Total Cost Breakdown of our Solar Power System & How Many Years to Pay for Itself.
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- Опубликовано: 20 дек 2023
- This year we installed our own solar power system. We installed 28 solar panels for a total of 11,140 watts. We also installed a hybrid inverter with 20 Kilowatt Hours of batteries to store power and give us the ability to run off grid during power outages. This system will make an average of 15,050 Kilowatt hours a year.
EP Cube all in one Solar Energy solution: bit.ly/47dLudA
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Signature solar Website: bit.ly/3NAgJsm
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TYM 2515 - 24 Horsepower compact tractor
TYM T654 - 67 horsepower compact utility Tractor
J.I. Case 730 (1961)
Allis Chalmers D17 Series 1 (1959)
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Country View Acres
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We live in southeastern Illinois on a 41 acre homestead. We just finished building our log cabin in 2018. Now we are focused on trying to grow our own food and raise livestock. Follow us on our journey we continue to develop our homestead and farm, while becoming more self sufficient.
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This Video was intended to give everyone an idea what it would cost to build a system like this. I was very lucky to have the EP Cube system provided to me, so my actual costs were $14,374.08, and my pay off time will be 5.5 years. But I wanted to make sure people knew what the real world costs would be and how long it takes to break even.
When I edited the video I wasn't happy with how I worded a few things, and didn't want to misrepresent the actual facts, so made this comment to clear things up.
Not to worry, the plus side is the how to install solar integrated into your home grid. Good job!
Evan do you plan on adding more solar panels & batteries?
Part 2 - Tax Credits 😃🤑
That's great to hear that you were able to get the EP Cube system provided to you! It's really helpful for viewers to have a realistic understanding of the costs and pay off time for building a solar power system. The Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series sounds like a fantastic option for outdoor enthusiasts and RV lovers. With its massive capacity, powerful output, and fast recharging capabilities, it seems like a reliable and versatile choice for outdoor adventures or as a backup power source at home. Thanks for sharing your experience and helping others make informed decisions!
@@stevensaxon8888I would like to add more solar. But we will have to wait and see.
You saved a fortune on labor that most others would have to pay out. Excellent skill to have! The peace of mind must be remarkable, now that everything is done. It was a joy watching you install all of this over the year. Thanks for going through all of that extra effort. God bless
You did great. It looks beautiful. I was a electrician for 48 years. My 3 sons are electrical engineers, graduated from Purdue. I’m now 82. Thanks for sharing jim
Thank you for dumbing it down for us mere mortals❤😅
Evan, did you cover trenching cost , inspection cost, and the cost of building your 'special' room ?
You would have to double that price with labor included.
Easily
You're blessed to be able to do the work. Any estimate what labor may have been? Thank you and Merry Christmas.
also could you estimate your labor to get the 30% rebate on that? or is parts/supplies only?
@@hpw59 I have seen scenarios where people have written off the labor. But I believe they have to fully qualified and licensed like a company that does it all. So you’d have to go with a premium all in one installer. Which will increase the price. So really you’d have to just get quotes for an electrician to do it with equipment you purchase, vs going with a company that brings all the stuff.
All said and done you guys are ahead of the game! Great install series!
Excellent breakdown on real world cost for a diy install. Im looking forward to a one year review to see what your payback time looks like. Its hard to trust people online to give an honest review, I trust you to do that.
And also glad to see that cardboard out on the last oil change!!!! Love the videos and the time you take to film and edit . Personally, I think it is the best filming on RUclips.
Nice work! Your numbers are very similar to mine.
warranty is only worth something if you can claim it ... let's see how many solar companies will still be in business in 10 years from now.
Thanks for keeping track of all the costs and analyzing the returns! When selling for $0.03, possibly an electric vehicle might work to soak some of that up - even a lawn mower? Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Not including all the taxpayer money to offset all the costs to the big-donor investors who push the Global Warming scam on willing participants.
Hi..... Evan thanks you for showing your video homestead bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋👍👍👍
Thanks for the update on solar and your amazing system. I had always wanted to run solar and even some wind turbines to help offset the sun not being out or at night. You have the perfect barn for that!!! Have a Merry Christmas with family!!
Good video Evan. I started with 12kw and batteries but have bought another 12kw in panels (30cents per watt from signaturesolar) and another solark 12k inverter. Plan to install when I get time this year.
The main assumption is more expensive power over time but there's some chance they come out with fusion power at a fraction of the current power rates. I say this because there seems to be a lot of emphasis in the media on this and they tend to relay what happens before it occurs.
