability of some inverters to function as a generator when sun is shining and the grid is down is just an added benefit.

 

[Beltman60]

Solar tied to grid makes sense. It lowers or eliminate your utility bill. Especially when you are in a place where electricity is expensive and utility gives you "net metering" contract. The pay back on the investment is quite short. The ability of some inverters to function as a generator when sun is shining and the grid is down is just an added benefit.

you need to be careful as most inverters need 110v ac to operate

 

[Tollster]

GreenBuildingTalk - Green Building Forums on Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF), Structural Insulated Panels (SIP), Radiant Heating, Geothermal Heat Pumps, Solar Power, Green Construction Projects

 

[Redneck in training]

you need to be careful as most inverters need 110v ac to operate

There are some that will disconnect from the grid, switch to "island" mode and make certain level (in ex. 1500 W) of power available from an outlet on the inverter box. That way you can charge your phone, run radio etc.

 

[Beltman60]

I'm talking solar inverter
most need 110v as a start up then once they have 110 they can take the DC from the panels and convert it to AC
without the 110 you still can't get anything from your panels with a power outage