Addendum to #1: Don't assume your power company will credit you back on a 1 to 1 ratio. Check first before deciding what is most cost effective for you in your area. Some electric companies will take your 1KWH that you produce during the day, and only give you a third or a quarter of it back at night.
@@keithhobbs1 Better if we all go off grid, then they’ll beg for access to rooftop power. Or if groups of people band together say on each block. They can negotiate better prices collectively. Or, governments can wake up and smell the coffee, and regulate for equal price each way, just with time-dependant tariffs. So we put power into the grid at peak times, and try to use most of our car charging, washing etc at off-peak times.
I pay an average of 4.1 cents per KWH and I get .8 cents per KWH. But to be honest, I used to pay 13.1 cents per KWH so it's still a plus. Last months I sold back about 230 KWH more than I bought, but with the Air conditioning starting up now, that'll change in the next few months.
#1) Because in some areas you are only credited a fraction of you sell vs what you buy. It's also insurance against the grid being down. For those in unreliable power areas like CA and like to keep the cold stuff in the fridge cold, a battery system is worth it.
Exactly. The whole point at first for me was to have a backup for when the grit goes down and not have to worry about storing huge amounts of gas for the generators. So grit-tied does no good for that.
@@rjvanloon4769 I guess it depends on how much it stores doesn't it? The battery power may only last one night, right? What if like in TX the power outage was for a week or more and in winter no less?
Yep, and if you're in a rural area, where you might be a very low priority line repair, you'll want a secondary power system, be it batteries, or a generator. No matter what, you'll need some form of BMS if you use batteries, and it may actually be worth staying away from the "used Tesla Cells". Some have an AMAZING luck, but I've heard of people buying a battery system, tying it in, and finding in 6 months that half the cells can't hold a charge at all... I'll have a grid tie system, but I'll also have a battery solution. Still in my very early planing stages, especially considering I'm not sure if we're building on our property or somewhere else. I want the property, SWMBO want's local. :(
@@WreckDiver99 It always made me wonder, if you have a pack with say 100 cells and 10 have "worn out", wouldn't it stand to reason the remaing 90 are probably very close to being worn out also? we went with a 6.6kw on-grid no battery system. Our electricity cost first month (November) went from $110 in 2020 to $42 in 2021. We sell back more than we use.
I realize this is an older video, but to respond to one statement... "Why pay for batteries when the utility grid will take care of storage for you?" 1. My utility company only gives me a 30% return on the power I give them 2. Power availability when the grid goes down
She did say you won't be able to use the battery when the grid goes down as its unsafe for technicians repairing the grid to have micro producers sending electricity back down the line.
@@jenallen5202 if you get the hybrid inverter without back feed and use a generator interlock circuit breaker you power up your system and the inverter doesn't know the difference
Grid tied systems have the disadvantage of having no power during a power outage. Having a hybrid system is another option which has been much more affordable since this video was released. Rack mounted Lithium Iron Phosphate battery systems that store about 5000 Watt Hours (KWH) cost about $1750 which have built-in battery management systems, cell heaters, etc. With that kind of power 30 KWH costs less than $11K plus tax, shipping, and installation cost (unless it is a DYI install). A grid cutoff switch is necessary to tie the solar battery system to the grid once power returns. It is worth noting that Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries (with respect to Lithium Ion batteries) are much more durable and have a much longer lifespan (at least 10 years) and can last a lot longer. Because of their weight increased weight, these batteries are ideal for stationary use and are much less suitable for non-stationary use. As the name implies, manufacturers market server type racks that include bus bars for vertical mounting for multiple battery systems. Following a nature or man-made disaster (excluding an EMP attack or a mass solar ejection which would fry nearly all electronics to the grid), a hybrid system would supply endless electrify to a home unlike a Generac generator which requires it to be supplied with fuel and when that fuel runs out. By the way, the total cost can be around $12,000 to $15,000 to buy and install a whole-house which is somewhat less than the cost of a battery backup system.
Thanks guys! This is the #1 video that I send to all of my clients, I am a solar installation tech. and this answers so many questions right from the start! You guys have been along with me through several complete systems, and I'm looking forward to many more, Lordwilling and here in west TN we have A LOT of creeks that rise.. 😏
Batteries are not expensive anymore. There are UL listed rack mount LFP 5.12kwh units now less than $2k. And even just having 10kwh to pull from in the evening when energy is most expensive in most areas is a no brainer. And the cost is dropping by roughly 18% a year and has been for the last decade. Much like solar. Which retail by the pallet is 45-55 cents a watt now. Compared to $175 in 1978.
We have used the ruclips.net/user/postUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y for probably 30 hours with our camper and it’s been great! The noise level is really only noticeable when running the AC and other appliances like the microwave, hair dryer, or coffee pot. It’s not huge like other ones and it has wheels so even at 90lbs, I can move it!
This is the company I bought my whole 7.2 kw system. They designed my whole system and to get me to buy they did my building permit for free.. The building permit passed our county building dept on the first try.. I paid for the system in 3 years 7 months.. I installed all 24 panels plus microinverters in 28 hours the whole thing myself..I was 66 years old them.. Part 2 of my system will start when the quantum glass battery comes out of research.. This battery will put lithium out of business.. They are cheaper, last longer and no I’ll effects to make them to the environment.. one more thing this company is employee owned and sell American made products for 30-35% less.. They are skilled engineers and love home owners.. This company is the best way to go..
Only go off-grid if you have a generator. If you don't and your inverters go bad, what do you do? Generator is good, but you need to do a stress test once a month.
Some solar companies have done a lot of harm to the industry by lying to customers and selling their shit very expensive. I sell solar panels for a living and it's become very difficult. A lot of people have become very distrustful and I don't blame them. If you are interested in solar panels please let me know. We have customers in west Texas who ended up with credits for 2020 between $300 all the way to $926. I know it's hard to believe but it's no lie.
Here in the UK, new installs get very little credit for power fed back to the grid, approx one sixth of what you pay for import, so a battery is a very efficient idea.Also we can import power during restricted overnight hours at approx one quarter of the day rate, and can charge the battery at cheap night rate, and use it during expensive day rate. At todays rates and looking to the future, a battery is a really good idea, possibly good just to install without solar and enjoy the cheap night rate.
with a centralized invertor...the entire panel array only produces at the rate of the panel with the lowest out put...so if one panel is in shade due to sun, or dirt, or debris, or any reason, then WHOLE system is truncated. Also...DC loses power over distance, so the invertor has to be near the solar panels... with sunpower and each panel with an invertor...you can put the panels anywhere you want, and if one panel gets shaded due to cloud cover, then only that panel has reduced output.
An elderly couple hired a company and sold energy back to FPL. When a hurricane came they had trouble finding people to bring down the panels and from time to time they have trouble reaching technical support. Also consider that solar panels do fail and cause fires , on your roof! I suggest you learn and do your own installs. I have several (Frankenstein) solar generators and they have been working fine for years. This presentation is a sells job. Beautiful lady though.
My brother did Grid tie solar, over 10 kilowatts, and when the power went down in Texas in the coldest winter time he had NO ELECTRICITY!! He had no batteries, no storage and no means of using kilowatts of to light or heat the house. Solar panels can be added on later if your inverter and charger can handle the extra power so going large on the hardware is a good idea. The same is true of batteries, they only store the charge they don't force too much current on your system when wired in parallel, unlike wiring in series where the voltage goes up and can adversely effect everything.. Also to consider is having a separate system for certain applications like AC cooling or charging a car, kept wired separately from your breaker box set up. Lastly some inverters can be combined or stacked with others to increase their output.
Deland Florida’s Duke Energy for the most part is pretty reliable. But in the last three months we’ve had about six power outages some last up three three or four hours. So a back up battery installed in our garage would be ideal since we can’t trust or depend on the electric grid of the electric company.
