So it appears Tesla found a bug in their app after watching this video that accidentally counted all production and usage totals as DOUBLE their actual numbers. Doesn't affect my payback timeline calculations, but it does make more sense that I was seeing ~4000kWh of production in a month, not 8000 🤓
Why didn’t you factor any SREC’s into your calculations? Huge variable when talking about ROI, especially with the production as high as you are showing.
Yes, you cannot produce 350 kWh of energy in a day with a ~40kW panel array. At your latitude, four times kWp in the best case scenario makes more sense.
I’m a solar representative in Texas, I’ve been in solar Sales for 8 years now and this has to be one of the best explanation and representations of how solar and Net Metering works. Seriously, Marques has explained this flawlessly.
@@edwardmolloy7548there are ways to recycle them and plus most of them will last 40+ years, along with warranties if company offers them. The batteries are the main concern but even those are being recycled now
@@fetB Because utilities and retail electricity suppliers don't love the idea of people self-generating their own power. Every time a net metering policy is designed and implemented at the state level (Note: Every state's NEM program is slightly different, if it exists), it's a highly political process. Utilities fight tooth and nail to make these programs as favorable to their business models as possible.
I've been working in the solar industry for over 14 years and this is hands-down one of the best videos out there explaining solar, batteries, and home energy use. Such a great resource for the public - thank you!
I disagree strongly. This user claims to use up to 200KWh/day as an average usage. This is x5-x10 more than my lifetime experience of daily usage (not inc elec car). It's also common to have 2-5KW roof top systems, not 30KW. There was nothing about the numbers in this video that matched a normal setup. It was literally a top 1% of the top 1% of rich people's reference. With all that said... a 7-10yr return on investment is a solid conclusion and matches the curve of return on smaller setups.
@@Masheeable He said in the video that his case is not a normal setup. He probably has a quite a big house and he is tech creator. He definitely has way more appliances, computers, EVs, and other products than the average person that all take up more energy. If you're not using as much as him, which you probably aren't, you would have an even better experience.
Are solar panels and batteries are "coming from a renewable source" too and were produced in environmentally friendly manner? Though, to be honest, it was a rhetorical question as we all know the answer. And the answer is -- drumroll please! -- "hell no".
That was super detailed and useful! With the lack of sunshine and smaller houses/roofs in the UK, I can only generate a max of around 24kWh a day in summer 🥲
@@OurWorldUncovered we have around 8kW of solar panels and paying around £10-12 electricity per week right now. That's with an AC unit blasting for most of the day on hot days aswell as fans and all the usual electrical appliances. No batteries. ( Edit: family of 4 ).
@OurWorldUncovered Absolutely. I have 23 panels and a Powerwall and thankfully a South Facing Roof (South East Coast). On a good Spring / Summer day, I have had upwards of 65KW per day and over the last year, around 12Mwh total. I have not paid any electric bill since it was installed (thankfully was on the Tesla Energy Plan which is currently 24p export and 24p import, however they have now cancelled this Plan which I loose from Feb 2024 😕). So basically the grid is like an unlimited battery for me, until the Plan finishes. We also charge 2 electric cars, which by a clear mile are the biggest draw on power. At current energy prices, it will have paid for itself in around 4 years, so about 2 years left for me. The caveat is though, you need the right location, as roof positioning and clear sight (no obstructions to light such as buildings and trees) will make a massive difference. Our South Facing roof gets sun all day long, but the other roof only really gets sun during Summer and that is not all day.
Probably the best MKBHD video so far. My PhD was about optimization of smart grids, including smart houses with solar panels and EVs. I'm saying this because I understand how much research and effort in general was put in building up for this video. The most difficult part in this process is how to make it simple enough so that the general audience would understand most of what you're talking about. I think you did a very good job in making it as simple as it can be, although I understand that it still could be very complicated for some people with all those numbers and graphs. Overall, well done Marques! An incredible video that even professionals and researchers can find it useful.
Yes. Most people will not take time going through the numbers, even if it is incredible tech. I think you will also find it very interesting to check out bio electricity. There's a company called Bioo that makes electricity 24/7 using living plants. There's no toxic waste. Just plants doing their thing and simple devices using their waste products underground to create electricity.
Why would it be complicated though. Seems simple enough to understand. Solar produces power to use and to charge ... Net metering takes excess and charges you less when you pull from the grid ... Batteries store excess and you use when the sun is down. The only thing missing, maybe, is potential for reverse charge from a car ... So charging a car and pulling power from a car at calculated times.
@@NisYT... Very true. What I have noticed about Solar systems is that if someone doesn't like math they could just copy a friend's system who has approximately the same usage patterns ... Then automate everything using software and timers. Personally, I have a completely off-grid system ... And these require the most math for planning before and during usage ... I can do math but I avoid complicated daily calculations if I don't have to do it. I copied my system from someone, but because I didn't want to risk having certain problems, I put in place certain "safe guards": 1. I put slightly more solar than I need, and divided them into 3 separate groups bringing down power separately ... This helps with figuring out sources of issues, and also factoring the side facing the sun. 2. Batteries are expensive, but at the same time it's better to have more battery because of depth of discharge ... So I got batteries is 3 rounds, and have them separated into 2 battery banks that operate separately. I was just eyeballing the performance by checking the discharge level at 6am before sun rise. Then I upgrade as necessary. The whole battery was in place in about 6months. Heavy usage items are controlled by timers and strictly limit their usage to day time. Et c. Diesel generator on standby. Just Incase. But it has been idle for 3yrs now.
Really interesting, thanks for sharing this data! One thought is.. The solar panels are under warranty for 25 years, but probably not the power walls? As we all know batteries don't often last too many years, so the power walls would likely need to be replaced after 10 years? Adding a longer payback period, as I'm sure Tesla battery banks of that size are a large cost.
Yes, the payback period would be a lot shorter without the batteries. They're expensive and die before they can pay themselves off. They're really only a good idea if you don't have net metering.
I'm seeing a lot of estimates from 10 to 25 years. Seeing they are batteries it is going to come down to cycles, and having excess storage will increase the longevity of the banks.
I live in Thailand, here, about 90% of the year we have cloudless skies and the sun shines really strong during the day. The amount of daylight doesn't change much throughout the year; we get light from 6 am until around 6:30-7 pm. I believe that in countries like this, having roof solar panels like this would be a game-changer for everyone.
(even just a couple of panels charging a car battery - or 12V LFP battery makes a big difference in rural areas - energy availability may go from nothing to "amazing" in one day.- in the west, we are fortunate to be able to have setups for camping, in excess of what many in developing countries have to live with..)
I wish we could say the same for the Philippines, but typhoon season for us is more than a quarter of the year. It's really good during the summer. But impossible to be net negative throughout the entire year.
@@AllenHanPRprobably didn't care about the game or money. Already made enough to live well. Not everyone can stand doing RUclips for ages like some RUclipsrs still going after 10years
He is lying. Tesla had a bug in the app which reported all energy production as 2x. He is loosing money on the system AND he financed the 120,000 on a 15 year term at 7% (per tesla) which means he pays 70,000 USD in interest alone.
I own a solar company and this is a phenomenal video explaining how solar and batteries and the grid work together plus insights into EV charging / load management / savings estimates. And your designs / infographics are amazing. Thank you for sharing this it is awesome.
The coolest thing in my opinion, that you mentioned is the seamless transition to going off grid when there’s a power outage. That’s crazy that you don’t know that a power outage happened because you’re already running off of solar and battery power and not off the grid so nothing changed. If I was in the situation, imagine myself watching TV at 10 o’clock at night and looking out the window and my neighborhood being completely black and then I’m going. “ huh We must have a power outage right now.”
this is the biggest thing people ignore. You're much more independent, especially when talking about gasoline. Common criticsm with electric cars is that the grid cannot handle it, and here he is actually feeding the grid at times
This is a dream for me. In the area I live in Southwest Oregon we have power outages multiple times a year. In the winter they can last anywhere from days to weeks in the worst cases.
Typically, governments from federal down to local, don't want you self sufficient and off of their grid. They see it as too risky and that they have to protect you... from yourself. For years, people that have tried to be fully self sufficient have had to fight their local governments legally to even get close to full self sufficiency. Same goes for having a decent sized garden (it's not like during WWII when they wanted everyone to have a victory garden). This resistance might be changing a bit but never expect government to a) move fast and b) for government to give up (political) power that citizens gave up out of comfort and security. I'm sure with all the ESG regulations being imposed this decade you'll be nearly fully self sufficient but they wont let you cut the umbilical cord they have you on. There will certainly be some carbon tax that you'll have to pay for using too much of the power that even you have generated.
My wife and I put in ~10kw of solar after we moved from Texas and our first power bill in our new home was 400$. Great decision. We make about 18 Mwh a year, and our bill is locked at 8$ in fees. Those solar panels get more valuable every time they raise the prices.
@@nesq4104 The first bill from the power company when we moved here was 400$, hence the need for solar cells. The power company has already raised the rates twice since we've been here, with an estimated 27% increase per kwh by 2025. The solar cells we could have paid for, but they were offering 1.9 percent interest. At that rate we took the loan. Total cost of the interest over the term of the loan is ~6k, though we'll pay it off early. The loan payment is 180$ a month, with 8$ a month to the power company for line maintenance. One key thing for us is that is our exact bill every month, and we can count on that for budgeting. The solar cells have also allowed us to move away from gas appliances as they wear out, cutting the gas bill. None of this counts the level 2 EV charger installed as part of the package or the value increase to the house. All in all, we're very happy with the performance and the finances.
I'm an electrician and if you are not a famous tuber with a huge following Good Luck. I did a project for a wealthy guy and it was a nightmare. It took Tesla a year to actually install the roof. In that time the roof was un protected and the membrane was flooded due to large rain. I remember the framer freaking out due to all the rain we were getting and tesla never met any deadlines. Just be careful out there.
Yeah, I'm sure between the dozens of happy engeeners and solar workers from Texas all too glad to incense the video for its educative and clear technical qualities, and positive outlook on the product/experience, there's also I bet, hundreds of unhappy customers on the other side. Experiencing difficult relation with the comp., instatlations problems, power output below expectations, bad prof. practices, deceptive commecial promesses, etc. Which happens in many business, but specially in complex Tech products, and solar being still fairly recent market for most users. Personally I strongly believe in solar energy, with its pros and cons, the cons outweighted by the pros in my unprofessional opinion. But the thing here, as you rightly pointed out, is the actual value of Marques' experience with Tesla, signing on with his name on a "delux-expensive" package, and its transposed real value onto everyday non-influcener tech youtubers... Just my thought.
very well made as always! the only thing that make me wonder is the yearly power usage. 53380kWh is gigantic for my central european brain. i'd run the house with this energy plus going 250000km by car with this. maybe there is some data error to this? seems just too big for me ...
@@CharlyLownoizesome quick math shows he would have gone about 200000 km in his Model S Plaid assuming the other commenter is correct in saying it's 5x average, to make up that difference. That would be a crazy amount. He does travel a lot to play professional Ultimate Frisbee, so his car usage is likely much more than average. Also quick googling says the average American does 20000km per year. No way he does 10x that. He does have a large house (as he says in the video), and it makes sense given I'm sure he's quite wealthy. And no doubt his house is full of tech. He runs more powerful computers than most. Even after those factors, and assuming 5x the average is correct, that's still a lot.
@@nickel36 yeah thats something i'd as a result too. guessing an avg speed of 80km/h that would lead to a 104days of non stop driving. hmmm ... there must be something else. base load seem to be around 3500kWh. dont know what the AC does during the summer but i'd recon not over 10000kWh ... more data for more digging would be nice ^^
I specialized in solar at a call center for a utility company and this video was accurate. I’m surprised how well versed you are in this subject. Let’s you know he doesn’t just shoot from the hip for content , he does his homework
@@TristenHernandez he covers many subjects , I know which ones I expect him to be knowledgeable in but when he touches on something I specialized in and explains it so clearly It puts a smile on my face. Most customers who call in about their solar do not actually have a good handle on how net metering works.
Okay so I need some clarifications on a few things: 1) MKBHD uses around 4000 KWh of electricity every month. Is that normal for an average American? Cause my household's MAX energy use in the peak of summers (May June) is about 700-800 units a month, with about 2-3 ACs running pretty much the entire day/night -2) How expensive is electricity in America? 54000 units of electricity would've cost MKBHD ~9000 USD.. That comes out to about 5.2 USD per unit? Isn't that like a lot? The tariff he showed earlier were displaying the cost in 30 cents per unit or something- Whoops. I made a Maths booboo. My bad.
@@vpsjdon that is not average usage, even for an ev owner. I’m assuming it’s due to the amount of specialty equipment he has running around the clock due to his profession. Last summer we were seeing that type of consumption due to the historic heat wave. We do have certain areas that are more affluent that can average that type of usage but they also have ADU’s , wells , stables , irrigation systems etc. 700-800 is more common usage, also depends on how much they charge at home vs at a charging station. To be on solar you have to be on time of use, so the rate varies depending on the time of day, I’m on the west coast so I can’t speak for where he lives. But highest cost is between on peak (4-9) and lowest overnight (super off peak) which is when you want to be charging your vehicle. If you’re on an EV rate it’s about 16 cents a kilowatt but you pay a monthly service fee of 16 dollars) We only charge him for the net difference so if his system is covering this usage these numbers don’t come into play, especially because he’s using a battery. If he didn’t have a battery then we give him back the value of the timeframe in which he generated , so let’s say off peak is 47 cents he gets that back towards his electric bill
We purchased our solar array in 2017 (Tesla had just purchased solar city) and then later added two power walls. Best money I have ever spent, we pay $30 a month where I live for a grid connection fee. It started out at $10.00 and every year it went up. Finally they started calling it a minimum usage fee and gave you a per month amount of electricity that you could draw from the grid without being charged extra for if you used all of your net metering credits and under produced for the month.
