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In Reply to: RE: 1/2 way there posted by b.l.zeebub on April 28, 2016 at 03:40:37
All the reps that came out (I auditioned four companies) creamed in their overalls when they saw the garage. Out here the prime structures are those facing South (San Diego). The garage faces South without any shade. Plus it's non-dwelling which means if they had to they could've gone 'edge-to-edge' (whereas a house would require a 3' area around all edges for fire code.
The house on the other hand faces West, which only catches the Sun as she descends. There's another roof on the South side of the house they could've added more panels but the 20 they're placing on the garage will create approx 700-800 kw per month which is about 5% more than I avg annually.I watched a news cast last night where a customer had 60 panels installed by a company called Vivnt; they missed drilled lag screws over 42 times causing over $37K roof damage! So yes; you're pretty much at the mercy of who they contract out. This company doesn't contract out, there's only 4-5 of em', who are professional roofers and electricians by trade.
Edits: 04/28/16Follow Ups:
I'm curious about being able to store the energy produced. Can that be done, so that you still have electricity available at night or during cloudy days or stormy weather?
:)
In my area, the residential "renewable" energy situation doesn't address storage.
The present business model is based on the homeowner receiving a govt subsidy for initial investment and installation AND the power company being required to purchase excess energy from the residential installation at residential retail rates. Handling the swings in power demand are left to power company. The power company is also required to supply the residential installation with backup power for periods when the alternate source isn't generating sufficient energy such as on cloudy days and at night.
Power companies believe this situation places an undue financial and infrastructure burden on them and have begun to lobby for law changes that allow them charge backup power service rates to the resident and to purchase excess power at bulk rates and not residential rates. If this initiative prevails, the economics of residential renewable power generation are blown out of the water, at least where I live. Of course, the residential renewable energy industry is also doing their share of lobbying so it's not clear which side will prevail.
With that scenario, the gov is basically telling the power utilities to buy a product and then sell it for the same price, and to provide services for free. That's dumb, but that's government. Let me know when you find a company which can buy a product, store it, and sell it for the same price they bought it, and be able to pay their employees to manage the processes and maintain the infrastructure.Personally, I think government should get out of the subsidy business. Why are they forcing other people to help pay for someone's solar installation? That makes no sense, either. They also subsidize ethanol (corn) producers to produce a product with a lower energy content than gasoline and which damages the consumer's vehicle engine. Who thinks that's a good idea?
:)
Edits: 04/29/16
...mortgage interest deduction? Charitable organization tax deduction? Oil depletion allowance? Etc, etc, etc. Be careful what you wish for................
Is the Tesla home battery still sold out?
I read about that product last year - here. I just looked at the link which you provided, and they say "reserve yours", so it wouldn't surprise me if they're backlogged.
But shirley there are other companies who've figure out how to generate electricity and put it into a battery. That should be a "duh" project for any electrical engineer. Maybe I should get off my lazy butt and Google it.
:)
The Telsa battery is unproven and quite expensive, about $5K. Then you have to add transfer switches and installation making it about $7-8K. And it's not big enough to store energy on cloudy days and barely big enough to make it overnight, so realistically, most families would need two or even three of the batteries.
You could use marine type batteries, but they need maintenance and venting to be safe which really means that they need to be installed outside away from the house adding more complexity.
To top it off, these batteries only last 5 to 7 years at best, so you're spending a bunch of money for a solution that isn't foolproof like just buying a generator that always works as a backup.
With the current net metering, I can produce 70 kWh on a day like today and only use 30 kWh during the day. At night, I can draw back from my surplus. It's simpler and cheaper than fooling around with batteries.
-Rod
In areas, like here in SoCal, we NEVER have brownouts or electric cuts at night. So, when you are putting the maximum from your solar back TO the grid, you are also probably using the most. Peak Summer Demand ALWAYS goes right along with the hottest days and greatest AirCon usage.
The only advantage is potentially making it so that the power company doesn't have to build as much extra capacity.
Cost of the Tesla battery will come down when a couple things happen. COMPETITION from others. Also, when production glitches are worked out and economies of scale kick in.
Too much is never enough
such would require 'banks' of batteries which would cost several thousands of dollars.
Best bet would be a couple hundred dollar gas generator.
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