This video is clearly made for people who are just beginning research, so I believe “101” or something like that should be included in the title. Also; at no point did she ever discuss that a lot of people choose to go off-grid because the U.S. grid is not a pure sine wave; and therefore, damages all of your electronic devices more than even a cheap $50 pure sine wave inverter from Amazon would. So a lot of people do NOT want to be tied to the subpar grid (in the world’s richest nation).
Within the first minute and fifteen seconds of your video you managed to omit a really important consideration: utilitiy companies for grid-tie sell-back require a VERY long term contract, like twenty years. There lots of rules and regulations that make dealing with the situation not worth the hassles for many people if not most.
The money I save by going off grid and storing in batteries for use is much more money after factoring replacing batteries after 10 to 15 years. So yes off grid is a go for me. Plus the perks of building a portable system. All the cons she stated can be solved by other components but only a quack would make those kinds of mistakes when designing a system in the first place.
I just want to thank you for this video. It does such an amazing job of giving you the right tools and mindset of going about a solar project. I wish I had watched this video first before anything else! My one ask would be to have an updated version which includes a bit more details about micro invertor vs power optimizers as well as an updated outlook on future trends you are seeing in regards to NEM as well as the role of EVs in a solar system.
As far as consulting with an experienced solar technician first; we tried that. In our experience it was like dealing with a salesman. The phone calls were almost relentless until I had to put my foot down. "Consult" should never equal feeling like you're being pressured, pushed or harassed. Personally, I don't like salespeople in general for those reasons. Salespeople tend to forget whose money is being spent when it's all said and done.~APRIL LIPKE
It sound like the company you were dealing with, was not supportive and patient with you. That should not reflect on those companies in good standing for customer service.
Read all the agreements including the fine print. Some deals will allow for a lean against your home so you can't sell the house until that's paid off.
Overall decent video. with a few notes... You cannot "Store Energy in the grid", that is about the worst way you could explain "Supplementing grid power". The 5-6 years return on investment is not realistic. Most system are 7-8 years. including mine which is now 8 years old and just balanced out in the start of year 8.
We have our system over a year now and the payback time was estimated at 6 years. With the current rise in energy costs in Europe the payback time is reduced to 4 years! Our energy provider allows a 1 to 1 deduction (our cunsumption is negative) and the buy back rate of the surplus is only 40% but it is absolutely a good investment. We over invested in 50% more pannels against the advice of the bare minimum (the additional cost were only 15%) to be ready for the heathpump wich was installed recemtly.
You pay for what you get for. Saying that if your paying a lot more for a company to install them is because your getting top notch customer service and excellent warranties separate from the manufacturers. So your covered back to back. Yes it will be a lot cheaper installing them your self but are you willing to take the problems that come with it? That’s like saying you can build your own house and it would be a lot cheaper than buying one already made but there is a a lot of factors that go in to it.
Thousands of people here in Maine have filed law suits against the power company for over charging ! They over charged me , My energy bill went from $100 a month to $300 over night ! I do not use much power , as I said I have solar panels and generate all my own power now .
Grid tied isn't necessarily cheaper, it depends on where you live (regional or country). For example it is great if the regulation allows you to get the same amount of electricity back for free as you put in, however in that case you are using the grid as a battery, which makes it actually more difficult for grid operators to manage the system. This is why such schemes are slowly dissapearing everywhere and you will still have to pay something for using electricity your panels provided to the grid. For example if the grid operators only pay you the generation costs (ie. don't charge generation costs on equivalent amount of electricity your panels put on the grid), this might only reduce that part of your bill by around 25-35%, instead of 100%, since things like grid costs, distribution and taxes might still be incurred. If this is the case an off-grid/far hybrid system might be more interesting on the long term even pricewise.
My electric bill is 1/3 cost of electricity, 2/3 cost for “delivery charges.” Even if I 100% covered my electricity needs with solar, I would still have a small bill to remain on the grid
You're right, except for one little thing. Local electricity generation does not burden the distribution network. Distributors like to promote virtual batteries because it brings them carefree profits. I'll explain. Each village has its own transformer and believe that no energy produced from the panels will get out through this transformer (it can get if there is no consumption). For example, there are 50 houses in that village, of which 5 houses have an On Grid (battery-free system). The distributor will calculate the purchase price of energy in kWh, which is only a small fraction. This calculation is based on those 45 houses that consume your panel energy at a lousy purchase price, but the distributor sells it to 45 houses at full price. In addition, you pay for electricity meter rental, power distribution and virtual battery. The distributor in the locality collects more money than in the normal state without panels. The distributor keeps this condition with a good tariff, which will offer you and you will save a little money, which is not a significant saving. If the panels buy another 20 houses (50-5-20 = 25), 25 houses are no longer financially interesting for the distributor and they come up with a fairy tale that it would overload the network and not connect these houses to the distribution network. However, network congestion exists, but from large solar power plants in front of the village transformer. This is true of so-called network congestion. But otherwise I agree with the others. It is better to stay in the network and get a large UPS with batteries (hybrid) for the panels. Batteries can be lead traction, which are cheap and safe. Their capacity is not high, but they have a greater depth of discharge than car batteries. If the power supply is interrupted or you switch off the distributor circuit breaker yourself, the solar UPS switches to battery operation. Every kWh that does not have to be paid to the distributor is a saving.
@@DL-kc8fc The problem with your local argument is that this only applies if a few have solar panels, if most houses in that local area have solar panels, they'll all produce power at the same moment and likely will have to offload this to outside the local zone (ie. industry). Local grids with lots of solar are only less difficult to operate if you have some battery back up to store some of the charge.
@@MDP1702 But I write about it all the time. I'm not talking about an open distribution network vs. industry, etc., but about the network behind the transformer in a small locality, such as a village. If the location behind the transformer is saturated with photovoltaics, it is not financially advantageous for the distributor and he does not want to connect most houses with new photovoltaics "on grid". Therefore, I write clearly and unequivocally that in that case it is good to install a hybrid (photovoltaics with batteries, ie a backup method of UPS). The distributor himself will offer this solution because he will keep your dependency. The island system is really for the minority community, which will never endanger the distributor. The distributor regulates the "on grid" by offering you an unfavorable purchase price of your energy. If the distributor registers energy production in the local network, he will fine you for illegal electricity production. Why? Because the main main electricity meter at the transformer brakes and the distributor loses the profit in the locality. Yes, it can happen that at the time of minimal energy consumption, the sun shines very well and energy is overproduced. The local network does not take anything from the main network and therefore the power engineers talk about network congestion. It's such a technical terminus. The actual network congestion tends to apply to consumption for which the network was not designed, but the power engineers have come up with a fairy tale that suits them. In fact, consumption is not implemented and this creates "surpluses" in the main network, into which the constant power from hard sources "flows". This power must then be "burned" somewhere, because it cannot be regulated throughout the state. In order to avoid disproportions and damage to transformer stations, energy will be provided to another country, even free of charge. Likewise, farmers prefer to destroy their overproductive crops so that they do not have to compromise on the stock exchange. Never believe that a distributor wants to lose market dominance. Paradoxically, ordinary people's photovoltaics help him increase profits.
I pick up panels cheap when I see them go up on local sales sites , I have enough parts now to run 3 seperate setups witch works out fine for what I'm doing with them .
I just bought into the power home solar system. I wanted a battery backup instead of a generator. Installation was fast and good. The installers were great. The concierge never contacted me till I sent emails to them. That is not near as bad as the next thing. I am new to solar but I was told I would get a 26 percent $14,000.00 (something) dollar energy tax credit to pay down my system and lower my monthly payments. Well that's not true in Indiana if your retired. Your social security is not taxable. You need to have earned more than the energy tax credit to get that amount returned. Which I didn't. To get the energy tax credit. I contacted my sales man. he acted kinda surprised. The system works like it is advertised So If your retired with no taxable income don't fall for this. Unless you are young and have a large income.