I mention this also because my family considered a solar farm lease deal and it fell through. That turned out to be a blessing. I found out that when the solar farm goes bankrupt the creditors will put a mechanic lien on the landowners property (which no property owner would expect) which would lead to losing the land because the land owner would not be able to pay it. This is how the state of indiana is handling this type of scenario that is not covered in the lease agreement. So beware of any land lease for solar, wind, etc. The end result could be a huge land transfer with either a market crash or cheap power due to fusion. The WEF has already said you will own nothing and be happy. You have to think how that is planned to happen. Gov Holcomb of IN has spoken at the World Economic Forum 5 times already so it seems he is helping make this happen.
Unfortunately if fusion becomes a reality, they are not gonna pass on the cost savings to consumers. They will find a way to make fusion seemingly cost a lot so that consumers will still have to pay a lot for the benefit of using it.
I’ll stay with the grid and diesel tractors!!!!
Thanks for the update and Evan you didn't break anything in the video 👍
You have that figured out for us. I have been off grid since 1991 and my system has paid for itself. Thanks for sharing.
My tax dollars offset your costs. You can thank me, and MILLIONS of other American working folks for paying for your stuff.
@@powrguy1696With very minimal Googling, I found an artcle from Reuters stating that the IMF estimates U.S fossil fuel subsidies stood at $760 billion in 2022, a figure topped only by China. So what point were you trying to make?
You have been blessed!
Evan, this video was one of your very best. Your degree and experience are paying off big time from the professional installs to the articulate accounting and presentation. Extremely impressive.
Thank you ! Merry Christmas!
Great analysis. It might behoove you to do another cost analysis adding say 50% more batteries, so you can use more of the solar you produce rather than selling it back to the power company for pennies. Remember, that electricity rates don't go down, only up. We're retired FT RVers who discovered we love to boondock off-grid. We lived in our motorhome off grid for 10 months last year. We designed and built our electrical system ourselves (my son is an electrician and he kept me safe), which allows us to be electrically self-sufficient, without the need to connect to the grid anymore. It sure is a liberating feeling to know no matter what happens, if electricity rates skyrocket to over 40 cents/kwh or more like they are in Hawaii, it won't affect us in the least.
We started by building a 620-watt liftable solar array on the side of our motorhome. Our side array makes a nice bedroom window awning too, practically lifting itself with a couple gas struts, and it's easy to clean, standing safely on the ground. Lifting the array to the exact angle needed improves its efficiency 20-30% compared to horizontally mounted panels, even more in the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky. Next, we built a 12v, 560ah LiFePo-4 battery using 8, 280ah prismatic cells and a Heltec 330amp (1,200a surge) BMS to start my generator, with a 5a active balancer. These cells fit perfectly under the steps of our MH where our old pair of golf cart batteries used to reside. We insulated the battery compartment, cut a small hole in our step risers and installed a tiny computer CPU fan to keep this space at close to room temperature, so we don't have to worry about the BMS shutting down charging due to low temperature - or their life reduced from getting too hot. If you add all our 12v system components together including the liftable array, wiring, converter/charger, inverter, charge controller, breakers, wiring, battery monitor, etc. this system cost us under $3,500. It has already paid for itself several times over the last 5 years, not just in the cost of electricity, but in the cost of staying in RV parks. Boondocking is mostly free, but RV parks can average $45 a night or more. Even at their discounted monthly rates, most RV parks cost $400-$750/mo. + metered electricity. Having proven the concept, we expanded our system.
By mounting the solar array on the side of our coach, we left the roof free to rack 8, 550w solar panels down the length of our 35ft Class A, 15" off the roof, above our AC, vents, etc. These cost us 51 cents/watt shipped to our door. It shades our entire roof, allowing plenty of cooling air underneath, increasing solar output and reducing the heat load on the air conditioners. Our 4,400w array can run both our A/Cs, our household appliances and charge our batteries at the same time, even in winter. We can even run our mini split heat pump 24/7 providing both A/C and heat powered by the sun. We use a Sungold Power all-in-one 48V, 5,000W Inverter/100A charge controller/battery charger, saving us space as well as money compared to a system built with individual components. We chose this particular unit because it supports up to 500 volts of solar power which was needed for our 400voc solar array. Our 48v battery uses 16, 320ah prismatic cells and a 200amp Heltec BMS to keep it safe.
Together with our 7.1 kwh 12v bank, we have a total of 23.5 kwh of batteries onboard (slightly more than you have, though our storage needs are far less) - kept charged by 5,020 watts of solar. We removed our old rooftop bedroom A/C and replaced it with an EG4 28.5 seer-2 mini-split heat pump on the upper rear of our motorhome. It's super quiet and cools as well as our 14.5k btu soft start equipped Furrion we have up front, but only draws about 1/3rd the power. It heats efficiently too, reducing our propane usage.