If you're considering going electric for your heating, you should check out heat pumps! There are tax credits for those as well and if you have a forced air system, they make units that basically drop right into that. They also make heat pump water heaters which are really efficient. Love the video!
As someone who has a damp basement, I’m looking forward to upgrading to a heat pump water heater because it also dehumidifies for practically free (if it’s stored in the basement)
i heard heat pump heating is not the best, unless it's infloor heating. hot air tends to rise and our body part most sensitive to cold is the feet. I used a mini split unit as a heat pump and it wasnt really effective even though in warmer climates it can be a viable and much more efficient option if you have heating on all the time. For me heating was only necessary when the outside temps go below 5°C, and at that point heat pumps cant really pump much heat.
Only caveat is in the northeast the current cost of electricity makes them a tough sell for the winter months when they would be displacing gas heating but you aren't generating electricity since it's not sunny out and the COP is much lower at those temps so gas heating makes sense. In NJ it would make sense to have a staged heat pump/gas back up system which I think you can control w a Google nest
As an Electrical Engineer myself, this video is so educational and explains the concepts in a very understandable way. This type of content should be used to teach seniors in highschool or young college students👌 Good job🙋♀️
Yeah, especially the part where he found out how much his appliances were pulling - something that is literally printed on the back of every device. I don't get, I mean, when you buy an AC, don't you check how much it uses/needs first? I guess not if money is less of an object. But, how can you not know that AC, microwave, heaters, ... draw a lot of electricity? I find that amazing.
Once again, another very insightful video. As a wannabe solar geek, I loved the extra details about the snow falling on the roof falling in clumps. Please continue to share how it runs over time. Thanks.
This was EASILY the most relevant solar power review I've seen. You literally hit every concern I've had about going solar. Snow, bi-directional charging, practical information for the Northeast... Very comprehensive. Thank you!
if you can find poly panels they are even better than the standard solar panels as they use more different light frequencies ... while standard only uses Blue ... making them better from sun up to sun down and not just in peak sun ...
This was the single most informative video about solar power + batteries that I’ve ever seen. Kudos! VERY well researched and very good production values.
I think it would be really cool for you to do an even “longer” review, where you revisit this back in 2-3 years. Maybe things have changed drastically in that time and it changes everything
@@DirtMerchant693 Weather coverage varies by company. It's usually gonna go on homeowner's insurance - To be honest, the only real problem is hail - it's a rare problem, and homeowner's insurance will cover it, but warranties won't.
the panels are pretty strong - are tempered glass but, yes, eventually anything will break. And, surely, this will be more expensive. electrek has an article on a home that had baseball sized hail stone hit a solar roof - no damage
It’s crazy how much higher the kWh consumption is in comparison to a European house of similar sizes. But it good to see that this PV and battery installation is working scaling so good. 55 MWh / year. CRAZY
Yes i also wonder where does all that electricity go to? Here normal house uses 200kWh a month, but not taken in account that it's heated by gas. So you have to compare with heatpump. But next year im going to get a new house which is fully electric so im gonna see what my usage will be.
I came here looking for this comment. A 55MW/y consumption is insane, even with an electric car. Those houses must be leaking heat like crazy. Like.. are they even insulated? I own a house made in the 60's near the arctic circle and we use something like 15-20MW/y. And its an entirely electricly heated house at that. It's a single, wooden, 2 story house. And I think the insulatio needs re-doing because it's slightly cold in the winter, so I'm spending a lot to make up for lost heat.
Due to the stick built nature American homes do leak, but the big killer is the HVAC systems. Heat pumps are rare and most heat is deployed using old school electric heaters and unlike many EUnhomes we use Air Conditioning systems. Many homes here are open concept design too, so we really are managing heat/cooling for a small warehouse and not a home. Plus we have a preference for tank water heaters that are usually electric, same with electric stoves/ovens.
Just looked at my utilities web page: 2022 = 603 kwh. I'm doing a renovation and that's going to reduce will consumption. Heating comes from district heating (CHP)
@@HermanWillems it all depends, as an example I can mention my case, not so big house in central Poland, heated / cooled using AC, all appliances are electric and water is also heated via tankless water heaters. Our usage from 28.03 to 26.05 was 1373kWh so 686kWh per month. This high usage is mostly caused by tankless water heaters which is using 3x230V phases so it can consume up to 13kW every second, so long showers can get expensive :D. In winter usage of electricity is a lot higher as heating with AC (and not separate heat pump) can get more expensive when its cold outside, especially when it gets colder than -10 celsius.
Pro tip: Since you already have a gas furnace, you can replace your existing air conditioner with a heat pump creating a hybrid system. This will let you use your heat pump for heat in the spring, fall, and most of the winter and only use the gas furnace on the coldest winter days. This can dramatically reduce your total heating costs, especially since many modern run-of-the-mill heat pumps can operate efficiently with outdoor temperatures down to ~30 degF (or lower) so you would rarely need to use your gas furnace for back-up heat. The more sophisticated systems, like geothermal heat pumps and high-pressure heat pumps with variable compressors, may never need the gas furnace at all. Our A/C unit died in June of 2022. Since we had to buy a new unit anyway, I talked my wife into spending ~$2k more for a heat pump instead of a conventional A/C unit. Ordinarily the payback period for this type of upgrade would be ~5 years, but I've calculated our system should pay for itself in just over 2 years because of the crazy increases in natural gas prices recently.
I second this, I live in Norway and winters can be pretty cold. Since getting a heatpump it has reduced my electricity bill by a surprising amount, instead of just using normal heaters all throughout the house. Also supplementing a bit on extremely cold days with burning wood in the fireplace.
@@barnyardian22 Yup. A heat pump is just an air conditioner that can also "run in reverse". Instead of being limited to just pumping heat out of a building, they can reverse the flow of their refrigerant to pump heat INTO a building. The really cool thing is since they are collecting heat from the outside air instead of converting electrical power into heat (like resistance space heaters), they can deliver ~3 Watts of heat for every Watt of power consumed. So, a heat pump consuming 2kW of electricity will be collecting and moving ~6kW of heat energy from the outdoors into a home/structure. This it's one of the main reasons electric cars are starting to switch to heat pumps for their heating and air conditioning. They are much more efficient at heating in the winter time than conventional strip-heaters.
I use around 140kwh over the whole month in my home in the Uk and that’s with 2 of us working from home full time. I don’t have an EV but the thought of using 200 in one day is absolutely crazy
As a Swede living in cold harsh conditions with a house made for cold climate. I have a heatpump from Nibe that are producing heated water, heat for the floorheating and it also power the ventilation and recycles the heat. I use around 30kwh per day in the winter. And 10 kwh per day in the summer. I can clearly say that heatpumps is great.
With a variable frequency drive heat pump there wouldn’t be spikes when the AC turns on and off. Also GE just released an all in one washer/dryer machine that uses a heat pump and runs off 110 power. It’s gotten stellar reviews so far.
@@Missile_Crab for a long time gas and electricity were super cheap here so it didn't matter as much but the last couple of years efficiency has been becoming popular thankfully. Heat pumps are great they pay for themselves after a few years
One thing you could do, is to have a heat pump for the heating and air conditioning and hot water. They also have a washer/ dryer all in one unit. It washes the clothes and without removing the clothes, uses a heat pump to dry the clothes as well and is ventless. It uses the heat pump to remove the moisture in the dryer. You could then be free of the expense of the natural gas bill. Whether you use the gas or not, you still pay a connection fee to be connected and then you get charged for the gas you use too. Without any gas line at all, you automatically save on the connection fee. You could also have rotary turbines to capture the wind power as well, even at night. If it’s cloudy, it’s usually windy as well.
One thing I noticed about this video is how being dependent on the sun for energy has made you more aware. You’re aware of weather patterns in your geographical location and aware of how much energy your appliances pull. It’s pretty cool.
@@GreenLightFlight I don't know about the US, but where I come from, you get paid if you produce more energy than you use. That's an incentive NOT to waste energy.
@@DanBrown96 That will be gone in about 10 minutes when the power companies realize they are losing money. It's like the government incentivizing fuel efficiency, then realizing that they are losing money on gas tax, and so they double the property tax rate of fuel-efficient cars. Funny how it all comes out in the wash.
@@DanBrown96 it used to be like that in some areas of the US, i remember hearing a story of a guy who put up a windmill a couple decades ago and got credited for it. Idk though, besides the point. What I was referring to was the astonishing amount of energy this guy uses and his desire to use even more. To put into perspective, everything in my house is electric and my bill is $100us/month on level pay and 100~200 on gas. This guy claimed that after installing solar tiles, he's using upwards of $800~900 worth of electricity. So it's effectively encouraged him to be > 4x more irresponsible than I am, and I feel I'm living very comfortably with more than I need.
Hubby watched this tonight, he has been wanting to go off-grid since he built his first home in 1986, but CA building & planning in San Diego County thought he was crazy back then!!! Been doing research since then for our next (final) house to retire. He says this review is the best, most thorough, and concise that he has seen. Great job & very well done!!!
if your hubby does his home work he will go to the source of most things solar China. I have been researching and the cost is way lower than you can imagine. Always stay with Grade A panels consider micro inverters as they generally will last at least 2 times longer than string inverters. Remember Batteries still remain the most expensive part of a system. Consider a hybrid system with part using micro inverters and a smaller sized string hybrid inverter. Why? because a hybrid inverter will output grid frequency power and keep the micro inverters turned on
@@stevepailet8258 China equipment is garbage. Check out Chinas EVs that catch on fire all by themselves- the videos are all over the place. But you do you my brother 🙏 peace
I am a certified HVAC technician and wanted to let you know that if you do go with the heat pump system for electric then most likely from the numbers that I saw you give you would probably not be at zero and might be positive a little bit. Especially because you're in the Northeast region the same as II would be more than happy to discuss this further if you would like just look up Mike's Air Treatment Inc. we're located in Virginia.
I had this system at my previous home and loved it. Like you, we captured so much data about the sun hours, kWh generation, usage, etc. Your video does a wonderful job explaining all this. We left California and purchased a farm and are going to a much larger system. 90 kWh batteries, 64 425W panels in a field and two inverters. Once you've gone solar....
I live in Kenya and even watch your electric car reviews and I can't help but feel like we live in 2 different centuries, I wish all this tech was available and affordable to us in 3rd world countries bc they are really awesome, anyway a step at a time, I'm an aspiring innovator and I'm hoping to bring this and much more home. Great video keep up🎉
@@zwicker5585 Nah dude, it is up there and obviously there are things like kids and other factors that come into play but this fits largely into the price of your home. With different credits and buyback programs and whatever else. It's certainly not something everyone can afford but we're talking the top 15%-25% depending on circumstances.
@@teamcoltra for a 90 thousand dollar roof? Most people are stretching it at 10.. in fact it’s something like 95% of Americans don’t even have 500$ in savings.
@@zwicker5585 what your missing here is Marques has a huge home and requires 29kW of solar to offset what he uses every year. He also went with the more expensive Tesla system (solar roof tiles, not solar panels) with batteries that costs more as well. I for instance, spent $10K to upgrade my electrical and put in 8kW of solar panels. No batteries. My ROI is less than 8 years on that and offsets almost all of my electricity, including my EV, like Marques here. His is so absurdly expensive because he lives in a whole other tax bracket...
It’s cloudy all the time because they are spraying the sky via geo engineering. The US spends 11 billion yearly to operate. You can find this info on the US govt website.
My family got a Tesla roof last year (install finished December 2022) along with the Power Walls, set up in Connecticut, and I can say for sure the chunks of snow sliding off the roof is wild the first time you notice it. We got it because we needed a new roof anyway just due to age and normal wear and tear, so the solar roof just made sense for us. One thing Marques didn't mention is that some power companies will pay *you* to take your roof's generating capacity during peak usage, so you can end up with the power company paying you some months. The power company will take our roof's power during peak hours (most notably during the summer when everyone gets home and kicks on AC) and we'll run off our battery walls in the meantime, and get a credit for it, along with all the net negative we sell back to them besides.
In Australia, they did a big push for solar, stating how well the feed in tariff is. Something around $.60 AUD per kWh. Now that's between 0 and $0.10 per kWh, with those who got the premium rate only keeping that till 2024-2028. Unfortunately it is not fesible for many to run solar, without a battery now, as the feed in tariff barely covers the daily supply fee and other rates. You blow through your "credit" at night and then some. We also have cases where during install they fail to reconfigure your meter for a long long time. So if you spin your meter backwards, the power company ignores your reading and charges you an "estimate", and when you approach them about it they will also fine you Gone are the days of people claiming $0 energy bills or credit, instead it's "solar saved me this much" Oh and if you are unfortunate enough to live somewhere where the "grid cannot support your input" then they also limit how much you are allowed to feed in.
To someone in the Netherlands who's not using a lot of energy, these numbers are absolutely massive. We have a 3.5 kW solar system, which, at about 3-4 Mwh a year, covers about 150% of our energy. And that's while we heat and cool fusing AC (with a tiny bit of gas usage on really cold days). Granted, our house is a bit smaller, but even then. Also, our payback period came out to be around 3 years, which is pretty hilarious, although without a battery unit.
I’ve never been to the Netherlands but I’ve noticed that many countries in Europe have appliances, electronics, stoves, water heaters, etc that only turn on when you need them and you have to flip a switch to use them. Whereas here in the US that really doesn’t exist. Probably due to cost of energy being way higher in Europe and it making more sense to add switches and stuff to reduce power usage. You know how he said his power usage never went below 400-500 watts? Your home probably can get much closer to zero. That along with other factors is probably the reason.
I noticed the same. If you're spending 6500kWh in a warmish month, there's something seriously wrong with your consumption behaviour. It also indicates that american houses are really badly built (and also that they're using old tech in critical places like heating, hot water, and HVAC). A modern scandinavian house, ca 150m2 living space, uses that amount in a year, and we got real winters over here.
@@FinnenPynjar yeah and he still uses a different heating technology. He wants to spend more energy lol. I also live on about 6mwh in Switzerland with a flat, but we have some servers for the business I run.
