Solar

Walrus · Aug 21, 2020

No not solar watches I was reaching out for input on setting up a house for solar power. I have a property that is electric heated, the tenants aren’t complaining about the bill but I’m thinking of the future. I live in New England in the US and we are known very very high power rates. Has anyone gone solar in their homes and if so was it a positive experience? I’m not a radical environmentalist but I do like to do my part in minimizing garbage and emissions etc. Also it’s not like my area is like Arizona and some other states where the sun always seem to be blazing. Regardless I am researching the subject and considering making the switch.

Note: if this post is too off topic for the open discussion I will ask a mod to delete it. I’ve seen people ask about cable vs streaming so I thought I might be okay asking this question but if not my apologies no harm was meant.

Marsimaxam · Aug 21, 2020

My father installed solar panels, but, being that he lived in Southern California, there was plenty of sun and plenty of power. My father's experience was positive and if there was anything negative, my Dad would have said the installation process took too long. He purchased the system and took advantage of the tax credit too. The power generated covered my father's electrical bill each and every month and then some.

I believe a reply from New England might be more helpful, but my Dad's experience overall was positive.

Walrus · Aug 21, 2020

Marsimaxam
My father installed solar panels, but, being that he lived in Southern California, there was plenty of sun and plenty of power. My father's experience was positive and if there was anything negative, my Dad would have said the installation process took too long. He purchased the system and took advantage of the tax credit too. The power generated covered by father's electrical bill each and every month and then some.

I believe a reply from New England might be more helpful, but my Dad's experience overall was positive.

Yes New England response would of course be helpful but any feedback from anywhere is appreciated. Like what you brought up of installation time I hadn’t even thought that out. Also interesting he purchased the system vs the lease I see being offered. So it’s cool just what you said helped thanks

Canuck · Aug 21, 2020

Not to rain on your parade, but if the environment (i. e. garbage and emissions) is one concern leading you to consider going this route, consider this.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/12/23/solar-panel-waste-a-disposal-problem/

Walrus · Aug 21, 2020

Canuck
Not to rain on your parade, but if the environment (i. e. garbage and emissions) is one concern leading you to consider going this route, consider this.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/12/23/solar-panel-waste-a-disposal-problem/

Thank you actually another thing to consider. Didn’t look at it from the viewpoint. I’ve read electric car batteries create a similar issue although I didn’t look that much into it. That’s why I specified I’m not an environmental radical as I haven’t schooled myself on the subject and I find a lot of contradictory information. It is a cool idea to harness the sun to provide power but it’s good to consider the whole thing.

pdxleaf · Aug 22, 2020

Canuck
Not to rain on your parade, but if the environment (i. e. garbage and emissions) is one concern leading you to consider going this route, consider this.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/12/23/solar-panel-waste-a-disposal-problem/

The author Watts rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.[4][5][20] He believes that global warming is occurring, but that it is not as bad as has been reported, and that carbon dioxide plays a much smaller part than the sun in causing climatic change.[21][22][23

No degree, a TV weatherman. Consider the source of this op-ed.

I have solar panels, have had them for years. 25 year warranty. No issues. 70k miles on a fully electric car. Which is still only anecdotal. This is a complicated issue for a forum on watches. I can offer encouragement. There should be information from your electric provider and state. Some states are leasing the products to reduce the capital costs. Germany is similar to New England and has alot of solar. But they have governmental support. My in laws family in South Dakota installed geothermal and they are conservative politically but practical. Alaska where I lived 45 years ago is conservative politically but they sure believe in climate change. When I visited on my 60th birthday the Portgage Glacier i used to climb on was two miles away across open water. Alaskans live it.

These are just stories. Everybody can tell a story. You asked if anyone has had a positive experience and I have. I don't get more than 1/5th my energy from solar but I have never thought about it since we installed it. Consider though it won't work if the grid goes down. You will need batteries and an isolated system, which is more money. That is rare and it's cheaper to just get an inverter for outages and install solar without a battery storage. Use the solar or sell it back to the utility.

This is not much technical help I know. You might have a local group to get help from. We formed a group of homes to buy in bulk and got a discount. Your utility may have incentives or advice.

Best of luck and worth looking into.

lindo · Aug 22, 2020

Solar power take up in Australia is growing rapidly - now around one in four homes. Capital and lithium battery costs have been falling so there has been fast growth in the last couple of years. I am looking at it for my home in the near future, but cannot offer detailed advice for your situation.

JimInOz · Aug 22, 2020

lindo
Solar power take up in Australia is growing rapidly - .............................

Too true. And in some ares it's causing problems where the distribution infrastructure can't cope with variation between the peak supply (around midday) and suddenly has to adjust for peak demand when the sun goes down (my simplistic observation).