Rule number One for tax-deduction: You need to pay tax in the first place. Just out of curiosity: How much lower is your electricity bill with the system in place?
"because the grid fails" It wasn't so much the grid failing rather the green energy production. Windmil generators froze in place and solar panels got covered in snow.
@My Tale coal is a major contributor to the grid. Alot of the oil is already in tanks. My point is conventional energy played a lot bigger role in this than green did. Nothing beats Nuclear though.
@My Tale I think some of these guys brain cells are freezing... there having a little difficulty understanding the dynamics of the multiple energy sources and which one struggles the most during Texas 2021
Things not mentioned: 1. What if I want to overbuild (since my state has Net-metering)? 2. Instead of having a battery backup, why not have a generator for power outages? My house has pipeline gas and I was thinking that this would be an interesting alternative. Considering I might lose power once or twice a year, this makes better sense than batteries. 3. What about using a control system that sees that grid power is out (shutting it off) so that the solar panels are still providing for my house? I was specifically looking at the Sol-Ark 12K, but if anyone knows of others, I am all ears.
Deliberately making excess energy is rarely a good financial plan. Some utilities delete your excess each year. The switch over you described is expensive. Called a transfer switch. A small one for a sub panel can be manageable but it will be manual.
@@artsmith103 The refund we receive are paying for our complete sytem in only 6 years with the electricity being free. The money saved is actualy making the payback 3 years! Of course it deprends on your providers contract, our is giving a decent rate for the annual surplus.
1:12 "So why pay for batteries when the utility grid will take care of storage for you?" You should have answered that question. 1. medical equipment 2. storm outages 3. net metering 4. minimize grid dependency. Which you answer at 3:44.
because the power company will charge primium rates for what you give them and give you a %5 discount on what you use . So you make $100 a month in power that they use.....then you use $105 a month you think your bill is $5 a month right? your bill....$103 a month!
@@crazypjk My montly bill went down to €5,- and the annual refund is ~€800. System will pay for itself in less than 6 years, not to mention the free electricity. This will change since we recently got a heatpump installed. The reason NOT to invest in a battery system is that I need 20 Tesla walls to cover the period November-January.
"Why pay for batteries when you don't need them?" To answer your question, how about when the grid goes down. I'll bet there's a lot of people in Texas saying why didn't I get a system with batteries when I had the chance.
@Dan Quayles ITS SPELT POTATOE! batteries are most definitely an insane expense, it would take extreme measures before the person with full battery backup would look wiser than the person with a Honda EU7000. I think that a lot of people with full battery banks are preppers though and they consider it an expensive vice.
Here in northern Canada in winter you get maybe 5 hours of day light and NEVER high enough in the sky to do any good. Over charging should not be a problem if you have a charge controller.
Because the “grid” is not invested in by the people that maintain it lines are not maintained. Trees fall and that can cause your power to go out and you have no storage then your screwed. Instead of having a generator hand a off grid switch on the house and cycle you batteries ever so often to keep them maintained but have something for emergencies.
Using super capacitors or ultra capacitors can help assist your batteries with your energy storage needs. Super capacitors and ultra capacitors are most efficient when paired with batteries, but they don't suffer from the same degradation issues that batteries do.
Wow, I went looking for some OLDER videos about off-grid solar systems to share with a friend and THIS came up. I went "greener" a decade ago and it pains me to have to sift through the plethora of companies like this capitalizing on this. Solar rocks. We know it. But come on! A bit of research for the person that "wants" to go this route should be easier than sifting through youtube algorithms of searches resulting in THIS. My gawd!
Very nice and interested presentation, but have several mistakes in explanation: 1) Solar system are ON-GRID, OFF-Grid and HYBRID. If On-Grid give you option "to save the planet" producing green energy, this not give you option to have energy when the electric network is dead. In this case you use Hybrid System what give independence when electric network is falling down. 2) Electric panel give you an average of electricity- the panel production curve is very close to Gauss's bell. That is, at sunrise produce less, increase until noon and in the evening we go down again to zero - as long as the panels are fixed on the roof of the house. In this point to have maximum production of energy is mandatory to have a trace/systrem what follow the sun from morning to the twilight, this mean the the sun's rays fall perpendicularly on the panels. In this moment we can consider the maximum efficiency of the panels. 3) If we are on the parallel 45 degrees latitude north - to have maximum efficiency it is mandatory to have 22 degrees on the summer and 67 degrees in the winter angle for the panel. This mean the system must to move in horizontal plan and in same time in vertical plan. Otherwise we are speak about maximum efficiency for one fix system on 45 degrees what give to you 40-60% from maximum capacity of the daily light. 4) To choose a system, we must make a correct estimation/calculation of what we are consume, but also what will be the period of time when the network is dead. As recently there are hours when the current is limited from the provider from the input count-system , we can make the system shut down the electrical network and to consume from the battery reserve or what the electrical panels produce. Most big problem in this time is not consumption on the night , when price for energy is less. Most of the problems are on the day when all the big consumers are in full-mode. 5) Many people install panels and say that they reduce the utility bill. But let's calculate how much the electricity costs, how much the panels cost and we'll see that in fact what we spend today as invest we have a chance to recover in 15 years. In fact, this is the lifetime of the electric system - inverter, charger, panels and batteries. The batteries, if kept in optimal conditions, if they are charged according to the charging plan maximum 10% of their hourly capacity and discharged in the same way, then they can reach a lifetime of 8-12 years. Not compared to the situation of car batteries, which are stay on cold in the winter, in maximum heat in the summer, and in addition bear all the shocks that the car suffers - these are factors that reduce the life of the battery to no more of 6 years. 6) Correct connection of the network, correct grounding of the panels, correct connection and isolation with fuses and SPD of the inverter and system can solve the problems that occur when electrical discharges are present on the network. All this is done after a thorough study and correct information. In the end , electric system OFF-GRID HYBRID give you opportunity to have relative independence in terms of energy consumption, but you will not recover your investment in a very short time. It is good like a back-up when the condition of the network are bad. 7) Frankenstein system is a story for children. When you start to check system you request to vendor to give you X panels, Y inverter , Z battery but in same time you request to him the system to be balanced and to give WARRANTY. Vendor is not stupid to give you a Frankenstein system and after this to give to you warranty. Sure he will try to convince you to use elements what he have in storage. For this reason it is mandatory to read, to inform you and to collect information's from different directions/suppliers. Rest of clip is nice and interested. Good luck!
In Brazil we have the same system of feed-in tariffs. They usually pay around 90% back when you feed grid and get the kWh back in the night. It's a shame they don't even do 1-to-1 credit as the solar energy makes a better place for our living. Very nice video, congrats.
the most important is that energy is free. more people are spending more on solar and not recouping in the long run, since around 10 years or less everything but the panels needs to be replaced and the cost of that is really expensive. notice that there are no videos of people with systems over 10 years, that is why. it is a scam now, they over charge or make it seem like you will save money when it ends up costing more.
About the efficiency being reduced by heat could be fixed by add on peltier cell that use heat to convert to electricity that way the more heat the more power generate and not less
why pay for batteries? if the power goes out, you have no storage for your electricity. Also in a disaster situation electricity could be of for x number of months.
Wrong on 2 points. 1. In grid tie system you need batteries or generator if you want electricity when grid goes down. 2 in grid tie system, you design the system for average usage. For off grid, you design for peak usage, since you won't have grid to handle peak periods.