@@michi795 Yeah, natural gas is still a bad CO2 source. But in a sense his project is a good one, as it exemplifies how the climate & environmental issues should NOT be addressed. What he's actually done is he's used a lot of money and resources to get a system which allows him, only him, to KEEP consuming insane amounts of resources. Here from Europe we would say "typical americans"...
This just shows once again how important house insulation is. One only realizes afterward how much energy is consumed for cooling and heating. Thank you for this detailed video. Greetings from Vienna!
Not only insulation. Let's face it. Some Americans feel the need to run their AC at 60 degrees during the summer. That's fucking stupid. The ideal and suggested temp sits between 73-75. And with that, you can sustain good cooling with proper insulation. To give you an idea. I live in a 4,600 sq ft home, 3 floors, 2 units running 24/7 set at 75, and my bill is $350 a month. That's peak summer usage bill. Every other month of the year, keeping it at 77 in the winter will keep me at 170-180 a month. Be smart people.
Exactly! Efficiency is king -- if one doesn't waste it, then it doesn't need to be generated or transmitted or stored, and we can be satisfied with smaller cheaper solutions. I love Vienna, btw -- it's so much fun walking around all day, as long as I can stay away from the cars.
@@ShouriSeifuku That depends on the outsdie temp and humidity. I live in a 1200 sqft 2 bedroom apartment and keeping my place 73 during the summer runs me $80. Peak is around $100. Winter I keep it at 72 and costs me $120. But that's with really high prices and I'm paying extra because I wanted to purchase blocks of green energy. So it actually doubles my bill. I can afford a much bigger home but I chose smaller because it's more efficient and because I could keep it very warm or very cold without paying much.
When you go off grid you lead to inefficiency since you have to design a system for the worst case - you need enough solar panels to power in the winter on a cloudy day- and a large enough battery system to get you through the following night. Also when your battery is full and you are not using all the incoming solar, the electricity is wasted. I am a "snowbird" and almost all of the energy would be wasted during 6 months of the year! When you use a utility for the back up you only need enough solar panels for the average daily use and use save the money on a backup battery. The only problems are when the utility looses power and the monthly charge from the utility for the service. Don't even get me started on a Tesla solar roof since it is probably overcapcity covering your whole roof including the roof side pointing away from the sun.
Sorry to ask, but as a non-sciency person... we live in SG and most are in apartments. We get a lot of hot afternoon sun. Do you think one day we would have buildings/things that absorb the massive heat (not necessarily solar light) from the sun and then turn that into something that we could store/use? 2 months ago my apartment generated 1000+kwh, and I feel guilty but have no alternatives. Its just too hot out here and we don't get much breeze due to building direction - so air condition and fan are difficult to avoid.
But a significantly flawed financial analysis of this investment. He assumes taxpayer subsidies reduced the project's costs. They did not, but rather just shifted a large portion of the project's costs to unwilling taxpayers. And he values a dollar in year 10 as equal to a dollar today, completely ignoring inflation. See my full comment and mini-analysis elsewhere. It's at least 18 to 24 years before savings exceed the original costs.
I would definitely update your AC system to a heat pump. I am in Chicago, and I can use it for heating in the spring and fall when you reported having the biggest surpluses from your report. With an efficient setup you could use a heat pump most of the year and supplement it with your natural gas. Thank you for the report, it was explained so clearly by you that I think I actually understood most of it. Nice job!
Yeah we were looking at getting ac and went with a heat pump for this very reason. We have gas and as those prices go up we can choose what to use. Also have a planned install with a larger panel. With net metering we aren't getting a battery backup to cut down on price and figure when we end up getting an EV it will support reverse charging.
Also, you can use your house as a battery with a heat pump. Pump extra heat out of the house in the night when power is cheap (if you don’t have powerwall) and have a cool house during the day with less AC
I own a solar sales company, and have sold solar for 6 years. It’s really cool seeing someone experience it for the first time and seeing their experience.
@@justluxtalks They probably actually will fulfill your order and NOT screw you over, so there is that. Don't base your thoughts on what Tesla offers because an extremely famous RUclipsr who is well known to speak highly of Musk and Tesla got this. Look instead at all of the reports of Tesla failing, hardware failing, not installing things properly, not getting proper approvals from the city, and paying exponentially more than what was quoted.
@@Artimidorus you should come to rural america, warranties itself is a joke, we bought a washer but the warranty is useless because there is n one who services out in our area 😅
@@justluxtalks They are, and they're also better than Tesla. Regular solar panels are a cheaper and better option for 99% of people and will be for quite some time.
It's been a long time that I've sat through an entire video without changing out doing something else while watching. MKBHD, great story teller. So simplified, great at attention grabbing, so entertaining and informative. If only everything is learned this way. Kudos to you.
What I got from your video is that if you're on net 0 billing system, a battery backup system would not really work, but more solar panels would offset my electricity and bring me in the negative. Thank you for sharing.
This is by far the most concise and simple solar video I have seen yet. Thank you so much for making something that I can send to non tech/solar people and have them understand it!
He forgot two major things 1. Your dépendant on the power company to pay u That ended not well in Europe Everybody got screwed. Companies dropped the price they paid. 2. EV is clean if u ignore the slave children who mine cobalt Or the massif and ecological cost of mining But we r destroying Africa so nobody cares Especially not the guy from South Africa
This is one of the best tech video you’ve ever made. It’s so informative and easy to understand. Not to mention how it’s inspiring for younger people who doesn’t have their home yet. It makes younger people dream more of a batter future.
Yeah so inspiring for me to know that, if I had the means to purchase a home and outfit it with this, I would. Partially for economic reasons, but mainly for environmental reason. The issue arises when you realize that those with the means aren't doing that and instead we're just going to keep burning natural resources and sacrificing the planet because it doesn't fit the incredibly short sighted monetary goals of our society.
Energy is expensive most people are paying more to electric companies to not actually own it. You can get approved for a solar loan which will have a fixed payment allowing you to not only pay less but pay to own the panels. And can increase the houses total value.
@@chasejoshua3600 Not everyone wants to own panels and have to maintain them, not to mention the batteries on supporting equipment. Some people just want to pay a company to deliver reliable electricity.
In AZ, our electrical provider offered an energy efficiency audit. Solar panel installation was one of the last steps suggested. They highly recommended upgrading windows to 2/3 pane glass with PVC/fiberglass frames, increased or upgrade insulation. Plant more trees around the home to provide some degree of shade. I haven’t installed any solar panels, installing a high efficiency HVAC system like a high quality Mitsubishi or Daikin brand. but these suggestions certainly helped bring down my energy consumption.
My wife and I are about to close on a new house with solar (our first home with solar panels) This video really helps us learn more about it. Perfect timing, thanks Marques!
it's usually a very small overlap between having lots of sun and needing heating for our german setup at most 10% of the heatpump electricity would be coming from our setup but for places with cooling needs In the summer you really get huge benefits
@@tellyboy17 ah yeah I also have to mention that we don't have net metering, with net metering you could just build a bigger setup if possible and cover your winter usage with your summer excess but that's just playing the system, someone then has to produce or store energy elsewhere at the expense of everyone else because your noon summer export electricity really isn't worth as much as your winter afternoon electricity net metering is basically nice for the person that has it but in reality unfair for all the other parties
These kinds of videos really show what a great content creator Marques is, with real in-depth feedback on complex setups, but presented in a fun and accessible way.
Yeah I found the entire video really impressive, he makes it look easy but I am sure making a video of this scale is no small task Just awesome work by Marques
As an energy engineer familiar with these terms and concepts, I must say your explanations using animation are super spot on. It's impressive to guess what the next thing you'll say is, and then you match it with incredible animations. Also, the reason why May gives the best output is because the efficiency of these panels drops beyond a certain temperature limit. Thumbs up to you Marques.
@@anita.b "Energy engineering is the process of extracting and converting resources into energy. In new energy engineering, the development and improvement of green technologies reduce energy consumption & these engineers develop solutions for improving energy consumption and use. Through research, design, documentation, and construction they implement green solutions, cutting down environmental impact and cost. Careers in energy engineering include those in wind and solar energy." TLDR; Energy engineer works in energy engineering industry, who would've thought.
I don't normally leave comments but this is by far one of the simplest and most informative videos I have ever seen. Marques is a great and clear speaker and love the fact he doesn't repeat himself so well done now Im off to check out more of his videos
It's also not how solar panels work either. You can't just power your house from the sun without a medium. if the power grid goes down and you have solar panels, your house has no power as well. If you had a medium like batteries then it would draw from the battery. It's designed like this so you don't have fluctuating power in case a cloud pops over your roof and ruins your appliances.
@@ak15567, That is actually incorrect. I can draw direct from my panels. Or not draw, the energy is there, yes batteries make the system more smooth and reliable and it is not wise to draw direct from panels, but it is possible. You just need some different equipment. I kind of want it anyway, because during peek sun, sometimes I trip my intake breaker. Fluctuating power can cause two issues, brownouts or whiteouts. Brownouts tend to cause data loss, but are not usually harmful, whiteouts, can burn out equipment. We have a line conditioner which helps prevent both. In the fluctuation conditions and no battery though, really you can only clean off the peeks, effectively limiting the flow of power.
@@offroadr Are you talking physically capable or are you talking NECA codes? It is not per code to have your solar panel DIRECTLY power your appliance. There is no discussion, unless you rewrote the code in the last 5 months since I've checked.
I'm five years solar. With just a 6kw solar system and net metering. All gas appliances my electric bill averages about $12 per month. Excellent video, thank you.
As an energy policy analyst and power grid modeler, this video is sooo interesting. I’ve worked with datasets or statistics averaging these kind of metrics to analyze the benefits of those new federal tax credits you mentioned. But a story like this really brings such a great detailed zoom in on an experience. Love this video and will definitely take lessons from it into account in my work!
@@AnIdiotwithaSubaru i was thinking about that too. Though he is already operating at a shortage in winter months, so the natural gas may be cheaper. I assumed he meant heat pump when he mentioned switching to electric heating
You can fix the snow falling in front of the door with snow guards. They can be use to divert the snow to either side. They also are used to help break large sheets into strips so you don’t have huge masses of snow that could cause death by slamming down on someone.
As a solar consultant for 9 years in CA, this is an amazing video! Thank you for not being bias towards a certain company and clearly explaining how solar works with net metering. Love the way you broke it down. The tesla batteries are awesome with the app. Congrats on your bad ass system! Huge fan of yours!
That sounds promising, but I ran some numbers. Based on my current fuel consumption, $1800 would cover a year's worth of gas. If I divide the estimated cost of the roof and battery ($100,000) by the annual fuel savings, it would take me 55 years to break even. Considering my lifespan, that's not a feasible investment. In Europe, it would take a lifetime of driving a diesel engine to accumulate $100,000 in fuel costs.
It’s been a while since I have watched a whole longer form video. I was locked in the whole time. Dude this video was phenomenal, thank you for all the hard work you and your team put into this
Great straight forward video - only thing in my opinion missing from the ROI analysis is the actual roof replacement cost. Depending on the size of house, gables, pitched, etc a cash replacement cost could be anywhere from $15-30k. If you are in need of a roof replacement anyway, going with solar + power wall could shorten then ROI from 10 years to that lower end of 6 years assuming you were going to have to replace your roof anyway and wasn’t covered under insurance. Great content!
I was wondering about this. Supply chain issues, increase cost of cobalt, and then of course, the sources of cobalt we are now learning are slavery. So, you have to wonder if this is going to get worse before it gets better.@@DavidFriend-WV
Also, something to think about during the winter is that the sun stays MUCH lower in the sky on the south west side of a house. So even on sunny winter days, unless you have a steep angled roof, your roof will not get as much direct sun light, no matter what. So you are not only getting less time in general due to shorter days, but the “quality” of sunlight will be far lower in most cases
One thing you didn't mention: how's the maintenance of the roof? It's cool that maintenance during snow isn't a big deal but how often do you have to clean them to keep them in optimal condition? Perhaps an update on the maintenance (or the lack thereof) in the next vid about it.
As someone who has an air-to-water heat pump in their house, I could definitely recommend it. Especially in combination with great isolation. Although our winters and summer here are a lot more mild, it's able to keep the house at a consistent temperature year-round, with less than 1 degree Celsius of variation. And there is no noise, irritating airflows or dry air from the AC units inside.
I've had panels for about 5 years and you NAILED everything and explained it perfectly, great job! You answered some stuff I always wondered about snow since I don't get any.
Dude your videos are so well-structured, so eloquent, always filmed so well. I have been watching your videos for years now and I’m sure I will for as long as you do it. You’re just amazing at it bro 😂
Using 6500kwh in a single month is nuts to me. Having an EV and aircon really adds up. I live in Ireland - where no one has aircon - in an 80sqm house and use
Yeah it’s insane… Was looking at my electricity usage and we only spent on average 5 kwh a day in the summer and 8-10 in the winter. So it would take us 3-4 years to use 6500 kwh😂
I was thinking the same thing about 6500kwh being nuts. I just checked my usage and we used 600kwh per month each of the last two months. I’m in Canada and have a/c in a 350sqm house. Even with an EV, I can’t imagine how I’d make the bill 10x it’s current amount.
I posted above. I live in Portugal. Sun all year 🏄 The project for 10 years would cost extra 500.00/800.00 USD a month. No way I/we (family) would spend $500.00 in one month, never in cold (warm, really) winters.😊
As usual you have great videos. Super informative, clearly presented, no fluff, no puff of personality, articulate, concise so well produced. You are setting the standard, don't change a thing.
You should do a heat pump and use the gas as a backup, they call it a dual fuel system. You can even upgrade the furnace efficiency to 92%, but it only runs when the heat pump can't (generally below freezing) and gets the house toasty quicker than the electric coils of the typical emergency heat backup installed with a heat pump.