Our total budget for both 12v and 48v systems was around $11,500, including the $1,500 high-efficiency heat pump. We have no need to hook-up to power pedestals or run our generator anymore, as we run everything in our MH strictly off the sun. We travel around the country a lot, visiting National Parks, and doing the tourist thing, mostly boondocking out west. We spent last winter in Yuma, AZ, but we're visiting our son in NC now, where boondocking places are pretty rare. We found an RV park that is letting us camp in a spacious site without hook-ups for only $100/mo., saving us $500/mo. off their FHU rates. At this rate, our 48v system will be paid for soon too. BTW, I didn't take any money from the government for my system, so I'm not beholden to them in any way.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you All for the show
Lucky Edmonds in Candler NC
Great job on the install and information, Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Kudos on your foresight!!
Thanks Evan
thx
🎄Merry Christmas Evan & Rebekah!🎄
Merry Christmas to you two. Love your show.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas
Thank you for providing such useful information! I spent 35 years in the trades. Your install was clean and beautiful.
That's a lot of work for a $8,000 potential payoff. Assuming nothing breaks and nothing needs to be replaced in 15 years. But, if power goes by down for a couple days, you're covered.
This series on the solar system installation was fantastic. Really, really informative and well done. Thank you!
Good to see some real world actual numbers on a DIY system. I'm starting to kick around the idea of a system, especially when you start to see the costs of used panels these days.
Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless!❤❤❤🌲🎅🤶
Excellent information ‼️
That was a great breakdown of your system. We have a nearly 200 acre farm in eastern Missouri and putting up a solar system with battery backup is a goal for us. All in under 30 thousand dollars before the tax credits isnt bad for the size of your system. Give's us plenty of ideas. Thanks for posting this...
👍👍👍👍👍👌Very well thought out and presented giving a lot of food for thought thanks for sharing!! Your installation is top notch!!!
The only factor you didnt calculate is installation cost because were not cable
Great work on the video. Thanks again
Ha! Mate you are doing what you do to look after your home and your family but it’s great that you’re helping others two do it right good job all the best to you and your family and your friends for Christmas and the new year.
Awesome video!!! Thank you!
Grate job
Good info Evan! Such a shame they only pay you so little.
Nailed it Evan! Awesome video! Well done sir.
Compared to having a $20k whole house generator installed, your system could wind up making you $8k, so you might end up $28k ahead. And I'm sure building it was quite satisfying, too.
I enjoy all of your videos. Did you figure what you are saving on your electric bill on your breakeven point.
I has been incredible to watch your Solar Battery Growth since you first two "EcoFlow Pro Batteries" then adding on Solar and more batteries...
NOW you have your own Power Plant!!!!
You have a lot of freezers that what using the most power when your both working your so close to being totally off grid but every little bit helps your eating better than someone who buys all the groceries at a store and you know what it was fead 😊
There were no commercials. Might want to check that
Awesome informative video⚘️
Great job on the install and video Evan! Our future homesite on the farm is pretty far from the service tie-in. I’m about to calculate off-grid solar vs grid. Costs will be pretty close but the government rebate makes the solar more competitive. I’m just not sure I want to be completely off-grid!
If you added more batteries, would your grid usage decline enough to justify the cost of more batteries, or would you need to buy more solar panels also, which would increase the size of the whole system?
It seems logical that storing 15 cent electricity for your own usage is better than selling it to grid for 3 cents every time your batteries are fully charged. .
Great video and thank you for sharing your breakdown of the DIY costs. Question on the Maintenance of how often it needs inspection and the labor if install by someone? How often to clean and fee to hire someone to clean it? Add these Labor cost and fee.
Thanks for the breakdown ... when did you say you're coming over, to do my install
Very neat installation..👍🏽👏🏾
@71 I don't think investing in a solar system would be wise of me, financially. I don't want to sound morbid but statistics are what they are. Speaking of which, thank you for sharing all of that data. I was very interested in that aspect of your solar setup. I know I can't take it with me but it's just my nature not to be wasteful and it's hard to change my ways after so many years.
Good point. Everyones individual scenario is likely different. Im more middle age and I see the opportunity to leveredge my youth in the near term to add solar diy like Evan. I put in 12kw 3 yrs ago diy and will double that this year instead of waiting. No one is getting any younger so Carpe Diem, seize the day or seize your youth while you can before time gets the best of you. That is if you also can manage the finance side. I dont recommend borrowing to install solar but again everyone will have different opinions.
