BO Is Living Large In Hawaii

[oldr_n_wsr]

will include between 25 to 75 panels and will convert sunlight into 19,700 kilowatt hours of electricity a year.

twenty five solar panels is 1/3 the amount of 75 solar panels (aka big difference). So how many solar panels are actually needed to achieve this 19,700kwH?

[Crackpot]

I believe it depends on the weather/locale.

[Long Run]

Obama To Install Solar Panels In 2011

That would save a typical household $2,300 on its electricity bill, based on commercial rates in Washington. The solar hot water heating system, based on government estimates, could save an additional $1,000 a year.

Kennedy said his calculations were based on a 5,000 square-foot California home, which uses 60,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

Why do people even do this kind of inane calculation? Installing the White House solar panels is a symbolic gesture, and not meant to provide any meaningful savings (and you can agree with the sentiment or not). But trying to calculate savings or using the White House as an example of what the typical home can achieve is silly.

How can you determine a D.C. home's savings by using a California home for comparison? What part of California? Since when is a 5,000 sq. ft. home "typical"? Don't know about any others here, but $3,300 will buy me 3+ years of electricity (even with electric hot water) in most typical homes I've lived in, so I obviously couldn't get $3,300 of savings in one year.

[Sue U]

We put 50 solar panels on our 2500 sq ft house about a year ago. It was costly, but we got a modest state subsidy and a direct federal tax credit that together cut about a third off the gross. Using what we save in electric costs due to solar generation, plus the Sustainable/Renewable Energy Credits we get every month, the project will pay for itself in about 6 or 7 years. After that, it's pure profit (well, actually, cost-avoidance for the electric consumption part, and profit for the generation part). FYI, some months our electric bill is zero, others just a few dollars; it's supposed to average out to zero over the course of the year. Over all it is a cost-effective investment and in itself should boost the value of our home by about $40,000.

[Long Run]

We put 50 solar panels on our 2500 sq ft house about a year ago. It was costly, but we got a modest state subsidy and a direct federal tax credit that together cut about a third off the gross. Using what we save in electric costs due to solar generation, plus the Sustainable/Renewable Energy Credits we get every month, the project will pay for itself in about 6 or 7 years. After that, it's pure profit (well, actually, cost-avoidance for the electric consumption part, and profit for the generation part). FYI, some months our electric bill is zero, others just a few dollars; it's supposed to average out to zero over the course of the year. Over all it is a cost-effective investment and in itself should boost the value of our home by about $40,000.

And on behalf of taxpayers federally and locally, I'll say, "You're welcome."*

*Knowing you may have done this without the tax subsidies.

[Sue U]

Well, the SRECs are not a subsidy or tax credit; electric companies buy those on the open market to meet their obligations/commitments to provide clean energy (they're trading at about $650 each right now). So for that portion I'll thank the utilities' suckers rate payers.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I've been looking into putting solar panels on my house for years now. The greatest square area of my roof faces south so it's a good location. When there were the largetst rebates/subsidies, I didn't have the available liquid cash (I could have borrowed, but I don't like doing that) and now that I do have some of the liquid cash available the local utility that gave subsidies/rebates has discontinued that. Hopefully the new year will bring new rebates/subsidies.

ETA
SueU do you have battery backup/recharging capabilities or do you use grid power at night/dark days?

[Sue U]

No battery; we're fully on the grid, so when the panels are generating our meter spins backwards (they don't really "spin" anymore, but you know what I mean) as the current flows out to the wide world. At night and in the rain we draw back from the grid. We were able to do the system with almost no cash out of pocket, since it finances itself with electric bill savings and SRECs, although it is a little bit of a hit to our credit rating.

[oldr_n_wsr]

What's your "buy back" rate? I forget what ours is/was but I recall it's much less than the incoming rate.

[Sue U]

In or out the rate is the same; we just get a credit of kwh produced against kwh consumed, and over the year it's supposed to net out to zero between the two. If we use more, we'll pay the rate for the overage; if we use less, we'll get a credit we can apply to our gas bill.

[oldr_n_wsr]

In or out the rate is the same; we just get a credit of kwh produced against kwh consumed, and over the year it's supposed to net out to zero between the two. If we use more, we'll pay the rate for the overage; if we use less, we'll get a credit we can apply to our gas bill.

That's a good deal. As I said:

I forget what ours is/was but I recall it's much less than the incoming rate.

I do need to reinvestigate this sping as I think LIPA (and NY state and maybe the feds) are bringing back some rebates/subsidies this new year. I know the LIPA stuff ended in October/November when they had a one day sign up for the last $3million they were offering in subsidies and they went in 15 minutes.

I might have to cut down a tree though as it blocks the roof a bit in the winter (not a problem in the summer as the sun is higher in the sky).

[loCAtek]

I can't even get my solar path lights to work consistently.