I agree that the most cost effective solution is a solar panel only installation- until you factor in the value of backup power when the grid is down, or time based rate systems that are becoming more prevalent. Running off of batteries during peak rate times does sweeten the case for batteries. Also, for most solar only installations, if the grid goes down during the day, your solar system shuts down, too.
Boy is this dated. "Turnkey systems are more expensive." I got 5 bids from local area installers. The cheapest one offered one Powerwall 2 battery and was $5k more than Tesla. Tesla offered 3 Powerwall 2 batteries. Also, no one really came out to spec anything these days, except Tesla, when I raised some issues. Everything is designed by sat photos. One benefit of going with a turnkey solution- you'll know they'll work (or at least you assume they'll work)- no incompatible parts, experience, etc.
"Do it yourself" and save money! Sorry, for most people, this is highly problematic. Agreed, it's simple for someone who knows what they're doing, but there's a lot of things that could go wrong. Plus, there is real value in having the vendor deal with building permits (we had two HoA's to go through, before even submitting something to the town), utility contracts, incentive program enrollments- these can be very complicated. We've had like 18 documents that we needed to review and sign- and quite a few were written in utility-ese: not for home consumers. While many states have introduced great incentive programs, utilities are not used to dealing with homeowners who are applying to be electricity suppliers. The utility company legal documentation treats homeowners like they are power plant owners. Last, I will say turnkey system providers can also be poor at providing customer updates and service. In our case, the physical installation of our project took 2.5 days, but it's been a year since we've signed the contract, and we're still waiting for the utility company to grant us permission to operate. Most of the delays in this project were with the system installer. But I suspect that's the current norm these days.
Remark with the first point, you say if grid company allows. Mine will allow to deliver power to, but I pay more when taking, this goes upon the next 10 years upto that I pay full rate when taking. Battery is then worth considering right
I am confused a bit: Mistake nr. 3. Suggestion "back up battery system" against power outages. Question: what will be the cost difference between "off-grid" battery system and "grid-tie" back up battery system?
Quite a comprehensive video I came across while my work on setting up a grid tie system had begun. I thought every aspect worthy of being considered was well covered in this presentation. I was quite surprised to see the image of a Sukam inverter at 9.10 of this video. Sukam was a very good indian company that for reasons unknown went bankrupt. I still have a few 100w panels if their I bought for a smaller project 4 years ago.
Of course there is the worst case scenario which will no doubt occur in some places at some times - which is the fact that if you're tied 2 the grid & the whole shootin match goes down (even if just in your region) - one would be screwed without batteries. You'ld be in the same boat as eveery bodody else - wether u have panels or not!
This is a great video, but I have a unique problem. One four-bedroom house, and eight small buildings that have no electricity so far, and two electric companies who say no electricity for all the buildings, too heavy a load. For one 10x40 building, new pole and line that cost 5k to put in, but none for the other buildings, cottages we want to rent out someday. Solar is the only way to go, off the grid. add to this on disability, and can't afford the cheapest system, much less the long-term plan for renting out the cottages. Planning to take class in solar to learn how to make them and install. There is no other choice.
You don't need an off-grid system, what if it goes down and you need to do some repairs? Then you'll have no power. Or maybe have one room on the grid and the rest of the house off-grid.
@@mthompson965 grid tied systems without capacity means if the grid is down you are too. Thats why you see so many with natural gas generators. Why pay so much to still be tied. Its like renting and still paying a house payment
#1.Image the times when there will be no power at all, and these times are coming. It's best to be independent and off grid completely. Edit: she talks about it in #3
In Perth Western Australia we have government run power provider at the moment we get paid 2.5 cents per Kw feed in tariff then we pay 28 cents a Kw when we use it from the grid i do not think they like people getting power from solar
I live in Florida and signed on to have a new roof and a solar system. What allot of people don’t realize is that your utility bill includes other charges other than electricity. Don’t let a salesman tell you that a solar system will wipe out your utility bill cause it won’t. My utility bill last month was $201 and included electricity, water, sewer, gas, garbage, storm water and fire department. Of my $201 utility bill $64 charge was for my electricity usage. So if I had my solar system up and running last month my utility bill would have been $140 and not $201. I still have to pay for everything else each month besides electricity. To me it’s still worth doing as my house is 18 years old and the shingles are beginning to fail and I’m developing leaks in the ceiling. I went with a solar company called Meraki which included a new roof with a 50 year warranty and a new solar system with no money down. I live in Florida and my electricity usage goes up in the spring and summer with the air conditioning. With electricity being the largest part of my monthly bill it will help me offset my electricity charge.
Did she literally just ask “Why would you buy batteries when the utility grid stores the energy for you?” WTF 😳, Does it take a genius to understand that when the grid goes down in outages whether planned or catastrophe your grid tie system is useless until the grid is online again? The more important question is why spend $12-15k to grid tie when $18-20k covers you independent of what the “grid” decides to do. 🤦♂️
Graph at 1:48 is misrepresenting data by not having the efficiency axis go all the way to 0%. This makes the overall decline seem twice as large as it actually is. Nitpicking, I know, but we must be vigilant in our battle against misinfirmation.
Addendum to #1: Don't assume your power company will credit you back on a 1 to 1 ratio. Check first before deciding what is most cost effective for you in your area. Some electric companies will take your 1KWH that you produce during the day, and only give you a third or a quarter of it back at night.
You're lucky you're not in the UK my supplier gives 3.5p per unit. Which is just under 10 percent of what they charge me on import 😕
@@keithhobbs1 Better if we all go off grid, then they’ll beg for access to rooftop power. Or if groups of people band together say on each block. They can negotiate better prices collectively. Or, governments can wake up and smell the coffee, and regulate for equal price each way, just with time-dependant tariffs. So we put power into the grid at peak times, and try to use most of our car charging, washing etc at off-peak times.
I pay an average of 4.1 cents per KWH and I get .8 cents per KWH. But to be honest, I used to pay 13.1 cents per KWH so it's still a plus. Last months I sold back about 230 KWH more than I bought, but with the Air conditioning starting up now, that'll change in the next few months.
The point of being off the grid is that I will have power when the grid goes down! Specially in Florida with how often we get hurricanes
#1) Because in some areas you are only credited a fraction of you sell vs what you buy. It's also insurance against the grid being down. For those in unreliable power areas like CA and like to keep the cold stuff in the fridge cold, a battery system is worth it.
Exactly. The whole point at first for me was to have a backup for when the grit goes down and not have to worry about storing huge amounts of gas for the generators. So grit-tied does no good for that.
Yep this video is misleading at that. If you got the pannels have the batteries 🔋 flip a switch and go off grid if your grid is no longer up.
@@rjvanloon4769 I guess it depends on how much it stores doesn't it?
The battery power may only last one night, right?
What if like in TX the power outage was for a week or more and in winter no less?
Yep, and if you're in a rural area, where you might be a very low priority line repair, you'll want a secondary power system, be it batteries, or a generator. No matter what, you'll need some form of BMS if you use batteries, and it may actually be worth staying away from the "used Tesla Cells". Some have an AMAZING luck, but I've heard of people buying a battery system, tying it in, and finding in 6 months that half the cells can't hold a charge at all...
I'll have a grid tie system, but I'll also have a battery solution. Still in my very early planing stages, especially considering I'm not sure if we're building on our property or somewhere else. I want the property, SWMBO want's local. :(
@@WreckDiver99 It always made me wonder, if you have a pack with say 100 cells and 10 have "worn out", wouldn't it stand to reason the remaing 90 are probably very close to being worn out also?
we went with a 6.6kw on-grid no battery system. Our electricity cost first month (November) went from $110 in 2020 to $42 in 2021. We sell back more than we use.
I realize this is an older video, but to respond to one statement...
"Why pay for batteries when the utility grid will take care of storage for you?"
