@Rainbow Capone how is that the fault of the consumer.. who said it was cheap.. u said cheap... that's a huge assumption. truth is people do that all time. we had a pool company do that in my home town... scammer do the best they can to cover up being scammers
@@davidpaikins3172 The point we are making is that if you choose an installer who has been around for 10 years or more and have done your due diligence then the price you will pay won’t be the cheapest but you are much less likely to fall foul of the scammers and con artists.
Hello I was a kitchen in home sales person....Windows do it a lot.... most companies know failure rates ....had classes on this.... change incorporation to avoid failures.....yup..
Peter N. Good for you. We have 2 systems at 3KW each, no problem to operate a 4 Ton AC system and still have a little extra going back into the grid. One of the panel arrays is pointed West so it continues producing until 5 or 6 pm. Couple of years ago I added batteries and a hybrid inverter so as not have interruptions during outages or rolling blackouts. Its very comfortable not having to worry about the power company or grid failures that seem to be getting worse.
@@tonyp2865 Are you saying the solar array is 10Kw or the battery pack is 10KWh? If your solar array is that big it should run your AC with plenty of extra power. Also, HyperEngineering makes a really good soft starter for Central AC condensers.
Got my panels for 21 years now. They are well above 80% still. Had to replace 1 converter I reused from my very first solar installation 23 years ago. 300 € of maintenance in 21 years. I am going to double the capacity and add a Batterie next year. Never cleaned the panels. It’s so cool!
@@TwoBitDaVinci Why not. At the moment I’m not living where those panels are installed but we will move back there soon. Then we will modernise. In case you are interested we can chat for sure.
80% without cleaning for that ammount…? I seriously wonder how many increase you get for cleaning them, but taking in account the 5% given it means they are still around 90% compared to when new
@@Shalmaneser1 After around 10 years give or take 1 year. Got very high incentives in Germany around the 2000ers and had not to pay back the whole amount of the loan. Since than ☀️😎
I've only been on a 3 kW solar power off grid system for about 30 months, with a 32 Lithium 275 Wh cells. It's is quite a journey to see it function within my control. I did all the work myself while using a smaller solar system to build it with. The panels are used (8 x 360 Watt) ground mounted SunPower. But the biggest reward is knowing I have total control of my electric power.
Using solar power is a game changer with more pros than cons. We have severe weather in the Midwest and power outages are common with heavy snow and ice during the winter. While not the ultimate problem solving solution it helps with the basics.
@@invisibletosociety8338 how will solar help in the case of heavy snow and ice? Your pannels will not produce anything. If you have a battery it will be empty after 1 or 2 days if you are very conservative....
Until you have to change those batteries. Enjoy that cost. It's like buying everything but the wiring all over again every 15 years. Unless you electric is really expensive, it's impossible to get ahead by using solar.
@@deydraniadiancecht8298 actually the price of inverters and batteries is going down each year (and they perform better) , price of copper and installing going up. I can replace batteries and inverters on my own, no need to crawl on the roof.
Had mine here in Australia for 11 years and it paid for itself inside 2 years. Since then, I have never had a power bill. It was installed by an electrician friend of mine who was scrupulously honest, thankfully......The rates the power companies buy the generated power from me helped of course.....great video, thanks for sharing.
Short question: can you share your build specs? How many panels of what wattage each? What controller do you use, what is your setup for energy storage? What model batteries and their Kilowat/ Amp hour capacity? Any other details to share? My situation: I live in Miami, Florida, USA. I think we have comparable sun levels to Australia. I've been on the fence for a while deciding whether to take the expensive plunge into a full conversion. One issue is the buyback- our electric provider (FPL) doesn't buy back excess power (yet) so we either have to store excess power in batteries or lose it. Factoring that loss of potential income, the break even point on a solar system ranges from 12-18 years (range is due to varied cost of our battery choices and how energy capacity storage we want.)
Hi Sam! Thank you for sharing. I’m in NSW, did you have to get any special approvals for a non-solar company to do the install? We’ve been told by a few different sources that this isn’t possible and/or our home insurance will be invalidated.
Had my 13kw system for nearly 3 years now - haven't looked back. Best thing to invest in ever. For those in Australia (I'm NSW), I had Solaray Energy install mine. Great company, VERY tidy work and their systems make use of Enphase hardware (microinverters) and are Tesla-ready for batteries or cars (whether you install now or later).
Very helpful info Sam & Jeff, thanks to both of you as I’m in Melbourne and been sitting on the fence about solar for past 3 years. Obviously we don’t get as much sun as you do in nsw but I still think the long term investment is worth it. Do you guys think battery is worth it now or just manage our usage for now with heavy stuff like washers etc for during the day and wait till battery technology improves and becomes more competitive?
Here in Australia we have two factors in favour of solar, the first is we get a lot of sun (perhaps the only advantage of being on the driest inhabited continent) and secondly we have much cheaper solar systems. I recently added a 6.6kw system to the already existing 5kw system and added two Tesla Powerwalls. The system powers my house, charges my Tesla and exports about 150% of power I use even though the system is throttled by my energy supplier to 5kw of export. It takes a couple of really low production days for us to draw from the grid - happens about once a month on average…
Which is exactly why people in wetter (but still sunny) climates need to consider options other than just solar. I've seen so many videos or comments in which people say things like, "But solar doesn't make enough power!" And solar is the only thing they're trying or wanting to use. But wind and hydro also generate electricity easily and aren't hard to install. And these people don't have to go with only one or the other, but often pretend that they do. When I install my grid, it will utilize all three, as all three are a thing where I live and plan to live. It might take a while, but there is zero reason to be a purist when there're other options available.
@@stiaininbeglan3844 It isnt about being a "purist, its about practicality and feasibility. Hydro power is not only rare for anyone to have access to moving water, but the components are seriously expensive, if you arent jerry rigging something yourself out of an old washing machine. Wind is also cost prohibitive. You cant generate any real usable power through wind, unless you have an enormous blade head, with an enormous generator coupled to that enormous blade head. You either have no clue what you are talking about, or are so rich, the costs wouldnt affect you. Most people do not have river frontage on their land, or the capital to buy land with river frontage. And even if you did, the river would have to move fast enough and consistantly enough to generate power, and even then, you are fighting with the Government to allow you to build a water wheel to generate that power. People arent poopooing wind and hydro. Its just not feasable for the vast majority of people.
@@carllennen3520 This exactly. Most people do not live in places where wind and solar are viable. On top of that, neither is nearly as eco-friendly as its proponents would have you believe.
@@carllennen3520 to add to this, unless you are a homesteader you likely would not be allowed to install a wind turbine in your backyard due to NIMBYs. There are not many wind options that would be considered acceptable but most neighborhoods and towns.
I am going on 18 years with my setup and have no problems so far. I love it. My power bill before I went solar was 535.00 a month. Now that money is mine and not the power company.
@@r.t.hannah9575 Simple payback analysis (break-even date) is meaningless. The real way to do it is to perform a life-cycle cost analysis compared to the life-cycle cost analysis of doing nothing. The option with the lower life-cycle cost is the one to choose if money is the only factor. Look at it this way, if a solar system installed at your house has a 8-year simple payback, and a new water heater has a 2-year payback, which one is a better investment? With no other information, you have no way of knowing. How about adding a third alternative: Does it makes sense to add a PV system and a new water heater? Why would you add a new water heater when you'd be getting power from your PV system? You might come up with the wrong answer if you are dealing with only simple payback.
@@gatoryak7332 What tf are you talking about?!? She asked you a simple question, don't try to make it sound more complicated than it really is, just to justify the fact that you have absolutely no idea how to calculate and answer to one simple question.
In depth, clearly communicated info on a subject that can be pretty confusing. Having a 10 year experience to evaluate separates you from a lot of other reviews or opinions on solar. Well done. I liked and subscribed based off of this video.
I found that by delaying the charging of my DC coupled battery until noon in summer, my output increased by 12%. I also found that my 41 panels rated at 13.25 kW could actually produce 15 kW of power. This 15 kW limit was made up of 5 kW going straight from the panel's DC output to my DC coupled battery battery and 10 kW flowing through my 10 kW inverter to my EV, house and the grid.
@@johnrogers1423 As Andrew said, the panels are rated at 1000w/m2 at 25c. Here in AUS we have higher than average UV exposure and if you couple it with lower temperatures the panels can exceed their rating. The rating is also a little conservative to allow for the warranty and variations in quality.
I've had mine in the UK for 10 years too. Paid for themselves in 6 years, then invested in a Powerwall 2, another great investment which together cost £20k. They contribute 68% toward our total power consumption, which now includes our two electric cars, so no more petrol, or diesel fuel costs either. Best investment ever.
As a general rule, -IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CHARGE AND ELECTRIC CAR. DURING DAYTIME YOU ARE AT WORK. it depends how many kilometers are you away from home. . AND IF YOU RETURN LATE NIGHT OR LATE AFTERNOON YOU HAVE'NT ENOUGH SOLAR LIGHT TO CHARGE YOUR E-CAR neither enought time to perform the charging. ..- The energy needed is about 6kWh, of A Tesla S 85kWh battery. 2 de set. 2021
nobody is properly realising. you need at least the same set of power bank that cost us$ 5000 to store the energy you need from solar panels to recharge the car when returning back home . supposing you spend 50% of the car.battery in distance of 100+100 kilometers . and that is in the most favourable sunny days. also remember in very high temperatures in summer ;: the solar-pannels efficiency drops.
Either you've been lucky or I've been unlucky! My UK system was installed fifteen years ago, and I can't see them even breaking even within another ten years. At the first signs of significant degradation I shall be removing the system and not replacing it.
Wow, powerwall 2 costs 20k in the UK. In the US you can get 5.1kwh for $1700, so three of these to match your tesla would be $5200. I'm guessing that diy projects are frowned on in the UK (in the US, you just don't qualify for the tax credit).
This largely depends on how much space you have between the panel and your roof. Tesla tiles sit directly on the roof. There are even water cooled panels to make the panels more efficient in hot climates. These double as water heaters for pools and assistance to your regular water heater.
Panels will provide a bit of shade, that much is true. But in hot climates those panels heat up. And not by a little bit either. This excessive heat reduces the lifespan of the panel pretty drastically and to add insult to injury, the efficiency of turning sunlight into electricity drops a lot as well. Planks would have a similar effect regarding shade, but are way less expensive than solar panels. Shade helps in areas with high temperatures, but what you really want is mass. As in 1 meter thick walls etc. The sun will heat such walls during the day but the inside of these walls remains cool. And when the temperature drops at night, these walls radiate the heat back out, so you will feel comfortably warm. Of course, the sun will "charge" these massive walls again during the day and you will be comfortably cool during the day. Costs more during construction, but afterwards you won't need any airconditioning at all. The energy savings over the lifespan from such a house easily cover the extra construction costs.
@@geroldmanders9742 meter thick walls??? Man, that sounds preventatively expensive, even considering a lot of energy savings. I've never in my life heard of a house being built even similarly to that. Like how do you have windows, and if you actually have enough for ample natural light won't that kinda mess up the reasoning behind the bunker-thick walls? For me anyhow, replacing solar panels every 15-20 years sounds wayyy cheaper and more enjoyable as an energy saving solution
I'm in Brasil (yes with a "S") and I have 8x 340Wp panels and 8x 220Ah batteries. I agree with every single word you said in this video. In my case, The energy my panels produce is more reliable than the energy company. I'm not 100% off grid, but I have most of my house on solar and that part is 24/7 on solar. My energy bill fell 75% off. I intend to keep the house 100% off grid and use the grid only for emergency purposes.
@@lunafringe10 I bought my system as INSURANCE against power outages that may occur as uncertain times lie ahead. I will pay off my fixed interest 2.5% 25 year loan with dollars that are becoming increasingly worthless due to Bidenomics.
@@lunafringe10 over a 15 year period you would spend 10,800 - 14,400 euros on electricity at 60-80/month and that is if the prices don't increase. If you can supply your electricity for the amount saved, I don't see a problem with them, especially if you are charging a plugin hybrid or EV as gas prices are much higher than electricity. I have a neighbor that has only purchased 4-5 tanks of gas since 2018 as the rest of their driving has been on electric in their plugin hybrid.
If your power company has peak billing, I want to point out that you can also install a battery -- no solar panels, just a battery -- and program the battery controller to charge it in the middle of the night and use it in the evenings, to reduce your peak power consumption. The savings per month is smaller, but the initial cost is also smaller.
Not necessarily. Batteries are far more expensive than solar panels in terms of life cycle cost when used continuously. They are only good for so many charge/discharge cycles. Do the math on the cost of each KWH of charge/discharge vs what you are saving on your power bill. You may actually be spending more. You will likely be replacing your batteries every couple of years this way and need several thousand dollars worth depending on your energy consumption.
This is a very old theory which is not true. The difference in day/night billing does not outweigh the losses in charging a battery and the losses in converting the battery voltage back to mains.
I did start experiencing with solar panels in 2010. Bought 2 small panels, soldered together, bought the cheapest charger and a small 12V battery for RV. Was pretty happy when in the next morning I saw a green light on my charger :) was experiencing wiring my bath and living room with 12V light bulbs, charging my phone and tablet with solar energy. But it became very handy when ib 2012 we were hit with Sandy hurricane and our neighborhood was left with no electricity for a full 2 days. I remember when I was getting home when it was already dark and turning on my lights in living room I did hear how people taking a walk outside (what else to do when there is no electricity in your house) were whispering "how does he have electricity at home?" :) that was the best moment. I was able to keep electricity for couple hours and for 1 charge of my phone. Since I had a small set up it couldn't last long so I had to go to sleep early hoping for a sunny day next day to fully recharge my battery.
Whenever I have no electricity it always seems like a really comfy, humbling time, to take a nap especially. Having just enough to scrap-by seem even more comfy.
Interesting experience, but the people talking on the street part was little scary ;) The outage lasted only two days, but otherwise expect someone to show up and take it from you, or expect to provide the services to the neighborhood, maybe charge their devices, especially if they think or know you are one of the peppers with off-grid system and full pantry. Difficult times unleash often the lowest instincts.
I tried drone quote. What I learned is that they will give you 3 solar setups to pick from depending on price. Those systems are from different brands of solar panels ofc. They funnel all customers to one particular and exclusive preferred lender. Best thing to do is research terms of lenders in this business.
Thanks for the opportunity Toro Cars. You’re right about the lender; there are SO many different lenders for solar and we prefer to use one specific lender across the board (when possible) since it facilitates the process for all parties involved. In the end, as you mentioned, due diligence will take you far. We prefer to suggest some kind of financing outside of solar loans because there are better options for those that qualify.
I like the idea of solar carport or gazebo for ease of access or ground mount if you are in the county with the space. Also you can go with a small battery and an inexpensive generator for longer duration outage such as hurricane source events etc. Also note that in the USA adding solar increases the value of your house by 4% on average. You are my favorite Da Vinci!
I'm impressed. In the 80's we installed solar hot water heaters with a 30 year warrantee, and i "believed". The company went out of business, in 5 years. I hated driving by and looking at one I helped install. I could see it decomposing. The frame used plastic, or something that degraded in the sun. ouch. They basically had to be removed in 7 years.
in the temperate climate zone the thermic solar panels last easily 30 years. Same for the tank (that should last longer than that). The frame is wood and with a metal cover, it is not really high tech (no electronics - as opposed to PV). And the absorptive layers also help up well. If the termites do not get to them on the roof a wooden under a metall sheeting (with some space for aearation of course) should also hold up in semi-arid areas. of course that was German engineering so unthinkable ! to use plastics forthe frame ;) There is a consumer protection agency that does tests, who would have ripped apart a company that manufactures like that, or a solateur (plumber) who is cluless enough to work with such materials.
This is exactly what I needed to know. Thank you for being so data oriented. We appreciate it. It's truly breath-taking to hear what you have to say. Subscribed and eager to learn more! We are cyclists and nerds for things like these. We own Jackery batteries (and will continue to buy). We are also about to buy pedalcell (this is a system that likely only bicycle tourists know about, where you cycle and the device uses magnetic tech to feed power to small battery banks like battery banks that help recharge your cellphones, etc.). Since we cycle a lot (we bike commute), this works for recharging small devices (and acts as a secondary way to charging small batteries besides the panels). Also just want to put it out there that if we fall down from installing our own solar panels and die, we are gonna sue. lol .... hahaahha.. sorry! Couldn't resist. Nah, we ain't likely ever gonna be climbing to the roof anytime soon (we are older folks), those little Jackery batteries and remote panels will do. All I can say is, your channel is so informative we are lucky to have found you. Thank you.
Again a great video I live in a more cloudy, wet climate (Ireland), for me a battery is essential for all of the reasons that you mention plus: When sun is interrupted by clouds, solar production goes down so the battery can take over and supply thus minimizing need for grid At times of low usage or load from within the house - that battery can charge thus minimizing excess solar from escaping to grid In winter time, Batteries can be charged at night with night rate electricity and used during peak periods As you say - South facing panes are most efficient - but without batteries - much of the solar will escape to grid
This video makes me really appreciate the communication style of a good engineer. Direct, precise, concise, with real and useful information and no rambling, wild speculation. Its a longish video but there's no fluff; there really is that much information.
