Whooo hoo! Up and running!

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18296447
I am in Providence RI, it should say that to the left of this panel.

Don't lease, don't enter into any agreement,s buy outright.

Paypack varies from state to state, but you don;t have to sell your power back if you can't for some reason, instead you can send it back for credit. If you do that, you look to install enough power to zero out your bill, but not more.

The incentivies are you can either do what I mention above,. or sell it back. Plus a big tax break.
If you go the credit route rather than sell the power back, you get a HUGE percentage off the cost of install up front instead. (about 1/3rd)

I will also get about the same amount back in tax credit. So the final outlay after the credits is only about 1/3rd the actual cost. Now I get free power, in 7 or 8 years the 1/3rd I paid out of pocket will be paid off in free electricity. If I were selling power back, it would take longer to recoup as i would have paid 2/3rds out of pocket, but after that I start making money.

Forum software! your short reply earlier resulted in suppression of your location. Providence...I gotta take some time off the next time I fly to Boston, and take a drive to see the city where my mother was born!

Thx for the hi-level ROI

give me a heads up when you come my way, we can get a beer or something.

I managed to get a "during" installation shot uploaded.

Added a crappy cell phone pic on page one

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18297467
Added a crappy cell phone pic on page one

Where is the crappy cell phone (in the picture) ?!

Lots of CA.

Awesome stuff, Jake. If I could afford the initial investment, I would totally go for it
Happy for you, though!

Are you running any kind of battery bank along with that?

I am not.
I've been looking at them, but that's a whole nother ball of wax (and cash!)

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Does this provide enough power (at one time) to do whatever you want with it? . I mean, could you have lights and the television on in the house, have the clothes dryer running and the coffeepot on, and also use a 220 welder ............. all at the same time, like one would with a "regular" power source?

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18299416
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Does this provide enough power (at one time) to do whatever you want with it? . I mean, could you have lights and the television on in the house, have the clothes dryer running and the coffeepot on, and also use a 220 welder ............. all at the same time, like one would with a "regular" power source?

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It generates enough that with a fridge, chest freezer, TV and power tools running, we are sending surplus to the grid. In fact it generates enough that if the calculations are correct, it will mean a zero cost of electricity annually.

that said, we are still hooked up to the grid so we have power at night and when the clouds come over etc.

On bright sunny days we generate many times more power then we could ever use at once. That extra power is sent to the grid and "banked" via credit to our bill,. so when it is night time or raining we still don't end up with a bill. We just reduce the "banked" credit.

Right now after two weeks, even with a good deal of rain, snow and shorter days, we are already generating more than we use.

By the way, adding a battery bank would cost upwards of $10,000.00
It is not a cost effective way to maintain power sadly. Even with Tesla wading into the market for battery back up, the tech is just too costly (like the Tesla cars I guess)
This cost is why most solar installations are not stand alone, but instead "store" electricity via credit with the power company.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18299962
On bright sunny days we generate many times more power then we could ever use at once. That extra power is sent to the grid and "banked" via credit to our bill,. so when it is night time or raining we still don't end up with a bill. We just reduce the "banked" credit.

Right now after two weeks, even with a good deal of rain, snow and shorter days, we are already generating more than we use.

By the way, adding a battery bank would cost upwards of $10,000.00
It is not a cost effective way to maintain power sadly. Even with Tesla wading into the market for battery back up, the tech is just too costly (like the Tesla cars I guess)
This cost is why most solar installations are not stand alone, but instead "store" electricity via credit with the power company.

Here in CA, PG&E 'pays' for solar electricity put into the grid at a much lower rate than the rate you pay when you draw electricity from the grid (at night, during heavy overcast). Does your utility company credit you for fewer kW-hours put into the grid to 'bank' than what you later draw back, so that there is effectively not achievement of 'zero cost' unless you put in much more electricity than what you draw?

I have read that battery banks from cars would make a good storage means for solar generated surpluses, which you then can tap at night. The batteries might not have sufficient 'oomph' to work well in moving a car around, but supposedly there is plenty of capacity for supplying electricity at a lesser rate, such as lighting, refrigeration, etc.

Wilt wrote in post #18299970
Here in CA, PG&E 'pays' for solar electricity put into the grid at a much lower rate than the rate you pay when you draw electricity from the grid (at night, during heavy overcase).

If I was selling back, rather than credit, here in RI, the power company pays us MORE for the Solar than the base cost, as here renewable energy all costs a premium vs. coal or gas generated.

I am getting at least even, but I think the credit might be a bit more than what it costs me too. Don;t recall off hand. It is DEFINITELY not less than.

Do you mean like Tesla cars, or lead acid?
Yes, Lithium cells like in a Tesla or Prius are the "new" way to do it. It used to be lead acid. Lead acid really sucks as there is a huge maintenance and turn over time/money effect as well. For a lot of renewable energy sources, power storage is the big x-factor.

Yes, I was referring to repurposing Tesla and Prius battery banks, for use in the home after their value for propelling electric cars has declined. Apparently there is not much of a lithium battery recycling capability yet, so all these batteries coming off older Prius cars (well past the originally anticipated 7 year battery life) will be a problem with not much of a solution.

Interesting. But why would anyone use an old poorly performing battery for back up? If it can't power a little car,. what good is it in this application?