@@jojobergberg8837i live in northern maine one of the coldest places in the contiguous united states and my heat pumps work almost without fail throughout the winter , only when it gets to around -20F does it not work but you have to get heat pumps designed for cold climates , im gonna add one or two more and then use those exclusively
@@thursdaythought7201+1. Ground source pumps are the way for cold climate. 10k pricetag is nothing for a system tested in the Scandinavian cold. I mean, most of Scandinavia uses it. Must be worth it.
That 55 MWh yearly energy consumption is just insane since that doesn't even include heating! In the arctic circle in northern Europe, with winters where you have typically 1 meter (or ~3 feet) of snow and temperatures hitting below 0 °F during the winter for 2-3 months, a basic family home with electric heating uses around 25 MWh in a year for EVERYTHING!
I think the regulations for insulation and heat loss in America are much more lax than in Europe. In Europe we're slowly beginning to see 'zero energy houses': No heating needed all year round, even in the north. However, in northern Europe we're also beginning to see more demand for A/C, something that has become a necessity for more people as our summers get hotter.
We live in a House of Three with two ACs ... My PC is running 12 Hours a day, two TVs and so on ... i pay 125€ per Month, where a KWh costs 32 cents. So 3 People in a medium house in Europe pay all together just 125€. Thats 1500€ per Year. Dude ...
i had to pause there for a second. 8 months ??!! I worked in installing the electrical box of solar systems, we did 10+ kw appliances in a week. I don't know how much more complicated replacing your roof sheets with solar modules is, but 8 months sounds like deliberate rescheduling to compensate for operational volume issues. Insane.
This has to be one of the best videos you’ve produced. It was seriously informative and educational, thank you. Also, we actually do get thunder-snow sometimes in Colorado, it’s a real thing.
Had thundersnow in Michigan last winter, it was freaky 'cause I'd never seen anything like that before. Kind of awe-inspiring though, looking out the window and the sky is lit up in purple, the color bouncing off white snowfall... Looked absolutely amazing.
• Renovate your home to passive house standards • Add Energy Recovery Ventilation • Replace HVAC (gas and A/C) with Air sourced heat pumps or Ground sourced heat pump with hot water Your house will feel more comfortable and healthier while completely running off electricity. Ensure your home will be solar and battery ready when you renovate (especially when you replace the rood). Also, by end of the 2020s you'll be able to run the house off the car battery supplementing the house batteries. Car runs low, run out to an area that has power to charge and then bring those electrons home for the house.
I’m surprised someone who invests so much into solar doesn’t do these things. Gas should be ditched and induction cooking/ heat pump heating and hot water is the way to go.
Just FYI, with an air or ground-water heat pump in a climate, where you get an actual winter - you will not be able to power the heat pump with off-grid solar power alone. The timing is just bad - you have the highest energy requirements from your heating in a time when the solar roof system provides the least amount of energy. There are long-term energy storage systems (ice power systems, home hydrogen storage systems), where you can save power in summer for winter, but those are also quite expensive. I also reckon you will not be able to charge an electric vehicle just with solar roof system power in a real winter.
Hey marques, Just wanted to point out another thing regarding most amount of production in May, the efficiency of these solar panels also depends on temperature. If temp. Increases beyond a certain limit their efficiency goes down. So, if its like sunny days of june and july where the temperature is very high, the efficiency of these panels goes down a little bit. Thats why in May it is producing the max as the temp. is just about right. As always great video.
Two more factors you need to calculate: 1. The degradation of panels - they will produce less energy in the future. 2. You got a new long lasting roof. What roof did you have before? What was its refurbishment period and cost? You have to deduct the price of a new roof from your calculations if you needed your roof refurbished anyways
I'm totally baffled by these numbers. My yearly usage is 2900 kilowatt hours with a 3 person family, in a connected home (but not an appartment). Those HVAC systems must be freaking monsters.
Good job, sounds prety low to me compared to my former situation in a moderate European climate. Out pre-solar, gas fueled household used slightly more for 2 persons. Now we have a roof full with panels, heathpump but no battery or EV. Our production is just over 6000 kWh a year and roughly net-zero. The numbers are high and personaly I think we have some serious chalenges if every home is going full electric even without that monster AC and EV.
You've explained the whole process in this 30min video so well I can't express enough how satisfying watching the video and feeling like it's literally just about 10min. I could watch this video without tiring if it was extended to 1hr with even more details. You are very good at this explainer videos man! More of them please 🥺
Love how this was explained in layman's term with even a visual for us to understand. Also love how you explained what happens during the seasons and the total cost of the installation. I followed this channel because of phone reviews but this is definitely my favorite video of yours thus far. Thank you for an amazing content!
I'm a first time viewer and wanted to thank you for sharing this video with us all. I found you to be incredibly detailed and concise, insightful and thorough, and very articulate and entertaining. I'm fascinated by Elon Musk and the paths that he's paving for us all and he truly is revolutionizing so many industries that are making us more productive, efficient, and conservationist in how we go about it. Thanks once again - New subscriber.
Fun fact as to why your solar roof performs better in the spring: Just like batteries, solar panels also have a preferred temperature they operate at. The efficiency of solar panels is highest at 25 degrees Celsius (77F). When the Sun shines on the panels they might warm up beyond the ambient temperature, and in the summer this means that the performance and thus the yield is reduced. Whereas in spring the more moderate temperatures and sunny days mean that your panels at working at peak efficiency!
@@dr.dolphi8915 no kidding , after short rain showers in summer your panels have the highest output ! i have 7.4 kw peak on my south roof , once after a short summer rain i messured 8.1 kw !!! but 10 minutes later the panels got hot again and the output was about 6.9. so i think, it makes no sense ,cooling it by hosing. by the way, if you use hard water, it will leave stains on your panels--- quite contraproductive ! greetings from freiburg, germany
27:00 the $5.75 isn’t just to have an account. It’s your fee to be connected to the grid so you get to use it (through net metering) as a huge battery backup by proxy! Not bad for effectively having a backup that’s gigawatt-hours in size!
@@adofoi30 The grid is up over 99.9% of the time. Residential solar cannot come close to that kind of reliability, so the hookup is worth it. If you want 100% reliability, you'll need a standby generator in addition to the battery.
Solar is awesome! With my brother we were able to build $4000 off-grid system with a 4kW peak power output and 10kWh battery storage for our parents house. Their electricity bill was around $1500 a year, which is now reduced by $1000 from solar, so the payback period is around 4 years. They live in Europe where the electricity costs are pretty high, so though they were hesitant at first, now they're pretty happy being more independent from the power company. I really like how affordable the solar tech has become, especially if you are willing to build it yourself. It was a great learning experience too.
Decided on Tesla Solar partly because of Marques. By the time we got to final design, I was convinced I was dealing with brainless monkeys working out of 20 different offices. Such a mess of an uncoordinated experience. So glad we made it out as early as we did. Also Elon can launch himself into space and never come back please.
Well covered. I have 1 powerwall + 14.8 kw of panels here in South Australia. My situation gets even more interesting because my electricity price is dynamically determined based on the real-time market price (I use an energy retailer called Amber Electric). Another factor to consider is the orientation of panels, for example, west-facing can sometimes be more optimal since it provides energy later into the evening, when prices are higher due to peak usage. I'm hoping to install another 7kw of panels on my garage and add another powerwall.
Shouldn't be the oriantation of solar panel be North south or vice versa so you can take advantage of panels throughout the day as sun goes east to west? Is there co relation between angle at which sun ray hit the panel to amount of electricity they generate?
@@someordinarystan2692 North / South will maximise the total kWh, however if you don't have enough battery storage then you'll still need to buy some power from the grid. Many grids are switching to spot pricing, where the evening price can often be $1+ / kWh in the evenings when people plug in their cars and turn on their HVAC after work, but virtually free in the mornings. Thus, it makes sense to optimise for evening kW over morning kW, even if it's less kWH overall.
So it appears Tesla found a bug in their app after watching this video that accidentally counted all production and usage totals as DOUBLE their actual numbers.
Doesn't affect my payback timeline calculations, but it does make more sense that I was seeing ~4000kWh of production in a month, not 8000 🤓
Why didn’t you factor any SREC’s into your calculations? Huge variable when talking about ROI, especially with the production as high as you are showing.
Straight from Twitter link after you posted the bug update
Yes, you cannot produce 350 kWh of energy in a day with a ~40kW panel array. At your latitude, four times kWp in the best case scenario makes more sense.
I may have missed it but don't you sell electricity back to the grid? 🤔
I really liked the Tesla software. They are great with UIs. It is weird that such an obvious bug existed for so long without anyone noticing.
I’m a solar representative in Texas, I’ve been in solar Sales for 8 years now and this has to be one of the best explanation and representations of how solar and Net Metering works.
Seriously, Marques has explained this flawlessly.
Would love to know your plans for these panels as they die? Landfill much😂
why do they cut the credits at the end of the year though. From the consumers perspective, thats obliviously not so practical
@fetB that's the utility company doing that. Ask them homie
@@edwardmolloy7548there are ways to recycle them and plus most of them will last 40+ years, along with warranties if company offers them. The batteries are the main concern but even those are being recycled now
@@fetB Because utilities and retail electricity suppliers don't love the idea of people self-generating their own power. Every time a net metering policy is designed and implemented at the state level (Note: Every state's NEM program is slightly different, if it exists), it's a highly political process. Utilities fight tooth and nail to make these programs as favorable to their business models as possible.
I've been working in the solar industry for over 14 years and this is hands-down one of the best videos out there explaining solar, batteries, and home energy use. Such a great resource for the public - thank you!
I disagree strongly. This user claims to use up to 200KWh/day as an average usage. This is x5-x10 more than my lifetime experience of daily usage (not inc elec car). It's also common to have 2-5KW roof top systems, not 30KW. There was nothing about the numbers in this video that matched a normal setup. It was literally a top 1% of the top 1% of rich people's reference. With all that said... a 7-10yr return on investment is a solid conclusion and matches the curve of return on smaller setups.
@@Masheeablewhat are you disagreeing with exactly because other than complaining about their usage amount you agreed with what they've said.
@@Masheeable He said in the video that his case is not a normal setup. He probably has a quite a big house and he is tech creator. He definitely has way more appliances, computers, EVs, and other products than the average person that all take up more energy. If you're not using as much as him, which you probably aren't, you would have an even better experience.
better than that cringe MRWHOSTHEBOSS yt channel
@@Masheeable so you disagree just for the sake of disagreeing. But you really disagree with nothing. Got it. Keep being difficult for no reason lol
This is such a great example of how you can create a straight forward, no BS video without all the flashiness and still be engaging. Refreshing
Facts all info answered a lot of questions I had
Probably took him 15 hours to actually edit and prepare the video for upload. Very good informaton.
Are solar panels and batteries are "coming from a renewable source" too and were produced in environmentally friendly manner? Though, to be honest, it was a rhetorical question as we all know the answer. And the answer is -- drumroll please! -- "hell no".
This video is complete BS. I tried this solar roof and it barely worked. Imo don't buy it.
@@ERMOONSaladino5 is it from tesla? and why it doesn't work?
Marques gave the most end user friendly commentary I have heard about home solar. Clear and apparently honest. Much appreciated.
That was super detailed and useful! With the lack of sunshine and smaller houses/roofs in the UK, I can only generate a max of around 24kWh a day in summer 🥲
Would you say it’s worth it for someone in the UK (I live in Manchester 😂)
@@OurWorldUncovered we have around 8kW of solar panels and paying around £10-12 electricity per week right now. That's with an AC unit blasting for most of the day on hot days aswell as fans and all the usual electrical appliances. No batteries. ( Edit: family of 4 ).
You can power 4-5 houses with that.
@OurWorldUncovered Absolutely. I have 23 panels and a Powerwall and thankfully a South Facing Roof (South East Coast). On a good Spring / Summer day, I have had upwards of 65KW per day and over the last year, around 12Mwh total. I have not paid any electric bill since it was installed (thankfully was on the Tesla Energy Plan which is currently 24p export and 24p import, however they have now cancelled this Plan which I loose from Feb 2024 😕). So basically the grid is like an unlimited battery for me, until the Plan finishes. We also charge 2 electric cars, which by a clear mile are the biggest draw on power. At current energy prices, it will have paid for itself in around 4 years, so about 2 years left for me. The caveat is though, you need the right location, as roof positioning and clear sight (no obstructions to light such as buildings and trees) will make a massive difference. Our South Facing roof gets sun all day long, but the other roof only really gets sun during Summer and that is not all day.
Okay so this was awesome but no you are not learning weather pattern with one year of data and qualifiers but great video
I would buy this (if I wasn't broke😭). Tbh for me this channel is just 99% window shopping 🤣🤣. Love you Marques
101%😂
103%💀
200%💀
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Lol I relate so much
Probably the best MKBHD video so far. My PhD was about optimization of smart grids, including smart houses with solar panels and EVs. I'm saying this because I understand how much research and effort in general was put in building up for this video. The most difficult part in this process is how to make it simple enough so that the general audience would understand most of what you're talking about. I think you did a very good job in making it as simple as it can be, although I understand that it still could be very complicated for some people with all those numbers and graphs. Overall, well done Marques! An incredible video that even professionals and researchers can find it useful.
Best cosign imaginable 🙏🏾
Yes. Most people will not take time going through the numbers, even if it is incredible tech. I think you will also find it very interesting to check out bio electricity. There's a company called Bioo that makes electricity 24/7 using living plants. There's no toxic waste. Just plants doing their thing and simple devices using their waste products underground to create electricity.
Why would it be complicated though. Seems simple enough to understand.
Solar produces power to use and to charge ... Net metering takes excess and charges you less when you pull from the grid ... Batteries store excess and you use when the sun is down.
The only thing missing, maybe, is potential for reverse charge from a car ... So charging a car and pulling power from a car at calculated times.
@@wayando Most people once you mention the word "Math" pass out and their brains turn to gummy bears.
@@NisYT... Very true. What I have noticed about Solar systems is that if someone doesn't like math they could just copy a friend's system who has approximately the same usage patterns ... Then automate everything using software and timers.