Except he was wrong about current and volts making an assumption that high current is really bad and you'd need heavy wires which is completely false. The size of a wire is based on WATTS which is a function of both current and voltage. You create higher voltages when transmitting power over any kind of distance because it's more efficient. 🙂
I have had my 5kw system with 3 kw battery here in oz for 4 yrs now. Best home improvement by far One thing not talked about so much is alignment of panels to sun We ended up going 40% easterly facing and around 10% north 50% westerly Very unusual though this gives power when your house needs it in the morning and afternoons when you have high demand, still enough to fill your batteries
Hello there. Forgive me but... Is a 3 KW battery enough? I've been doing some calculations and digging... Most household electronics consume little but a fridge, a washing clothes machine and computers can reach around 1-2 KW/h of consumption. Those calculations and diggings were done in a rushed way so I can be off by some hundreds of KW's but a fridge and a washing machine can consume a lot I know that much. What's been your experience so far? You have to worry about the on hours or you just forget about it? 3KW sounds very very little... Even for me as an European. Yeah people also forget to mention LED lamps for example. Those are awesome, they consume so little Best regards
@@Trip4man I'm looking at this just now. I have a 4.8kWh battery which I'm about to integrate with solar panels to charge it. Average daily household demand is apparently 12kWh in the UK, not sure how accurate that is but I averaged 8.6kWh recently having just replaced my old fridge freezer (was 11.5kWh/day before as the fridge had a major fault and was running continuously) My peak load is likely from the electric oven as it's the only appliance/ consumer that is cannot be powered from a 13a plug. I am looking at an invertor that will provide approx 2.4kW maximum from the batteries so some peak loads will not be fully met but most will be. Importantly, base load will all be met from that capacity.
In May I usually am on solar from 6:30 to 18:00 (southern Germany), solar facing east and west. Most nights are covered by the battery, only exception being if my wife starts the washing machine at 6:00. Usually in the morning the battery will be down to 20-30% of its capacity. Total energy used per day is around 15 kWh, peak load during the day about 4 kW. In February it looked similar except the battery was usually down to 10% by 6:00 and the sun only showed up around 7:00 :-(
This is the first video of yours that I have watched. I have followed solar for years myself. You have taught me something. I look forward to having the time & money to invest into solar myself, following your model. You also have a passion for it that shows thru to me. Thank you for starting this channel. Looking foreward to more.
Finally, a comprehensive review of the pros and cons and overall costs associated with a solar system which kept me from obtaining a system! My biggest fear is hail which we can count on every year here in Calgary! And the harsh winters mixed in! Do the panels over the roof keep the attic a lot cooler due to the shade and under panel air circulation?
Thanks for some really good, in-depth info... I'm in the research stage of building a home on wheels, and you answered a number of questions that I've had. More importantly a number of questions that I hadn't even considered yet... Much Thanks!
“What would you keep for 25 years”? The only thing I've kept that long is a wife; she came with no warranty, no trade in provision, a very messy separation clause, high maintenance probability, and, I was warned by the manufacturer that she would be a handful even in the best of times. 30 years later………..wwweeellll……….
Great content. On the cleaning. I had the solar folks when they were on the roof install a PVC piping syste wit sprinklers aimed at the panels. I simply turn on the water for about 15 minutes when the panels are dirty, actually dusty and they are clean, the whole system there ran 500 dollars with the parts and labor. My break-even point was 3.7 years. Our panels are on 3 side, to the East (yep, morning sun, no trees) South, the bulk of the panels and finally West for late afternoon. My payback was faster because of credits back to grid and - - we live in the desert with an average of 286 days of sunshine.
3.7 years? I call BS. Most systems are at least 15 years payback. You forgot to calculate the time value of money, depreciation and the opportunity costs if that money was invested in something else.
This video was very good and addresses the most important aspects of solar. Thank you. After hearing of the unrest in the cities and rolling blackouts in certain regions of the U.S. I decided to get solar as a backup. I live in Delaware and have solar panels, with optimizers on each panel, and a battery backup with a transfer switch. My system was activated in April of 2021. If the grid goes down a transfer switch isolates the SolarEdge panels and LG battery from the grid and feeds my house through the battery. Thus far, I haven't had any issues with the system and my wife loves the fact that we haven't been charged for electricity for months. The hardest part of getting the install was convincing my wife to get the install. Note, however; I researched the perspective installers before committing to a reputable local company. I didn't want to be at the mercy of a company based in far away Las Vegas, or elsewhere. I am very pleased with the company that did my install but I had heard some horror stories of people that used lesser companies.
That is a very important thing with any major work to be done, research the companies/ installers. The horror stories of just about any field of home remodeling/ enhancement done by door to door salesmen or companies/ installers from states away are endless.
We are 1 year into having solar panels, and it has been fully worth it. We live in New England, and have only east/west facing panels, but we got a beefy system before Tesla insisted on selling their batteries (so we do not have batteries at present, would consider for a future project). Anyway, in our first year we had essentially service fee bills ($5-$15) from the months of March through September, and that is before our state payment. We produced 14.2 mWh for the year (and weren't hooked into the grid until late Jan 2021). Even with 3-4 months of low solar capture (the winter) it's been worth doing and I think will pay for itself in about 3-4 more years. We run a small farm so we use basically 2x the amount a regular home would. We'd wanted to for years. So glad we did finally. ETA we have also been in our house almost 15 years with no immediate plans to move. Financially we couldn't have done it earlier, but it's a nice plus for the RE market if we do have to participate in it sometime.
The one big plus of micrometers not mentioned is the ability to have different panels - makers in the same system so you don't care if have to replace failed panels with a better one in the future.
I'm In South Africa 🇿🇦 and had no choice but to go off grid few weeks ago. Loving the setup so far. Currently running 9x545w Canadian panels which in future will double up to another 9 taking me to 18 panels of 10kw in total. My inverter is a 10kw and I'm running 10kw on batteries which I will take to 20kw in the next few months. I'm running a 4 phase so solar during the day battery at night and if I have to topup it will look for eskom but if they offline for loadshedding then it will switch to my generator but only to charge up the batteries but so far it hasn't been needed. Will see how it performs in winter and will spec it accordingly. I went the full Kodak route except for the Canadian 545w panels.
@@TwoBitDaVinci prius,takes 70 yrs to pay for itself, you wont have it 70 yrs,will you..here in aus. i have a 10 pnl system. cost 9k, panels were 200 each,inv. 400. rip off. anyhoo.. i wanted mode pnls seeing the price came down to 3.4k,same system, sorry sir,you allready have a system, you can buy this,buit your input rate will go down to 6c, not your current 54c. yup,,so much for being green,. &,we can not,get off the grid. people without solar,are paying thru higher cost,to offset the loss from solar revenue. its a scam. i dare you,,to do a vid,on wind farms. what they cost to produce,set up,maintain,&,the ultimate re cycling of them,. all green inovations are a lose,lose, scenerio. total garbage brainwashing..we have companies that go around cleaning panels, they work better in low sun. after 30c forget it. like a lithium batt,too hot,shts itself.. thats my 4 bits..
@@TwoBitDaVinci you can have 400,000 kw panel system,but its the 5kw inverter,that governs the power,not the panels. in aus..if my panels are capable of 10kw,the inv only lets its 5kw thru..
@@TwoBitDaVinci battery syst cost 6k. ill wait for the power..as to your tesla. we will never run out of oil or coal,which is cheap,with infrastructure now. you,need outlets every 300 mile,installed,new. here in aus,we can go 1000 ks without a fuel stop.. good luck with your tesla, as i pass you.. plus,the sun controls the earths temp. NOT YOU. all this ''green'',production,is contributing more,extra,than just having coal & oil,& making it cleaner,not a whole new untested,costly system,that has a life span, a petrol engine can last forever. yours,can not. whats the cost of production,life span & re production,of your 3k batteries. ???...an engine,petrol,re build,is only 2k,after 30 yrs of use.. you lose.. if run for 30 yrs on lpg,it pumps out oxygen,go figure....&,end of the day,you,need a coal fired power station,to make all your green bs. foundries,machinery,cnc,s. ect ect.. cut down a forest,for a solar farm,,yup,,thats green,isnt it.. ignorance is bliss..
I thought I would share some lessons learned from doing my own solar install. Date of install end of Dec 2021. 1. If you pay a company to do your solar install, I seriously doubt it would ever pay for itself over 20-25-30 years. I also doubt your electric bill will be zero in the summer months as most solar companies flat out lie. Being inform, you can have them put their expectations on legal papers for your future safety. 2. If you do your own solar one can expect a 4-7 year return on investment. You will have to get educated on permits with your local city and power company. If I can do it anyone can. 3. Power Company Billing was my biggest surprise from this entire venture. Rocky Mountain is NOT solar friendly to the average home owner. The excess power sent to the grid for storage comes at a great cost. I discovered after a few months of billing that We pay RMP .077 cents per KWH. When you generate excess solar power, the excess goes to the RMP grid but RMP only credits you .04 cents per KWH. So, in others words grid storage is not free or cheap. RMP skims nearly 50% off the top. WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN: 1. When you have your solar designed and drawings engineered you have to figure in 1/3-1/2 larger system to make up for the RMP skim ratio. I was lucky and added 30% more panels then necessary because I wanted an electric water heater. So far my last 3 utility bills have been $13 the minimum fee RPM charges and that includes free hot water. Jan-Mar our bill was $45-$60 due to winter clouds with a typical electric bill of $100-ish in the winter and $375 in Summer RMP resets the homeowner grid storage to Zero March to March. Of course, RMP keeps the excess storage when the clock is reset. We lost $15 storage credit. Yep RMP keeps your excess after Mar billing is closed out and you start your grid battery storage at zero. This feature does not encourage being "green", It flat out encourages running ones AC to 68 degrees in July and August and push less out to the grid. So during the day your system pushed out excess power to the gird at .04 cents and at night you buy your power back at .077 cents. Yah get the KY jelly ready. 2) Another big disappointment is RMP in Utah takes ALL the homeowner carbon credit rebates. Most states let the solar owner sell the Carbon Credit which can add up to $100-$300 per month passive income. If Utah is serious about encouraging Solar for Homeowners the laws need to be changed. Only serious pressure on our elected officials will we make strides in Solar. Conclusion: Overall I am happy with my solar only because we did all the labor ourselves. We expect near zero ($13) per month electric bills from here on out. Beware that many States like Florida have increased the $13 minimum to $30 now.... so that must be our near-term future for residential solar. This year the homeowner will still be eligible for a 26% IRS rebate and up to $1200 Utah rebate. The crazy part of the Utah Credit: You have to pay $30-$35 ish bucks to set up a Utah Rebate account in order to claim your solar rebate. Another shocker! The 26% Federal IRS rebate for DIY is only for cost of materials. Your Labor is not deductible. One can however hire out parts of the job like mounting the rails and running electrical inside the attic. You will need receipts for the rebates. Pros: We find that it is more cost effective if we run our home ac at 68-70 degrees during the day and raise it up to 73-75 at night. The heavy use during the day results in less RPM skimming off grid storage but just enough to run the ac at night and draw from our grid storage. Not very "Green" in my mind but it is what it is. Con's: One has to be aware to not have too much excess "Banked" on the grid when March comes a knocking. You lose all excess. So in others words crank up the electric heaters, electric blankets, leave all the lights on and dry ones hair more often. Excess storage is not a tax deductible loss but should be! So in other words you have to manage your usage. Does not require much time but it is another thing to do. About 10-15 minutes a month. Bottom Line: Would I do it again? Absolutely YES. I would not hire it out but if one uses their own elbow grease and fill in with some contracted work it is well worth it. Yesterday was 92 degrees and my total draw from the grid was zero. I actually pushed 40kwh to the grid. What is 40kwh? enough to run 40 100w light bulbs for 1 hour or 4 ton HVAC system for 6-8hrs
Remember with batteries there is degradation with every discharge, where it makes sense when you are talking about peak price, it likely doesn't make sense when you talk about the much lower sale price. The power company pay far less per kWh then then you pay them in many cases Batteries are wonderful, but they do not last like solar panels.
@@MaddHatter That's why batteries shouldn't be discharged over 50%. I also noticed that there was no mention of a battery management system, aka BMS. It's built into the Tesla Power Wall. But, he incorrectly stated that batteries can be powered directly from the solar panels' DC output. Charge currents must be well regulated and match the battery type. Battery technology is the holy grail for sustainable energy. There are many companies frantically conducting R&D on alternatives to LiFePO4 to become #1. It's only a matter of time before inexpensive reliable batteries are on the market.
@@nufkistruff9961 I have more trust in the power company doing what they promised than doing finances with neighbors. When you present your neighbor the bill i’m quite confident that that was the last thing you’ve heard or seen about the topic.
I would advise everyone to be careful when cleaning the panels, hard fiber mops can scratch the panel and that is worse than any gunk you might have. Edit: very nice observation about those west facing panels. IMO the problem with solar is the resources needed to make it widespread, domestic wind power prodution might be a good complement but when you account for home batteries plus the rise of EV will create a very high demand for rare earths and I dont think we are that close of a material science breakthrough to make it viable but hopefully I am wrong on that.
Most of those minerals are recyclable indefinitely but we need recycling to work property. Europe takes it more seriously but in NA you can throw everything in black garbage bag and nobody cares
Great video. I went solar (off grid) 5 years back, 1.8 kW Panasonic panels, 9 kWh battery, 3.5 kva inverter and a MorningStar MPPT charge controller. I exactly understand what you meant by the joy of monitoring energy production. MorningStar controller connects to the local network and that is how I was able to write few python scripts to pull data and store in mySql running in a raspberry pi. Some php code to draw fancy graphs. Even today I am tweaking graph algorithms, adding more data infographics to my dashboard. The electricity bill has gone down by 80%. But the actual fun of the whole system is to look at the dashboard and feel great that I am harvesting energy that would have gone waste otherwise.
I'm so glad and excited to be seeing your experience about this. didn't really expect that could be providing actual hobby or reason to be studying deep in of rasberry pi and python such stuffs.
Great video. My biggest cost after 8 years was replacing my asphalt shingle roof. We had to remove 39 panels, and reinstall them. Cost in Canada was $7000. Ouch. Now we put a metal roof on, this should last long after I am gone. On average I generate 12 Mwt a year. I am happy.
As an offgridder for more than 30 years, I can say that solar panels are the modern world's miracle. I do anything that needs energy from lighting, water pumping, milking, cleaning to irrigating a 5 hectare of land. I've invested a good deal on panels and their contraptions to meet the energy need, and the investments I've made have paid off generously. Now, I meet 80 % of my total energy need from the solar systems. The only area I can't use solar is heating my home in winter.
A more energy efficient idea for heating your house in winter might be heat pumps. Even with the smaller amount of power you’re able to generate in winter, heat pumps are significantly smaller and energy efficient than furnaces.
I realize that this video is a year old but I love it! I noticed you mentioned LG but they are now also out of the solar panel in regards to being a manufacturer. But they may honor their warranty. I loved LG phones but their not into cell phones anymore. Their appliances and television technology are still going strong! Again, you have given me an excellent starting point as the technology is changing so rapidly. Oh, I'm 69 but I sandblasted and painted railroad bridges over the Missouri River with no safety equipment (not recommending that!), etc. So I've always pushed myself and I'm fortunate enough to be an excellent shape. But not everyone is, through no fault of their own. Oh...you can also piggyback lithium batteries. But you have Telsa which is excellent if installed by Telsa (current waiting time is 9 months). You spent $10,000 10 years ago. Just a good whole house generator can cost that much!!! Haven't touch on rebates, tax incentives, excess electricity purchased by your electricity provider (varies by state), and the list goes on and on as they keep changing every thing!! Love your ending comments about battery storage. My only negative is that I was going to subscribe but you charge $1.99. I've never seen that before.
Thank you. We've been planning for 13 years to put solar panels on our roof, but it was not possible due to regulatory issues. At last, a year ago the regulations have changed, and 3 days ago we turned on our new 21kW system. Since we live in Israel, our 1st sunny February day produced 73kWh. The system is expected to produce ~28MWh in the 1st year, about 3-4 times higher than our electricity usage. We get ~0.14$ USD per kWh we produce, from the electricity company.
I'm in the UK and have had my solar PV panels for 10 years too - June 2011. One of the best investments I have ever made, utility bills down and making money from the excess electricity that I sell back to the grid. I have just had a BACS payment of £400 from the Grid for my last quarters electricity supplied to them.
Someone else posted and complained that due to RAINY non SUNNY climate in the UK it was pointless for them. Can you share some insight on if/ how much that played out in your case?
@@AX-fx7ng Its hard for me to make comparisons with other peoples systems but here is what I have. I'm in rural Leicestershire, right in the middle of England - as far away from the coast as you can get - and the weather here is good, no extremes. My house is south facing, with no obstructions in the way of my panels, no tall building or trees. You don't need sunny weather for your panels to work, they work on the level of brightness - I have had good production on a clear bright day in December many times. I retired a couple of years ago so I can make use of the electricity generated as its produced - mowing the lawn, charging batteries, etc, etc. If your system is below a certain level it is metered for what is produced but they just estimate the amount that you use of that production, so I try and use all of my production. As for rain, its great - cleans my panels for me :)
5:24 - Correction: Each panel is typically divided into 3 zones with a bypass diode on each zone. Shadow will only effect the shaded zones. The rest of the panel array will produce as normal.
I'm still learning regarding solar and just installed a small 200 watt beginner system. If I recall, shadowing effects panels wired in series more then if wired in parallel?
That is something I have only learned recently, and it is something you are rarely told, that there are three diodes in a panel which effectively do what you describe.
So I don’t own my home, however, I do own my semi truck. My truck is a “super-sleeper” so I have a full fridge, two burner stove, ac unit, and many accessories. It has a diesel generator that runs everything when the truck is off but it consumes a lot of fuel. So I just bought an 18 watt 7 amp solar panel that I’m installing this weekend. It’ll hopefully negate the need to run my generator and so excited to find out! Love this channel! Keep it up!
Well done video. Living in San Diego is perfect for this application. However where I live in northeast Ohio where electricity is $0.10/kWh, and 70% clouds I don’t see a payback in 8-3/4 years but more like 20+ years. That is an eternity. Love your show. Keep up the informative videos.
"....but more like 20+ years. That is an eternity." While I understand your point, that sort of attitude is the reason America hasn't made any really substantial infrastructure investments since the 50's....and Cleveland gets 2280 hours of sun a year on average. You don't need 100% clear days to generate power - you just don't generate as much on cloudy days.
