anyone use solar panels here for electric?

[misteroman]

have been looking into getting solar panels for the motel as it is about $900-1000 a mo for electric. The one time I looking into it I was told about $50K and would save about $300 a mo. That seemed too high and was wondering if anyone knew of a good website or company to inquire with.
Thanks

[Nickelless]

That price sounds about 5 to 10 times too high, Derek. I've been researching solar panels myself as I'd like to outfit my soon-to-be house with them, and the price range I keep hearing is $5K to $10K. How long ago did you hear $50K and how much power generation were you told that you'd get? I don't have a per-watt price, but for $50K that sounds like you'd get a small-scale industrial setup instead of just the power you'd need for an average house.

I'll do some more research, too, and I'll let you know if I come across any new cost estimates.

[PennyPauper]

You should look into any state programs being offered,there is also a 30% federal tax rebate.I am still regreting not having a system installed after we bought our house.Should have used the home buyers tax credit towards it but we had other expenses and landscaping the backyard for the kids and unexpected sewer issues.In some states the rebates are so good,plus the srec credits on top of that it is very cost effective.I guess you are in NY state and I'm not sure what kind of programs are available there.But if you can have a system pay for itself within 10 years it should be a good investment.Most systems have a 20-30 lifespan.You want to have micro inverters installed on every panel,its complex but you end up generating more wattage.http://www.enphaseenergy.com/products/m ... videos.cfm. 6-7 dollars per kw is the going rate I beleive,the bigger the system the lower the cost.You have to have a southern facing roof to get maximum generation.Do some internet searching on it and you will find installers,especially if your state has a rebate program.I have a cousin in NJ who was approached by a installer,basically she will get a system for free if she signs over here srec credits for the next 10 years.A 6kw system might produce 7 credits per year which have a $700+ per credit value last time I checked.Here is a link to the guy who I delt with
http://www.solaruniverse.com/northernpennsylvania he may not be able to install for you but may be able to point you in the right direction,he's a franshise of a very large installer.Or here is another link which I was looking at http://www.solareps.com/?utm_source=afc ... ystonehelp
There is alot to understand in solar but it isn't too complex,do your own research and calculations,there is a big rush to install systems with all the money being thrown around by states and the feds.You have to know if its right for your location,budget and future returns.Good luck and I'll poke around for other links I have and post them.

[Rosco]

The High Price Is Probably due to better storage battery's un-less you will just flood net-work during day then suck it back all night.

Try An outfit called http://www.autohaus.bz

A solar power auto shop in Eugene, OR

We RV An see some solar on roof works for some but you need 6 Or more 6 volts battery's and great inverter to bring it back to 120

LESS EXPENSIVE FOR WHAT YOU GET BACK IS SOLAR HOT WATER JMHO
sorry for caps one hand is hard Will find out Monday how many weeks for cast to stay on

[PennyPauper]

http://www.powernaturally.com/ NY state site

[Copper Catcher]

I serve as a member of the board of a local utilities commission i.e. 300 million in sales and I think it ranks the 46th largest utility in the country.

I asked about solar usage recently and there are only a hand full of people that have installed solar panels on their homes in the service area. Even with the tax incentives the numbers do not work so it would show a real return on your investment over a short period of time. The prices of the solar panels have to come down in order to make that happen and worth your investment.

Interestingly they have developed solar shingles, but again too expensive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_shingles

http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/product ... ar-shings/

[Nickelless]

Personally, I'd approach this not in terms of a return on investment but rather having electricity when the grid goes down. If we end up with brownouts or rolling blackouts if the grid becomes either overloaded or dead, at least I'd have power...and I'd have to break out my blackout curtains so the neighbors won't get jealous:

http://goldismoney2.com/showthread.php? ... t-curtains

[alpacafarmer]

50K sounds cheap to replace $1000 a month usage. After the tax credit you would be paid back in full in less than 3 years. I have been looking at solar for my home and it is going to cost me $18,000 for a grid tie system that would replace 70% of electric usage and jumps to about $34,000 if I want to go to off grid.

[misteroman]

http://nyserda.cleanpowerestimator.com/default.aspx
Just some figuring on there and if my bill was 10k a mo. I'd save something like 3 or 400 a mo but it would cost me 150K AFTER incentives.
Dang

[Nickelless]

http://nyserda.cleanpowerestimator.com/default.aspx
Just some figuring on there and if my bill was 10k a mo. I'd save something like 3 or 400 a mo but it would cost me 150K AFTER incentives.
Dang

How much would it cost you and/or your business if you didn't have power at all? I'd look at this as an infrastructure investment, because things could really suck if there was a prolonged or permanent grid failure. Of course, that assumes having money to invest in the first place, but I'd think that ensuring relative permanence of a power source would be its own return-on-investment. How long can you live without electricity in upstate NY in the winter, Derek?

[alpacafarmer]

I went to the Mother Earth Fair this week end and talked to a guy about solar. He was swamped with people. He says with a grid tie system he goes for a 5 to 7 year payback. Most of the numbers I have looked at show more like a 15 to 18 year payback. He also said if you go off grid you loose a lot of the incentives and double your payback period. I'm going to have him come out and do a site evaluation and put some numbers together for me.

[Nickelless]

I went to the Mother Earth Fair this week end and talked to a guy about solar. He was swamped with people. He says with a grid tie system he goes for a 5 to 7 year payback. Most of the numbers I have looked at show more like a 15 to 18 year payback. He also said if you go off grid you loose a lot of the incentives and double your payback period. I'm going to have him come out and do a site evaluation and put some numbers together for me.

Let us know what he says. I'd be really interested in hearing the numbers he gives you.

[Delawhere Jack]

Photovoltaic is a long way from practical at the moment. They need to bring the cost per peak watt output down by about 50% for it to make sense, given the current grid priced power in most areas. It is possible that they can achieve this with some of the new manufacturing processing that are developing -- and economies of scale -- but it will probably also involve moving the plants to China......

I'd like to see an on demand, natural gas powered generation system for the home, with a minimal battery system to absorb spikes in load when the system has to come online. Aside from your fridge and AC, how much power do you use 24/7? Your at work 40hrs +/- a week, and asleep about 56hrs/wk. That's over half of the 168hrs in a week, so peak usage is, at most 72hrs/wk. You'd pretty much eliminate the transmission losses, which I've read can be as much as 90%. And one thing we do have in abundance here in North America is natural gas.