Personally, I have a completely off-grid system ... And these require the most math for planning before and during usage ... I can do math but I avoid complicated daily calculations if I don't have to do it.
I copied my system from someone, but because I didn't want to risk having certain problems, I put in place certain "safe guards":
1. I put slightly more solar than I need, and divided them into 3 separate groups bringing down power separately ... This helps with figuring out sources of issues, and also factoring the side facing the sun.
2. Batteries are expensive, but at the same time it's better to have more battery because of depth of discharge ... So I got batteries is 3 rounds, and have them separated into 2 battery banks that operate separately.
I was just eyeballing the performance by checking the discharge level at 6am before sun rise. Then I upgrade as necessary. The whole battery was in place in about 6months.
Heavy usage items are controlled by timers and strictly limit their usage to day time. Et c.
Diesel generator on standby. Just Incase. But it has been idle for 3yrs now.
Really interesting, thanks for sharing this data! One thought is.. The solar panels are under warranty for 25 years, but probably not the power walls? As we all know batteries don't often last too many years, so the power walls would likely need to be replaced after 10 years? Adding a longer payback period, as I'm sure Tesla battery banks of that size are a large cost.
Yes, the payback period would be a lot shorter without the batteries. They're expensive and die before they can pay themselves off. They're really only a good idea if you don't have net metering.
10 years is a number that also depends on how much you charge and discharge it
depending on depth of discharge it might actually last longer.
I'm seeing a lot of estimates from 10 to 25 years. Seeing they are batteries it is going to come down to cycles, and having excess storage will increase the longevity of the banks.
@@YolandaPlayneThey degrade but dont die. Also, their bms keeps longevity due to keeping them at proper temps
@@bitcores no the batteries don't last that long at all. They only last a few years.
I live in Thailand, here, about 90% of the year we have cloudless skies and the sun shines really strong during the day. The amount of daylight doesn't change much throughout the year; we get light from 6 am until around 6:30-7 pm. I believe that in countries like this, having roof solar panels like this would be a game-changer for everyone.
Unfortunately, they do not have net metering in Thailand afaik
(even just a couple of panels charging a car battery - or 12V LFP battery makes a big difference in rural areas - energy availability may go from nothing to "amazing" in one day.- in the west, we are fortunate to be able to have setups for camping, in excess of what many in developing countries have to live with..)
same here in india. we really need to invest more in these technologies for asia and africa
@@sylvy16 india is the biggest investor in solar after china
I wish we could say the same for the Philippines, but typhoon season for us is more than a quarter of the year. It's really good during the summer. But impossible to be net negative throughout the entire year.
My dad recently got solar panels and everytime I visit he all excited shows me the graphs. Thanks to this video I now understand it more🙏🏻
u used to be famous
Yeah you use to be famous, What happened why did you stop RUclips? You were making a shit ton of money.
@@AllenHanPRprobably didn't care about the game or money. Already made enough to live well. Not everyone can stand doing RUclips for ages like some RUclipsrs still going after 10years
lol soft@@Steve.._.
He is lying. Tesla had a bug in the app which reported all energy production as 2x.
He is loosing money on the system AND he financed the 120,000 on a 15 year term at 7% (per tesla) which means he pays 70,000 USD in interest alone.
I own a solar company and this is a phenomenal video explaining how solar and batteries and the grid work together plus insights into EV charging / load management / savings estimates. And your designs / infographics are amazing. Thank you for sharing this it is awesome.
The coolest thing in my opinion, that you mentioned is the seamless transition to going off grid when there’s a power outage. That’s crazy that you don’t know that a power outage happened because you’re already running off of solar and battery power and not off the grid so nothing changed.
If I was in the situation, imagine myself watching TV at 10 o’clock at night and looking out the window and my neighborhood being completely black and then I’m going. “ huh We must have a power outage right now.”
this is the biggest thing people ignore. You're much more independent, especially when talking about gasoline. Common criticsm with electric cars is that the grid cannot handle it, and here he is actually feeding the grid at times
This is a dream for me. In the area I live in Southwest Oregon we have power outages multiple times a year. In the winter they can last anywhere from days to weeks in the worst cases.
He'll know when it's the zombie apocalypse and everyone realises his house has electricty at night.
Typically, governments from federal down to local, don't want you self sufficient and off of their grid. They see it as too risky and that they have to protect you... from yourself.
For years, people that have tried to be fully self sufficient have had to fight their local governments legally to even get close to full self sufficiency. Same goes for having a decent sized garden (it's not like during WWII when they wanted everyone to have a victory garden).
This resistance might be changing a bit but never expect government to a) move fast and b) for government to give up (political) power that citizens gave up out of comfort and security. I'm sure with all the ESG regulations being imposed this decade you'll be nearly fully self sufficient but they wont let you cut the umbilical cord they have you on. There will certainly be some carbon tax that you'll have to pay for using too much of the power that even you have generated.
Here in Phoenix, if the grid goes down so do all solar users. I was told this was a safety issue. Interesting that this isn’t the case in NJ.
No lie: this is probably one of Marques’ best videos. I was super engaged in all the detailed info.
it's suprisingly gripping
Did you also hear him say "I should just use more electricity, so it pays for itself faster" 🤔😂😭
@@henriknielsen9674
Yeah did you not understand that? I can explain if you want
That sponsorship segue was beautiful
Almost as good as linus
Thing magics?
Didn't even notice until it was almost over. 😂
Only now did I learn it is not spelled segway
@@terarrian6232 Not quite as good as Robert Evans from Behind the Bastards.
My wife and I put in ~10kw of solar after we moved from Texas and our first power bill in our new home was 400$.
Great decision. We make about 18 Mwh a year, and our bill is locked at 8$ in fees. Those solar panels get more valuable every time they raise the prices.
How are you saving money? You are paying 400 monthly. What else would it be?
@@nesq4104 The first bill from the power company when we moved here was 400$, hence the need for solar cells. The power company has already raised the rates twice since we've been here, with an estimated 27% increase per kwh by 2025.
The solar cells we could have paid for, but they were offering 1.9 percent interest. At that rate we took the loan. Total cost of the interest over the term of the loan is ~6k, though we'll pay it off early. The loan payment is 180$ a month, with 8$ a month to the power company for line maintenance. One key thing for us is that is our exact bill every month, and we can count on that for budgeting.
The solar cells have also allowed us to move away from gas appliances as they wear out, cutting the gas bill.
None of this counts the level 2 EV charger installed as part of the package or the value increase to the house.
All in all, we're very happy with the performance and the finances.
@@nesq4104I think they mean their first non-solar bill was $400. Which prompted them to invest in solar and now only pay $8 in fees every month.
@@Elte156 ok. Thank you for clarifying
Yeah wait until those panels fail or the batterys or the roof...
I'm an electrician and if you are not a famous tuber with a huge following Good Luck. I did a project for a wealthy guy and it was a nightmare. It took Tesla a year to actually install the roof. In that time the roof was un protected and the membrane was flooded due to large rain. I remember the framer freaking out due to all the rain we were getting and tesla never met any deadlines. Just be careful out there.
Yeah, I'm sure between the dozens of happy engeeners and solar workers from Texas all too glad to incense the video for its educative and clear technical qualities, and positive outlook on the product/experience, there's also I bet, hundreds of unhappy customers on the other side. Experiencing difficult relation with the comp., instatlations problems, power output below expectations, bad prof. practices, deceptive commecial promesses, etc. Which happens in many business, but specially in complex Tech products, and solar being still fairly recent market for most users.
Personally I strongly believe in solar energy, with its pros and cons, the cons outweighted by the pros in my unprofessional opinion. But the thing here, as you rightly pointed out, is the actual value of Marques' experience with Tesla, signing on with his name on a "delux-expensive" package, and its transposed real value onto everyday non-influcener tech youtubers... Just my thought.
as an Electrical Engineer, the explanation and the presentation of the video are accurate and easy to understand. Thumbs up Marques!
very well made as always! the only thing that make me wonder is the yearly power usage. 53380kWh is gigantic for my central european brain. i'd run the house with this energy plus going 250000km by car with this. maybe there is some data error to this? seems just too big for me ...
@@CharlyLownoizesome quick math shows he would have gone about 200000 km in his Model S Plaid assuming the other commenter is correct in saying it's 5x average, to make up that difference. That would be a crazy amount. He does travel a lot to play professional Ultimate Frisbee, so his car usage is likely much more than average. Also quick googling says the average American does 20000km per year. No way he does 10x that.
He does have a large house (as he says in the video), and it makes sense given I'm sure he's quite wealthy. And no doubt his house is full of tech. He runs more powerful computers than most.
Even after those factors, and assuming 5x the average is correct, that's still a lot.
@@nickel36 yeah thats something i'd as a result too. guessing an avg speed of 80km/h that would lead to a 104days of non stop driving. hmmm ... there must be something else. base load seem to be around 3500kWh. dont know what the AC does during the summer but i'd recon not over 10000kWh ... more data for more digging would be nice ^^
@@CharlyLownoize I believe you're confusing kWh for kW.
@@nickel36 why?
Can we just talk about how clean those illustrations and animations were?!
Congrats to the whole team! Awesome video
right
So clean!
no we cannot talk about the same thing for years now
Awesome
Can we not?👍
I specialized in solar at a call center for a utility company and this video was accurate. I’m surprised how well versed you are in this subject. Let’s you know he doesn’t just shoot from the hip for content , he does his homework
After all these years, are you just now learning that? I really hope you didn’t think that up until now.
@@TristenHernandez he covers many subjects , I know which ones I expect him to be knowledgeable in but when he touches on something I specialized in and explains it so clearly It puts a smile on my face. Most customers who call in about their solar do not actually have a good handle on how net metering works.
Okay so I need some clarifications on a few things:
1) MKBHD uses around 4000 KWh of electricity every month. Is that normal for an average American? Cause my household's MAX energy use in the peak of summers (May June) is about 700-800 units a month, with about 2-3 ACs running pretty much the entire day/night
-2) How expensive is electricity in America? 54000 units of electricity would've cost MKBHD ~9000 USD.. That comes out to about 5.2 USD per unit? Isn't that like a lot? The tariff he showed earlier were displaying the cost in 30 cents per unit or something-
Whoops. I made a Maths booboo. My bad.
@@vpsjdon that is not average usage, even for an ev owner. I’m assuming it’s due to the amount of specialty equipment he has running around the clock due to his profession. Last summer we were seeing that type of consumption due to the historic heat wave. We do have certain areas that are more affluent that can average that type of usage but they also have ADU’s , wells , stables , irrigation systems etc. 700-800 is more common usage, also depends on how much they charge at home vs at a charging station. To be on solar you have to be on time of use, so the rate varies depending on the time of day, I’m on the west coast so I can’t speak for where he lives. But highest cost is between on peak (4-9) and lowest overnight (super off peak) which is when you want to be charging your vehicle. If you’re on an EV rate it’s about 16 cents a kilowatt but you pay a monthly service fee of 16 dollars) We only charge him for the net difference so if his system is covering this usage these numbers don’t come into play, especially because he’s using a battery. If he didn’t have a battery then we give him back the value of the timeframe in which he generated , so let’s say off peak is 47 cents he gets that back towards his electric bill
@@ChillOutDoodAs an employee for a major utility provider, you explained TOU well. Bravo!
We purchased our solar array in 2017 (Tesla had just purchased solar city) and then later added two power walls. Best money I have ever spent, we pay $30 a month where I live for a grid connection fee. It started out at $10.00 and every year it went up. Finally they started calling it a minimum usage fee and gave you a per month amount of electricity that you could draw from the grid without being charged extra for if you used all of your net metering credits and under produced for the month.
Can’t imagine the amount of pre-filming work that went into this one. The animations, research, and all. Great vid man!
Hey, that’s how you get the big bucks.
Also, 20 million subscribers is not too bad 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
If you're considering going electric for your heating, you should check out heat pumps! There are tax credits for those as well and if you have a forced air system, they make units that basically drop right into that.
They also make heat pump water heaters which are really efficient. Love the video!
As someone who has a damp basement, I’m looking forward to upgrading to a heat pump water heater because it also dehumidifies for practically free (if it’s stored in the basement)
i heard heat pump heating is not the best, unless it's infloor heating. hot air tends to rise and our body part most sensitive to cold is the feet. I used a mini split unit as a heat pump and it wasnt really effective even though in warmer climates it can be a viable and much more efficient option if you have heating on all the time. For me heating was only necessary when the outside temps go below 5°C, and at that point heat pumps cant really pump much heat.
@@gabrielenitti3243good heat pumps work well in even - 10°c
Only caveat is in the northeast the current cost of electricity makes them a tough sell for the winter months when they would be displacing gas heating but you aren't generating electricity since it's not sunny out and the COP is much lower at those temps so gas heating makes sense. In NJ it would make sense to have a staged heat pump/gas back up system which I think you can control w a Google nest
@@gabrielenitti3243do you have ceiling fans? If you do, use them in reverse with your heat pumps/other heating methods
As an Electrical Engineer myself, this video is so educational and explains the concepts in a very understandable way. This type of content should be used to teach seniors in highschool or young college students👌 Good job🙋♀️
AI comment
Yeah, especially the part where he found out how much his appliances were pulling - something that is literally printed on the back of every device. I don't get, I mean, when you buy an AC, don't you check how much it uses/needs first? I guess not if money is less of an object. But, how can you not know that AC, microwave, heaters, ... draw a lot of electricity? I find that amazing.
Once again, another very insightful video. As a wannabe solar geek, I loved the extra details about the snow falling on the roof falling in clumps. Please continue to share how it runs over time. Thanks.
This was EASILY the most relevant solar power review I've seen. You literally hit every concern I've had about going solar. Snow, bi-directional charging, practical information for the Northeast... Very comprehensive. Thank you!
if you can find poly panels they are even better than the standard solar panels as they use more different light frequencies ... while standard only uses Blue ... making them better from sun up to sun down and not just in peak sun ...