Have 30 panels in a ground mounted array, and we are putting in 18 more on a garage roof the 12th. You are right that you will probably replace yours long before they can fail. Good advice about the battery -- we need to do that too. Good vid. You are a great resource.
No need to replace if they're still working. The best thing to do for the environment is to not discard something that's still working, even at 80% efficiency.
@@LoanwordEggcorn yep just add more or resale if you have limited suitable sun exposure . someone will definitely buy them at a fair price. At least .16 per watt right now.
@@samusaran7317 Agree. BTW, most well engineered EV battery packs will last decades of typical use, especially Tesla battery packs, and most people don't discard EV battery packs even if they lose 10% range. Since most drivers in the U.S. and EU drive fewer than 40 miles / 60 km per day, most EVs remain highly usable even if they lose a few percent of range after many years of use. There really isn't much of a real-world practical problem of needing to replace EV battery packs for a very long time, especially well engineered ones. That theme, however, is an excellent(ly deceptive) one from the oil and internal combustion engine manufacturer anti-EV FUD disinformation campaign playbooks.
@@LoanwordEggcornI agree with you but some people dont use their brains and it shows. If you have enough time you will see how ignorant people truly are online. Never underestimate people stuck on autopilot in life which is an ever growing majority these days.
A friend of mine, I worked years together with, he told me he set up his home with all the best bells and whistles dealing with solar panels probably around the same time you did, like you he went with the best and heaviest rated equipment to handle the power. Through the years he learned a lot about his system and worked to upgrade as he learned. His final verdict, he told me don't do it unless you want to spend a lot of time troubleshooting and replacing, trying to trace down problems and just the downtime when something is wrong. Unless he didn't tell me the truth he explained it's not worth the headache. We also live in an area that has bad electrical storms, including Hurricanes and such. His last words on the subject was don't do it.
The key part of your comment is "We also live in an area that has bad electrical storms, including Hurricanes and such." If you live in cities like San Diego (like the author of the video) or San José (like myself) it's worth it.
@@RichardHoule No, you are incorrect it was : Troubleshooting and replacing, trying to trace down problems and just the downtime when something is wrong, He was spending the majority of his time troubleshooting an unreliable technology. You read into it what you wanted to.
@@RichardHoule My neighbor has this so called technology on his home, and he calls it the technology from He*L, he spends all of his spare time trying to keep it going. He also told me if you like your life don't mess with this B S.
@@RichardHoule My neighbor has this technology on his home, he told me if I enjoy life Do Not Get It, he spends all of his spare time troubleshooting also.
I'm in Upper Michigan @ 47*N Lat. 9 years on a grid tied solar system. My 2.5 kW array produces about 2.9 MWh/yr. No battery, no utility bills, no problems (yet). I still enjoy reading/recording my "demand" electric meter about every day.
I'm in the process of becoming a full time Nomad and solar will be my primary source of energy. Right now I'm faced with so many choices. This video has helped me clarify what I need. Thank you!
I've been a full time nomad for four years now. Two years ago I got a solar system and threw my generator in the garbage. I love the ease and quiet of solar.
Please make sure your panels are professionally installed! Some panels GLUED on to a caravan flew off in highway traffic in Tasmania, causing a crash that killed three people. This actually was a professional installation, but obvs not good enough.
Just to clarify, one of the reasons of no power in a powerout, is the same reason to not plug a generator in a house without disconnecting the main breaker. Because the inverter can't disconnect the main breaker, that would mean that your power would be feeding the whole grid, and there might be someone out there on the lines fixing it up on a pole, on a live wire, which should have no power and might get electrocuted. There are special generator inlets that automatically disconnect the main breaker for that reason.
Correct, but most microinverter setups such as Enphase, have a Gateway module with a transfer switch (such as Enphase Envoy) which can help disconnect the main panel from the grid. Enphase has a new microinverter line, the IQ8 series which can stay active during a power outage once the transfer switch shuts off the grid tie.
I’m a gardener and I installed it on my parents bungalow 👍 (I did do a course to qualify though as I fell for the global warming narrative at the time, and thought I was helping the environment🤦♂️). But you are correct, it wasn’t technically challenging.
@@diogenesegarden5152 long time no see but yes it's not hard the only hard part is the fuse box as it's the most important part, and on the other side of the coin there really is no real climate incentive to lay solar as they are just as polluting as the other ways of getting energy.
Here I am at the end of September, 2022. I'm now in the process of contracting to get a system installed on my roof, and I'm doing last-minute worrying that I've forgotten some aspect. I saw my previous post and your response. Big shot of joy for me.. With more information under my belt, I can comprehend more details on this video. Thank you again. Charley
It's like they are a furniture store. Sell you an expensive piece of furniture with a long warranty, go out of business and start back up with a different name. Rinse and repeat.
well if a company isn't making money what are they supposed to do, keep losing money forever or is the government supposed to use our tax dollars to keep them afloat like the Solyndra scam?
In the past I was a subscriber to solar magazine they had a first issue look back they said they started in a wooden shed with one solar panel 20 years later the same panel is still working
well they don't just die unless you break them... they are solid state after all... they just become less efficient ;-) remember the thingie they sent out of the solar system? well it's still going and it has solar panels
For anyone confused about why panels stop working when the grid goes down - imagine being an electircal worker happy you've turned off the grid area and about to start working on the lines while some person up the road a bit is buay pumping electricity into your line from the other direction. It makes a lot of sense to cut it off but still a major downside to getting solar to offset power outages.
I agree with others . . . a great video. I have had the privilege of living in VietNam for 30 years and seen any type of solar (water, electricity) go from near zero to a massive adoption in the last two years. The countries nuclear plans have been put on hold and coal imports changed. My first venture into solar was buying coils of black hosepipe which I have to poor families who used them to heat water during sunlight hours and the to poor indigenous groups who had nothing! Not even water. Later, I built two hotels an office and houses. The electricity supplier learned of my construction plans of my and they kindly ran a string of power poles up to near my first hotel. In goes the meter and all was well until the hotel went active. Then the electricity guys changed my meter - a few times. Let me explain. I considered the WHOLE of my power consumption and decided on solar panels, batteries, inverters and consumption. My panels are series/parallel. Each panel outputs 28 volts DC into battery banks with minimum loss. 28V outputs are fed to lighting and room power points. Batteries also feed inverters for 220VAC used in kitchen, laundry areas. All the lighting is LED, which requires minimal "processing". All common areas (halls, etc) have fully automatic motion detectors that control the lighting. Room lighting is occupant controlled dimmers. We don't have TV's rather LED monitors with ASUS 19 volt computers for InterNet access. Hot water is solar heated with small booster water heaters in the rooms. The batteries are treated with TLC and vented to the outside. Since our solar source moves horizontally rather than in a semi-circular fashion (10 degrees north of the equator), our solar panels (on a flat roof) track the sun. And the meters? The power guys thought we were by-passing the meter, as they were unaware of our power setup. In 2019 Dec total solar was 378 MegaWatt Peak; by 2020 Jun total was 764 MWp and as of 2020 Dec was 9,296 MWp. Additionally, power line and other infrastructure has been rolled back. P.S. I am a electronic and mechanical designer and needed minimal outside help.
I had 2 panels on my summer cabin used on weekends with heavy demand installed in 1995 sun wasn't the best here in BC but worked OK my issue was the batteries I replaced them about every 6 yrs (deep cell) about 1500 dollars a piece I had 4 of them .The whole experience was great l learned a lot I also had to top it up with a honda generator to really crank up the batteries. Managing the system seeing usage/discharge on the inverter was interesting Very fancy for an in the woods cabin I ran lights TV loud stereo. It beats candles flashlights
@@allenwatkins4972 you're right I had candles as well they looked amazing doubled in the double glazed windows so instead of 5 on a candelabra in a five panel bay window I had with reflection something like 55 candles just from one wall of course it was on the beach in BC one bummer too many candles sucks the oxygen out of the room and if you get cheap china candles they have lead in the wick string to make them burn better. I always used 20 inch tapers that were to used in a church or restaurant. anyway I had fun for 30 yrs there didn't miss a weekend wish I could do it all over again Thanks for listening Cheers Jimmy
My Break Even years:: In Houston, TX I pay 10 cents per Unit of Grid Power. My annual electricity bill is U$ 1100 (Winter months $ 400 and the rest in Summer). My Solar Co quotes U$ 28,000 for 6.5 KW panels with 50% storage capacity Battery, inverters etc all installed with 10 yr warranty. I don't know how much would be the Grid Power cost in the future. I assume it will be in line with the National Average increase. For me to recoup it will take >20 years! I may not live in the House that long. Most of the solar vendors will not be around when I need them. So, I am very discouraged to go solar... For any cost conscious home owner, Solar is not a favored route.. But, if you love "cleaner energy" and new technology, go for it.. In Houston, 22% of the Grid Power has "renewable energy" already juiced in. Most Solar Companies advertise very misleadingly with "Make Money by Going Solar!" slogans. No one tells that it will take >20 years to recoup the Total Cost. The cost goes up if you finance the cost at 2-2.5% interest rate for the money you borrow from the Co or your Bank. Solar Co are not honest in Advertising their Product & Services. Sad... :+((((((
At the kind of quoted cost you could rather just do it yourself and save a lot of money PLUS get to be the guarantor of your own system which you'll know from back to front and top to bottom. Not that hard to figure out - lots of info on the web and if need by you can get help from some people who have already installed their own!
Do you realize all the pollution cause to make those panels ? Huge diesel trucks digging tons of dirt for rare mineral, and depending on the component, it can take one ton of dirt for 1oz of rare metals. As for the batteries, if its comparable to those in Tesla car, well, i think its even worse. (small radio active dust, but only dangerous for those digging by.....children)
While solar is getting cheaper all the time, your first position should be LED lights and then your next position should be extra insulation. Then you should consider getting window units if your HOA allows them because they lowered my electrical consumption by 45% while keeping the house cooler in the rooms I was using and extending the life of my central air conditioning unit. Next would be the best air conditioner or heat pump recommended for your areas mixture of heat and humidity. Then finally you want to look at some kind of storage plus solar. These are really to be viewed as more for natural disasters than for day-to-day use. You don't need a ton of power to start with. You just want to be able to keep your freezer and your refrigerator going plus a fan and a couple lights. Then finally if you're quite well-off you can start looking at a bigger system. Which will probably dropped another 20% while you were doing all the other stuff. And everything else you did is going to mean you need less solar power.
@@danielforget9311 One can certainly look at that pollution issue but in my own case it's a simple story of - you either have electricity or you don't! I'd much rather be independent of the unreliable and expensive supply that I am saddled with.
Great video-- virtually a public service piece for people interested in solar. I live in the "high South" and have had a grid-tied system that consists of 16 panels and an inverter (all made by SunPower), along with a passive hot water system, since 2008 and agree with everything you say and recommend. Prior to installing this system I replaced our AC/furnace with a high-efficiency system that cut my total energy bill in half, but the solar cut it in half again. Over 15 years my panels have lost about 8% efficiency, but today about a third my total energy bill is related to fees. It's very low, but I also do other energy-saving things like hanging up clothes and keeping indoor temperatures "tolerable." Many thanks!
As your panels age and lose power, all you have to go is add another panel to compensate for the loss, that providing you have the space to do so. Greetings from Jamaica.
Been in my new construction house almost 3 years. Just wished I knew if my employer will stop doing layoffs 2-3 times every year. If I knew I wasn’t going to have to move again for a long time, then solar would make more sense.
Big fan of PV Solar, with 6.8kW of panels in my back yard. I had projected a 10.5 year payback when the system was finished in 2012. We've almost completely recovered the money invested and expect it to be completely paid back before the 10 year date. BTW, we put a fair amount of effort in reducing our homes energy consumption before and immediately after buying solar and we bought an EV 4 years ago. This collection of choices has greatly reduced our expenditures, which was the entire reasoning for getting it. I called it retirement planning.
@@talavera180 Just looked it up (I kept the brochures on Adobe) and it shows the cell at 16.2% and the module efficiency at 13.45%. This is for the 6 175W Sharp on my small array, purchased in early 2008. The 24 240W Sharp I got in mid 2009 (brochure does not list cell efficiency) rates the module at 14.7%. Both are on tilting racks so they perform a bit better than the PV Watts calculator estimates for my location, by perhaps 4 to 5%.
I have some solar power plant design experience myself, so one quick tip to prevent shading you can install the panels in landscape and wire the panels in two rows. In that way only one set of panels will be in shade at the initial time of shading
Great video! Just a couple points. 1. I bought my system in 2012 July for my home in Japan. Maybe it's different here, but my inverter has a socket - the guys who installed it told me that if the grid ever goes down, the panels do not stop making power, and I can plug into the socket and power what is needed, e.g. the fridge. Might want to look into that for your next inverter. 2. I have time based pricing, so I have always wanted a battery. However, powerwall, for example, costs about $10k. Based upon my calculations, and considering a life of say 10-15 years, there is no way I could recover my intitial costs. Note, I pay about 14 yen per kwh at night and 28 to 38 yen in the daytime. My solar panels are about 3kw.
1 it depends on how thew system is designed. And the stop while blackout is for the systems that feed in the grid the surplus. It is possible that the panels feeds only the house and waste the surplus if there is no battery, and hence, no need to stop producing for the house if the surplus does not goes into the grid anyway. But this will be an weird system. Also, the system can feed the grid, but have a gateway that will switch the house to feed on the solar system and the eventual battery, but shut off the grid, and in this way the grid will not be not affected by the local production when there is a blackout. It seems that he does not know about this piece of equipment. 2 Damn that time pricing sucks for batteries. You store expensive energy to use it at half a price. But you did not mentioned how much you get paid for your surplus injected in the grid. Also how many blackouts are there. Depending on these the battery may be worthy. Pushing the things to absurd, and imagining, random 10 minutes blackout absolutely every night, than a battery will be worthy. Sure, not an powerwall, but a cheaper one, to cover those 10 minutes and some more. I bought an UPS for my computer even blackouts are extremely rare. Let say twice a year. Few years back had one or two every winter, but in last 5 years had none. So I paid 50 bucks for the UPS, for peace of mind, not for recovering the cost. Why for things like solar and batteries and electric cars we need to compute the return of the cost, but we never look at recovering the cost when we buy everything else, from clothes, to all the gizmos we use in the house? Maybe because these things are quite expensive. But a car, or a computer, now even a phone are expensive too. Never heard anybody to look at recovering money for a phone that will last anyway only a couple of years, not a couple of decades. And I am curious about how much it cost your system, and after how many years you recovered the investment. He said, 8 years, for a 10k spent on a 1kw system. He mentioned that now could get a 4 times bigger system for the same money, and energy price doubled. So, ROI close to 2 years. But your system is as old as his, and more, maybe not so favorable located as his.
@@ehombane we never have blackouts here, so battery is unnecessary. For the first 10 years I received 42 yen per kwh. My system cost 1.8 million yen but I got 10% cash back from the gov. My year on year saving was 20,000 to 30,000 per month so I fully recovered my net investment in about 5 years. My panels all face due south at an angle of about 20 degrees. Sun is favorable in this part of Japan.
@@gerberjason6947 Thanks for the a answer. Wow, 5 years ROI back then, that was nice. I see, the reason was the good price for sold production. Now systems are almost 4 times cheaper, but you get 4 times less so ROI is no better. Yep, no point on wasting money on battery. (Unless you really like them, like me :), and buy them to be there, just case. )
We've had solar for 11 years and sell back power at a great price plus use it at a reduced price so for us it is like renting out our roof (to a very quiet tenant). Our payback was 5 years on our system and hope to run them for 20. It has been a great investment for us. We have newer inverter that allows us usage in daytime with the grid down.
I have had solar pv and solar hot water since 2001. 20 years of savings. I was one of the 1st GRID Ties system in the SRP area. I make more than I use each year. I help the GRID. Too bad they changed the rules at SRP and killed solar PV.
Marcus Barcus provider here is going to give $5.00/kWh during peak times, but also charge that, but going off grid will cost me about 20 grand so probably not going to happen.
@@lktopview dont you mean 50c per KWH? - there are better and cheaper battery storage systems soon being released that for under $10k you could store enough for a srandard home if you use gas for heat - water and cooktop - yiur Fridge is the main user or if you run an inverter A/C within reason and you dont live in Tropics etc. A second hand Prius Battery would be perfect too as they don't explode if shorted out.
Going solar really is a regional decision. I have family that lives in San Diego, and if we lived there I would go solar (lots of sunshine, high electricity and gasoline costs, low energy demand, and good rebate incentives). In the area my relatives live, they hardly ever use AC or heat at all! We live in North Texas and the situation is almost complete opposite. Gasoline is cheaper. Electricity is also much cheaper (we pay $0.12 kwh) but usage is very high because we have 13 tons total AC running in the summer. Even with a giant solar array we still would have a sizeable bill. I don't think our roof is big enough for mount a 12kw system, nor is our wallet. In the winter we have gas furnaces so solar panels won't help, nor do the months of long cold cloudy days. The other problem we have is dangerous weather. We get tornadoes regularly here, as well as storms that drop softball sized hail.
I have just installed solar panels so I have that all ahead of me. Wow 3 cars in ten years! My car is over 30 years old. I wonder which choice creates more carbon.
I’ve been concerned with the cost of removing+reinstalling the panels when new roof shingles need to be installed. Seems like the panel install is best timed when a homeowner gets new roof shingles.
