Going Solar

[bigdaddystar]

yeah dont be fooled....they tell everyone 4 to 5 years (but of course its allin how fast you want to pay it off) reality is it is 10 years of trading your normal electric bill for a solar bill then you get 10 years of free power(most cases) but the equipment and panels will be trash after 20 years. then you have to replace them

 

[dgarrets]

Does Real Good Solar doing any work out our way? This sounds interesting? Can someone PM me their info?

 

[Kenfuzed]

Just out of curiosity, if there is a power outage, will there still be electricity? Is the power generated stored temporarily somewhere or does it just go back into the grid? That would be cool if it can almost act like a backup generator, at least during the day when the sun is still up.

Currently (no pun intended) most solar systems are grid tied and the system will shut down when the power goes out. The main reason for the system shutting down has more to do with safety. Because the system is tied to the grid, if it continued to push power back through the utility lines during an outage and a lineman was working on repairing a downed line your system could potentially electrocute them. There are ways to set up backup batteries but this requires you to be able to isolate from the grid. I understand that there are those developing specialized systems that will eventually handle switching but I would imagine that Edison would want some sort of assurance that you aren't powering up their grid when they shut it down.

The best alternative is to set up a separate UPS that kicks in during a power failure. I set up a Tripplite backup that has a deep cycle battery capable of running my tank for 7 hours.

Does Real Good Solar doing any work out our way? This sounds interesting? Can someone PM me their info?

I think they work out that way, I know they have built systems all over California. I don't want to turn this into a plug for this one company, I'm sure there are many good solar installers out there. Plus I don't want this thread closed

 

[bullitr]

Btw
Real goods solar is based in temecula
pm me if you have more question

 

[Kenfuzed]

Shelly, the only reason for the January date is this company is booked until then. All of the plans and permits are being worked on right now. The work will also include a new roof that is going on next month. I also live in a city that is permit he!! and nothing happens here without a couple of retired part time engineers picking through every plan slower than a sea slug.

 

[kajung2k]

... watch out for those pigeons!~!!

 

[Kenfuzed]

... watch out for those pigeons!~!!

Not many pigeons near my house, probably because I live within a mile of a KFC.

 

[arcab4]

reviving this thread a bit. didn't want to start a new one. but was looking into solar and wanted to see if anyone had another other recommendations for companies out there. the one i talked to was called Future Energy Savers. in a nutshell..this was what i was told off the top of my head.

- 7% increase for sce bills next year
- eventually sce is switching to time of usage billing instead of the tier (so for example, like 12pm-7pm would be billed at the highest tier) - which is why they have those smart meters so they're keeping track of your usage in some ways.
- my bill is approximately $100-$120/month. Said that I would need the 3K system in order to wipe out my bill and accrue some credit.
- extra power i generate, is rolled over or can be sold back to sce.
- this company says if i get a 3K system, they will design the system to get me the 3k. there's no limit on like how many panels they will use and etc. they'll do whatever it takes to get 3k power out of it.
- they use this 'all black panels' - meaning there's no grid marks on them. just literally all black. with microconverters behind each one.

for those with solar, is there anything i need to look out for in terms of deciding which company to go with. I am looking to buy instead of lease to take advantage of the rebates and keeping the extra power it generates.

 

[jabel]

Make sure you totally understand their warranty info. I went with a lease paid up front which is similar to a purchase. But it included 20 years or warrantied parts due to the lease aspect. I'd suggest shopping around too. Get at least 3 quotes. Its very competative out there so you can use your quotes against each other. Finally make sure you fully understand how that power gets rolled over or sold back to SCE. For the DWP I found out that I had to be signed up for the time of use meter to take full advantage. Otherwise I still had to pay generation fees for the power I used in the winter. My solar co had no idea.
Like the micro inverters. They are the best.
Let me know if you have other questions. Had panels on my house for ~2 yrs and I love it.
Jeff

 

[keepLearning]

What about having a sky light? I have seen that somewhere in this or socali forum. The guy actually has a huge tank in his shed or enclosed patio. He got 3 sky lights beam directly to the open top tank. This is just like in the wild where corals get their sun light. I figure that guy needs a chiller, but that was it.

 

[pandimus]

reviving this thread a bit. didn't want to start a new one. but was looking into solar and wanted to see if anyone had another other recommendations for companies out there. the one i talked to was called Future Energy Savers. in a nutshell..this was what i was told off the top of my head.