I suspect that the uptake of solar electric in New England hasn't been as great as in California/Australia etc so there may not be the same integration issues with the grid.

Just research your local energy conscious websites etc and get a good idea of capital costs and feed-in credits etc before you jump in.

Archer · Aug 22, 2020

JimInOz
Too true. And in some ares it's causing problems where the distribution infrastructure can't cope with variation between the peak supply (around midday) and suddenly has to adjust for peak demand when the sun goes down (my simplistic observation).

If this is a real issue, it's because of lack of planning, or a poorly designed grid and control system (possibly both) rather than an issue with solar power.

Walrus · Aug 22, 2020

Archer
If this is a real issue, it's because of lack of planning, or a poorly designed grid and control system (possibly both) rather than an issue with solar power.

My intent was not to create a debate. Everyone is free to say as they please of course. I’m just looking at it locally and wondering if others have found it beneficial

Archer · Aug 22, 2020

Walrus
My intent was not to create a debate. Everyone is free to say as they please of course. I’m just looking at it locally and wondering if others have found it beneficial

Not trying to create a debate either, just commenting that grid issues are not related specifically to solar.

Walrus · Aug 22, 2020

Archer
Not trying to create a debate either, just commenting that grid issues are not related specifically to solar.

No actually what you said made sense I’m just talking more generally and wanted to stress my original intent. Things have gone off the rails easily

Muddlerminnow · Aug 22, 2020

I grew up in Western Massachusetts. During the energy crisis of the early-mid 1970s, my father installed solar water heating on our house--. I don't remember the details, except that it worked well for over 3 decades before it needed replacing. It's not solar electricity, of course, but it did lessen considerably our energy consumption for hot water for our family of four--and every little bit matters. Careful consumption and energy conservation are key issues in lowering your carbon footprint.

Walrus · Aug 22, 2020

Muddlerminnow
I grew up in Western Massachusetts. During the energy crisis of the early-mid 1970s, my father installed solar water heating on our house--. I don't remember the details, except that it worked well for over 3 decades before it needed replacing. It's not solar electricity, of course, but it did lessen considerably our energy consumption for hot water for our family of four--and every little bit matters. Careful consumption and energy conservation are key issues in lowering your carbon footprint.

Funny you say that. Just to clarify I just have one place I rent out. I’m not a professional renter it’s just my wife and myself first house that we rented out rather than selling due to depressed property values at the time. Anyway I hate being a landlord in general but we recently rented the place to a group home that treats patient's with TBI. I needed to collect a years worth of electricity bills from them so I can investigate this solar thing.

yes electrical power around here is expensive but I was shocked at the bills these people are running up. I lived there for over a decade and I know they could do better but since others (federal and state) are footing the bill they leave AC’s running 24/7, lights on all the time etc. it’s a bit crazy. I had installed a heat pump type of unit that will efficiently heat and cool an entire floor at a greatly reduced cost, I don’t think they even use it despite me explaining it’s purpose and function several times. So the most difficult time I’m having at the moment is I have tenants who have no interest in saving money. They look at more as being inconvenienced by the whole thing.

pdxleaf · Aug 22, 2020

Archer
If this is a real issue, it's because of lack of planning, or a poorly designed grid and control system (possibly both) rather than an issue with solar power.

These are both true. Solar is not the only alternative but an alternative. Solor combined with wind, geothermal, hydro etc. Lots of strategic questions. But those can and are being dealt with. Lots of wind turbines out West too.

Solar makes more financial sense in a higher rate area than Oregon where we have cheap electric rates.

You'll need to decide where to put them and how many panels you can fit, which will impact how much you can achieve. If you have property you can place them on the ground. If not, you need flat roof space facing South or possibly West.

I just did a quick google search and several pages came up about New England solar installations. A quick no obligation way to see where you stand would be to have an installer come to your house and talk through options. They know paying for it is an issue and are familiar with the financing methods as well as any incentives. They can tell you how big a system you can squeeze in. They will tell you if you need a new roof first (need 10 years of life left on your roof.) It will jump start your research and help you identify areas you want to do more research in before deciding.

My decision was easy. When I did it I got a 15k dollar system for 1k after local utility, State and Fed credits. The situation has changed but the point is you may be surprised at how affordable it is. And you don't need to figure it all out on your own in advance. There are local guys who have been there who will help you. No need to redesign the grid before you have enough information for your situation. Who knows, maybe some neighbors are thinking about it. Find out if you can get a discount if you get several neighbors to install. We did.

Good luck.

EDIT: there is nothing for your renters to do. Nothing to turn on or off or to monitor. It will work without them knowing. Downside is they could use more electricity now they see solar and think it is free. Demand side is always cheaper than supply. Sounds like your biggest bang for the buck is to figure out how to get them to conserve. Make it hit their wallet some how.