Solar system installers started out as roofers, so of course they'll try to sale u a nu roof. Co's will inspect ur roof to make sure its still in stable condition b4 installation. B careful of salesperson who at ground level says u need nu roof. Next salesman mite say u only need repair work, after he's on ur roof. That being said mite as well get nu roof and have the feds pay for part of it as part of ur solar project. Especially if u have older roof (10 yr+?). Other Co's will remove the system for free if in the future u need a nu roof. Seems to me that most solar co r in fact construction co trying to get in the door to first sale u on solar power (& roof.) Then energy efficient windows & drs. Of course u now need to replace old attic insulation, fans & add radiant barrier too. Perhaps get the solar 1st, use the rebate on ur nxt project. Like rodent proofing the home, termite eradication. Heck u still need to repaint the hse...replace old central a/c & heating system, including the air ducts. Jeezus. Hope ur plumbing is n working order...cuz homeowners ins doesn't cover any of these projects unless its damaged by fire. Sheesh.
i've had my panels on 7 years and the shingles were installed at the same time. the shingles underneath the panels look pristine. they recieve no uv. i think just replace the shingles surrounding the panels when the time comes will be much cheaper
Have a friend went solar here in FL. His roof started leaking bad and had all kind of problems with that because of bad installation. Messed his roof up and he had them removed. 😳 Another friend has solar. Went to put on new roof yrs down road. They wanted $100 for ea. Panel to remove to make way for new shingles , and another $100 for ea. Panel to put back on once roof was reshingled. I think a metal roof would be best to put them on. That’s alotta $$$ should you need a new shingle job. 🤷♀️
Good video, thanks. I installed a Real Goods 2.5 Kw system kit in 2000, so I’m past the 20 year mark now. A couple of years ago, I had an additional Kw installed (the installer has gone belly-up since). Only failure ever on the old system was a blown fuse in the lockable disconnect that a Real Goods tech found and fixed in about 5 minutes. The new system had a thing in the inverter box to report my usage over wi-fi. That died after a year. When I found a tech and got him out here, he said the replacement was $250 or so - but he let it slip that the system was still functioning, just not reporting. I opted not to replace it - my PG&E bill has all that on it, who needs an email? Overall, I’m completely happy with my 20+ year old system. I have ‘em cleaned every couple of years, that’s it. My payback penciled out to 6-7 years, rates are higher a lot since 2000, so current production is good gravy.
Having solar, it cost me $25,000 for system, need to clean several times a year, in winter, night time and cloudy days you get 1/3 to 1/2 power loss. My electricity bills were $110 a month so I figure it will take 24 to 26 years to payoff. Also need panels replaced sometime after 20+ years, so the paid off time now goes to 30 to 35 years, before you see the word free !
There have been a lot of changes over the last 10 years. Solar panel tariffs, power companies catching on and finding new ways to rip off customers, installation companies finding new ways to rip off customers. Its getting to where the only way for it to pay for itself is self installation, which they are trying to make impossible through regulatory and of course more tariffs that are "offset" by subsidies only if you go through certain companies for installation, which discourages self installation.
Great Video , but it's sad when w praise devices for outlasting other stuff after only 10 years. when across the nation ugly green refrigerators from 1975 are humming away in peoples man caves and basements .
But which would you rather have? An inefficient cheap quiet fridge that lasts 50 years or a new expensive efficient fridge that dies after 2 years? I was forced to replace my old fridge when it finally gave up after 50 years, but the new one cost $1,000, came with only a 6-month warranty, and it makes a horrible high-pitched whine that hurts my ears. I should have fixed the old one.
Thermal energy is where most of the energy gets spent in a house, especially during the peak hours. It seems like it would be a good idea to include some kind of thermal storage and release it during peak hours. Not as flexible as a battery, but it could be pretty low tech. In a house with radiant heat floors, slightly overheating them during peak solar hours and letting that energy bleed down during the afternoon and evening would be viable. There are also heat pumps (Multiaqua is one brand I've found) for production of both heated and chilled liquid, which can stored in tanks and then later be used for domestic hot water and for cooling the building. The latter kind of system isn't cheap, but neither are battery systems.
makes sense to me. Solar water heaters have been around for a long time. Just pipe the heated water into the subfloors or radiators. Of course this would only work in warm climates though as where I live there wouldn't be enough sun in the winter to stop the water from freezing, let alone store heat lol. Radiant floors are common here but are always run by a boiler so the water stays warm
Adding insulation may be a higher priority than adding solar in a very cold climate. Controlling air leakage to a reasonable level is probably next. Then solar. Then storage.
@@matthewprather7386 insulation only does so much you still need a furnace up here. Electricity isn't the issue in the winter for us. It's the heat bill. Propane, fuel oil, or wood
There are net-zero houses and buildings in such northern places as Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Larvik, Vestfold, Norway. Tight envelope (controlled air exchange - no leaks) and insulation are a big deal. Along with proper orientation and architecture to pick up some passive solar heating. Plus some photovoltaics for electricity - to run heat pump and lighting. Modern heat pumps work in arctic temperatures.
@@matthewprather7386 yes but a setup like that really isn't affordable for the average person. Sure rich people can do it tho lol. I saw this one house that had a greenhouse built around the actual home once. That was pretty awesome haha
Thank you for sharing your interesting and comprehensive experiences having gone solar. I installed a 3.5 kwh tracking system in 2008 which stores electricity by turning the meter backward. My house is all electric. The system paid for itself in about eight years. Of significance is my heating system, electric radiant heat in the ceiling. This system is far less expensive to install and better than radiant heat in the floor. Better because the mass to warm before it begins or stops heating is small so it is fast to respond. It feels like standing in the sun as the heat radiates down on you.. Every room has its own programmable thermostat. Heating can be minimized during high cost hours. There is another benefit to electric radiant heat in the ceiling. In 50 years there has been no maintenance. I did upgrade the thermostats to programmable ones. No furnace, no fan, no gas lines, no replacements. For new housing, such a system AND solar to power it should cost less than radiant in the floor.
Hi guys, I wanted to bring your attention to another RUclipsr: The Kitten Lady. She recently suffered a power outage that put the animals in her care at risk. As a fellow San Diegan, it might be a fun collaboration to work with her to get her facility more power resilient/independent. Think of it as introducing green energy to her 1M+ subscribers and doing good for animals as a side benefit.
Very well presented video,Although I'm completely offgrid in my Airstream I enjoy watching informative videos on solar. For me solar is a lifesaver. And it saves me from having to use gas and propane on a daily basis,so now with those prices going up I plan on saving even more and if,when the power grid goes down I'll be fine
I worked out a similar recoup figure to you when considering solar for my last house. I decided not to do it as I knew I wouldn't be living in that house that long. We did the same calculation for our present house and still it makes sense for us to not get solar. On the other hand we will be seriously consider buying a house with solar the next time.
Until they come down in the price Solar is expensive. Got a quote of $46,000.00 to install solar on my house in Eastern Colorado! Also in some Cities they limit how much they will buy back, on top of that they will not allow you to have batteries in the system for fear you will go off grid!
@@tfoley7553 I'd move if i were you, for a 6kw system with 20-24 panels where i live in Australia is one tenth the cost you've quoted, and we can use batteries.... 4,600 Aussie dollars, which is around 3,280 USD, Solar is way cheaper than that, you're being gouged to the hilt on price....
@@MickH60 Not doubting you but I just check on Ebay and a 6KW system with 12 panels & with 8*200Ah batteries is $10,310 USD. Also the price that I said was installed! ($46K USD) add another $1,020 USD for the other 12 panels. So that is $11,330 for parts alone. Oh just a word of warning you maybe seeing a short fall of goods. Here in the US they are saying on some car parts a 3 Month back log on them! It may get worst as there is reports that China is shutting down one of the major ports there because of COVID!
Check out Project Solar. I think they have a good philosophy on helping more people into solar, run with standardized components such as name brand panels and Enphase microinverters, provide engineering and permitting help at a very reasonable cost ~40% of what door to door solar companies often charge. Check them out (and no, I'm not a sales person for them), but after having installed an off-grid system on my shop, which is saving us $45 a month, I'm looking at going full house, but on-grid and they seem to have a very reasonable deal going on.
Thank you for this. I appreciate that you have broken everything down into smaller bits. Every video I have watched so far has dumped an overwhelming amount of information without really giving an explanation of the system. Until now I have been left feeling stupid and frustrated. While I will have to watch it again before purchasing a system this video has given me that aha(!) moment to what to do for my situation. Meaning a cabin in the woods soon to be my off grid full-time living space.
I had my 30-panel array installed in June 2012, and had quite a different experience with Enphase microinverters. I got a bunch of M190s and they were garbage. In the past 9 1/2 years, every one of them failed, and six out of eight of the replacements with the same design failed. Modified M250s, I got for later replacements, have faired better, but two of them have also failed. Most of the last 9 1/2 years I've had at least one of my 30 panels inoperative due to a failed microinverter. I have to give Enphase credit. They did live up to their warranty and replace the defective microinverters at no cost, but my installer got so fed up with dealing with them, they abandoned maintenance on my array years ago. I have to do a majority of the swaps myself. Recently I, also, started to have corrosion on the connectors between sections of the AC trunk cable. Two panels are out, right now, just for that. With cost of electricity where I live (Florida) a flat 11.5c/kw, the array will not pay for itself for at least another five years, even though the purchase was heavily subsidized. If I had to do it again, I, definitely, would not. It requires a huge amount of effort to maintain, and just doesn't make economic sense.
More parts, more chances of failure. Maintenance is a huge cost that people tend to ignore or forget when considering solar panels. By the way, manufacturing and disposing the panels add a lot of pollution that we as users don’t see.
Can you please make a simple post mentioning: - how much your solar cost, and what size it is, and how much electricity it generates on average. - when did it break even. - how different are your electricity bills are before and after Cheers.
I can see how solar could be an option when you're paying over $0.50 per KWH. That's insane to me. Here in Phoenix, AZ I'm paying around $0.12 per KWH which includes the fees and taxes.
Cheapest rate at night ( from 22h to 6 am ) stands 0.10€/kw and I had to go solar with batteries watching how prices are increasing . Got 21 panels, 3 strings on an hybrid inverter, will have to go on lithium next year ... After my sealed dry deep charge batteries made their duties properly for 3 years ... It stands what's was planned when going on autonomous self-consuming electricity producing solar system ... What wasn't planned stand the 2 hybrid inverters that crashed before that one . Ps: I'm on my own since I had to build it up myself, didn't really asked for "what's legally required" cause of a major "issue" like with what's "legally required" in regards our government behaviors or laws given respect ... ( ain't got "linky" consumption counter nor the right to sell my production nor the right to even think of re-inject into the grid whatever the circumstances ... authorities really fairly assume you won't be able to help in any circumstances ... by means if needed ! ) From France, with .
The amount of misinformation against solar panels is staggering really. In my country energy is really expensive and there was a time when the government would give you a tax break if you got solar panels, so we jumped on it. We bought solar panels for the same price as our annual energy bill. It's been about 10 years now and to this day they generate a profit by returning excess power to the grid. If everyone who can puts solar panels on their roof, there would a vastly less severe energy crisis.
I have 5 kw rooftop with the microinverters. I too am an engineer and worked in the utility field for nearly 40 years. Here in Oklahoma with my coop's time of use rates ranging from 6.5 cents to 25 cents depending on the time day and season, honestly I won't live long enough to recoup my investment. It is fun however!! FYI I have just under $2.00 per watt invested and have had no repair or replacement costs in the 3 years I've had them.
@@Rahul-kz5fi No such thing as climate change. AOC said we only had 12 years. Apparently she doesn’t believe in JESUS CHRIST. The Bible says that there’s a 7 year tribulation coming, a war that will kill 1/3 of all mankind and after Jesus Christ returns, He will reign on earth for 1000 years. Kinda kills their stupid 12 years and the earth will be destroyed, doesn’t it? I happen to believe in the Bible and I don’t believe in climate change that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Most Americans don’t believe in Jesus Christ. However, after the corona virus, how many times will Jesus Christ have to punish America to make it a Christian Nation again? I believe that we will turn back to Jesus Christ just as the Jews did. They may have called Him God or Lord, but just look at how He punished them for their sins and got them back on the road for worship and belief. I fear that is what’s going to happen to America. We have become so immoral and far from the Lord believing everything that the marxists democrats and non-believers tell us. He is going to take back America because several Christian people are praying every day for Him to heal this land and I believe that He will hear our prayers and heal it. Woe to the unbelievers. Christ will reign again. We should be using clean natural gas and other clean fuels. Depending on solar panels and turbines, along with mismanagement, is why Texas was hit so hard this past winter. If solar works so great, then why were we hit so hard? That’s because the weather changes every so many years. Just look it up and know that Jesus Christ is in control!!!
@@ronniedmiller8821 Solar and wind were a very small part of what shut down the texas grid. natural gas equipment freezing up dwarfed the solar/wind contribution. I don't believe in jc but i support your belief
@@twagoner21 The reason that the natural gas froze up was because of solar and wind mills. I am basing that on what the people in charge said. All I can say is what they said because I didn’t have the means to go down there and look for myself. As for as you not knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, all I can do about that is pray for you!!! Jesus gave all Christians a commandment and that is, “Love one another as I have loved you”. If we followed what Jesus wanted us to do, then we would have a more moral country and people in Washington DC that aren’t crocks!!! I don’t only say this about the socialist democrats, but I include the socialist republicans and the deep state!!! We should have one law that applies to everyone, not a 2 tired system that lets you go just because of who you are!!! I pray that Jesus Christ will destroy this country if we quit being an ally to Israel or we become a socialist/Marxist country!!!
Common problem with roofing and solar companies, the go out of business to avoid warranty, then start another company different name.
@Rainbow Capone how is that the fault of the consumer.. who said it was cheap.. u said cheap... that's a huge assumption.
truth is people do that all time. we had a pool company do that in my home town... scammer do the best they can to cover up being scammers
That's when you only buy the 5-year warranty instead of the 10-year warranty ;)
@@davidpaikins3172 The point we are making is that if you choose an installer who has been around for 10 years or more and have done your due diligence then the price you will pay won’t be the cheapest but you are much less likely to fall foul of the scammers and con artists.
Hello I was a kitchen in home sales person....Windows do it a lot.... most companies know failure rates ....had classes on this.... change incorporation to avoid failures.....yup..
@Rainbow Capone quality electronics company use cheap chinese parts.. read.... known failures..do who is quality....
Been on solar for 4 yrs and it still feels great on hot sunny days where my AC is on max and I'm still sending extra power to the grid.
Wow that means you have a pretty big system congrats!
Peter N. Good for you. We have 2 systems at 3KW each, no problem to operate a 4 Ton AC system and still have a little extra going back into the grid. One of the panel arrays is pointed West so it continues producing until 5 or 6 pm. Couple of years ago I added batteries and a hybrid inverter so as not have interruptions during outages or rolling blackouts. Its very comfortable not having to worry about the power company or grid failures that seem to be getting worse.
My AC will flatten my battery quite quickly, my panels may just keep up with it. Its a 10kw system.
@@tonyp2865 Are you saying the solar array is 10Kw or the battery pack is 10KWh? If your solar array is that big it should run your AC with plenty of extra power. Also, HyperEngineering makes a really good soft starter for Central AC condensers.
@@bentleyjarrard885 Both are 10 Kw, I have a large air con for Australian conditions.
Got my panels for 21 years now. They are well above 80% still. Had to replace 1 converter I reused from my very first solar installation 23 years ago. 300 € of maintenance in 21 years. I am going to double the capacity and add a Batterie next year.
Never cleaned the panels.
It’s so cool!
Wow!!! I’d love to chat! We should do an episode about them!
@@TwoBitDaVinci Why not. At the moment I’m not living where those panels are installed but we will move back there soon. Then we will modernise. In case you are interested we can chat for sure.
80% without cleaning for that ammount…?
I seriously wonder how many increase you get for cleaning them, but taking in account the 5% given it means they are still around 90% compared to when new
When did you break even?
@@Shalmaneser1 After around 10 years give or take 1 year. Got very high incentives in Germany around the 2000ers and had not to pay back the whole amount of the loan. Since than ☀️😎
I've only been on a 3 kW solar power off grid system for about 30 months, with a 32 Lithium 275 Wh cells. It's is quite a journey to see it function within my control. I did all the work myself while using a smaller solar system to build it with. The panels are used (8 x 360 Watt) ground mounted SunPower. But the biggest reward is knowing I have total control of my electric power.
Using solar power is a game changer with more pros than cons. We have severe weather in the Midwest and power outages are common with heavy snow and ice during the winter. While not the ultimate problem solving solution it helps with the basics.
How long do lithium battery still working well?
@@invisibletosociety8338 how will solar help in the case of heavy snow and ice? Your pannels will not produce anything. If you have a battery it will be empty after 1 or 2 days if you are very conservative....
Until you have to change those batteries. Enjoy that cost. It's like buying everything but the wiring all over again every 15 years. Unless you electric is really expensive, it's impossible to get ahead by using solar.
@@deydraniadiancecht8298 actually the price of inverters and batteries is going down each year (and they perform better) , price of copper and installing going up. I can replace batteries and inverters on my own, no need to crawl on the roof.
Oh my goodness! I study electrical engineering and i find your content the best yet seen ever from thousands. PLease continue what you do, please!!
Be sure and pick enough econ classes to see what he's missing.
Had mine here in Australia for 11 years and it paid for itself inside 2 years. Since then, I have never had a power bill. It was installed by an electrician friend of mine who was scrupulously honest, thankfully......The rates the power companies buy the generated power from me helped of course.....great video, thanks for sharing.
Short question: can you share your build specs? How many panels of what wattage each? What controller do you use, what is your setup for energy storage? What model batteries and their Kilowat/ Amp hour capacity? Any other details to share?
My situation:
I live in Miami, Florida, USA. I think we have comparable sun levels to Australia. I've been on the fence for a while deciding whether to take the expensive plunge into a full conversion. One issue is the buyback- our electric provider (FPL) doesn't buy back excess power (yet) so we either have to store excess power in batteries or lose it. Factoring that loss of potential income, the break even point on a solar system ranges from 12-18 years (range is due to varied cost of our battery choices and how energy capacity storage we want.)
