I'll tell you what I know so far.
Did that salesman recently lose his job selling ice to Inuits?
Actually, he is preparing a bid for our Health Center
:-)))))))!!! Cool. Contractor, too, not a salesman. Hippie sort; wife is an enviro ed grad from Cal. (Sez panel supply is very tight, investors).
Hardy the Solar Dude whips out a little gizmo with some buttons and a compass, and a big dome over it. Maybe to keep it dry from the mist we were standing in. He ax if I know where south is. I point. He gets out his toy. I'm a bit east in my guess, but this house was built absolutely perfectly for solar. I think the kids who built it were Mother Earth News reading NY hippies, and they had really studied it. Catches enuf passive solar heat on a clear day to keep it warm enuf at night, even without any fancy gizmos like heat sinks. Then, sez he, wiping water off his dome, and his toy, too, and looking at it, "it's really bright here. It'll be brighter on the roof ." (white or silver metal) :-) On a misty day, mind you.
I'm going straight grid interface. The grid is my battery. If the grid goes down, I go to bed when it gets dark. There is an inverter, which converts the DC into AC for the grid. You need one of those for whatever your end needs, (intertie, back-up, or total off grid), or else a 24 V wired life, so going intertie avoids the storage cost.
A new meter is put in. It spins either way. I don't know if there is a "grid rental" charge on the bills, but you can get a zero bill for the electricity. Unfortunately, you can't do better than zero. If you spin back beyond that, it is free for PGE; corporate welfare, eh?
I was really going to try and load up until I heard that, but what's the point? Maybe if it was a town owned grid, or county, or even state, but I'll be damned if I am gonna pay corporate welfare, beyond taxes. Someday, if shove comes to push, I will do more.
I'm not sure of cost yet. He's crunching numbers, coming up with the most cost effective system, based on my useage.
This is not my contractor, but it gives me,and you, a rough idea. zapsucker.com
Off the top of my head, I'd say the 6.22 KW would be a bit overkill for me which is good. Hardy sez he likes 191 watt panels.
Until 6/30, there is a $2.80/ watt rebate, from the state to the contractor, so you get billed, what, 4K? There is also a California tax creit of 7.5% which makes it a little bit cheaper next April :-) No fed credits unless you are a business; we get screwed again; corporate welfare. The rebate drops 20 cents/watt every 6 months.
Aside from everything else, I really want to get my numbers. That 6.22 sylstem is 1K < budget. That would be cool. But I want to see wht the pay-off time will be for me, as ROI. If it turns out that I spend 4K to zero out, it will have paid for itself in 3 years; 33% ROI. I'm thinking it is about at the point where I can make an argument for it being the best investment at the moment. Not to mention the environment and all that; shhh, people who don't like environments like good ROI's, hee hee. Stealth arguement :-)
Anyway, after payoff, I don't know how you would figure the ROI, especially if electricity goes up; besides, after you start playing with the House's money, and your bet is off the table, who cares? Have fun.
Wharfie |