1. My utility company only gives me a 30% return on the power I give them
2. Power availability when the grid goes down
She did say you won't be able to use the battery when the grid goes down as its unsafe for technicians repairing the grid to have micro producers sending electricity back down the line.
@@ianwynne5483 May wish to watch the video again. 3:31
That is not correct you can use batteries when grid down. You can not generate power when grid down.
@@jenallen5202 if you get the hybrid inverter without back feed and use a generator interlock circuit breaker you power up your system and the inverter doesn't know the difference
Mini deep cycle lithium ion batteries will certainly change The Scenario soon
Grid tied systems have the disadvantage of having no power during a power outage. Having a hybrid system is another option which has been much more affordable since this video was released. Rack mounted Lithium Iron Phosphate battery systems that store about 5000 Watt Hours (KWH) cost about $1750 which have built-in battery management systems, cell heaters, etc. With that kind of power 30 KWH costs less than $11K plus tax, shipping, and installation cost (unless it is a DYI install). A grid cutoff switch is necessary to tie the solar battery system to the grid once power returns.
It is worth noting that Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries (with respect to Lithium Ion batteries) are much more durable and have a much longer lifespan (at least 10 years) and can last a lot longer. Because of their weight increased weight, these batteries are ideal for stationary use and are much less suitable for non-stationary use. As the name implies, manufacturers market server type racks that include bus bars for vertical mounting for multiple battery systems.
Following a nature or man-made disaster (excluding an EMP attack or a mass solar ejection which would fry nearly all electronics to the grid), a hybrid system would supply endless electrify to a home unlike a Generac generator which requires it to be supplied with fuel and when that fuel runs out. By the way, the total cost can be around $12,000 to $15,000 to buy and install a whole-house which is somewhat less than the cost of a battery backup system.
Just add a shutoff on the grid side.
Making the distinction between Dr Frankenstein and his monster greatly pleased me. Good job by the script supervisor.
Frankensteen ! Frankensteen! When will anyone get it right ?
Thanks guys! This is the #1 video that I send to all of my clients, I am a solar installation tech. and this answers so many questions right from the start! You guys have been along with me through several complete systems, and I'm looking forward to many more, Lordwilling and here in west TN we have A LOT of creeks that rise.. 😏
Batteries are not expensive anymore. There are UL listed rack mount LFP 5.12kwh units now less than $2k. And even just having 10kwh to pull from in the evening when energy is most expensive in most areas is a no brainer. And the cost is dropping by roughly 18% a year and has been for the last decade. Much like solar. Which retail by the pallet is 45-55 cents a watt now. Compared to $175 in 1978.
We have used the ruclips.net/user/postUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y for probably 30 hours with our camper and it’s been great! The noise level is really only noticeable when running the AC and other appliances like the microwave, hair dryer, or coffee pot. It’s not huge like other ones and it has wheels so even at 90lbs, I can move it!
This is the company I bought my whole 7.2 kw system. They designed my whole system and to get me to buy they did my building permit for free.. The building permit passed our county building dept on the first try.. I paid for the system in 3 years 7 months.. I installed all 24 panels plus microinverters in 28 hours the whole thing myself..I was 66 years old them.. Part 2 of my system will start when the quantum glass battery comes out of research.. This battery will put lithium out of business.. They are cheaper, last longer and no I’ll effects to make them to the environment.. one more thing this company is employee owned and sell American made products for 30-35% less.. They are skilled engineers and love home owners.. This company is the best way to go..
Don’t let a solar company scam u people... invest in a system that u own and have the battery back up as well as generator
@Jackson Parker just go off grid
Only go off-grid if you have a generator. If you don't and your inverters go bad, what do you do? Generator is good, but you need to do a stress test once a month.
@@mthompson965
Well what do u do if ur generator goes bad u buy a new one right ?
Some solar companies have done a lot of harm to the industry by lying to customers and selling their shit very expensive. I sell solar panels for a living and it's become very difficult. A lot of people have become very distrustful and I don't blame them. If you are interested in solar panels please let me know. We have customers in west Texas who ended up with credits for 2020 between $300 all the way to $926. I know it's hard to believe but it's no lie.
I would like to talk more to you about an off grid system install is there a link or other source besides this to contact your company?
I didn’t expect much from this video, but this is legit advice. Factual and straight to the point.
Great Info, great delivery, thanks!
Here in the UK, new installs get very little credit for power fed back to the grid, approx one sixth of what you pay for import, so a battery is a very efficient idea.Also we can import power during restricted overnight hours at approx one quarter of the day rate, and can charge the battery at cheap night rate, and use it during expensive day rate.
At todays rates and looking to the future, a battery is a really good idea, possibly good just to install without solar and enjoy the cheap night rate.
Is there enough sun in the uk?
There is no gate to the return so everyone sends electricity back. You pay fit it they don't tell you and absolutely no money
with a centralized invertor...the entire panel array only produces at the rate of the panel with the lowest out put...so if one panel is in shade due to sun, or dirt, or debris, or any reason, then WHOLE system is truncated. Also...DC loses power over distance, so the invertor has to be near the solar panels... with sunpower and each panel with an invertor...you can put the panels anywhere you want, and if one panel gets shaded due to cloud cover, then only that panel has reduced output.
I run Frankenstein system, but it's running good for almost two years and on going.
As long as you have knowledge Frankenstein is your best friend
You still need batteries “on grid” if your grid feed-in tariff is near zero as in the UK.
An elderly couple hired a company and sold energy back to FPL. When a hurricane came they had trouble finding people to bring down the panels and from time to time they have trouble reaching technical support. Also consider that solar panels do fail and cause fires , on your roof! I suggest you learn and do your own installs. I have several (Frankenstein) solar generators and they have been working fine for years. This presentation is a sells job. Beautiful lady though.
My brother did Grid tie solar, over 10 kilowatts, and when the power went down in Texas in the coldest winter time he had NO ELECTRICITY!! He had no batteries, no storage and no means of using kilowatts of to light or heat the house. Solar panels can be added on later if your inverter and charger can handle the extra power so going large on the hardware is a good idea. The same is true of batteries, they only store the charge they don't force too much current on your system when wired in parallel, unlike wiring in series where the voltage goes up and can adversely effect everything.. Also to consider is having a separate system for certain applications like AC cooling or charging a car, kept wired separately from your breaker box set up. Lastly some inverters can be combined or stacked with others to increase their output.
Deland Florida’s Duke Energy for the most part is pretty reliable. But in the last three months we’ve had about six power outages some last up three three or four hours. So a back up battery installed in our garage would be ideal since we can’t trust or depend on the electric grid of the electric company.
This video is clearly made for people who are just beginning research, so I believe “101” or something like that should be included in the title. Also; at no point did she ever discuss that a lot of people choose to go off-grid because the U.S. grid is not a pure sine wave; and therefore, damages all of your electronic devices more than even a cheap $50 pure sine wave inverter from Amazon would. So a lot of people do NOT want to be tied to the subpar grid (in the world’s richest nation).
Within the first minute and fifteen seconds of your video you managed to omit a really important consideration: utilitiy companies for grid-tie sell-back require a VERY long term contract, like twenty years. There lots of rules and regulations that make dealing with the situation not worth the hassles for many people if not most.
The money I save by going off grid and storing in batteries for use is much more money after factoring replacing batteries after 10 to 15 years. So yes off grid is a go for me. Plus the perks of building a portable system. All the cons she stated can be solved by other components but only a quack would make those kinds of mistakes when designing a system in the first place.
This is the most informative Solar system video I've seen. Lots of straightforward info. Thanks.
I just want to thank you for this video. It does such an amazing job of giving you the right tools and mindset of going about a solar project. I wish I had watched this video first before anything else!