Walrus · Aug 22, 2020

pdxleaf
These are both true. Solar is not the only alternative but an alternative. Solor combined with wind, geothermal, hydro etc. Lots of strategic questions. But those can and are being dealt with. Lots of wind turbines out West too.

Solar makes more financial sense in a higher rate area than Oregon where we have cheap electric rates.

You'll need to decide where to put them and how many panels you can fit, which will impact how much you can achieve. If you have property you can place them on the ground. If not, you need flat roof space facing South or possibly West.

I just did a quick google search and several pages came up about New England solar installations. A quick no obligation way to see where you stand would be to have an installer come to your house and talk through options. They know paying for it is an issue and are familiar with the financing methods as well as any incentives. They can tell you how big a system you can squeeze in. They will tell you if you need a new roof first (need 10 years of life left on your roof.) It will jump start your research and help you identify areas you want to do more research in before deciding.

My decision was easy. When I did it I got a 15k dollar system for 1k after local utility, State and Fed credits. The situation has changed but the point is you may be surprised at how affordable it is. And you don't need to figure it all out on your own in advance. There are local guys who have been there who will help you. No need to redesign the grid before you have enough information for your situation. Who knows, maybe some neighbors are thinking about it. Find out if you can get a discount if you get several neighbors to install. We did.

Good luck.

EDIT: there is nothing for your renters to do. Nothing to turn on or off or to monitor. It will work without them knowing. Downside is they could use more electricity now they see solar and think it is free. Demand side is always cheaper than supply. Sounds like your biggest bang for the buck is to figure out how to get them to conserve. Make it hit their wallet some how.

Yes, just getting the renters to provide the utility bills took me months. One installation company wants to have a three way meeting to explain things to the renters, since I’m dealing with a company everyone passes me off to someone else. I’ll need to do this without their involvement so I’ll need to get specifics on installation and then talk to 39 people to set it up. It’s just a headache but tbh with the current climate in the rental situation if they find this too much of a bother even though it would save them money I’m not going to force it on them if they resist. Doesn’t make a lot of sense I know but I’d like to do it sooner rather than later. But even all this is drifting off topic as it’s a unique situation. I know how to talk to companies etc I was just more curious to find if those who have installed solar are pleased with it and find it financially beneficial

pdxleaf · Aug 22, 2020

Ouch. What a pain. This is why it's good to walk in another person's shoes before giving advice. Your situation has extra challenges.

If it works out, let us later how it went. Curious.

Walrus · Aug 22, 2020

pdxleaf
Ouch. What a pain. This is why it's good to walk in another person's shoes before giving advice. Your situation has extra challenges.

If it works out, let us later how it went. Curious.

I appreciate it but within your advice, which I’m sure you meant well with, you did imply it worked out well for you. The ductless heat pump I installed at the place I used the government tax credit you referred to and that worked out well

pdxleaf · Aug 22, 2020

Thanks for giving me bennefit of the doubt. 😀

My wife and I have thought about renting out several times. Every renter seems to think the landlord is sitting on a pile of cash instead of another family trying to make it work.

Walrus · Aug 22, 2020

pdxleaf
Thanks for giving me bennefit of the doubt. 😀

My wife and I have thought about renting out several times. Every renter seems to think the landlord is sitting on a pile of cash instead of another family trying to make it work.

Ya I’ll give you my thoughts for what it’s worth. I think it’s been about 8 years we’ve doing this now. It has actually worked out. One renters screwed me a bit but fortunately they hightailed it when I mentioned the eviction process. They certainly were not bad people I think they got in over their heads I had no ill will towards them I hope they are doing well. Anyway I’ve only had that one “bad” experience. The people who stay for a year and go are a pain as you gotta get in and paint etc quickly. As I said before I don’t personally like being a landlord and yes many landlords are just normal people trying to move ahead a bit not multiple property owners so we do get a bad rap. I treat people well, I don’t jam them up with late fees if something legitimate happens and they are late. Shoot I’m drifting off topic I guess one needs to evaluate there appetite for additional risk. I rented to a young couple. Two police officers who had recently married. They only stayed for a year as they put money together to buy a house. At the end of the year they thanked me saying I helped them save up money to buy their own place and I showed him how to do several simple home repairs. He told me to mention his or his wife’s name if I ever get pulled over. Fortunately I never had to but when they said I helped them move ahead it did make me feel good.

Solar

Walrus

Marsimaxam

Walrus

Canuck

Walrus

pdxleaf

lindo

JimInOz

Archer

Walrus

Archer

Walrus

Muddlerminnow

Walrus

pdxleaf

Walrus

pdxleaf

Walrus

pdxleaf

Walrus

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