Hi Sam! Thank you for sharing. I’m in NSW, did you have to get any special approvals for a non-solar company to do the install? We’ve been told by a few different sources that this isn’t possible and/or our home insurance will be invalidated.
Had my 13kw system for nearly 3 years now - haven't looked back. Best thing to invest in ever. For those in Australia (I'm NSW), I had Solaray Energy install mine. Great company, VERY tidy work and their systems make use of Enphase hardware (microinverters) and are Tesla-ready for batteries or cars (whether you install now or later).
Very helpful info Sam & Jeff, thanks to both of you as I’m in Melbourne and been sitting on the fence about solar for past 3 years. Obviously we don’t get as much sun as you do in nsw but I still think the long term investment is worth it. Do you guys think battery is worth it now or just manage our usage for now with heavy stuff like washers etc for during the day and wait till battery technology improves and becomes more competitive?
Australia seems to be an ideal country to do large scale solar experiments. Lots of land and sun and a tiny population by contrast.
Here in Australia we have two factors in favour of solar, the first is we get a lot of sun (perhaps the only advantage of being on the driest inhabited continent) and secondly we have much cheaper solar systems. I recently added a 6.6kw system to the already existing 5kw system and added two Tesla Powerwalls. The system powers my house, charges my Tesla and exports about 150% of power I use even though the system is throttled by my energy supplier to 5kw of export. It takes a couple of really low production days for us to draw from the grid - happens about once a month on average…
Which is exactly why people in wetter (but still sunny) climates need to consider options other than just solar. I've seen so many videos or comments in which people say things like, "But solar doesn't make enough power!" And solar is the only thing they're trying or wanting to use. But wind and hydro also generate electricity easily and aren't hard to install. And these people don't have to go with only one or the other, but often pretend that they do. When I install my grid, it will utilize all three, as all three are a thing where I live and plan to live. It might take a while, but there is zero reason to be a purist when there're other options available.
@@stiaininbeglan3844 It isnt about being a "purist, its about practicality and feasibility. Hydro power is not only rare for anyone to have access to moving water, but the components are seriously expensive, if you arent jerry rigging something yourself out of an old washing machine. Wind is also cost prohibitive. You cant generate any real usable power through wind, unless you have an enormous blade head, with an enormous generator coupled to that enormous blade head.
You either have no clue what you are talking about, or are so rich, the costs wouldnt affect you. Most people do not have river frontage on their land, or the capital to buy land with river frontage. And even if you did, the river would have to move fast enough and consistantly enough to generate power, and even then, you are fighting with the Government to allow you to build a water wheel to generate that power.
People arent poopooing wind and hydro. Its just not feasable for the vast majority of people.
@@carllennen3520 This exactly. Most people do not live in places where wind and solar are viable. On top of that, neither is nearly as eco-friendly as its proponents would have you believe.
Do you get massive subsidies to cover the cost of the panels and installation? We don't.
@@carllennen3520 to add to this, unless you are a homesteader you likely would not be allowed to install a wind turbine in your backyard due to NIMBYs. There are not many wind options that would be considered acceptable but most neighborhoods and towns.
10 years later, LOVE this thank you so very much!
I am saying this as someone who has been working on microgrid systems, your information is very accurate.
A 10 year review? This is unheard of. Well done!
Thats because he is paid by the Climate Control Mafia to lie to you.
I am going on 18 years with my setup and have no problems so far. I love it. My power bill before I went solar was 535.00 a month. Now that money is mine and not the power company.
@@thomasbranson7237 that’s awesome! Have you done any long term cost analysis? What year was your break even point?
@@r.t.hannah9575 Simple payback analysis (break-even date) is meaningless. The real way to do it is to perform a life-cycle cost analysis compared to the life-cycle cost analysis of doing nothing. The option with the lower life-cycle cost is the one to choose if money is the only factor.
Look at it this way, if a solar system installed at your house has a 8-year simple payback, and a new water heater has a 2-year payback, which one is a better investment? With no other information, you have no way of knowing. How about adding a third alternative: Does it makes sense to add a PV system and a new water heater? Why would you add a new water heater when you'd be getting power from your PV system? You might come up with the wrong answer if you are dealing with only simple payback.
@@gatoryak7332 What tf are you talking about?!? She asked you a simple question, don't try to make it sound more complicated than it really is, just to justify the fact that you have absolutely no idea how to calculate and answer to one simple question.
In depth, clearly communicated info on a subject that can be pretty confusing. Having a 10 year experience to evaluate separates you from a lot of other reviews or opinions on solar. Well done. I liked and subscribed based off of this video.
were you interested in solar?
me too
@@Ciiren i too am offgrid for 3+ years and its worth it. Use a simple inverter and few panels and couple of batteries and it is all fixed .
Thank you. I am going solar. The fact that it reduces my own carbon footprint on this planet is good enough for me to go solar
3 cars in 10 years? Late stage consumerism.
I found that by delaying the charging of my DC coupled battery until noon in summer, my output increased by 12%. I also found that my 41 panels rated at 13.25 kW could actually produce 15 kW of power. This 15 kW limit was made up of 5 kW going straight from the panel's DC output to my DC coupled battery battery and 10 kW flowing through my 10 kW inverter to my EV, house and the grid.
All panels are rated at a solar constant, they may be operating because you have above average exposure
Are you 8n Ohio?
Melbourne, Australia.
@@johnrogers1423 As Andrew said, the panels are rated at 1000w/m2 at 25c. Here in AUS we have higher than average UV exposure and if you couple it with lower temperatures the panels can exceed their rating. The rating is also a little conservative to allow for the warranty and variations in quality.
I've had mine in the UK for 10 years too. Paid for themselves in 6 years, then invested in a Powerwall 2, another great investment which together cost £20k. They contribute 68% toward our total power consumption, which now includes our two electric cars, so no more petrol, or diesel fuel costs either. Best investment ever.
As a general rule, -IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CHARGE AND ELECTRIC CAR. DURING DAYTIME YOU ARE AT WORK. it depends how many kilometers are you away from home. . AND IF YOU RETURN LATE NIGHT OR LATE AFTERNOON YOU HAVE'NT ENOUGH SOLAR LIGHT TO CHARGE YOUR E-CAR neither enought time to perform the charging. ..- The energy needed is about 6kWh, of A Tesla S 85kWh battery. 2 de set. 2021
I am sorry guys.
nobody is properly realising. you need at least the same set of power bank that cost us$ 5000 to store the energy you need from solar panels to recharge the car when returning back home . supposing you spend 50% of the car.battery in distance of 100+100 kilometers . and that is in the most favourable sunny days. also remember in very high temperatures in summer ;: the solar-pannels efficiency drops.
Either you've been lucky or I've been unlucky! My UK system was installed fifteen years ago, and I can't see them even breaking even within another ten years. At the first signs of significant degradation I shall be removing the system and not replacing it.
Wow, powerwall 2 costs 20k in the UK. In the US you can get 5.1kwh for $1700, so three of these to match your tesla would be $5200. I'm guessing that diy projects are frowned on in the UK (in the US, you just don't qualify for the tax credit).
Another great advantage in hot climates is they shade the roof and make cooling the house more efficient just by their presence
This is actually why I want it. My roof gets direct sunlight and heats my attic to unbearable levels 😥
@David Golden Never thought about that aspect. Interesting thought.
This largely depends on how much space you have between the panel and your roof. Tesla tiles sit directly on the roof. There are even water cooled panels to make the panels more efficient in hot climates. These double as water heaters for pools and assistance to your regular water heater.
Panels will provide a bit of shade, that much is true. But in hot climates those panels heat up. And not by a little bit either. This excessive heat reduces the lifespan of the panel pretty drastically and to add insult to injury, the efficiency of turning sunlight into electricity drops a lot as well. Planks would have a similar effect regarding shade, but are way less expensive than solar panels.
Shade helps in areas with high temperatures, but what you really want is mass. As in 1 meter thick walls etc. The sun will heat such walls during the day but the inside of these walls remains cool. And when the temperature drops at night, these walls radiate the heat back out, so you will feel comfortably warm. Of course, the sun will "charge" these massive walls again during the day and you will be comfortably cool during the day.
Costs more during construction, but afterwards you won't need any airconditioning at all. The energy savings over the lifespan from such a house easily cover the extra construction costs.
@@geroldmanders9742 meter thick walls??? Man, that sounds preventatively expensive, even considering a lot of energy savings. I've never in my life heard of a house being built even similarly to that. Like how do you have windows, and if you actually have enough for ample natural light won't that kinda mess up the reasoning behind the bunker-thick walls? For me anyhow, replacing solar panels every 15-20 years sounds wayyy cheaper and more enjoyable as an energy saving solution
I wish you another 10 happy peaceful years to come! Regards from Athens Greece...thank you...
Hello and thank you Panos! I want to visit Greece as soon as things settle down!
That's a very nice sentiment to share, thank you.
I'm in Brasil (yes with a "S") and I have 8x 340Wp panels and 8x 220Ah batteries. I agree with every single word you said in this video. In my case, The energy my panels produce is more reliable than the energy company. I'm not 100% off grid, but I have most of my house on solar and that part is 24/7 on solar. My energy bill fell 75% off. I intend to keep the house 100% off grid and use the grid only for emergency purposes.
the average energy bill used to be around 60-80 euros a month, that doesnt warrant buying a big system, which needs to be serviced.
The nation's exonym is Brazil, its endonym is Brasil. Kinda like "Alemania" vs "Deutschland".
@@lunafringe10 I bought my system as INSURANCE against power outages that may occur as uncertain times lie ahead. I will pay off my fixed interest 2.5% 25 year loan with dollars that are becoming increasingly worthless due to Bidenomics.
@@lunafringe10 over a 15 year period you would spend 10,800 - 14,400 euros on electricity at 60-80/month and that is if the prices don't increase. If you can supply your electricity for the amount saved, I don't see a problem with them, especially if you are charging a plugin hybrid or EV as gas prices are much higher than electricity. I have a neighbor that has only purchased 4-5 tanks of gas since 2018 as the rest of their driving has been on electric in their plugin hybrid.
If your power company has peak billing, I want to point out that you can also install a battery -- no solar panels, just a battery -- and program the battery controller to charge it in the middle of the night and use it in the evenings, to reduce your peak power consumption. The savings per month is smaller, but the initial cost is also smaller.
You have a good thought there. That sounds like a good midway solution for when you want this kind of system, but only enough money for part of it.
to charge "it". what is "it"?
@@rickyrick9328 the battery.
Not necessarily. Batteries are far more expensive than solar panels in terms of life cycle cost when used continuously. They are only good for so many charge/discharge cycles. Do the math on the cost of each KWH of charge/discharge vs what you are saving on your power bill. You may actually be spending more. You will likely be replacing your batteries every couple of years this way and need several thousand dollars worth depending on your energy consumption.
This is a very old theory which is not true. The difference in day/night billing does not outweigh the losses in charging a battery and the losses in converting the battery voltage back to mains.
I did start experiencing with solar panels in 2010. Bought 2 small panels, soldered together, bought the cheapest charger and a small 12V battery for RV. Was pretty happy when in the next morning I saw a green light on my charger :) was experiencing wiring my bath and living room with 12V light bulbs, charging my phone and tablet with solar energy. But it became very handy when ib 2012 we were hit with Sandy hurricane and our neighborhood was left with no electricity for a full 2 days. I remember when I was getting home when it was already dark and turning on my lights in living room I did hear how people taking a walk outside (what else to do when there is no electricity in your house) were whispering "how does he have electricity at home?" :) that was the best moment. I was able to keep electricity for couple hours and for 1 charge of my phone. Since I had a small set up it couldn't last long so I had to go to sleep early hoping for a sunny day next day to fully recharge my battery.
Whenever I have no electricity it always seems like a really comfy, humbling time, to take a nap especially. Having just enough to scrap-by seem even more comfy.
Interesting experience, but the people talking on the street part was little scary ;) The outage lasted only two days, but otherwise expect someone to show up and take it from you, or expect to provide the services to the neighborhood, maybe charge their devices, especially if they think or know you are one of the peppers with off-grid system and full pantry. Difficult times unleash often the lowest instincts.
I tried drone quote. What I learned is that they will give you 3 solar setups to pick from depending on price. Those systems are from different brands of solar panels ofc. They funnel all customers to one particular and exclusive preferred lender. Best thing to do is research terms of lenders in this business.
Thanks for the opportunity Toro Cars. You’re right about the lender; there are SO many different lenders for solar and we prefer to use one specific lender across the board (when possible) since it facilitates the process for all parties involved. In the end, as you mentioned, due diligence will take you far. We prefer to suggest some kind of financing outside of solar loans because there are better options for those that qualify.
@@dronequote what is the cost of getting a quote? Do you get back the cost of the quote if you decide to go with your recommended set up?
I like the idea of solar carport or gazebo for ease of access or ground mount if you are in the county with the space. Also you can go with a small battery and an inexpensive generator for longer duration outage such as hurricane source events etc. Also note that in the USA adding solar increases the value of your house by 4% on average. You are my favorite Da Vinci!
I'm impressed. In the 80's we installed solar hot water heaters with a 30 year warrantee, and i "believed". The company went out of business, in 5 years. I hated driving by and looking at one I helped install. I could see it decomposing. The frame used plastic, or something that degraded in the sun. ouch. They basically had to be removed in 7 years.
in the temperate climate zone the thermic solar panels last easily 30 years. Same for the tank (that should last longer than that). The frame is wood and with a metal cover, it is not really high tech (no electronics - as opposed to PV). And the absorptive layers also help up well.
If the termites do not get to them on the roof a wooden under a metall sheeting (with some space for aearation of course) should also hold up in semi-arid areas.
of course that was German engineering so unthinkable ! to use plastics forthe frame ;)
There is a consumer protection agency that does tests, who would have ripped apart a company that manufactures like that, or a solateur (plumber) who is cluless enough to work with such materials.
You should of known it was a scam when they told you that they had "hot water heaters". Hot water doesn't need heating.
Thanks for your honesty. If only the 5g installers would have a conscience
@@pinschrunner 5G doesn't do anything. Stop spreading mis information.
@@alihaidar5787, if it doesn't do anything then why are they installing 5G networks? 😉
This is exactly what I needed to know. Thank you for being so data oriented. We appreciate it. It's truly breath-taking to hear what you have to say. Subscribed and eager to learn more! We are cyclists and nerds for things like these. We own Jackery batteries (and will continue to buy). We are also about to buy pedalcell (this is a system that likely only bicycle tourists know about, where you cycle and the device uses magnetic tech to feed power to small battery banks like battery banks that help recharge your cellphones, etc.). Since we cycle a lot (we bike commute), this works for recharging small devices (and acts as a secondary way to charging small batteries besides the panels). Also just want to put it out there that if we fall down from installing our own solar panels and die, we are gonna sue. lol .... hahaahha.. sorry! Couldn't resist. Nah, we ain't likely ever gonna be climbing to the roof anytime soon (we are older folks), those little Jackery batteries and remote panels will do. All I can say is, your channel is so informative we are lucky to have found you. Thank you.
Again a great video
I live in a more cloudy, wet climate (Ireland), for me a battery is essential for all of the reasons that you mention plus:
When sun is interrupted by clouds, solar production goes down so the battery can take over and supply thus minimizing need for grid
At times of low usage or load from within the house - that battery can charge thus minimizing excess solar from escaping to grid
In winter time, Batteries can be charged at night with night rate electricity and used during peak periods
As you say - South facing panes are most efficient - but without batteries - much of the solar will escape to grid
This video makes me really appreciate the communication style of a good engineer. Direct, precise, concise, with real and useful information and no rambling, wild speculation. Its a longish video but there's no fluff; there really is that much information.
Except he was wrong about current and volts making an assumption that high current is really bad and you'd need heavy wires which is completely false. The size of a wire is based on WATTS which is a function of both current and voltage. You create higher voltages when transmitting power over any kind of distance because it's more efficient.
🙂
I have had my 5kw system with 3 kw battery here in oz for 4 yrs now.
Best home improvement by far
One thing not talked about so much is alignment of panels to sun
We ended up going 40% easterly facing and around 10% north 50% westerly
Very unusual though this gives power when your house needs it
in the morning and afternoons when you have high demand, still enough to fill your batteries
Hello there. Forgive me but... Is a 3 KW battery enough? I've been doing some calculations and digging... Most household electronics consume little but a fridge, a washing clothes machine and computers can reach around 1-2 KW/h of consumption. Those calculations and diggings were done in a rushed way so I can be off by some hundreds of KW's but a fridge and a washing machine can consume a lot I know that much. What's been your experience so far? You have to worry about the on hours or you just forget about it? 3KW sounds very very little... Even for me as an European. Yeah people also forget to mention LED lamps for example. Those are awesome, they consume so little
Best regards
@@Trip4man I'm looking at this just now. I have a 4.8kWh battery which I'm about to integrate with solar panels to charge it. Average daily household demand is apparently 12kWh in the UK, not sure how accurate that is but I averaged 8.6kWh recently having just replaced my old fridge freezer (was 11.5kWh/day before as the fridge had a major fault and was running continuously)
My peak load is likely from the electric oven as it's the only appliance/ consumer that is cannot be powered from a 13a plug. I am looking at an invertor that will provide approx 2.4kW maximum from the batteries so some peak loads will not be fully met but most will be. Importantly, base load will all be met from that capacity.
Good strategy
@@jncg2311 I own a 2 bed flat and 4 to 7 kWh is what i also average
In May I usually am on solar from 6:30 to 18:00 (southern Germany), solar facing east and west. Most nights are covered by the battery, only exception being if my wife starts the washing machine at 6:00. Usually in the morning the battery will be down to 20-30% of its capacity. Total energy used per day is around 15 kWh, peak load during the day about 4 kW. In February it looked similar except the battery was usually down to 10% by 6:00 and the sun only showed up around 7:00 :-(
Lol, they didn't go out of business, they just shut down and started a new company so need to honor any warranties.