For a 71 year-old man, the average life expectancy is 84 years. That's just the average.
www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html
Awesome video and explanation, I am in the same situation, I built and installed my own system, but my electrical company doesnt buy back for hardly anything as well..... so much for wanting people to go green lol, I dont currently have batteries and being in texas im covering around 55%, AC is a killer, hoping to add batteries in the next year or two.
You may have already been asked this but . . . What would a decent sized generator do to keep you up and running or sell more power back to the power company?? I don't know if it would be cost effective or not. Maybe a diesel generator of commercial size???? Just curious!!
I live in Sydney, Australia and my most recent electricity bill was $241.93 for 31 days. That included $1.01 daily charge. I used 557.12 kWh which works out at 0.43 per kWh.
Hi Evan , firstly your a legend , you saved a fortune in labour cost , got a couple of questions
1- what was your power bill before and after the solar
2- if you couldn’t install it yourself how much extra would you have had to pay for a contractor to do it
A huge fan from Perth Australia 🇦🇺 merry Christmas mate 👍
I’m in Uk my brother had his fitted 15yrs ago his payback rate is 45 . On his first winter he went to Florida for 8weeks on his return he was looking forward to do the readings well he generated very little and he used loads from the grid. He went ballistic phoning everyone in the end his wife told him in the rush to leave she left the hairdryer on . The fuse on the panels had blown hair dryer was dead too
So it looks like you start buying power at 6 am. Have you considered getting up an hour later? That would cut your purchased power in half. Another thought would be to buy one more battery. Do you think that would eliminate buying any power? The power company buying from you for 3 cents is like robbing from you. I would do everything I could not to buy from them. Another idea-putting timers on the freezers and refrigerator for that 2 hours to hold off buying power. Just ideas. I think you did a fantastic job on the solar. You still have plenty of room on that roof! Another idea-use the ecoflows to run the refrigerator and freezer at night. Then you could recharge them later in the afternoon instead of sending that power to the power company. I run my fridge 24 hrs a day off my bluetti ac200p.
Excellent series of videos, I've really enjoyed them. Have you thought about adding the second inverter, maybe some more batteries and going fully off grid? I'm sure you couold figure out what you're selling back to the power company, and if you'd need to add any more solar to make that work.
If you did not Grid tie, could have saved quite a bit, but well done...gonna go with a simple one for charging car like your first setup with power stations.
My utility company does the same thing.
I wish we had redox flow batteries more readily available for residential applications in the U.S. they have near infinite cycle life, 30 plus years. Just have to worry about a couple mechanical pieces like a fluid pump. Non-flammable. Less energy dense but that doesn't matter for residential applications.
Wow you buy power for 15 cents per kilowatt hour!
Our winter rates are 35 cents and the summer rates are 50 cents per kw hour!
But you didn’t figure in your labor. If you can’t do it yourself it’s a lot more.
Evan, I'm sorry if this was discussed earlier but here in South west central PA we get SREC credits which I think would amount to more than a thousand dollars a year for a system your size.
I have an EG4 system from Signature Solar. 24 460 watt panels, Two 6,500 off grid inverters, four 5.12 kWh batteries. $15,500 for the kit, free shipping. Wiring, ground mount and misc cost, $5,000. 71, did all the work myself, not an electrical engineer but I ran a farm for 25 years and was asst plant manager at a produce packing plant for 10 years and we installed all kinds of electrical machinery and did much of the wiring ourselves. My solar room isn't pretty but it works. My plan is to install 8 more panels and two more batteries to max out my charge controllers and battery rack.
A hybrid system costs more but you can maximize your solar usage, if your batteries go dead it just automatically switches over to the grid. I am not off grid so I am going to run some loads and my A/Cs during the summer to save money on those. If I run out of battery power I will have to manually transfer power back to the grid for those.
Hey, we pay .67 per Kwh Fl. But solar put in before Oct. 23 you get 1to1 buy back from power co. But we have an high cust. Fee and fuel cost $38 min fee
So what would it cost too hire all that done ? Twice of materials ?
That's my question too and it is especially important if we assume most people would not be able to do it themselves.
Thanks for the great video. You didn't tell us what labor would have cost if you paid yourself since we would have to do that.
When I built my system 7 years ago it was going to take 8.5 years to pay its self off.I added a chevy volt to my system that shortened my payoff to 5.5 years. The car has saved me over $17000 in fuel cost in 7 years.
I'm a City Boy. Man___ did I REALLY ENJOYed this video. And Funny the video did'nt even include you Fun Ducks or Loving Cow. I'm not even sure What the Magic was in this video. But it Charmed. BTW. I'm coming here from your 240volt Dual DELTA Pro video.