My one ask would be to have an updated version which includes a bit more details about micro invertor vs power optimizers as well as an updated outlook on future trends you are seeing in regards to NEM as well as the role of EVs in a solar system.
As far as consulting with an experienced solar technician first; we tried that. In our experience it was like dealing with a salesman. The phone calls were almost relentless until I had to put my foot down. "Consult" should never equal feeling like you're being pressured, pushed or harassed. Personally, I don't like salespeople in general for those reasons. Salespeople tend to forget whose money is being spent when it's all said and done.~APRIL LIPKE
Yeah they are dog's. They pressure you saying stuff like you only can get this deal today yata yata
It sound like the company you were dealing with,
was not supportive and patient with you.
That should not reflect on those companies in good standing for customer service.
Read all the agreements including the fine print. Some deals will allow for a lean against your home so you can't sell the house until that's paid off.
Very good representation, thank you!
P
2
Thank you for sharing! Great guide that answers many initial questions for DIY!!!
Overall decent video. with a few notes...
You cannot "Store Energy in the grid", that is about the worst way you could explain "Supplementing grid power".
The 5-6 years return on investment is not realistic. Most system are 7-8 years. including mine which is now 8 years old and just balanced out in the start of year 8.
We have our system over a year now and the payback time was estimated at 6 years. With the current rise in energy costs in Europe the payback time is reduced to 4 years! Our energy provider allows a 1 to 1 deduction (our cunsumption is negative) and the buy back rate of the surplus is only 40% but it is absolutely a good investment.
We over invested in 50% more pannels against the advice of the bare minimum (the additional cost were only 15%) to be ready for the heathpump wich was installed recemtly.
You pay for what you get for. Saying that if your paying a lot more for a company to install them is because your getting top notch customer service and excellent warranties separate from the manufacturers. So your covered back to back. Yes it will be a lot cheaper installing them your self but are you willing to take the problems that come with it? That’s like saying you can build your own house and it would be a lot cheaper than buying one already made but there is a a lot of factors that go in to it.
There are a lot of overpriced scams. Not as innocent as you suggest.
Thousands of people here in Maine have filed law suits against the power company for over charging ! They over charged me , My energy bill went from $100 a month to $300 over night ! I do not use much power , as I said I have solar panels and generate all my own power now .
Did you put the federal tax credit back into the loan?
The best educational video l’ve watched on solar energy systems!!!
Grid tied isn't necessarily cheaper, it depends on where you live (regional or country). For example it is great if the regulation allows you to get the same amount of electricity back for free as you put in, however in that case you are using the grid as a battery, which makes it actually more difficult for grid operators to manage the system. This is why such schemes are slowly dissapearing everywhere and you will still have to pay something for using electricity your panels provided to the grid.
For example if the grid operators only pay you the generation costs (ie. don't charge generation costs on equivalent amount of electricity your panels put on the grid), this might only reduce that part of your bill by around 25-35%, instead of 100%, since things like grid costs, distribution and taxes might still be incurred. If this is the case an off-grid/far hybrid system might be more interesting on the long term even pricewise.
My electric bill is 1/3 cost of electricity, 2/3 cost for “delivery charges.” Even if I 100% covered my electricity needs with solar, I would still have a small bill to remain on the grid
@@dougf9900 that sounds like a standing charge, you're paying to be connected to the grid should you ever need to access extra electricity.
You're right, except for one little thing. Local electricity generation does not burden the distribution network. Distributors like to promote virtual batteries because it brings them carefree profits. I'll explain. Each village has its own transformer and believe that no energy produced from the panels will get out through this transformer (it can get if there is no consumption). For example, there are 50 houses in that village, of which 5 houses have an On Grid (battery-free system). The distributor will calculate the purchase price of energy in kWh, which is only a small fraction. This calculation is based on those 45 houses that consume your panel energy at a lousy purchase price, but the distributor sells it to 45 houses at full price. In addition, you pay for electricity meter rental, power distribution and virtual battery. The distributor in the locality collects more money than in the normal state without panels. The distributor keeps this condition with a good tariff, which will offer you and you will save a little money, which is not a significant saving. If the panels buy another 20 houses (50-5-20 = 25), 25 houses are no longer financially interesting for the distributor and they come up with a fairy tale that it would overload the network and not connect these houses to the distribution network. However, network congestion exists, but from large solar power plants in front of the village transformer. This is true of so-called network congestion. But otherwise I agree with the others. It is better to stay in the network and get a large UPS with batteries (hybrid) for the panels. Batteries can be lead traction, which are cheap and safe. Their capacity is not high, but they have a greater depth of discharge than car batteries. If the power supply is interrupted or you switch off the distributor circuit breaker yourself, the solar UPS switches to battery operation. Every kWh that does not have to be paid to the distributor is a saving.
@@DL-kc8fc The problem with your local argument is that this only applies if a few have solar panels, if most houses in that local area have solar panels, they'll all produce power at the same moment and likely will have to offload this to outside the local zone (ie. industry). Local grids with lots of solar are only less difficult to operate if you have some battery back up to store some of the charge.
@@MDP1702 But I write about it all the time. I'm not talking about an open distribution network vs. industry, etc., but about the network behind the transformer in a small locality, such as a village. If the location behind the transformer is saturated with photovoltaics, it is not financially advantageous for the distributor and he does not want to connect most houses with new photovoltaics "on grid". Therefore, I write clearly and unequivocally that in that case it is good to install a hybrid (photovoltaics with batteries, ie a backup method of UPS). The distributor himself will offer this solution because he will keep your dependency. The island system is really for the minority community, which will never endanger the distributor. The distributor regulates the "on grid" by offering you an unfavorable purchase price of your energy. If the distributor registers energy production in the local network, he will fine you for illegal electricity production. Why? Because the main main electricity meter at the transformer brakes and the distributor loses the profit in the locality. Yes, it can happen that at the time of minimal energy consumption, the sun shines very well and energy is overproduced. The local network does not take anything from the main network and therefore the power engineers talk about network congestion. It's such a technical terminus. The actual network congestion tends to apply to consumption for which the network was not designed, but the power engineers have come up with a fairy tale that suits them. In fact, consumption is not implemented and this creates "surpluses" in the main network, into which the constant power from hard sources "flows". This power must then be "burned" somewhere, because it cannot be regulated throughout the state. In order to avoid disproportions and damage to transformer stations, energy will be provided to another country, even free of charge. Likewise, farmers prefer to destroy their overproductive crops so that they do not have to compromise on the stock exchange. Never believe that a distributor wants to lose market dominance. Paradoxically, ordinary people's photovoltaics help him increase profits.
Your tips are very helpful. Thank you.
I pick up panels cheap when I see them go up on local sales sites , I have enough parts now to run 3 seperate setups witch works out fine for what I'm doing with them .
Very good, Doctor.
I just bought into the power home solar system. I wanted a battery
backup instead of a generator. Installation was fast and good. The
installers were great. The concierge never contacted me till I sent
emails to them. That is not near as bad as the next thing. I am new to
solar but I was told I would get a 26 percent $14,000.00 (something)
dollar energy tax credit to pay down my system and lower my monthly
payments. Well that's not true in Indiana if your retired. Your social
security is not taxable. You need to have earned more than the energy
tax credit to get that amount returned. Which I didn't. To get the
energy tax credit. I contacted my sales man. he acted kinda surprised.
The system works like it is advertised So If your retired with no
taxable income don't fall for this. Unless you are young and have a
large income.
Rule number One for tax-deduction: You need to pay tax in the first place.
Just out of curiosity: How much lower is your electricity bill with the system in place?
This is an excellent presentation. She's spot on.
Find this video at the correct time Thanks!
However, if the grid goes down and you have no battery or backup generator you can’t power your home!
i know right lost all my food the grid went down for 3 days
@@JonOffgrid you didn't put out your food in a cooler in the freezing weather? I did that for 3 days.