Bankruptcy court would not allow them to do that.
Several companies here do that trick. Everything from lawn and garden to car companies. It's the new scam.
@@waynemcleod6767 doesnt work in a functioning country
This is the first video of yours that I have watched. I have followed solar for years myself. You have taught me something. I look forward to having the time & money to invest into solar myself, following your model. You also have a passion for it that shows thru to me. Thank you for starting this channel. Looking foreward to more.
did you buy solar?
Finally, a comprehensive review of the pros and cons and overall costs associated with a solar system which kept me from obtaining a system! My biggest fear is hail which we can count on every year here in Calgary! And the harsh winters mixed in! Do the panels over the roof keep the attic a lot cooler due to the shade and under panel air circulation?
What about bifacial vertical solar panels. Good against both hails and snow!
Thanks for some really good, in-depth info...
I'm in the research stage of building a home on wheels, and you answered a number of questions that I've had.
More importantly a number of questions that I hadn't even considered yet...
Much Thanks!
This is actually one of the best solar videos I’ve ever seen, good job!
Agree!
“What would you keep for 25 years”? The only thing I've kept that long is a wife; she came with no warranty, no trade in provision, a very messy separation clause, high maintenance probability, and, I was warned by the manufacturer that she would be a handful even in the best of times. 30 years later………..wwweeellll……….
That is so true, thanks for the laugh…
Best example ever :))))))
Best comment I've come across yet!
ROFL
Well
That's what you get when you buy a used car
And value depreciates rapidly.
Great content. On the cleaning. I had the solar folks when they were on the roof install a PVC piping syste wit sprinklers aimed at the panels. I simply turn on the water for about 15 minutes when the panels are dirty, actually dusty and they are clean, the whole system there ran 500 dollars with the parts and labor. My break-even point was 3.7 years. Our panels are on 3 side, to the East (yep, morning sun, no trees) South, the bulk of the panels and finally West for late afternoon. My payback was faster because of credits back to grid and - - we live in the desert with an average of 286 days of sunshine.
3.7 years? I call BS. Most systems are at least 15 years payback. You forgot to calculate the time value of money, depreciation and the opportunity costs if that money was invested in something else.
This video was very good and addresses the most important aspects of solar. Thank you. After hearing of the unrest in the cities and rolling blackouts in certain regions of the U.S. I decided to get solar as a backup. I live in Delaware and have solar panels, with optimizers on each panel, and a battery backup with a transfer switch. My system was activated in April of 2021. If the grid goes down a transfer switch isolates the SolarEdge panels and LG battery from the grid and feeds my house through the battery. Thus far, I haven't had any issues with the system and my wife loves the fact that we haven't been charged for electricity for months. The hardest part of getting the install was convincing my wife to get the install. Note, however; I researched the perspective installers before committing to a reputable local company. I didn't want to be at the mercy of a company based in far away Las Vegas, or elsewhere. I am very pleased with the company that did my install but I had heard some horror stories of people that used lesser companies.
That is a very important thing with any major work to be done, research the companies/ installers. The horror stories of just about any field of home remodeling/ enhancement done by door to door salesmen or companies/ installers from states away are endless.
M,You said you live in Delaware....so do I, who did you use and were you satisfied(install and warranty)? I live north De. Thanks in advance!
We are 1 year into having solar panels, and it has been fully worth it. We live in New England, and have only east/west facing panels, but we got a beefy system before Tesla insisted on selling their batteries (so we do not have batteries at present, would consider for a future project). Anyway, in our first year we had essentially service fee bills ($5-$15) from the months of March through September, and that is before our state payment. We produced 14.2 mWh for the year (and weren't hooked into the grid until late Jan 2021). Even with 3-4 months of low solar capture (the winter) it's been worth doing and I think will pay for itself in about 3-4 more years. We run a small farm so we use basically 2x the amount a regular home would. We'd wanted to for years. So glad we did finally. ETA we have also been in our house almost 15 years with no immediate plans to move. Financially we couldn't have done it earlier, but it's a nice plus for the RE market if we do have to participate in it sometime.
Please clarify the meaning of RE. Thanks
@@chrutnz Renewable energy
New england?
whare is old england?
The one big plus of micrometers not mentioned is the ability to have different panels - makers in the same system so you don't care if have to replace failed panels with a better one in the future.
He does mention that.
I'm In South Africa 🇿🇦 and had no choice but to go off grid few weeks ago. Loving the setup so far. Currently running 9x545w Canadian panels which in future will double up to another 9 taking me to 18 panels of 10kw in total. My inverter is a 10kw and I'm running 10kw on batteries which I will take to 20kw in the next few months. I'm running a 4 phase so solar during the day battery at night and if I have to topup it will look for eskom but if they offline for loadshedding then it will switch to my generator but only to charge up the batteries but so far it hasn't been needed. Will see how it performs in winter and will spec it accordingly. I went the full Kodak route except for the Canadian 545w panels.
Yo .. ZA ..
@@ihateemael I went for a full Kodak system, so running Kodak BL 3.6 lithium batteries they good for around 10-15yrs warranty is 12yr
with the way ZA seems to be going I hope you have a shotgun to stop people from stealing those panels
Great video. Cool seeing a long term perspective.
Dude huge fan! Thanks for taking a moment to stop by! I’d love to chat sometime… love your style and have some ideas
@@TwoBitDaVinci email is always open! JerryRigEverything at Gmail
@@TwoBitDaVinci prius,takes 70 yrs to pay for itself, you wont have it 70 yrs,will you..here in aus. i have a 10 pnl system. cost 9k, panels were 200 each,inv. 400. rip off. anyhoo.. i wanted mode pnls seeing the price came down to 3.4k,same system, sorry sir,you allready have a system, you can buy this,buit your input rate will go down to 6c, not your current 54c. yup,,so much for being green,. &,we can not,get off the grid. people without solar,are paying thru higher cost,to offset the loss from solar revenue. its a scam. i dare you,,to do a vid,on wind farms. what they cost to produce,set up,maintain,&,the ultimate re cycling of them,. all green inovations are a lose,lose, scenerio. total garbage brainwashing..we have companies that go around cleaning panels, they work better in low sun. after 30c forget it. like a lithium batt,too hot,shts itself.. thats my 4 bits..
@@TwoBitDaVinci you can have 400,000 kw panel system,but its the 5kw inverter,that governs the power,not the panels. in aus..if my panels are capable of 10kw,the inv only lets its 5kw thru..
@@TwoBitDaVinci battery syst cost 6k. ill wait for the power..as to your tesla. we will never run out of oil or coal,which is cheap,with infrastructure now. you,need outlets every 300 mile,installed,new. here in aus,we can go 1000 ks without a fuel stop.. good luck with your tesla, as i pass you.. plus,the sun controls the earths temp. NOT YOU. all this ''green'',production,is contributing more,extra,than just having coal & oil,& making it cleaner,not a whole new untested,costly system,that has a life span, a petrol engine can last forever. yours,can not. whats the cost of production,life span & re production,of your 3k batteries. ???...an engine,petrol,re build,is only 2k,after 30 yrs of use.. you lose.. if run for 30 yrs on lpg,it pumps out oxygen,go figure....&,end of the day,you,need a coal fired power station,to make all your green bs. foundries,machinery,cnc,s. ect ect.. cut down a forest,for a solar farm,,yup,,thats green,isnt it.. ignorance is bliss..
I thought I would share some lessons learned from doing my own solar install. Date of install end of Dec 2021. 1. If you pay a company to do your solar install, I seriously doubt it would ever pay for itself over 20-25-30 years. I also doubt your electric bill will be zero in the summer months as most solar companies flat out lie. Being inform, you can have them put their expectations on legal papers for your future safety. 2. If you do your own solar one can expect a 4-7 year return on investment. You will have to get educated on permits with your local city and power company. If I can do it anyone can. 3. Power Company Billing was my biggest surprise from this entire venture. Rocky Mountain is NOT solar friendly to the average home owner. The excess power sent to the grid for storage comes at a great cost. I discovered after a few months of billing that We pay RMP .077 cents per KWH. When you generate excess solar power, the excess goes to the RMP grid but RMP only credits you .04 cents per KWH. So, in others words grid storage is not free or cheap. RMP skims nearly 50% off the top. WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN: 1. When you have your solar designed and drawings engineered you have to figure in 1/3-1/2 larger system to make up for the RMP skim ratio. I was lucky and added 30% more panels then necessary because I wanted an electric water heater. So far my last 3 utility bills have been $13 the minimum fee RPM charges and that includes free hot water. Jan-Mar our bill was $45-$60 due to winter clouds with a typical electric bill of $100-ish in the winter and $375 in Summer RMP resets the homeowner grid storage to Zero March to March. Of course, RMP keeps the excess storage when the clock is reset. We lost $15 storage credit. Yep RMP keeps your excess after Mar billing is closed out and you start your grid battery storage at zero. This feature does not encourage being "green", It flat out encourages running ones AC to 68 degrees in July and August and push less out to the grid. So during the day your system pushed out excess power to the gird at .04 cents and at night you buy your power back at .077 cents. Yah get the KY jelly ready. 2) Another big disappointment is RMP in Utah takes ALL the homeowner carbon credit rebates. Most states let the solar owner sell the Carbon Credit which can add up to $100-$300 per month passive income. If Utah is serious about encouraging Solar for Homeowners the laws need to be changed. Only serious pressure on our elected officials will we make strides in Solar. Conclusion: Overall I am happy with my solar only because we did all the labor ourselves. We expect near zero ($13) per month electric bills from here on out. Beware that many States like Florida have increased the $13 minimum to $30 now.... so that must be our near-term future for residential solar. This year the homeowner will still be eligible for a 26% IRS rebate and up to $1200 Utah rebate. The crazy part of the Utah Credit: You have to pay $30-$35 ish bucks to set up a Utah Rebate account in order to claim your solar rebate. Another shocker! The 26% Federal IRS rebate for DIY is only for cost of materials. Your Labor is not deductible. One can however hire out parts of the job like mounting the rails and running electrical inside the attic. You will need receipts for the rebates. Pros: We find that it is more cost effective if we run our home ac at 68-70 degrees during the day and raise it up to 73-75 at night. The heavy use during the day results in less RPM skimming off grid storage but just enough to run the ac at night and draw from our grid storage. Not very "Green" in my mind but it is what it is. Con's: One has to be aware to not have too much excess "Banked" on the grid when March comes a knocking. You lose all excess. So in others words crank up the electric heaters, electric blankets, leave all the lights on and dry ones hair more often. Excess storage is not a tax deductible loss but should be! So in other words you have to manage your usage. Does not require much time but it is another thing to do. About 10-15 minutes a month. Bottom Line: Would I do it again? Absolutely YES. I would not hire it out but if one uses their own elbow grease and fill in with some contracted work it is well worth it. Yesterday was 92 degrees and my total draw from the grid was zero. I actually pushed 40kwh to the grid. What is 40kwh? enough to run 40 100w light bulbs for 1 hour or 4 ton HVAC system for 6-8hrs
A small typo...40kwh equals 40,000 watts which is 400 x 100w bulbs for 1 hour
Good advice from an engineer. Next step, get a bigger battery and feed the grid at the high price time
Remember with batteries there is degradation with every discharge, where it makes sense when you are talking about peak price, it likely doesn't make sense when you talk about the much lower sale price. The power company pay far less per kWh then then you pay them in many cases
Batteries are wonderful, but they do not last like solar panels.
@@MaddHatter Better to have an agreement with neighbour on trading power 😉, instead of power company.
@@MaddHatter That's why batteries shouldn't be discharged over 50%. I also noticed that there was no mention of a battery management system, aka BMS. It's built into the Tesla Power Wall. But, he incorrectly stated that batteries can be powered directly from the solar panels' DC output. Charge currents must be well regulated and match the battery type.
Battery technology is the holy grail for sustainable energy. There are many companies frantically conducting R&D on alternatives to LiFePO4 to become #1. It's only a matter of time before inexpensive reliable batteries are on the market.
@@TheOleHermit it also occurs if the battery is charged above 70%... Batteries take wear
@@nufkistruff9961 I have more trust in the power company doing what they promised than doing finances with neighbors. When you present your neighbor the bill i’m quite confident that that was the last thing you’ve heard or seen about the topic.
I would advise everyone to be careful when cleaning the panels, hard fiber mops can scratch the panel and that is worse than any gunk you might have.
Edit: very nice observation about those west facing panels.
IMO the problem with solar is the resources needed to make it widespread, domestic wind power prodution might be a good complement but when you account for home batteries plus the rise of EV will create a very high demand for rare earths and I dont think we are that close of a material science breakthrough to make it viable but hopefully I am wrong on that.
Perovskite solar cells do not use any rare earth's.
@@WetPig it uses rare metals, you got me
@@porcus123 What exactly do you define as rare?
Great feedback. Question what type of cleaning solution do u use? Do u use a wiper on the panels ?
Most of those minerals are recyclable indefinitely but we need recycling to work property. Europe takes it more seriously but in NA you can throw everything in black garbage bag and nobody cares
Great video. I went solar (off grid) 5 years back, 1.8 kW Panasonic panels, 9 kWh battery, 3.5 kva inverter and a MorningStar MPPT charge controller. I exactly understand what you meant by the joy of monitoring energy production. MorningStar controller connects to the local network and that is how I was able to write few python scripts to pull data and store in mySql running in a raspberry pi. Some php code to draw fancy graphs. Even today I am tweaking graph algorithms, adding more data infographics to my dashboard. The electricity bill has gone down by 80%. But the actual fun of the whole system is to look at the dashboard and feel great that I am harvesting energy that would have gone waste otherwise.
I'm so glad and excited to be seeing your experience about this. didn't really expect that could be providing actual hobby or reason to be studying deep in of rasberry pi and python such stuffs.
What does it do bro. Can u explain more
@@asdfasdf6791 Plenty of apps will do all that stuff.
How many panels to get 1.8Kw?
Great video. My biggest cost after 8 years was replacing my asphalt shingle roof. We had to remove 39 panels, and reinstall them. Cost in Canada was $7000. Ouch. Now we put a metal roof on, this should last long after I am gone. On average I generate 12 Mwt a year. I am happy.
As an offgridder for more than 30 years, I can say that solar panels are the modern world's miracle. I do anything that needs energy from lighting, water pumping, milking, cleaning to irrigating a 5 hectare of land. I've invested a good deal on panels and their contraptions to meet the energy need, and the investments I've made have paid off generously. Now, I meet 80 % of my total energy need from the solar systems. The only area I can't use solar is heating my home in winter.
A more energy efficient idea for heating your house in winter might be heat pumps. Even with the smaller amount of power you’re able to generate in winter, heat pumps are significantly smaller and energy efficient than furnaces.
Also consider installing a wood burning stove (if possible)
@@thecardwarskingdom6368 if you have easy access to free wood, a high efficiency wood burning stove is a good option to heat your home.
@@abdervish right, my thought processes would think that most offgridders would be able to find a few trees around
Heating and Cooling (A/C) are the 2 most important things...and Solar fails at both
I realize that this video is a year old but I love it! I noticed you mentioned LG but they are now also out of the solar panel in regards to being a manufacturer. But they may honor their warranty. I loved LG phones but their not into cell phones anymore. Their appliances and television technology are still going strong! Again, you have given me an excellent starting point as the technology is changing so rapidly. Oh, I'm 69 but I sandblasted and painted railroad bridges over the Missouri River with no safety equipment (not recommending that!), etc. So I've always pushed myself and I'm fortunate enough to be an excellent shape. But not everyone is, through no fault of their own. Oh...you can also piggyback lithium batteries. But you have Telsa which is excellent if installed by Telsa (current waiting time is 9 months). You spent $10,000 10 years ago. Just a good whole house generator can cost that much!!! Haven't touch on rebates, tax incentives, excess electricity purchased by your electricity provider (varies by state), and the list goes on and on as they keep changing every thing!! Love your ending comments about battery storage. My only negative is that I was going to subscribe but you charge $1.99. I've never seen that before.
Thank you. We've been planning for 13 years to put solar panels on our roof, but it was not possible due to regulatory issues. At last, a year ago the regulations have changed, and 3 days ago we turned on our new 21kW system. Since we live in Israel, our 1st sunny February day produced 73kWh. The system is expected to produce ~28MWh in the 1st year, about 3-4 times higher than our electricity usage. We get ~0.14$ USD per kWh we produce, from the electricity company.
Why such a big system? Seems oversized for your needs. But, if you are getting paid for overflow it changes the equation.
I'm in the UK and have had my solar PV panels for 10 years too - June 2011. One of the best investments I have ever made, utility bills down and making money from the excess electricity that I sell back to the grid. I have just had a BACS payment of £400 from the Grid for my last quarters electricity supplied to them.
Someone else posted and complained that due to RAINY non SUNNY climate in the UK it was pointless for them. Can you share some insight on if/ how much that played out in your case?
@@AX-fx7ng Its hard for me to make comparisons with other peoples systems but here is what I have. I'm in rural Leicestershire, right in the middle of England - as far away from the coast as you can get - and the weather here is good, no extremes. My house is south facing, with no obstructions in the way of my panels, no tall building or trees. You don't need sunny weather for your panels to work, they work on the level of brightness - I have had good production on a clear bright day in December many times. I retired a couple of years ago so I can make use of the electricity generated as its produced - mowing the lawn, charging batteries, etc, etc.
If your system is below a certain level it is metered for what is produced but they just estimate the amount that you use of that production, so I try and use all of my production. As for rain, its great - cleans my panels for me :)
5:24 - Correction: Each panel is typically divided into 3 zones with a bypass diode on each zone. Shadow will only effect the shaded zones. The rest of the panel array will produce as normal.
I'm still learning regarding solar and just installed a small 200 watt beginner system. If I recall, shadowing effects panels wired in series more then if wired in parallel?