As an employee of the said Solar company, I appreciate this video and how the daily process was explained.
he needs his $5 back
Especially for paying 90,000 $😭😭
@@Rizing4Combatthat's a professional way of saying AJ works at Tesla, or SolarCity lol, not his local energy company
@@papaown oh mb
... You are a scammer 😂 ... You make bank tell the truth ...
This was the single most informative video about solar power + batteries that I’ve ever seen. Kudos! VERY well researched and very good production values.
Marqués please do a follow up video to this video after 2 years now.
I think it would be really cool for you to do an even “longer” review, where you revisit this back in 2-3 years. Maybe things have changed drastically in that time and it changes everything
I wouldn't expect the panels to change too much, but the batteries should - I'm in the industry - we're really looking forward to better batteries.
I was thinking more about the cost of repairs. If a storm damages your home and your roof, it’s gotta be way more expensive
@@DirtMerchant693 I didn’t even think about that, but really good point!
@@DirtMerchant693 Weather coverage varies by company. It's usually gonna go on homeowner's insurance - To be honest, the only real problem is hail - it's a rare problem, and homeowner's insurance will cover it, but warranties won't.
the panels are pretty strong - are tempered glass but, yes, eventually anything will break. And, surely, this will be more expensive.
electrek has an article on a home that had baseball sized hail stone hit a solar roof - no damage
It’s crazy how much higher the kWh consumption is in comparison to a European house of similar sizes. But it good to see that this PV and battery installation is working scaling so good. 55 MWh / year. CRAZY
Yes i also wonder where does all that electricity go to? Here normal house uses 200kWh a month, but not taken in account that it's heated by gas. So you have to compare with heatpump. But next year im going to get a new house which is fully electric so im gonna see what my usage will be.
I came here looking for this comment.
A 55MW/y consumption is insane, even with an electric car. Those houses must be leaking heat like crazy. Like.. are they even insulated?
I own a house made in the 60's near the arctic circle and we use something like 15-20MW/y. And its an entirely electricly heated house at that. It's a single, wooden, 2 story house. And I think the insulatio needs re-doing because it's slightly cold in the winter, so I'm spending a lot to make up for lost heat.
Due to the stick built nature American homes do leak, but the big killer is the HVAC systems. Heat pumps are rare and most heat is deployed using old school electric heaters and unlike many EUnhomes we use Air Conditioning systems. Many homes here are open concept design too, so we really are managing heat/cooling for a small warehouse and not a home.
Plus we have a preference for tank water heaters that are usually electric, same with electric stoves/ovens.
Just looked at my utilities web page: 2022 = 603 kwh. I'm doing a renovation and that's going to reduce will consumption. Heating comes from district heating (CHP)
@@HermanWillems it all depends, as an example I can mention my case, not so big house in central Poland, heated / cooled using AC, all appliances are electric and water is also heated via tankless water heaters. Our usage from 28.03 to 26.05 was 1373kWh so 686kWh per month.
This high usage is mostly caused by tankless water heaters which is using 3x230V phases so it can consume up to 13kW every second, so long showers can get expensive :D.
In winter usage of electricity is a lot higher as heating with AC (and not separate heat pump) can get more expensive when its cold outside, especially when it gets colder than -10 celsius.
Pro tip: Since you already have a gas furnace, you can replace your existing air conditioner with a heat pump creating a hybrid system. This will let you use your heat pump for heat in the spring, fall, and most of the winter and only use the gas furnace on the coldest winter days. This can dramatically reduce your total heating costs, especially since many modern run-of-the-mill heat pumps can operate efficiently with outdoor temperatures down to ~30 degF (or lower) so you would rarely need to use your gas furnace for back-up heat. The more sophisticated systems, like geothermal heat pumps and high-pressure heat pumps with variable compressors, may never need the gas furnace at all.
Our A/C unit died in June of 2022. Since we had to buy a new unit anyway, I talked my wife into spending ~$2k more for a heat pump instead of a conventional A/C unit. Ordinarily the payback period for this type of upgrade would be ~5 years, but I've calculated our system should pay for itself in just over 2 years because of the crazy increases in natural gas prices recently.
I second this, I live in Norway and winters can be pretty cold. Since getting a heatpump it has reduced my electricity bill by a surprising amount, instead of just using normal heaters all throughout the house. Also supplementing a bit on extremely cold days with burning wood in the fireplace.
You said your AC died then you bought a heat pump. Does a heat pump provide cold air too?
@@barnyardian22 yes, afaik it basically just runs in reverse and provides cool air as well
@@barnyardian22 Yup. A heat pump is just an air conditioner that can also "run in reverse". Instead of being limited to just pumping heat out of a building, they can reverse the flow of their refrigerant to pump heat INTO a building.
The really cool thing is since they are collecting heat from the outside air instead of converting electrical power into heat (like resistance space heaters), they can deliver ~3 Watts of heat for every Watt of power consumed. So, a heat pump consuming 2kW of electricity will be collecting and moving ~6kW of heat energy from the outdoors into a home/structure. This it's one of the main reasons electric cars are starting to switch to heat pumps for their heating and air conditioning. They are much more efficient at heating in the winter time than conventional strip-heaters.
This is great information! Thank you
I use around 140kwh over the whole month in my home in the Uk and that’s with 2 of us working from home full time. I don’t have an EV but the thought of using 200 in one day is absolutely crazy
You should consider heatpumps to replace your heating and air conditioning. They are super efficient. (There are also hearpump powered dryers now)
Moving to the US from asia really let me peek at how houses here are super inefficient when it comes to climate control systems
As a Swede living in cold harsh conditions with a house made for cold climate. I have a heatpump from Nibe that are producing heated water, heat for the floorheating and it also power the ventilation and recycles the heat. I use around 30kwh per day in the winter. And 10 kwh per day in the summer. I can clearly say that heatpumps is great.
With a variable frequency drive heat pump there wouldn’t be spikes when the AC turns on and off.
Also GE just released an all in one washer/dryer machine that uses a heat pump and runs off 110 power. It’s gotten stellar reviews so far.
@@Missile_Crab for a long time gas and electricity were super cheap here so it didn't matter as much but the last couple of years efficiency has been becoming popular thankfully. Heat pumps are great they pay for themselves after a few years
Air Conditioners are heat pumps. You mean use it reverse cycle for heating?
I don't know if it is just me but this is one of the best MKBHD videos just visually, the lighting, background, everything is on point.
HELLO,
I DISAGREE. THIS VIDEO IS VERY LONG.
THANK YOU,
DEAN
@@GardenGuy1942
HELLO DEAN,
THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT. ITS GOOD TO KNOW.
THANK YOU,
IAN
@@GardenGuy1942Facebook…
HELLO,
I LIKE THIS VIDEO A LOT
DREW
@@GardenGuy1942
GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEW,
KIND REGARDS,
RAJ KISHORE.
One thing you could do, is to have a heat pump for the heating and air conditioning and hot water. They also have a washer/ dryer all in one unit. It washes the clothes and without removing the clothes, uses a heat pump to dry the clothes as well and is ventless. It uses the heat pump to remove the moisture in the dryer. You could then be free of the expense of the natural gas bill. Whether you use the gas or not, you still pay a connection fee to be connected and then you get charged for the gas you use too. Without any gas line at all, you automatically save on the connection fee. You could also have rotary turbines to capture the wind power as well, even at night. If it’s cloudy, it’s usually windy as well.
One thing I noticed about this video is how being dependent on the sun for energy has made you more aware. You’re aware of weather patterns in your geographical location and aware of how much energy your appliances pull. It’s pretty cool.
But somehow less aware of how irresponsible he increasingly becomes with energy after installing the system.
how is havving the weather on your mind 24/7 cool wtf lol
@@GreenLightFlight I don't know about the US, but where I come from, you get paid if you produce more energy than you use. That's an incentive NOT to waste energy.
@@DanBrown96 That will be gone in about 10 minutes when the power companies realize they are losing money. It's like the government incentivizing fuel efficiency, then realizing that they are losing money on gas tax, and so they double the property tax rate of fuel-efficient cars. Funny how it all comes out in the wash.
@@DanBrown96 it used to be like that in some areas of the US, i remember hearing a story of a guy who put up a windmill a couple decades ago and got credited for it. Idk though, besides the point. What I was referring to was the astonishing amount of energy this guy uses and his desire to use even more. To put into perspective, everything in my house is electric and my bill is $100us/month on level pay and 100~200 on gas. This guy claimed that after installing solar tiles, he's using upwards of $800~900 worth of electricity. So it's effectively encouraged him to be > 4x more irresponsible than I am, and I feel I'm living very comfortably with more than I need.
Hubby watched this tonight, he has been wanting to go off-grid since he built his first home in 1986, but CA building & planning in San Diego County thought he was crazy back then!!! Been doing research since then for our next (final) house to retire. He says this review is the best, most thorough, and concise that he has seen. Great job & very well done!!!
if your hubby does his home work he will go to the source of most things solar China. I have been researching and the cost is way lower than you can imagine. Always stay with Grade A panels consider micro inverters as they generally will last at least 2 times longer than string inverters. Remember Batteries still remain the most expensive part of a system. Consider a hybrid system with part using micro inverters and a smaller sized string hybrid inverter. Why? because a hybrid inverter will output grid frequency power and keep the micro inverters turned on
Awesome last name
@@stevepailet8258 China equipment is garbage.
Check out Chinas EVs that catch on fire all by themselves- the videos are all over the place. But you do you my brother 🙏 peace
Your husband willing to share information with like minded younger folk with the same goal?
very helpful
No annoying loud background music & pure tech knowledge at its best ❤️👌 explaining so well 👌😊
I am a certified HVAC technician and wanted to let you know that if you do go with the heat pump system for electric then most likely from the numbers that I saw you give you would probably not be at zero and might be positive a little bit. Especially because you're in the Northeast region the same as II would be more than happy to discuss this further if you would like just look up Mike's Air Treatment Inc. we're located in Virginia.
I had this system at my previous home and loved it. Like you, we captured so much data about the sun hours, kWh generation, usage, etc. Your video does a wonderful job explaining all this. We left California and purchased a farm and are going to a much larger system. 90 kWh batteries, 64 425W panels in a field and two inverters. Once you've gone solar....
I live in Kenya and even watch your electric car reviews and I can't help but feel like we live in 2 different centuries, I wish all this tech was available and affordable to us in 3rd world countries bc they are really awesome, anyway a step at a time, I'm an aspiring innovator and I'm hoping to bring this and much more home. Great video keep up🎉
This stuff is not remotely affordable in first world countries either 😂 so dont get it twisted brother, this is for the 1% of the 1%
@@zwicker5585 Nah dude, it is up there and obviously there are things like kids and other factors that come into play but this fits largely into the price of your home. With different credits and buyback programs and whatever else. It's certainly not something everyone can afford but we're talking the top 15%-25% depending on circumstances.
@@teamcoltra for a 90 thousand dollar roof? Most people are stretching it at 10.. in fact it’s something like 95% of Americans don’t even have 500$ in savings.
@@zwicker5585 what your missing here is Marques has a huge home and requires 29kW of solar to offset what he uses every year. He also went with the more expensive Tesla system (solar roof tiles, not solar panels) with batteries that costs more as well. I for instance, spent $10K to upgrade my electrical and put in 8kW of solar panels. No batteries. My ROI is less than 8 years on that and offsets almost all of my electricity, including my EV, like Marques here. His is so absurdly expensive because he lives in a whole other tax bracket...
So true!!
I really like how your Tesla roof solar tiles look. Very classy look, you can't really tell you have solar on your roof, just looks like a tile roof.
It’s cloudy all the time because they are spraying the sky via geo engineering.
The US spends 11 billion yearly to operate. You can find this info on the US govt website.
My family got a Tesla roof last year (install finished December 2022) along with the Power Walls, set up in Connecticut, and I can say for sure the chunks of snow sliding off the roof is wild the first time you notice it. We got it because we needed a new roof anyway just due to age and normal wear and tear, so the solar roof just made sense for us. One thing Marques didn't mention is that some power companies will pay *you* to take your roof's generating capacity during peak usage, so you can end up with the power company paying you some months. The power company will take our roof's power during peak hours (most notably during the summer when everyone gets home and kicks on AC) and we'll run off our battery walls in the meantime, and get a credit for it, along with all the net negative we sell back to them besides.
So they are paying a "premium" for using your electricity as you are generating it above and beyond just net negative credits?
thats sick
In Australia, they did a big push for solar, stating how well the feed in tariff is. Something around $.60 AUD per kWh.
Now that's between 0 and $0.10 per kWh, with those who got the premium rate only keeping that till 2024-2028.
Unfortunately it is not fesible for many to run solar, without a battery now, as the feed in tariff barely covers the daily supply fee and other rates. You blow through your "credit" at night and then some.
We also have cases where during install they fail to reconfigure your meter for a long long time. So if you spin your meter backwards, the power company ignores your reading and charges you an "estimate", and when you approach them about it they will also fine you
Gone are the days of people claiming $0 energy bills or credit, instead it's "solar saved me this much"
Oh and if you are unfortunate enough to live somewhere where the "grid cannot support your input" then they also limit how much you are allowed to feed in.
Some states stopped paying at all like California
He did mention this thou.
To someone in the Netherlands who's not using a lot of energy, these numbers are absolutely massive. We have a 3.5 kW solar system, which, at about 3-4 Mwh a year, covers about 150% of our energy. And that's while we heat and cool fusing AC (with a tiny bit of gas usage on really cold days).
Granted, our house is a bit smaller, but even then. Also, our payback period came out to be around 3 years, which is pretty hilarious, although without a battery unit.
Was about to say that. Crazy energy use for one house
I’ve never been to the Netherlands but I’ve noticed that many countries in Europe have appliances, electronics, stoves, water heaters, etc that only turn on when you need them and you have to flip a switch to use them. Whereas here in the US that really doesn’t exist. Probably due to cost of energy being way higher in Europe and it making more sense to add switches and stuff to reduce power usage. You know how he said his power usage never went below 400-500 watts? Your home probably can get much closer to zero. That along with other factors is probably the reason.