- 7% increase for sce bills next year
- eventually sce is switching to time of usage billing instead of the tier (so for example, like 12pm-7pm would be billed at the highest tier) - which is why they have those smart meters so they're keeping track of your usage in some ways.
- my bill is approximately $100-$120/month. Said that I would need the 3K system in order to wipe out my bill and accrue some credit.
- extra power i generate, is rolled over or can be sold back to sce.
- this company says if i get a 3K system, they will design the system to get me the 3k. there's no limit on like how many panels they will use and etc. they'll do whatever it takes to get 3k power out of it.
- they use this 'all black panels' - meaning there's no grid marks on them. just literally all black. with microconverters behind each one.

for those with solar, is there anything i need to look out for in terms of deciding which company to go with. I am looking to buy instead of lease to take advantage of the rebates and keeping the extra power it generates.

what would your upfront cost be? Is it a lease or own?

 

[arcab4]

thanks for the information. what companies if you guys have solar would recommend? i'd like to shop around and see how much costs are.

@pandimus - it's owned. i'm not sure if i'm allowed to say the price here but pm and i'll let you know.

 

[pandimus]

thanks for the information. what companies if you guys have solar would recommend? i'd like to shop around and see how much costs are.

@pandimus - it's owned. i'm not sure if i'm allowed to say the price here but pm and i'll let you know.

please do..

 

[bullitr]

Johnny
I have the same as Jeff
Real good solar and Ryan was my contact
He can go to you and check what you need it's free ! If you don't like it he will not bother you like other salesman.

Let me know I recommend a lot of guys to him and they are very happy

 

[pandimus]

send me a text..

 

[zmust]

I got quotes from quite a few companies and Real Solar was more expensive and I finally went with Verengo.

Timeline:
March 14 - Executed contract
May 21 - Installation
May 25 - City Approval
May 29 - Documents sent to SCE
July 10 - Called SCE about approval delay (claimed my signature was illegible due to scanning, and they never notified me but had notified Verengo), and mentioned that I would write a letter to CPUC. Verengo do not check their paperwork.
July 11 - Approval received from SCE

Potentially, I am supposed to get 1100 kw per month through the year.
It has 32 Sharp panels rated at 285w and 85 % efficiency(?) and should produce
7752kw per hour. When I got SCE approval at the earlier stages, it was down to 6.8kW.
The 2 inverters are rated at 3.0 and 3.8, and should produce a maximum of 6.8kw per hour.

Now, the actual statistics.

I have been running it for 20 days now and it has only been producing an average of 3500 kwh per day, with the maximum actual production per inverter being 2,429w and
2,891, respectively on two different days. It has never reached the maximum it is supposed to even though about 80 to 90% of the time it is sunny and clear.
The maximum I have seen combined is about 4.5kwh and I was expecting about 6.8.

The amount during summer production is supposed to offset the winter production and I was expecting to produce over 1500kwh during the summer months.

I will have to call them up and check as to why this is so low.

Anybody else have any lowered expectations because the breakeven point gets even longer and the expected rate of return gets lower..

 

[jabel]

You'll have to talk to the solar co. The max amount has to do with the angle of the sun and clarity of the air as well. You'll never reach the max amount. Your solar co should have all this calculated and should have told you what to expect. I think going with micro inverters gets you better overall performance, but its newer technology.
Jeff

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

What about having a sky light? I have seen that somewhere in this or socali forum. The guy actually has a huge tank in his shed or enclosed patio. He got 3 sky lights beam directly to the open top tank. This is just like in the wild where corals get their sun light. I figure that guy needs a chiller, but that was it.

That guy would be me. and no I don't run a chiller. The tank is a 400g tank in a sunroom I built onto the back of the house.

Also as for solar, I looked into it as well becaus eof what I had seen and read on here. Fo me, I spent about 3Grand on new equipment and lowered my electric bill so it is now cheapier for me to stay on the grid than convert to Solar. I finally had one of teh solar reps tell me that if I could get down into the tier 2 level, it was cheapier to stay on the grid.

I replaced my MH lights with three 10" solar tubes. Installed a PAR 38 20K LED bulb in each tube for my blues. Replaced my hammerhead and baracudda external pumps with Korallia 1400's and a red sea pro wave maker. Went to a smaller skimmer that was more geard for my 400G tank. Got rid of my smaller tank.
I wound up dropping my electric bill from $500 a month to $175 a month. I Have better, more natural lighting with more glitter lines than I could ever get from a MH light. And the colors in my fish are brighter than I've ever seen under Mh lights. Plus it looks more like a natural reef that I remember snorkling on.

Don't mind the diatoms on the sand, I'm in the process of redoing everything. This was shortly after tearing the tank down to remove my closed loops. Just a mini cycle.

LED lights at night.

 

[xxvietxjustinxx]

Maybe I should get my parents on board this train for their house. The main thing I'm worried that the panels wont last as long as advertised. They say in 20 years it'll have to be replaced, but how do they know that if the technology hasn't been around that long to test? It's not to say that I'm not a a believer in solar energy; it's if it's worth it. Thoughts?

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

The good pannels are warrentied to produce X amount of electricity for 30 years. But by then, techonology will have advanced so far that it will be a moot point.