That is something I have only learned recently, and it is something you are rarely told, that there are three diodes in a panel which effectively do what you describe.
@@Alpha-ms9nj Affects😉
@@Alpha-ms9nj Than😉
Low watt panels are only divided into 2 sections, bigger panels into 3
So I don’t own my home, however, I do own my semi truck. My truck is a “super-sleeper” so I have a full fridge, two burner stove, ac unit, and many accessories. It has a diesel generator that runs everything when the truck is off but it consumes a lot of fuel. So I just bought an 18 watt 7 amp solar panel that I’m installing this weekend. It’ll hopefully negate the need to run my generator and so excited to find out! Love this channel! Keep it up!
Well done video. Living in San Diego is perfect for this application. However where I live in northeast Ohio where electricity is $0.10/kWh, and 70% clouds I don’t see a payback in 8-3/4 years but more like 20+ years. That is an eternity. Love your show. Keep up the informative videos.
"....but more like 20+ years. That is an eternity." While I understand your point, that sort of attitude is the reason America hasn't made any really substantial infrastructure investments since the 50's....and Cleveland gets 2280 hours of sun a year on average. You don't need 100% clear days to generate power - you just don't generate as much on cloudy days.
Have 30 panels in a ground mounted array, and we are putting in 18 more on a garage roof the 12th. You are right that you will probably replace yours long before they can fail. Good advice about the battery -- we need to do that too. Good vid. You are a great resource.
No need to replace if they're still working. The best thing to do for the environment is to not discard something that's still working, even at 80% efficiency.
@@LoanwordEggcorn yep just add more or resale if you have limited suitable sun exposure . someone will definitely buy them at a fair price. At least .16 per watt right now.
@@LoanwordEggcorn Yep. Same with people wanting to discard batteries that are 80-90% range. Rather ridiculous if you ask me.
@@samusaran7317 Agree. BTW, most well engineered EV battery packs will last decades of typical use, especially Tesla battery packs, and most people don't discard EV battery packs even if they lose 10% range.
Since most drivers in the U.S. and EU drive fewer than 40 miles / 60 km per day, most EVs remain highly usable even if they lose a few percent of range after many years of use. There really isn't much of a real-world practical problem of needing to replace EV battery packs for a very long time, especially well engineered ones.
That theme, however, is an excellent(ly deceptive) one from the oil and internal combustion engine manufacturer anti-EV FUD disinformation campaign playbooks.
@@LoanwordEggcornI agree with you but some people dont use their brains and it shows. If you have enough time you will see how ignorant people truly are online. Never underestimate people stuck on autopilot in life which is an ever growing majority these days.
A friend of mine, I worked years together with, he told me he set up his home with all the best bells and whistles dealing with solar panels probably around the same time you did, like you he went with the best and heaviest rated equipment to handle the power. Through the years he learned a lot about his system and worked to upgrade as he learned. His final verdict, he told me don't do it unless you want to spend a lot of time troubleshooting and replacing, trying to trace down problems and just the downtime when something is wrong. Unless he didn't tell me the truth he explained it's not worth the headache. We also live in an area that has bad electrical storms, including Hurricanes and such. His last words on the subject was don't do it.
The key part of your comment is "We also live in an area that has bad electrical storms, including Hurricanes and such."
If you live in cities like San Diego (like the author of the video) or San José (like myself) it's worth it.
@@RichardHoule No, you are incorrect it was : Troubleshooting and replacing, trying to trace down problems and just the downtime when something is wrong, He was spending the majority of his time troubleshooting an unreliable technology. You read into it what you wanted to.
@Chris 👍👍
@@RichardHoule My neighbor has this so called technology on his home, and he calls it the technology from He*L, he spends all of his spare time trying to keep it going. He also told me if you like your life don't mess with this B S.
@@RichardHoule My neighbor has this technology on his home, he told me if I enjoy life Do Not Get It, he spends all of his spare time troubleshooting also.
I'm in Upper Michigan @ 47*N Lat. 9 years on a grid tied solar system. My 2.5 kW array produces about 2.9 MWh/yr. No battery, no utility bills, no problems (yet). I still enjoy reading/recording my "demand" electric meter about every day.
I'm in the process of becoming a full time Nomad and solar will be my primary source of energy. Right now I'm faced with so many choices. This video has helped me clarify what I need. Thank you!
I've been a full time nomad for four years now. Two years ago I got a solar system and threw my generator in the garbage. I love the ease and quiet of solar.
Please make sure your panels are professionally installed! Some panels GLUED on to a caravan flew off in highway traffic in Tasmania, causing a crash that killed three people. This actually was a professional installation, but obvs not good enough.
Just to clarify, one of the reasons of no power in a powerout, is the same reason to not plug a generator in a house without disconnecting the main breaker. Because the inverter can't disconnect the main breaker, that would mean that your power would be feeding the whole grid, and there might be someone out there on the lines fixing it up on a pole, on a live wire, which should have no power and might get electrocuted. There are special generator inlets that automatically disconnect the main breaker for that reason.
Correct, but most microinverter setups such as Enphase, have a Gateway module with a transfer switch (such as Enphase Envoy) which can help disconnect the main panel from the grid. Enphase has a new microinverter line, the IQ8 series which can stay active during a power outage once the transfer switch shuts off the grid tie.
I've installed solar in the Netherlands i'm an electrician, any house electrician could do it it's easy as shit almost like lego's.
I’m a gardener and I installed it on my parents bungalow 👍 (I did do a course to qualify though as I fell for the global warming narrative at the time, and thought I was helping the environment🤦♂️). But you are correct, it wasn’t technically challenging.
@@diogenesegarden5152 long time no see but yes it's not hard the only hard part is the fuse box as it's the most important part, and on the other side of the coin there really is no real climate incentive to lay solar as they are just as polluting as the other ways of getting energy.
Here I am at the end of September, 2022. I'm now in the process of contracting to get a system installed on my roof, and I'm doing last-minute worrying that I've forgotten some aspect. I saw my previous post and your response. Big shot of joy for me.. With more information under my belt, I can comprehend more details on this video. Thank you again. Charley
The inspiration is that, there are at least a few people, who learn from our mistakes. There is hope for some like me
I’ve always thought it’s ridiculous that a company can sell a long warranty and just go bankrupt like that.
It's like they are a furniture store. Sell you an expensive piece of furniture with a long warranty, go out of business and start back up with a different name. Rinse and repeat.
Yes! I realized after buying windows for my house that came with a lifetime warranty that it meant only for the life of the company!
well if a company isn't making money what are they supposed to do, keep losing money forever or is the government supposed to use our tax dollars to keep them afloat like the Solyndra scam?
We got jilted the same way but with our water heater.
In the past I was a subscriber to solar magazine they had a first issue look back they said they started in a wooden shed with one solar panel 20 years later the same panel is still working
well they don't just die unless you break them... they are solid state after all... they just become less efficient ;-) remember the thingie they sent out of the solar system? well it's still going and it has solar panels
For anyone confused about why panels stop working when the grid goes down - imagine being an electircal worker happy you've turned off the grid area and about to start working on the lines while some person up the road a bit is buay pumping electricity into your line from the other direction.
It makes a lot of sense to cut it off but still a major downside to getting solar to offset power outages.
Your enthusiasm is absolutely contagious
Thank you sir!
I agree with others . . . a great video.
I have had the privilege of living in VietNam for 30 years and seen any type of solar (water, electricity) go from near zero to a massive adoption in the last two years. The countries nuclear plans have been put on hold and coal imports changed.
My first venture into solar was buying coils of black hosepipe which I have to poor families who used them to heat water during sunlight hours and the to poor indigenous groups who had nothing! Not even water.
Later, I built two hotels an office and houses.
The electricity supplier learned of my construction plans of my and they kindly ran a string of power poles up to near my first hotel. In goes the meter and all was well until the hotel went active. Then the electricity guys changed my meter - a few times.
Let me explain. I considered the WHOLE of my power consumption and decided on solar panels, batteries, inverters and consumption.
My panels are series/parallel. Each panel outputs 28 volts DC into battery banks with minimum loss. 28V outputs are fed to lighting and room power points. Batteries also feed inverters for 220VAC used in kitchen, laundry areas.
All the lighting is LED, which requires minimal "processing". All common areas (halls, etc) have fully automatic motion detectors that control the lighting.
Room lighting is occupant controlled dimmers. We don't have TV's rather LED monitors with ASUS 19 volt computers for InterNet access. Hot water is solar heated with small booster water heaters in the rooms.
The batteries are treated with TLC and vented to the outside.
Since our solar source moves horizontally rather than in a semi-circular fashion (10 degrees north of the equator), our solar panels (on a flat roof) track the sun.
And the meters? The power guys thought we were by-passing the meter, as they were unaware of our power setup.
In 2019 Dec total solar was 378 MegaWatt Peak; by 2020 Jun total was 764 MWp and as of 2020 Dec was 9,296 MWp. Additionally, power line and other infrastructure has been rolled back.
P.S. I am a electronic and mechanical designer and needed minimal outside help.
I have the same background as you and I love to tinker. But my crypto miner alone uses 1.8 KWh and I live in a rental.
What are their plans for disposal?
I had 2 panels on my summer cabin used on weekends with heavy demand installed in 1995 sun wasn't the best here in BC but worked OK my issue was the batteries I replaced them about every 6 yrs (deep cell) about 1500 dollars a piece I had 4 of them .The whole experience was great l learned a lot I also had to top it up with a honda generator to really crank up the batteries. Managing the system seeing usage/discharge on the inverter was interesting Very fancy for an in the woods cabin I ran lights TV loud stereo. It beats candles
flashlights
Sounds expensive and complicated. Unlike candles flashlights.
@@allenwatkins4972 you're right I had candles as well they looked amazing doubled in the double glazed windows so instead of 5 on a candelabra in a five panel bay window I had with reflection something like 55 candles just from one wall of course it was on the beach in BC one bummer too many candles sucks the oxygen out of the room and if you get cheap china candles they have lead in the wick string to make them burn better. I always used 20 inch tapers that were to used in a church or restaurant. anyway I had fun for 30 yrs there didn't miss a weekend wish I could do it all over again Thanks for listening Cheers Jimmy
I have lived off grid with Solar since 1992. Never going back
Wow that's impressive, what US state are you in?
@@spiko-ou3bp interesting that you'd assume US...
@@JulianSloman interesting that you assume he assumes... maybe he knows he is from US
@@spiko-ou3bp California he said. Good vid
Problem is, in some places, you are forced to tie into the grid. Which is criminal and the ones responsible deserve to have their feet broken.
My Break Even years:: In Houston, TX I pay 10 cents per Unit of Grid Power. My annual electricity bill is U$ 1100 (Winter months $ 400 and the rest in Summer). My Solar Co quotes U$ 28,000 for 6.5 KW panels with 50% storage capacity Battery, inverters etc all installed with 10 yr warranty. I don't know how much would be the Grid Power cost in the future. I assume it will be in line with the National Average increase. For me to recoup it will take >20 years! I may not live in the House that long. Most of the solar vendors will not be around when I need them. So, I am very discouraged to go solar... For any cost conscious home owner, Solar is not a favored route.. But, if you love "cleaner energy" and new technology, go for it.. In Houston, 22% of the Grid Power has "renewable energy" already juiced in.
Most Solar Companies advertise very misleadingly with "Make Money by Going Solar!" slogans. No one tells that it will take >20 years to recoup the Total Cost. The cost goes up if you finance the cost at 2-2.5% interest rate for the money you borrow from the Co or your Bank. Solar Co are not honest in Advertising their Product & Services. Sad... :+((((((
They also don't tell you that the panels generate less power as they age and will need to be replaced around the time you pay it off.
At the kind of quoted cost you could rather just do it yourself and save a lot of money PLUS get to be the guarantor of your own system which you'll know from back to front and top to bottom. Not that hard to figure out - lots of info on the web and if need by you can get help from some people who have already installed their own!
Do you realize all the pollution cause to make those panels ? Huge diesel trucks digging tons of dirt for rare mineral, and depending on the component, it can take one ton of dirt for 1oz of rare metals.
As for the batteries, if its comparable to those in Tesla car, well, i think its even worse.
(small radio active dust, but only dangerous for those digging by.....children)
While solar is getting cheaper all the time, your first position should be LED lights and then your next position should be extra insulation.
Then you should consider getting window units if your HOA allows them because they lowered my electrical consumption by 45% while keeping the house cooler in the rooms I was using and extending the life of my central air conditioning unit. Next would be the best air conditioner or heat pump recommended for your areas mixture of heat and humidity.
Then finally you want to look at some kind of storage plus solar. These are really to be viewed as more for natural disasters than for day-to-day use. You don't need a ton of power to start with. You just want to be able to keep your freezer and your refrigerator going plus a fan and a couple lights.
Then finally if you're quite well-off you can start looking at a bigger system. Which will probably dropped another 20% while you were doing all the other stuff.
And everything else you did is going to mean you need less solar power.
@@danielforget9311 One can certainly look at that pollution issue but in my own case it's a simple story of - you either have electricity or you don't! I'd much rather be independent of the unreliable and expensive supply that I am saddled with.
My system is about three and a half years old, so this is a particularly interesting video. Thank you!
Happy you are sensitive and inquisitive
Great video-- virtually a public service piece for people interested in solar. I live in the "high South" and have had a grid-tied system that consists of 16 panels and an inverter (all made by SunPower), along with a passive hot water system, since 2008 and agree with everything you say and recommend. Prior to installing this system I replaced our AC/furnace with a high-efficiency system that cut my total energy bill in half, but the solar cut it in half again. Over 15 years my panels have lost about 8% efficiency, but today about a third my total energy bill is related to fees. It's very low, but I also do other energy-saving things like hanging up clothes and keeping indoor temperatures "tolerable." Many thanks!
As your panels age and lose power, all you have to go is add another panel to compensate for the loss, that providing you have the space to do so. Greetings from Jamaica.
Great review! Awesome you got it already in 2011. Love the battery!
Been in my new construction house almost 3 years. Just wished I knew if my employer will stop doing layoffs 2-3 times every year. If I knew I wasn’t going to have to move again for a long time, then solar would make more sense.
Big fan of PV Solar, with 6.8kW of panels in my back yard. I had projected a 10.5 year payback when the system was finished in 2012. We've almost completely recovered the money invested and expect it to be completely paid back before the 10 year date. BTW, we put a fair amount of effort in reducing our homes energy consumption before and immediately after buying solar and we bought an EV 4 years ago. This collection of choices has greatly reduced our expenditures, which was the entire reasoning for getting it. I called it retirement planning.
what was the efficiency of solar panels back then?
@@talavera180 Just looked it up (I kept the brochures on Adobe) and it shows the cell at 16.2% and the module efficiency at 13.45%. This is for the 6 175W Sharp on my small array, purchased in early 2008. The 24 240W Sharp I got in mid 2009 (brochure does not list cell efficiency) rates the module at 14.7%. Both are on tilting racks so they perform a bit better than the PV Watts calculator estimates for my location, by perhaps 4 to 5%.
Thank you so much for this feedback. This is my first time seeing your channel and you hit on ALL my areas of concern.
I have some solar power plant design experience myself, so one quick tip to prevent shading you can install the panels in landscape and wire the panels in two rows. In that way only one set of panels will be in shade at the initial time of shading
Pick a company offering a perfect installation with the best products. Warranties aren't worth paying extra for.
Lol. Dont worry about buying the best panel today, you'll be buying more soon, and chances are, the original company will no longer be in business.
Great video!
Just a couple points.
1. I bought my system in 2012 July for my home in Japan. Maybe it's different here, but my inverter has a socket - the guys who installed it told me that if the grid ever goes down, the panels do not stop making power, and I can plug into the socket and power what is needed, e.g. the fridge. Might want to look into that for your next inverter.
2. I have time based pricing, so I have always wanted a battery. However, powerwall, for example, costs about $10k. Based upon my calculations, and considering a life of say 10-15 years, there is no way I could recover my intitial costs. Note, I pay about 14 yen per kwh at night and 28 to 38 yen in the daytime. My solar panels are about 3kw.
1 it depends on how thew system is designed. And the stop while blackout is for the systems that feed in the grid the surplus. It is possible that the panels feeds only the house and waste the surplus if there is no battery, and hence, no need to stop producing for the house if the surplus does not goes into the grid anyway. But this will be an weird system. Also, the system can feed the grid, but have a gateway that will switch the house to feed on the solar system and the eventual battery, but shut off the grid, and in this way the grid will not be not affected by the local production when there is a blackout. It seems that he does not know about this piece of equipment.
2 Damn that time pricing sucks for batteries. You store expensive energy to use it at half a price. But you did not mentioned how much you get paid for your surplus injected in the grid. Also how many blackouts are there. Depending on these the battery may be worthy. Pushing the things to absurd, and imagining, random 10 minutes blackout absolutely every night, than a battery will be worthy. Sure, not an powerwall, but a cheaper one, to cover those 10 minutes and some more. I bought an UPS for my computer even blackouts are extremely rare. Let say twice a year. Few years back had one or two every winter, but in last 5 years had none. So I paid 50 bucks for the UPS, for peace of mind, not for recovering the cost. Why for things like solar and batteries and electric cars we need to compute the return of the cost, but we never look at recovering the cost when we buy everything else, from clothes, to all the gizmos we use in the house? Maybe because these things are quite expensive. But a car, or a computer, now even a phone are expensive too. Never heard anybody to look at recovering money for a phone that will last anyway only a couple of years, not a couple of decades.
And I am curious about how much it cost your system, and after how many years you recovered the investment.
He said, 8 years, for a 10k spent on a 1kw system. He mentioned that now could get a 4 times bigger system for the same money, and energy price doubled. So, ROI close to 2 years. But your system is as old as his, and more, maybe not so favorable located as his.