OK. OK. Your Honesty and Country way pulled Me In. Interesting Videos. I learned MUCH Useful information. Just noticed you have 150K subscribers. Now you have 150K + 1. Guess I'll now go find a Video where you are wearing a Suit n Tie. And see how that goes.
Wow. Your OLD Red Dogggg and Baby Bass video. Hey you got another DOG. Black shaggy pup.
Yes, your labor cost is free. So double or triple your cost for an average home owner. Its a nice setup. Is the inverter split phase? How long of a run to your panel in the house. Do you get any voltage drop? I would recommend tilting the panels (not sure your location or what angle your roof is) to get more hours of the sun in the summer. In the winter, I doubt you will produced the same amount of power. Yes, all the little things adds up pretty quick.
Could've purchased more hay machinery with that money
You need to vote in what we have in Ohio. Here we can buy our electric from any where in the country. I just locked in 6.2 cents for 3 years from Dynegy in Texas.
Your training and experience explains how professional your installation looks. Using the old adage of labor cost=material cost, a person who doesn’t have your skill set would expect a 20 year break even. A rather risky investment. Your videos provide a great deal of good information.
I know a common limitation of back feeding the grid is 25kw per hour. Its been listed in all the agreements ive read for power companies in my area.
.
The 0.03c ish number is a common amount around the country.
.
As appliances give out, id suggest changing say your clothing dryer or hot water tank to heat pump. Or your stovetop and or oven to propane would also be a plus with grid down as you could still cook basic food items.
Im figuring you all ready most likely have the ability to heat with wood.
.
The most important thing to save power for is running a well pump.
As that's commonly the one must have 240v item, when the grid is down.
A very interesting video Evan but you didn't appear to take into consideration the savings you also make from not having to buy much electricity. I wonder what the difference is between your monthly electric costs now with your solar system as opposed to before you fitted it. This would also be a saving so would mean the system would pay for itself even quicker or am I missing something? Love your videos. Keep up the good work. Merry Xmas to you all and I hope 2024 is everything you wish for and more. Slangevar. ❤️🏴
Very cool, thanks mate
Nice work keep up smart man
Nice job. I still think a bifurcated system that has your base load covered and the other side for instant use you can eliminate that early morning power purchase.
New salt based batteries are coming as well that can store more and last longer.
You have a decent sized house so 82% is pretty good.
The area under the curve being larger than than above tels me another battery is needed for storing perfect days.
I avoided the pitfalls with the utility company by making all my own electricity & storing it in a bank of batteries. I don't sell them anything. Be forwarned that you should buy all your equipment & materials in the same year because the IRS only lets you claim the 30% credit once in your lifetime. I also did my own install. The credit lowered my tax rate, I got another credit from my state, and I ended up getting combined tax refunds only $1000 less than the cost to buy everything. And my solar reduced my utility bill massively, not counting gas service. My utility company immediately contacted me & wanted to know how I lowered my usage so much. 😅
Would it be more cost effective to add more storage batteries? Enjoying the channel. Tks for sharing.
👍
Do you have solar power to the animal barn.
Merry Christmas to you & your family
❤ Great Video ❤ very informative ❤
Thanks for the system review. What would you estimate your labor cost would be. If I missed that in your video I appologize.
One way to check your break even analysis is to divide the $19,000 by 120 months. That equals $158/mo.
That is the amount your electricity bill must be reduced by each month (on average) in order to recoup your $19,000. If your january 2024 electric bill isn't $158 lower than the 2023 bill, you won't break even in 10 years.
Looking at your graph at 10:18, there's a flatline from 12:30pm until about 3pm, which appears to be the battery at 100%. Could you add an additional battery to the system and peak higher than that? If so, this would also allow you to install a wind generator which runs all the time and have a much more flexible system.
I would have to add another inverter to add more batteries. But it could be done.
@@CountryViewAcres Thanks for the reply. Very nice system and the extra money spent hiding the wires makes it look like a very expensive industrial build. Great job!
Can you give us a rough idea as to how much the rest of us would have to pay for labor???? I can only imagine that it would not pay for it's self if labor was factored in. You did a fantastic job and for you it works !!!!! MikeC the old man in the Montana mountains.....
Did you include the cost of insurance.
Id like to know what more it would take to become independent and cut the power company off. Eight more panels? One more battery? You already have the emergency generator if the system fails or its cloudy for a week. That would have to be cheaper than dealing with the power company.
Great video, it's a shame the power companies get everything in their favour.
Have you noticed a decrease on your monthly bill?...I'm assuming so, but just seeking clarification. Had a rep from a solar company and that made this video valuable...thank you!