I noticed the same. If you're spending 6500kWh in a warmish month, there's something seriously wrong with your consumption behaviour. It also indicates that american houses are really badly built (and also that they're using old tech in critical places like heating, hot water, and HVAC). A modern scandinavian house, ca 150m2 living space, uses that amount in a year, and we got real winters over here.
@@FinnenPynjar yeah and he still uses a different heating technology. He wants to spend more energy lol. I also live on about 6mwh in Switzerland with a flat, but we have some servers for the business I run.
@@michi795 Yeah, natural gas is still a bad CO2 source. But in a sense his project is a good one, as it exemplifies how the climate & environmental issues should NOT be addressed. What he's actually done is he's used a lot of money and resources to get a system which allows him, only him, to KEEP consuming insane amounts of resources. Here from Europe we would say "typical americans"...
This just shows once again how important house insulation is. One only realizes afterward how much energy is consumed for cooling and heating. Thank you for this detailed video. Greetings from Vienna!
Not only insulation. Let's face it. Some Americans feel the need to run their AC at 60 degrees during the summer. That's fucking stupid. The ideal and suggested temp sits between 73-75. And with that, you can sustain good cooling with proper insulation. To give you an idea. I live in a 4,600 sq ft home, 3 floors, 2 units running 24/7 set at 75, and my bill is $350 a month. That's peak summer usage bill. Every other month of the year, keeping it at 77 in the winter will keep me at 170-180 a month. Be smart people.
Exactly! Efficiency is king -- if one doesn't waste it, then it doesn't need to be generated or transmitted or stored, and we can be satisfied with smaller cheaper solutions. I love Vienna, btw -- it's so much fun walking around all day, as long as I can stay away from the cars.
@@ShouriSeifuku That depends on the outsdie temp and humidity. I live in a 1200 sqft 2 bedroom apartment and keeping my place 73 during the summer runs me $80. Peak is around $100. Winter I keep it at 72 and costs me $120.
But that's with really high prices and I'm paying extra because I wanted to purchase blocks of green energy. So it actually doubles my bill.
I can afford a much bigger home but I chose smaller because it's more efficient and because I could keep it very warm or very cold without paying much.
servus
Housebuilder here no shit Thermo thresholds are very important not only is it important in cold climates but hot to
When you go off grid you lead to inefficiency since you have to design a system for the worst case - you need enough solar panels to power in the winter on a cloudy day- and a large enough battery system to get you through the following night. Also when your battery is full and you are not using all the incoming solar, the electricity is wasted. I am a "snowbird" and almost all of the energy would be wasted during 6 months of the year!
When you use a utility for the back up you only need enough solar panels for the average daily use and use save the money on a backup battery. The only problems are when the utility looses power and the monthly charge from the utility for the service.
Don't even get me started on a Tesla solar roof since it is probably overcapcity covering your whole roof including the roof side pointing away from the sun.
As someone who works in Solar, I loved this video, explaining the basics and some of the terminology. Well done Sir!
Sorry to ask, but as a non-sciency person... we live in SG and most are in apartments. We get a lot of hot afternoon sun. Do you think one day we would have buildings/things that absorb the massive heat (not necessarily solar light) from the sun and then turn that into something that we could store/use? 2 months ago my apartment generated 1000+kwh, and I feel guilty but have no alternatives. Its just too hot out here and we don't get much breeze due to building direction - so air condition and fan are difficult to avoid.
greetings to solar citizen
But a significantly flawed financial analysis of this investment. He assumes taxpayer subsidies reduced the project's costs. They did not, but rather just shifted a large portion of the project's costs to unwilling taxpayers. And he values a dollar in year 10 as equal to a dollar today, completely ignoring inflation. See my full comment and mini-analysis elsewhere. It's at least 18 to 24 years before savings exceed the original costs.
The lighting in the beginning of the video is so satisfying
Yes.
Hi
Very
bro had the ultimate chill café lighting
I did notice that haha
That A roll set design and lighting legit looks INSANE.
felt like AI generated, yes it's crazy
@@asht7788scary thought, it could have been ai gen an we’d never know
@@banme2784AI isn't quite at the point where it can do indistinguishable video
@@jbritaintalking about just the background
What's an A roll set?
I saw this video when it originally came out and I learned a lot. Viewing it again now, I'm very impressed by the quality of motion graphics.
I would definitely update your AC system to a heat pump. I am in Chicago, and I can use it for heating in the spring and fall when you reported having the biggest surpluses from your report. With an efficient setup you could use a heat pump most of the year and supplement it with your natural gas. Thank you for the report, it was explained so clearly by you that I think I actually understood most of it. Nice job!
found the technology connections viewer!! but seriously heat pumps are awesome
Yeah we were looking at getting ac and went with a heat pump for this very reason. We have gas and as those prices go up we can choose what to use. Also have a planned install with a larger panel. With net metering we aren't getting a battery backup to cut down on price and figure when we end up getting an EV it will support reverse charging.
And go with a heat pump dryer and water heater.
Also, you can use your house as a battery with a heat pump. Pump extra heat out of the house in the night when power is cheap (if you don’t have powerwall) and have a cool house during the day with less AC
Yeah that sounded weird they should be energy efficient, or he has some insane size heat pumps
I own a solar sales company, and have sold solar for 6 years. It’s really cool seeing someone experience it for the first time and seeing their experience.
R u guys cheaper than Tesla?
@@justluxtalks They probably actually will fulfill your order and NOT screw you over, so there is that. Don't base your thoughts on what Tesla offers because an extremely famous RUclipsr who is well known to speak highly of Musk and Tesla got this. Look instead at all of the reports of Tesla failing, hardware failing, not installing things properly, not getting proper approvals from the city, and paying exponentially more than what was quoted.
@@Artimidorus you should come to rural america, warranties itself is a joke, we bought a washer but the warranty is useless because there is n one who services out in our area 😅
@@justluxtalks They are, and they're also better than Tesla. Regular solar panels are a cheaper and better option for 99% of people and will be for quite some time.
You should tell how expensive Tesla solar roof is compare to the most popularizes ones.
It's been a long time that I've sat through an entire video without changing out doing something else while watching. MKBHD, great story teller. So simplified, great at attention grabbing, so entertaining and informative. If only everything is learned this way. Kudos to you.
agreed
Totally agree!
What I got from your video is that if you're on net 0 billing system, a battery backup system would not really work, but more solar panels would offset my electricity and bring me in the negative.
Thank you for sharing.
This is by far the most concise and simple solar video I have seen yet. Thank you so much for making something that I can send to non tech/solar people and have them understand it!
He forgot two major things
1. Your dépendant on the power company to pay u
That ended not well in Europe
Everybody got screwed. Companies dropped the price they paid.
2. EV is clean if u ignore the slave children who mine cobalt
Or the massif and ecological cost of mining
But we r destroying Africa so nobody cares
Especially not the guy from South Africa
So true,..... Very well balanced presentation
This is one of the best tech video you’ve ever made. It’s so informative and easy to understand. Not to mention how it’s inspiring for younger people who doesn’t have their home yet. It makes younger people dream more of a batter future.
yes pancakes
Yeah so inspiring for me to know that, if I had the means to purchase a home and outfit it with this, I would. Partially for economic reasons, but mainly for environmental reason.
The issue arises when you realize that those with the means aren't doing that and instead we're just going to keep burning natural resources and sacrificing the planet because it doesn't fit the incredibly short sighted monetary goals of our society.
One of the best RUclipsrs.
No gimmicks. No bragging about how expensive everything he has is.
Researched content.. always great thank you
Energy is expensive most people are paying more to electric companies to not actually own it. You can get approved for a solar loan which will have a fixed payment allowing you to not only pay less but pay to own the panels. And can increase the houses total value.
The power of the panels is subtle brag how large is that house. At least in Europe not many can even fit more than 10kWs.
@@chasejoshua3600 Not everyone wants to own panels and have to maintain them, not to mention the batteries on supporting equipment. Some people just want to pay a company to deliver reliable electricity.
In AZ, our electrical provider offered an energy efficiency audit. Solar panel installation was one of the last steps suggested. They highly recommended upgrading windows to 2/3 pane glass with PVC/fiberglass frames, increased or upgrade insulation. Plant more trees around the home to provide some degree of shade. I haven’t installed any solar panels, installing a high efficiency HVAC system like a high quality Mitsubishi or Daikin brand. but these suggestions certainly helped bring down my energy consumption.
My wife and I are about to close on a new house with solar (our first home with solar panels) This video really helps us learn more about it. Perfect timing, thanks Marques!
Congrats on your new house! Enjoy! 👌🏻
It’s so nice having watched him go from a little teen kid tech to an adult with cool tech.
Can't wait until he reviews Mars vehicles.
As others have said, it would be interesting to see how a heat pump setup would effect the winter energy use
it's usually a very small overlap between having lots of sun and needing heating
for our german setup at most 10% of the heatpump electricity would be coming from our setup
but for places with cooling needs In the summer you really get huge benefits
He said he already has net draw from the grid in the winter so a heat pump would add to that.
Cool add another $20k every 10 years... Real worth it lol
@@tellyboy17 ah yeah I also have to mention that we don't have net metering, with net metering you could just build a bigger setup if possible and cover your winter usage with your summer excess
but that's just playing the system, someone then has to produce or store energy elsewhere at the expense of everyone else
because your noon summer export electricity really isn't worth as much as your winter afternoon electricity
net metering is basically nice for the person that has it but in reality unfair for all the other parties
I would also like to see how it AFFECTS it
These kinds of videos really show what a great content creator Marques is, with real in-depth feedback on complex setups, but presented in a fun and accessible way.
Even the way how he spoke about the company that sponsored the video, was interesting;I didn't skip. In fact I was interested in the product
Yes, he's helped RUclips grow for sure. Really amazing stuff
Yeah I found the entire video really impressive, he makes it look easy but I am sure making a video of this scale is no small task Just awesome work by Marques
Why are two of the top comments almost the same exact comments 🧐
As an energy engineer familiar with these terms and concepts, I must say your explanations using animation are super spot on. It's impressive to guess what the next thing you'll say is, and then you match it with incredible animations.
Also, the reason why May gives the best output is because the efficiency of these panels drops beyond a certain temperature limit.
Thumbs up to you Marques.
Youre right, good and important point. Im a environmental engineer and learned that the inverters degrate their efficiency at about 40-50°C.
As an engineers engineer you are correct
Energy engineer?! Boy wtf u on about
@@anita.b "Energy engineering is the process of extracting and converting resources into energy. In new energy engineering, the development and improvement of green technologies reduce energy consumption & these engineers develop solutions for improving energy consumption and use.
Through research, design, documentation, and construction they implement green solutions, cutting down environmental impact and cost.
Careers in energy engineering include those in wind and solar energy."
TLDR; Energy engineer works in energy engineering industry, who would've thought.
I've heard some solar panels work better when it's colder - is that true?
I don't normally leave comments but this is by far one of the simplest and most informative videos I have ever seen. Marques is a great and clear speaker and love the fact he doesn't repeat himself so well done now Im off to check out more of his videos
It's also not how solar panels work either. You can't just power your house from the sun without a medium. if the power grid goes down and you have solar panels, your house has no power as well. If you had a medium like batteries then it would draw from the battery. It's designed like this so you don't have fluctuating power in case a cloud pops over your roof and ruins your appliances.
@@ak15567, That is actually incorrect. I can draw direct from my panels. Or not draw, the energy is there, yes batteries make the system more smooth and reliable and it is not wise to draw direct from panels, but it is possible. You just need some different equipment. I kind of want it anyway, because during peek sun, sometimes I trip my intake breaker.
Fluctuating power can cause two issues, brownouts or whiteouts. Brownouts tend to cause data loss, but are not usually harmful, whiteouts, can burn out equipment. We have a line conditioner which helps prevent both. In the fluctuation conditions and no battery though, really you can only clean off the peeks, effectively limiting the flow of power.
@@offroadr Are you talking physically capable or are you talking NECA codes? It is not per code to have your solar panel DIRECTLY power your appliance. There is no discussion, unless you rewrote the code in the last 5 months since I've checked.
@@ak15567, Physically capable, however, just because there is no battery doesn't mean there shouldn't be something in between.
@davidwang1807 I meant medium, even a year later. Feel free to use the dictionary.
I'm five years solar. With just a 6kw solar system and net metering. All gas appliances my electric bill averages about $12 per month. Excellent video, thank you.
As an energy policy analyst and power grid modeler, this video is sooo interesting. I’ve worked with datasets or statistics averaging these kind of metrics to analyze the benefits of those new federal tax credits you mentioned. But a story like this really brings such a great detailed zoom in on an experience. Love this video and will definitely take lessons from it into account in my work!
As a heat pump enthusiast, I'm over here wondering why Marques Brownlee doesn't have a Mitsubishi hyper heat?!
@@AnIdiotwithaSubarucuz its not from apple or tesla
@@AnIdiotwithaSubaru i was thinking about that too. Though he is already operating at a shortage in winter months, so the natural gas may be cheaper. I assumed he meant heat pump when he mentioned switching to electric heating
Stop wasting tax payer money.
@@r32juan tesla may do heat pumps in the future, Elon said it
You can fix the snow falling in front of the door with snow guards. They can be use to divert the snow to either side. They also are used to help break large sheets into strips so you don’t have huge masses of snow that could cause death by slamming down on someone.
As a solar consultant for 9 years in CA, this is an amazing video! Thank you for not being bias towards a certain company and clearly explaining how solar works with net metering. Love the way you broke it down. The tesla batteries are awesome with the app. Congrats on your bad ass system! Huge fan of yours!