@@ehombane we never have blackouts here, so battery is unnecessary.
For the first 10 years I received 42 yen per kwh.
My system cost 1.8 million yen but I got 10% cash back from the gov. My year on year saving was 20,000 to 30,000 per month so I fully recovered my net investment in about 5 years.
My panels all face due south at an angle of about 20 degrees.
Sun is favorable in this part of Japan.
Now I only receive about 10 yen per kwh for electricity that I sell to the grid.
Net net, no point in buying an expensive battery
@@gerberjason6947 Thanks for the a answer. Wow, 5 years ROI back then, that was nice. I see, the reason was the good price for sold production. Now systems are almost 4 times cheaper, but you get 4 times less so ROI is no better.
Yep, no point on wasting money on battery. (Unless you really like them, like me :), and buy them to be there, just case. )
We've had solar for 11 years and sell back power at a great price plus use it at a reduced price so for us it is like renting out our roof (to a very quiet tenant). Our payback was 5 years on our system and hope to run them for 20. It has been a great investment for us. We have newer inverter that allows us usage in daytime with the grid down.
I have had solar pv and solar hot water since 2001. 20 years of savings. I was one of the 1st GRID Ties system in the SRP area. I make more than I use each year. I help the GRID.
Too bad they changed the rules at SRP and killed solar PV.
What did you do after? Srp sucks btw lol
Yes, I would like to hear that also, as my service provider is starting a transmission cost of service( tacos) plan next year.
@@lktopview go off grid and say goodbye - providers give only 8c here and are about to make you pay to feed in - Bastards
Marcus Barcus provider here is going to give $5.00/kWh during peak times, but also charge that, but going off grid will cost me about 20 grand so probably not going to happen.
@@lktopview dont you mean 50c per KWH? - there are better and cheaper battery storage systems soon being released that for under $10k you could store enough for a srandard home if you use gas for heat - water and cooktop - yiur Fridge is the main user or if you run an inverter A/C within reason and you dont live in Tropics etc. A second hand Prius Battery would be perfect too as they don't explode if shorted out.
Going solar really is a regional decision. I have family that lives in San Diego, and if we lived there I would go solar (lots of sunshine, high electricity and gasoline costs, low energy demand, and good rebate incentives). In the area my relatives live, they hardly ever use AC or heat at all!
We live in North Texas and the situation is almost complete opposite. Gasoline is cheaper. Electricity is also much cheaper (we pay $0.12 kwh) but usage is very high because we have 13 tons total AC running in the summer. Even with a giant solar array we still would have a sizeable bill. I don't think our roof is big enough for mount a 12kw system, nor is our wallet. In the winter we have gas furnaces so solar panels won't help, nor do the months of long cold cloudy days. The other problem we have is dangerous weather. We get tornadoes regularly here, as well as storms that drop softball sized hail.
but you have soil so you can grow plants/trees in your area which would cool down the whole are in a long run.
I have just installed solar panels so I have that all ahead of me.
Wow 3 cars in ten years!
My car is over 30 years old.
I wonder which choice creates more carbon.
Not all electric utilities allow for "net metering" and thus SunPower will be of no avail to these customers
I’ve been concerned with the cost of removing+reinstalling the panels when new roof shingles need to be installed. Seems like the panel install is best timed when a homeowner gets new roof shingles.
We decided to install the panels on our garage's standing seam metal roof. So somebody else can worry about that problem in 50 years.
Solar system installers started out as roofers, so of course they'll try to sale u a nu roof. Co's will inspect ur roof to make sure its still in stable condition b4 installation. B careful of salesperson who at ground level says u need nu roof. Next salesman mite say u only need repair work, after he's on ur roof.
That being said mite as well get nu roof and have the feds pay for part of it as part of ur solar project. Especially if u have older roof (10 yr+?).
Other Co's will remove the system for
free if in the future u need a nu roof. Seems to me that most solar co r in fact construction co trying to get in the door to first sale u on solar power (& roof.) Then energy efficient windows & drs. Of course u now need to replace old attic insulation, fans & add radiant barrier too. Perhaps get the solar 1st, use the rebate on ur nxt project. Like rodent proofing the home, termite eradication. Heck u still need to repaint the hse...replace old central a/c & heating system, including the air ducts. Jeezus. Hope ur plumbing is n working order...cuz homeowners ins doesn't cover any of these projects unless its damaged by fire. Sheesh.
@@heynow4512 On the other hand if you are thinking of putting them over cheap or mid life span shingles they would be absolutely right I would think.
i've had my panels on 7 years and the shingles were installed at the same time. the shingles underneath the panels look pristine. they recieve no uv. i think just replace the shingles surrounding the panels when the time comes will be much cheaper
Have a friend went solar here in FL. His roof started leaking bad and had all kind of problems with that because of bad installation. Messed his roof up and he had them removed. 😳
Another friend has solar. Went to put on new roof yrs down road. They wanted $100 for ea. Panel to remove to make way for new shingles , and another $100 for ea. Panel to put back on once roof was reshingled. I think a metal roof would be best to put them on. That’s alotta $$$ should you need a new shingle job. 🤷♀️
Good video, thanks. I installed a Real Goods 2.5 Kw system kit in 2000, so I’m past the 20 year mark now. A couple of years ago, I had an additional Kw installed (the installer has gone belly-up since). Only failure ever on the old system was a blown fuse in the lockable disconnect that a Real Goods tech found and fixed in about 5 minutes. The new system had a thing in the inverter box to report my usage over wi-fi. That died after a year. When I found a tech and got him out here, he said the replacement was $250 or so - but he let it slip that the system was still functioning, just not reporting. I opted not to replace it - my PG&E bill has all that on it, who needs an email?
Overall, I’m completely happy with my 20+ year old system. I have ‘em cleaned every couple of years, that’s it. My payback penciled out to 6-7 years, rates are higher a lot since 2000, so current production is good gravy.
One of the most clearest and honest plus data based appraisals I have even come across via RUclips. Thank you...
Having solar, it cost me $25,000 for system, need to clean several times a year, in winter, night time and cloudy days you get 1/3 to 1/2 power loss. My electricity bills were $110 a month so I figure it will take 24 to 26 years to payoff. Also need panels replaced sometime after 20+ years, so the paid off time now goes to 30 to 35 years, before you see the word free !
There have been a lot of changes over the last 10 years. Solar panel tariffs, power companies catching on and finding new ways to rip off customers, installation companies finding new ways to rip off customers. Its getting to where the only way for it to pay for itself is self installation, which they are trying to make impossible through regulatory and of course more tariffs that are "offset" by subsidies only if you go through certain companies for installation, which discourages self installation.
you don't NEED them replaced, having panels giving 80% or more of their new value is still better value than tossing them and buying new ones ;-)
Great Video , but it's sad when w praise devices for outlasting other stuff after only 10 years. when across the nation ugly green refrigerators from 1975 are humming away in peoples man caves and basements .
But which would you rather have? An inefficient cheap quiet fridge that lasts 50 years or a new expensive efficient fridge that dies after 2 years? I was forced to replace my old fridge when it finally gave up after 50 years, but the new one cost $1,000, came with only a 6-month warranty, and it makes a horrible high-pitched whine that hurts my ears. I should have fixed the old one.
Thermal energy is where most of the energy gets spent in a house, especially during the peak hours. It seems like it would be a good idea to include some kind of thermal storage and release it during peak hours. Not as flexible as a battery, but it could be pretty low tech. In a house with radiant heat floors, slightly overheating them during peak solar hours and letting that energy bleed down during the afternoon and evening would be viable. There are also heat pumps (Multiaqua is one brand I've found) for production of both heated and chilled liquid, which can stored in tanks and then later be used for domestic hot water and for cooling the building. The latter kind of system isn't cheap, but neither are battery systems.
makes sense to me. Solar water heaters have been around for a long time. Just pipe the heated water into the subfloors or radiators. Of course this would only work in warm climates though as where I live there wouldn't be enough sun in the winter to stop the water from freezing, let alone store heat lol. Radiant floors are common here but are always run by a boiler so the water stays warm
Adding insulation may be a higher priority than adding solar in a very cold climate. Controlling air leakage to a reasonable level is probably next. Then solar. Then storage.
@@matthewprather7386 insulation only does so much you still need a furnace up here. Electricity isn't the issue in the winter for us. It's the heat bill. Propane, fuel oil, or wood
There are net-zero houses and buildings in such northern places as Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Larvik, Vestfold, Norway. Tight envelope (controlled air exchange - no leaks) and insulation are a big deal. Along with proper orientation and architecture to pick up some passive solar heating. Plus some photovoltaics for electricity - to run heat pump and lighting. Modern heat pumps work in arctic temperatures.
@@matthewprather7386 yes but a setup like that really isn't affordable for the average person. Sure rich people can do it tho lol. I saw this one house that had a greenhouse built around the actual home once. That was pretty awesome haha
Thank you for sharing your interesting and comprehensive experiences having gone solar. I installed a 3.5 kwh tracking system in 2008 which stores electricity by turning the meter backward. My house is all electric. The system paid for itself in about eight years. Of significance is my heating system, electric radiant heat in the ceiling. This system is far less expensive to install and better than radiant heat in the floor. Better because the mass to warm before it begins or stops heating is small so it is fast to respond. It feels like standing in the sun as the heat radiates down on you.. Every room has its own programmable thermostat. Heating can be minimized during high cost hours. There is another benefit to electric radiant heat in the ceiling. In 50 years there has been no maintenance. I did upgrade the thermostats to programmable ones. No furnace, no fan, no gas lines, no replacements. For new housing, such a system AND solar to power it should cost less than radiant in the floor.
Hi guys, I wanted to bring your attention to another RUclipsr: The Kitten Lady. She recently suffered a power outage that put the animals in her care at risk. As a fellow San Diegan, it might be a fun collaboration to work with her to get her facility more power resilient/independent. Think of it as introducing green energy to her 1M+ subscribers and doing good for animals as a side benefit.
I’d love to reach out!
Very well presented video,Although I'm completely offgrid in my Airstream I enjoy watching informative videos on solar. For me solar is a lifesaver. And it saves me from having to use gas and propane on a daily basis,so now with those prices going up I plan on saving even more and if,when the power grid goes down I'll be fine
I worked out a similar recoup figure to you when considering solar for my last house. I decided not to do it as I knew I wouldn't be living in that house that long. We did the same calculation for our present house and still it makes sense for us to not get solar. On the other hand we will be seriously consider buying a house with solar the next time.
Until they come down in the price Solar is expensive. Got a quote of $46,000.00 to install solar on my house in Eastern Colorado! Also in some Cities they limit how much they will buy back, on top of that they will not allow you to have batteries in the system for fear you will go off grid!
@@tfoley7553 I'd move if i were you, for a 6kw system with 20-24 panels where i live in Australia is one tenth the cost you've quoted, and we can use batteries.... 4,600 Aussie dollars, which is around 3,280 USD, Solar is way cheaper than that, you're being gouged to the hilt on price....
@@MickH60 Not doubting you but I just check on Ebay and a 6KW system with 12 panels & with 8*200Ah batteries is $10,310 USD. Also the price that I said was installed! ($46K USD) add another $1,020 USD for the other 12 panels. So that is $11,330 for parts alone. Oh just a word of warning you maybe seeing a short fall of goods. Here in the US they are saying on some car parts a 3 Month back log on them! It may get worst as there is reports that China is shutting down one of the major ports there because of COVID!
Check out Project Solar. I think they have a good philosophy on helping more people into solar, run with standardized components such as name brand panels and Enphase microinverters, provide engineering and permitting help at a very reasonable cost ~40% of what door to door solar companies often charge. Check them out (and no, I'm not a sales person for them), but after having installed an off-grid system on my shop, which is saving us $45 a month, I'm looking at going full house, but on-grid and they seem to have a very reasonable deal going on.
Thank you for this. I appreciate that you have broken everything down into smaller bits. Every video I have watched so far has dumped an overwhelming amount of information without really giving an explanation of the system. Until now I have been left feeling stupid and frustrated. While I will have to watch it again before purchasing a system this video has given me that aha(!) moment to what to do for my situation. Meaning a cabin in the woods soon to be my off grid full-time living space.
I had my 30-panel array installed in June 2012, and had quite a different experience with Enphase microinverters. I got a bunch of M190s and they were garbage. In the past 9 1/2 years, every one of them failed, and six out of eight of the replacements with the same design failed. Modified M250s, I got for later replacements, have faired better, but two of them have also failed.
Most of the last 9 1/2 years I've had at least one of my 30 panels inoperative due to a failed microinverter. I have to give Enphase credit. They did live up to their warranty and replace the defective microinverters at no cost, but my installer got so fed up with dealing with them, they abandoned maintenance on my array years ago. I have to do a majority of the swaps myself.
Recently I, also, started to have corrosion on the connectors between sections of the AC trunk cable. Two panels are out, right now, just for that.
With cost of electricity where I live (Florida) a flat 11.5c/kw, the array will not pay for itself for at least another five years, even though the purchase was heavily subsidized.
If I had to do it again, I, definitely, would not. It requires a huge amount of effort to maintain, and just doesn't make economic sense.
More parts, more chances of failure. Maintenance is a huge cost that people tend to ignore or forget when considering solar panels. By the way, manufacturing and disposing the panels add a lot of pollution that we as users don’t see.
Can you please make a simple post mentioning:
- how much your solar cost, and what size it is, and how much electricity it generates on average.
- when did it break even.
- how different are your electricity bills are before and after
Cheers.
He is full of crap, no way do the figures stand up to proper research
I can see how solar could be an option when you're paying over $0.50 per KWH. That's insane to me. Here in Phoenix, AZ I'm paying around $0.12 per KWH which includes the fees and taxes.
Definitely jealous of that!
Cheapest rate at night ( from 22h to 6 am ) stands 0.10€/kw and I had to go solar with batteries watching how prices are increasing .
Got 21 panels, 3 strings on an hybrid inverter, will have to go on lithium next year ...
After my sealed dry deep charge batteries made their duties properly for 3 years ...
It stands what's was planned when going on autonomous self-consuming electricity producing solar system ...
What wasn't planned stand the 2 hybrid inverters that crashed before that one .
Ps:
I'm on my own since I had to build it up myself, didn't really asked for "what's legally required" cause of a major "issue" like with what's "legally required" in regards our government behaviors or laws given respect ...
( ain't got "linky" consumption counter nor the right to sell my production nor the right to even think of re-inject into the grid whatever the circumstances ... authorities really fairly assume you won't be able to help in any circumstances ... by means if needed ! )
From France, with .
$0.9 In TX
The amount of misinformation against solar panels is staggering really. In my country energy is really expensive and there was a time when the government would give you a tax break if you got solar panels, so we jumped on it. We bought solar panels for the same price as our annual energy bill. It's been about 10 years now and to this day they generate a profit by returning excess power to the grid. If everyone who can puts solar panels on their roof, there would a vastly less severe energy crisis.
lol a company giving 30 year warranty and then going bankrupt? that's so common these days xD
20:55 "...there's no other piece of equipment i've bought that has lasted 10 years ..." dude, we need to help your shopping.
I have 5 kw rooftop with the microinverters. I too am an engineer and worked in the utility field for nearly 40 years. Here in Oklahoma with my coop's time of use rates ranging from 6.5 cents to 25 cents depending on the time day and season, honestly I won't live long enough to recoup my investment. It is fun however!! FYI I have just under $2.00 per watt invested and have had no repair or replacement costs in the 3 years I've had them.
That’s awesome! Sounds like you have the same sense of joy from seeing the system work :) cheers and here’s to a long healthy life my friend!
I am loving your comment, “the solar panels are a beacon of consistency”, just love it!
"and just remember, the future is going to be awesome." Great outro piece
Well look at the climate change
@@Rahul-kz5fi No such thing as climate change. AOC said we only had 12 years. Apparently she doesn’t believe in JESUS CHRIST. The Bible says that there’s a 7 year tribulation coming, a war that will kill 1/3 of all mankind and after Jesus Christ returns, He will reign on earth for 1000 years. Kinda kills their stupid 12 years and the earth will be destroyed, doesn’t it? I happen to believe in the Bible and I don’t believe in climate change that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Most Americans don’t believe in Jesus Christ. However, after the corona virus, how many times will Jesus Christ have to punish America to make it a Christian Nation again? I believe that we will turn back to Jesus Christ just as the Jews did. They may have called Him God or Lord, but just look at how He punished them for their sins and got them back on the road for worship and belief. I fear that is what’s going to happen to America. We have become so immoral and far from the Lord believing everything that the marxists democrats and non-believers tell us. He is going to take back America because several Christian people are praying every day for Him to heal this land and I believe that He will hear our prayers and heal it. Woe to the unbelievers. Christ will reign again. We should be using clean natural gas and other clean fuels. Depending on solar panels and turbines, along with mismanagement, is why Texas was hit so hard this past winter. If solar works so great, then why were we hit so hard? That’s because the weather changes every so many years. Just look it up and know that Jesus Christ is in control!!!
@@ronniedmiller8821 Solar and wind were a very small part of what shut down the texas grid. natural gas equipment freezing up dwarfed the solar/wind contribution.
I don't believe in jc but i support your belief
@@twagoner21 The reason that the natural gas froze up was because of solar and wind mills. I am basing that on what the people in charge said. All I can say is what they said because I didn’t have the means to go down there and look for myself. As for as you not knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, all I can do about that is pray for you!!! Jesus gave all Christians a commandment and that is, “Love one another as I have loved you”. If we followed what Jesus wanted us to do, then we would have a more moral country and people in Washington DC that aren’t crocks!!! I don’t only say this about the socialist democrats, but I include the socialist republicans and the deep state!!! We should have one law that applies to everyone, not a 2 tired system that lets you go just because of who you are!!! I pray that Jesus Christ will destroy this country if we quit being an ally to Israel or we become a socialist/Marxist country!!!