@@keg10609 I did that for years when I lived in Colorado
@@JonOffgrid I'm sorry to hear yiu went through that. Do you live in Texas by any chance?
@@keg10609 worm here
A lot of good information on concepts to research, and common sense distilled into simple words. Thank you!
Nice one! Thanks for the pointers!
#1 may be true in the US, but NOT in the UK. Here we pay 27p per kwhr for grid electricity but only receive 4p for feeding in solar.
Awesome Tips, Compliments from UK.
Why not store with the grid? Because the grid fails. Texas 2021 example.
and the grid doesnt store it haha
"because the grid fails" It wasn't so much the grid failing rather the green energy production. Windmil generators froze in place and solar panels got covered in snow.
@My Tale Funny how Coal froze and solar panels worked with a couple of feet of snow on them. Try again.
@My Tale coal is a major contributor to the grid. Alot of the oil is already in tanks. My point is conventional energy played a lot bigger role in this than green did. Nothing beats Nuclear though.
@My Tale I think some of these guys brain cells are freezing... there having a little difficulty understanding the dynamics of the multiple energy sources and which one struggles the most during Texas 2021
Things not mentioned:
1. What if I want to overbuild (since my state has Net-metering)?
2. Instead of having a battery backup, why not have a generator for power outages? My house has pipeline gas and I was thinking that this would be an interesting alternative. Considering I might lose power once or twice a year, this makes better sense than batteries.
3. What about using a control system that sees that grid power is out (shutting it off) so that the solar panels are still providing for my house? I was specifically looking at the Sol-Ark 12K, but if anyone knows of others, I am all ears.
Deliberately making excess energy is rarely a good financial plan. Some utilities delete your excess each year.
The switch over you described is expensive. Called a transfer switch. A small one for a sub panel can be manageable but it will be manual.
look at the enphase ensemble that can do most of what u want here... although generators require a lot more maintenance than batteries!
What the hell is going on with your energy supplier that makes it crash twice a year ?
@@ianwynne5483 Actually it has been more often and it usually involves a traffic accident or really bad weather.
@@artsmith103 The refund we receive are paying for our complete sytem in only 6 years with the electricity being free. The money saved is actualy making the payback 3 years!
Of course it deprends on your providers contract, our is giving a decent rate for the annual surplus.
Thank you for a very informative and well presented run down.
There's something positive to be said for the frankenstein system. If bought reasonably wisely, you CAN save money that way.
6:30: Those are not central inverters, by the way. Those are string inverters.
right
1:12 "So why pay for batteries when the utility grid will take care of storage for you?" You should have answered that question. 1. medical equipment 2. storm outages 3. net metering 4. minimize grid dependency. Which you answer at 3:44.
because the power company will charge primium rates for what you give them and give you a %5 discount on what you use . So you make $100 a month in power that they use.....then you use $105 a month you think your bill is $5 a month right? your bill....$103 a month!
@@crazypjk so they are ripping you off
@@crazypjk My montly bill went down to €5,- and the annual refund is ~€800. System will pay for itself in less than 6 years, not to mention the free electricity. This will change since we recently got a heatpump installed.
The reason NOT to invest in a battery system is that I need 20 Tesla walls to cover the period November-January.
Because when you do a grid-tied system your power system still fails when the power goes out only option batteries
"Why pay for batteries when you don't need them?" To answer your question, how about when the grid goes down. I'll bet there's a lot of people in Texas saying why didn't I get a system with batteries when I had the chance.
She actually addresses that later in the video
@Dan Quayles ITS SPELT POTATOE! batteries are most definitely an insane expense, it would take extreme measures before the person with full battery backup would look wiser than the person with a Honda EU7000. I think that a lot of people with full battery banks are preppers though and they consider it an expensive vice.
Here in northern Canada in winter you get maybe 5 hours of day light and NEVER high enough in the sky to do any good. Over charging should not be a problem if you have a charge controller.
Very informative video. Thank you.
Because the “grid” is not invested in by the people that maintain it lines are not maintained. Trees fall and that can cause your power to go out and you have no storage then your screwed. Instead of having a generator hand a off grid switch on the house and cycle you batteries ever so often to keep them maintained but have something for emergencies.
having a battery can also be used when solar is not in use later it also saves power, to me batteries are a better option than selling to the network
Using super capacitors or ultra capacitors can help assist your batteries with your energy storage needs. Super capacitors and ultra capacitors are most efficient when paired with batteries, but they don't suffer from the same degradation issues that batteries do.
@@boblatkey7160 supposedly that is actually what they are doing with EVs to decrease charging times.
Wow, I went looking for some OLDER videos about off-grid solar systems to share with a friend and THIS came up. I went "greener" a decade ago and it pains me to have to sift through the plethora of companies like this capitalizing on this. Solar rocks. We know it. But come on! A bit of research for the person that "wants" to go this route should be easier than sifting through youtube algorithms of searches resulting in THIS. My gawd!
Very nice and interested presentation, but have several mistakes in explanation:
1) Solar system are ON-GRID, OFF-Grid and HYBRID.
If On-Grid give you option "to save the planet" producing green energy, this not give you option to have energy when the electric network is dead. In this case you use Hybrid System what give independence when electric network is falling down.
2) Electric panel give you an average of electricity- the panel production curve is very close to Gauss's bell. That is, at sunrise produce less, increase until noon and in the evening we go down again to zero - as long as the panels are fixed on the roof of the house. In this point to have maximum production of energy is mandatory to have a trace/systrem what follow the sun from morning to the twilight, this mean the the sun's rays fall perpendicularly on the panels. In this moment we can consider the maximum efficiency of the panels.
3) If we are on the parallel 45 degrees latitude north - to have maximum efficiency it is mandatory to have 22 degrees on the summer and 67 degrees in the winter angle for the panel. This mean the system must to move in horizontal plan and in same time in vertical plan. Otherwise we are speak about maximum efficiency for one fix system on 45 degrees what give to you 40-60% from maximum capacity of the daily light.
4) To choose a system, we must make a correct estimation/calculation of what we are consume, but also what will be the period of time when the network is dead. As recently there are hours when the current is limited from the provider from the input count-system , we can make the system shut down the electrical network and to consume from the battery reserve or what the electrical panels produce. Most big problem in this time is not consumption on the night , when price for energy is less. Most of the problems are on the day when all the big consumers are in full-mode.
5) Many people install panels and say that they reduce the utility bill. But let's calculate how much the electricity costs, how much the panels cost and we'll see that in fact what we spend today as invest we have a chance to recover in 15 years. In fact, this is the lifetime of the electric system - inverter, charger, panels and batteries.
The batteries, if kept in optimal conditions, if they are charged according to the charging plan maximum 10% of their hourly capacity and discharged in the same way, then they can reach a lifetime of 8-12 years. Not compared to the situation of car batteries, which are stay on cold in the winter, in maximum heat in the summer, and in addition bear all the shocks that the car suffers - these are factors that reduce the life of the battery to no more of 6 years.
6) Correct connection of the network, correct grounding of the panels, correct connection and isolation with fuses and SPD of the inverter and system can solve the problems that occur when electrical discharges are present on the network. All this is done after a thorough study and correct information.
In the end , electric system OFF-GRID HYBRID give you opportunity to have relative independence in terms of energy consumption, but you will not recover your investment in a very short time. It is good like a back-up when the condition of the network are bad.
7) Frankenstein system is a story for children. When you start to check system you request to vendor to give you X panels, Y inverter , Z battery but in same time you request to him the system to be balanced and to give WARRANTY. Vendor is not stupid to give you a Frankenstein system and after this to give to you warranty. Sure he will try to convince you to use elements what he have in storage. For this reason it is mandatory to read, to inform you and to collect information's from different directions/suppliers.