That sounds promising, but I ran some numbers. Based on my current fuel consumption, $1800 would cover a year's worth of gas. If I divide the estimated cost of the roof and battery ($100,000) by the annual fuel savings, it would take me 55 years to break even. Considering my lifespan, that's not a feasible investment. In Europe, it would take a lifetime of driving a diesel engine to accumulate $100,000 in fuel costs.
It’s been a while since I have watched a whole longer form video. I was locked in the whole time. Dude this video was phenomenal, thank you for all the hard work you and your team put into this
Great straight forward video - only thing in my opinion missing from the ROI analysis is the actual roof replacement cost. Depending on the size of house, gables, pitched, etc a cash replacement cost could be anywhere from $15-30k. If you are in need of a roof replacement anyway, going with solar + power wall could shorten then ROI from 10 years to that lower end of 6 years assuming you were going to have to replace your roof anyway and wasn’t covered under insurance. Great content!
I tried this solar roof and I disagree. It barely powers anything.
also needed to mention that price of Tesla Solar Roof has greatly increased since he purchased his system
I was wondering about this. Supply chain issues, increase cost of cobalt, and then of course, the sources of cobalt we are now learning are slavery. So, you have to wonder if this is going to get worse before it gets better.@@DavidFriend-WV
Also, this is an investment - theoretically, it increases the value of his property.
@@sherwan8143 Depends, unlike solar panels this is a liability since your roofs integrity is risked
This is why Marques is the goat, finding the balance between being very detailed and informative but not too complicated for the average Joe!
No truer words for sure
Also, something to think about during the winter is that the sun stays MUCH lower in the sky on the south west side of a house. So even on sunny winter days, unless you have a steep angled roof, your roof will not get as much direct sun light, no matter what. So you are not only getting less time in general due to shorter days, but the “quality” of sunlight will be far lower in most cases
One thing you didn't mention: how's the maintenance of the roof? It's cool that maintenance during snow isn't a big deal but how often do you have to clean them to keep them in optimal condition? Perhaps an update on the maintenance (or the lack thereof) in the next vid about it.
The rain does most of the job.
As someone who has an air-to-water heat pump in their house, I could definitely recommend it. Especially in combination with great isolation. Although our winters and summer here are a lot more mild, it's able to keep the house at a consistent temperature year-round, with less than 1 degree Celsius of variation. And there is no noise, irritating airflows or dry air from the AC units inside.
I've had panels for about 5 years and you NAILED everything and explained it perfectly, great job! You answered some stuff I always wondered about snow since I don't get any.
Im a solar professional. You did oversize the system and pay too much but you gave a great explanation of how the billing and sunlight hours function
Dude your videos are so well-structured, so eloquent, always filmed so well. I have been watching your videos for years now and I’m sure I will for as long as you do it. You’re just amazing at it bro 😂
Exactly what i think about every single one of his videos I've seen. I've learnt loads about tech I'm not ever interested in as a result. 🤣
Processionals have standards 🙂
he is miles way better than that cringe MRWHOSTHEBOSS yt channel
Using 6500kwh in a single month is nuts to me. Having an EV and aircon really adds up. I live in Ireland - where no one has aircon - in an 80sqm house and use
Yeah it’s insane… Was looking at my electricity usage and we only spent on average 5 kwh a day in the summer and 8-10 in the winter. So it would take us 3-4 years to use 6500 kwh😂
I was thinking the same thing about 6500kwh being nuts. I just checked my usage and we used 600kwh per month each of the last two months. I’m in Canada and have a/c in a 350sqm house. Even with an EV, I can’t imagine how I’d make the bill 10x it’s current amount.
I posted above. I live in Portugal. Sun all year 🏄
The project for 10 years would cost extra 500.00/800.00 USD a month. No way I/we (family) would spend $500.00 in one month, never in cold (warm, really) winters.😊
As usual you have great videos. Super informative, clearly presented, no fluff, no puff of personality, articulate, concise so well produced. You are setting the standard, don't change a thing.
Well done Marques...A very well done video about your complete solar package (including roof tiles) from Tesla.
You’ve done a brilliant job explaining net metering, self sustainability, and other important concepts.
You should do a heat pump and use the gas as a backup, they call it a dual fuel system. You can even upgrade the furnace efficiency to 92%, but it only runs when the heat pump can't (generally below freezing) and gets the house toasty quicker than the electric coils of the typical emergency heat backup installed with a heat pump.
A heat pump works just fine until you reach -25 Celsius
@@jojobergberg8837i live in northern maine one of the coldest places in the contiguous united states and my heat pumps work almost without fail throughout the winter , only when it gets to around -20F does it not work but you have to get heat pumps designed for cold climates , im gonna add one or two more and then use those exclusively
You can totally get heat pumps designed for cold climates that work down to -20°C or colder.
If you are willing to spend the money for a dual fuel system, just get a Ground Source Heat Pump. Dual Fuel Systems are scams.
@@thursdaythought7201+1. Ground source pumps are the way for cold climate. 10k pricetag is nothing for a system tested in the Scandinavian cold. I mean, most of Scandinavia uses it. Must be worth it.
That 55 MWh yearly energy consumption is just insane since that doesn't even include heating! In the arctic circle in northern Europe, with winters where you have typically 1 meter (or ~3 feet) of snow and temperatures hitting below 0 °F during the winter for 2-3 months, a basic family home with electric heating uses around 25 MWh in a year for EVERYTHING!
My home tops 2 MWh per year for a family of 3 in Brazil.
Marques lives in a really big house. 2 AC units too.
tesla consumes a lot of energy 🤔 and no fuel cost.
I think the regulations for insulation and heat loss in America are much more lax than in Europe. In Europe we're slowly beginning to see 'zero energy houses': No heating needed all year round, even in the north. However, in northern Europe we're also beginning to see more demand for A/C, something that has become a necessity for more people as our summers get hotter.
We live in a House of Three with two ACs ... My PC is running 12 Hours a day, two TVs and so on ... i pay 125€ per Month, where a KWh costs 32 cents.
So 3 People in a medium house in Europe pay all together just 125€. Thats 1500€ per Year. Dude ...
i had to pause there for a second. 8 months ??!! I worked in installing the electrical box of solar systems, we did 10+ kw appliances in a week. I don't know how much more complicated replacing your roof sheets with solar modules is, but 8 months sounds like deliberate rescheduling to compensate for operational volume issues. Insane.
This has to be one of the best videos you’ve produced. It was seriously informative and educational, thank you. Also, we actually do get thunder-snow sometimes in Colorado, it’s a real thing.
Had thundersnow in Michigan last winter, it was freaky 'cause I'd never seen anything like that before. Kind of awe-inspiring though, looking out the window and the sky is lit up in purple, the color bouncing off white snowfall... Looked absolutely amazing.
• Renovate your home to passive house standards
• Add Energy Recovery Ventilation
• Replace HVAC (gas and A/C) with Air sourced heat pumps or Ground sourced heat pump with hot water
Your house will feel more comfortable and healthier while completely running off electricity.
Ensure your home will be solar and battery ready when you renovate (especially when you replace the rood). Also, by end of the 2020s you'll be able to run the house off the car battery supplementing the house batteries. Car runs low, run out to an area that has power to charge and then bring those electrons home for the house.
I’m surprised someone who invests so much into solar doesn’t do these things. Gas should be ditched and induction cooking/ heat pump heating and hot water is the way to go.
@@Pepper.123 Nah sorry but gas cooking is a must for me, cant stand electric stove tops
@@greg_one_izm skill issue
@@grimwaltzman touche
Just FYI, with an air or ground-water heat pump in a climate, where you get an actual winter - you will not be able to power the heat pump with off-grid solar power alone. The timing is just bad - you have the highest energy requirements from your heating in a time when the solar roof system provides the least amount of energy. There are long-term energy storage systems (ice power systems, home hydrogen storage systems), where you can save power in summer for winter, but those are also quite expensive. I also reckon you will not be able to charge an electric vehicle just with solar roof system power in a real winter.
Hey marques,
Just wanted to point out another thing regarding most amount of production in May, the efficiency of these solar panels also depends on temperature. If temp. Increases beyond a certain limit their efficiency goes down. So, if its like sunny days of june and july where the temperature is very high, the efficiency of these panels goes down a little bit. Thats why in May it is producing the max as the temp. is just about right.
As always great video.
Two more factors you need to calculate:
1. The degradation of panels - they will produce less energy in the future.
2. You got a new long lasting roof. What roof did you have before? What was its refurbishment period and cost? You have to deduct the price of a new roof from your calculations if you needed your roof refurbished anyways
I'm totally baffled by these numbers. My yearly usage is 2900 kilowatt hours with a 3 person family, in a connected home (but not an appartment). Those HVAC systems must be freaking monsters.
Marques' power use is indeed ridonculous but yours is also quite a bit lower than the US average of 10,000 kWh/year.
Good job, sounds prety low to me compared to my former situation in a moderate European climate. Out pre-solar, gas fueled household used slightly more for 2 persons.
Now we have a roof full with panels, heathpump but no battery or EV. Our production is just over 6000 kWh a year and roughly net-zero.
The numbers are high and personaly I think we have some serious chalenges if every home is going full electric even without that monster AC and EV.
His Power consumtion per month is higher than the average german household‘s per year.
@@MrMagicFreedomthat’s without heating 🤯
charging an electric car at home might make the difference
You've explained the whole process in this 30min video so well I can't express enough how satisfying watching the video and feeling like it's literally just about 10min.
I could watch this video without tiring if it was extended to 1hr with even more details.
You are very good at this explainer videos man!
More of them please 🥺
Mkbhd is truly the greatest tech reviewer ever 🙌 👏. We really need more Videos like this.
Yeah he is so good he should do this for a living
Damn, I was sure that the video lasted 10 min.
Love how this was explained in layman's term with even a visual for us to understand. Also love how you explained what happens during the seasons and the total cost of the installation. I followed this channel because of phone reviews but this is definitely my favorite video of yours thus far. Thank you for an amazing content!
I'm a first time viewer and wanted to thank you for sharing this video with us all. I found you to be incredibly detailed and concise, insightful and thorough, and very articulate and entertaining. I'm fascinated by Elon Musk and the paths that he's paving for us all and he truly is revolutionizing so many industries that are making us more productive, efficient, and conservationist in how we go about it.
Thanks once again - New subscriber.
Fun fact as to why your solar roof performs better in the spring: Just like batteries, solar panels also have a preferred temperature they operate at. The efficiency of solar panels is highest at 25 degrees Celsius (77F). When the Sun shines on the panels they might warm up beyond the ambient temperature, and in the summer this means that the performance and thus the yield is reduced. Whereas in spring the more moderate temperatures and sunny days mean that your panels at working at peak efficiency!
Wrong!!! the deeper the temperature the more efficient are the panels ! a cold morning in spring may even bring higher output than the named maximum !
and this is why combining solar panel and solar water heater in a single unit is highly promising
Springtime is the best time for my solar system because little to no HVAC use and the days getting longer.
@@barborasadilkova100sooo hosing off your roof a cpl times a day increases output.. enough to outweigh the water bill used?? 🫣🤯😂
@@dr.dolphi8915 no kidding , after short rain showers in summer your panels have the highest output ! i have 7.4 kw peak on my south roof , once after a short summer rain i messured 8.1 kw !!! but 10 minutes later the panels got hot again and the output was about 6.9. so i think, it makes no sense ,cooling it by hosing. by the way, if you use hard water, it will leave stains on your panels--- quite contraproductive ! greetings from freiburg, germany
27:00 the $5.75 isn’t just to have an account. It’s your fee to be connected to the grid so you get to use it (through net metering) as a huge battery backup by proxy! Not bad for effectively having a backup that’s gigawatt-hours in size!
Yeah but they dont give you money for the kwh you dont use at the end of year a big scam
Yeah a backup until the grid goes down …. Then your screwed
@@adofoi30 The grid is up over 99.9% of the time. Residential solar cannot come close to that kind of reliability, so the hookup is worth it.
If you want 100% reliability, you'll need a standby generator in addition to the battery.
Yeah, it's all in how you look at it. Also, at least here, people have to come read the meter. That might actually be a separate charge though 🤔
@@unifycryptocurrency2556 - if your state doesn't pay you annually for the excess produced, you need to vote for a better state government!
Solar is awesome! With my brother we were able to build $4000 off-grid system with a 4kW peak power output and 10kWh battery storage for our parents house.
Their electricity bill was around $1500 a year, which is now reduced by $1000 from solar, so the payback period is around 4 years.
They live in Europe where the electricity costs are pretty high, so though they were hesitant at first, now they're pretty happy being more independent from the power company.
I really like how affordable the solar tech has become, especially if you are willing to build it yourself. It was a great learning experience too.
Decided on Tesla Solar partly because of Marques. By the time we got to final design, I was convinced I was dealing with brainless monkeys working out of 20 different offices. Such a mess of an uncoordinated experience. So glad we made it out as early as we did. Also Elon can launch himself into space and never come back please.
Well covered. I have 1 powerwall + 14.8 kw of panels here in South Australia. My situation gets even more interesting because my electricity price is dynamically determined based on the real-time market price (I use an energy retailer called Amber Electric). Another factor to consider is the orientation of panels, for example, west-facing can sometimes be more optimal since it provides energy later into the evening, when prices are higher due to peak usage.
I'm hoping to install another 7kw of panels on my garage and add another powerwall.
What's your service charge per day? Mine is going to $1.52 a day in Victoria.
Shouldn't be the oriantation of solar panel be North south or vice versa so you can take advantage of panels throughout the day as sun goes east to west?
Is there co relation between angle at which sun ray hit the panel to amount of electricity they generate?
@@someordinarystan2692 North / South will maximise the total kWh, however if you don't have enough battery storage then you'll still need to buy some power from the grid. Many grids are switching to spot pricing, where the evening price can often be $1+ / kWh in the evenings when people plug in their cars and turn on their HVAC after work, but virtually free in the mornings. Thus, it makes sense to optimise for evening kW over morning kW, even if it's less kWH overall.
@@dang3304 ahh.. today I learnt. Thank you.