Rest of clip is nice and interested. Good luck!
In Brazil we have the same system of feed-in tariffs. They usually pay around 90% back when you feed grid and get the kWh back in the night.
It's a shame they don't even do 1-to-1 credit as the solar energy makes a better place for our living.
Very nice video, congrats.
This sounds extremely far o me. Getting 90% back is an awesome deal.
Great info. Thanks.
You cannot assume the grid will supply electricity 24/7 without ever stopping. What a wonderful world it would be if it were so.
the most important is that energy is free. more people are spending more on solar and not recouping in the long run, since around 10 years or less everything but the panels needs to be replaced and the cost of that is really expensive. notice that there are no videos of people with systems over 10 years, that is why. it is a scam now, they over charge or make it seem like you will save money when it ends up costing more.
Some great advice here, thank you!
Great videos and nice presentation
Thanks a ton
About the efficiency being reduced by heat could be fixed by add on peltier cell that use heat to convert to electricity that way the more heat the more power generate and not less
Brilliant! Such good advice and I thank you so much for it. You’ve certainly helped me with my research
Excellent and informative presentation!
Please remove the nuts background track. Not necessary
Why? Wasn't like Darude Sandstorm blasting over her talking, like it wasn't that big of a deal man. Lol
Ditto. And that vocal fry. Sheesh...
thank you for sharing
Commending your developing Presenting Skill Ser
Good advice just a slight contradiction on the batteries
why pay for batteries? if the power goes out, you have no storage for your electricity. Also in a disaster situation electricity could be of for x number of months.
Wrong on 2 points.
1. In grid tie system you need batteries or generator if you want electricity when grid goes down.
2 in grid tie system, you design the system for average usage.
For off grid, you design for peak usage, since you won't have grid to handle peak periods.
I agree that the most cost effective solution is a solar panel only installation- until you factor in the value of backup power when the grid is down, or time based rate systems that are becoming more prevalent. Running off of batteries during peak rate times does sweeten the case for batteries. Also, for most solar only installations, if the grid goes down during the day, your solar system shuts down, too.
LOL. Discussing power outages during mistake #3, the narrator does a one eighty, saying it only costs a bit more to have a battery.
Boy is this dated. "Turnkey systems are more expensive." I got 5 bids from local area installers. The cheapest one offered one Powerwall 2 battery and was $5k more than Tesla. Tesla offered 3 Powerwall 2 batteries.
Also, no one really came out to spec anything these days, except Tesla, when I raised some issues. Everything is designed by sat photos.
One benefit of going with a turnkey solution- you'll know they'll work (or at least you assume they'll work)- no incompatible parts, experience, etc.
"Do it yourself" and save money! Sorry, for most people, this is highly problematic. Agreed, it's simple for someone who knows what they're doing, but there's a lot of things that could go wrong.
Plus, there is real value in having the vendor deal with building permits (we had two HoA's to go through, before even submitting something to the town), utility contracts, incentive program enrollments- these can be very complicated. We've had like 18 documents that we needed to review and sign- and quite a few were written in utility-ese: not for home consumers.
While many states have introduced great incentive programs, utilities are not used to dealing with homeowners who are applying to be electricity suppliers. The utility company legal documentation treats homeowners like they are power plant owners.
Last, I will say turnkey system providers can also be poor at providing customer updates and service. In our case, the physical installation of our project took 2.5 days, but it's been a year since we've signed the contract, and we're still waiting for the utility company to grant us permission to operate. Most of the delays in this project were with the system installer. But I suspect that's the current norm these days.
Thanks!
Remark with the first point, you say if grid company allows. Mine will allow to deliver power to, but I pay more when taking, this goes upon the next 10 years upto that I pay full rate when taking. Battery is then worth considering right
Good information here...
I am confused a bit: Mistake nr. 3. Suggestion "back up battery system" against power outages. Question: what will be the cost difference between "off-grid" battery system and "grid-tie" back up battery system?
Quite a comprehensive video I came across while my work on setting up a grid tie system had begun.
I thought every aspect worthy of being considered was well covered in this presentation.
I was quite surprised to see the image of a Sukam inverter at 9.10 of this video. Sukam was a very good indian company that for reasons unknown went bankrupt.
I still have a few 100w panels if their I bought for a smaller project 4 years ago.
9:10
Of course there is the worst case scenario which will no doubt occur in some places at some times - which is the fact that if you're tied 2 the grid & the whole shootin match goes down (even if just in your region) - one would be screwed without batteries. You'ld be in the same boat as eveery bodody else - wether u have panels or not!
The charge controller should prevent over charging. If it doesn't get a different one.
very informative
Great informative video
Great....ma'am agree with you...
Great solar tips thanks!
Oh boy, things have changed since this video was made!
True, we have an updated version on our home page.
This is a great video, but I have a unique problem. One four-bedroom house, and eight small buildings that have no electricity so far, and two electric companies who say no electricity for all the buildings, too heavy a load. For one 10x40 building, new pole and line that cost 5k to put in, but none for the other buildings, cottages we want to rent out someday. Solar is the only way to go, off the grid. add to this on disability, and can't afford the cheapest system, much less the long-term plan for renting out the cottages. Planning to take class in solar to learn how to make them and install. There is no other choice.
Great video, thanks! Going in circles trying to undertand my needs was frustrating. This vid and another helped get me me back on track.
I’m looking for a nz co that can look at my very expensive solar set up that is wonderful in Summer and hopeless in Winter.
Thank you for this effort
why would i trust my power companies rates if grid tied? They are not consistent without solar
You don't need an off-grid system, what if it goes down and you need to do some repairs? Then you'll have no power. Or maybe have one room on the grid and the rest of the house off-grid.
@@mthompson965 grid tied systems without capacity means if the grid is down you are too. Thats why you see so many with natural gas generators. Why pay so much to still be tied. Its like renting and still paying a house payment
Amazing presentation
#1.Image the times when there will be no power at all, and these times are coming. It's best to be independent and off grid completely.
Edit: she talks about it in #3
In Perth Western Australia we have government run power provider at the moment we get paid 2.5 cents per Kw feed in tariff then we pay 28 cents a Kw when we use it from the grid i do not think they like people getting power from solar
I live in Florida and signed on to have a new roof and a solar system. What allot of people don’t realize is that your utility bill includes other charges other than electricity. Don’t let a salesman tell you that a solar system will wipe out your utility bill cause it won’t. My utility bill last month was $201 and included electricity, water, sewer, gas, garbage, storm water and fire department. Of my $201 utility bill $64 charge was for my electricity usage. So if I had my solar system up and running last month my utility bill would have been $140 and not $201. I still have to pay for everything else each month besides electricity. To me it’s still worth doing as my house is 18 years old and the shingles are beginning to fail and I’m developing leaks in the ceiling. I went with a solar company called Meraki which included a new roof with a 50 year warranty and a new solar system with no money down. I live in Florida and my electricity usage goes up in the spring and summer with the air conditioning. With electricity being the largest part of my monthly bill it will help me offset my electricity charge.
Did she literally just ask “Why would you buy batteries when the utility grid stores the energy for you?”
WTF 😳, Does it take a genius to understand that when the grid goes down in outages whether planned or catastrophe your grid tie system is useless until the grid is online again?
The more important question is why spend $12-15k to grid tie when $18-20k covers you independent of what the “grid” decides to do. 🤦♂️
Graph at 1:48 is misrepresenting data by not having the efficiency axis go all the way to 0%. This makes the overall decline seem twice as large as it actually is. Nitpicking, I know, but we must be vigilant in our battle against misinfirmation.
Leasing equipment is almost always a bad idea.
Nice explanation got good knowledge about Solar
Very pertinent tutorial.