hardworkingstiff
Senior Member
- Location
- Wilmington, NC
Very true Bob, but we won't make it work using the cheap oil paradigm.
Harbor Freight solar panel kit...
- Thread starter ultramegabob
- Start date
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Very true Bob, but we won't make it work using the cheap oil paradigm.
ultramegabob
Senior Member
- Location
- Indiana
here is my revised plan, I am going to forget about the window A/C unit for now...
I plan on running the circuit that feeds my living room, I would like to be able to charge the batterys through the day, and use them for watching television in the evening for a few hours. Since I want to do it on a budget I will add onto the system as I can.
I will be running a 155 watt flat screen t.v. and ceiling fan with 3- 13 watt compact fluorescent lamps in it ( I will be buying 3 LED lamps to replace them with) there is also a cordless phone charger that will be on this circuit 24 watts. I will most likely turn motor on the ceiling fan off, and may wind up moving the phone charger to a different circuit.
so far my parts list is-
EasyTran TF151W (single circuit transfer switch) approx $90.00
SunForce 30 amp charge controller approx $80.00
Harbor Freight 45 watt solar panel kits approx $180.00 on sale, and even less with 15% off coupons from flyers
Deep Cycle marine batterys from Walmart approx $70.00 each
Coleman 1500 watt power inverter I already have
LED medium base lights from Sams Club approx $25.00
also I may get a wind generator kit eventually, Menards has a 400 watt unit made by sun force for $500.00
I plan on running the circuit that feeds my living room, I would like to be able to charge the batterys through the day, and use them for watching television in the evening for a few hours. Since I want to do it on a budget I will add onto the system as I can.
I will be running a 155 watt flat screen t.v. and ceiling fan with 3- 13 watt compact fluorescent lamps in it ( I will be buying 3 LED lamps to replace them with) there is also a cordless phone charger that will be on this circuit 24 watts. I will most likely turn motor on the ceiling fan off, and may wind up moving the phone charger to a different circuit.
so far my parts list is-
EasyTran TF151W (single circuit transfer switch) approx $90.00
SunForce 30 amp charge controller approx $80.00
Harbor Freight 45 watt solar panel kits approx $180.00 on sale, and even less with 15% off coupons from flyers
Deep Cycle marine batterys from Walmart approx $70.00 each
Coleman 1500 watt power inverter I already have
LED medium base lights from Sams Club approx $25.00
also I may get a wind generator kit eventually, Menards has a 400 watt unit made by sun force for $500.00
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Megabob, click on this link, and it will tell you how to design an off-grid battery system.
A good white paper to cover the NEC requirement along with some very helpful diagrams can be found here.
A good white paper to cover the NEC requirement along with some very helpful diagrams can be found here.
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Mr. Wizard
Senior Member
- Location
- Texas
I know a guy in Van Alstyne, TX that paid way less than that for his solar array, and his electric bill went from over $500 a month to less than $150 after installation. He plans to add to it soon, and claims his bill will drop to nothing. We'll see.
quogueelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- new york
The payback is very real. However it takes money to make money and you probably need 30-50 grand to lay out for the system and you will see returns in 5 yrs at the current rates. The rates are tied to the oil prices so are you A riverboat gambler?? Hope you got aces and eights if you are.
Van Alstyne is just up the road from me about 30 miles and I find that hard to believe because of the size the system would have to be.
In TX we pay around 13-cents per Kwh. So for him to save $350 per month means he is generating around 90 Kwh per day. To generate 90 Kwh per day in north TX with an average Insolation of 4 hours per day would mean his array is around 25 to 27 KW. That is a monster size solar array and the intial cost well over $100K. So suspect he is pulling your leg a little. It is possible, and there are some giant homes in Van Alstyne, but most are new construction, and I just find it hard to believe a home would ever use 90 KWh per day or more.
Secondly my reference was to stand-alone battery systems in the north which take more panels and batteries making them 2 to 3 times more expensive, not to mention replacing batteries every 5 years or so.
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Mr. Wizard
Senior Member
- Location
- Texas
The house has quite a number of solar panels on both sides of the roof. In fact, on the west side of the home, hardly any shingles can be seen due to the number of panels. He lives a little closer to Anna than to Van Alstyne, and he is very well-to-do. I haven't actually seen the electric bill with my own eyes, but he told me his savings, and I tend to believe him - he wasn't trying to sell me a system :smile: By the way, how's work going in D/FW? A buddy of mine who works for Walker said they are swamped with work.
In DFW commercial and industrial is booming, residential is flat.
Battery systems are expensive and take work to maintain. Unless you are off-grid, like a remote cabin, the vast majority of solar is going to be grid-tied. The grid functions like a free, 100% efficient battery for you.
If you are looking for a small project using a few cheap panels from harbor freight, an attic fan is definitely more realistic than an air conditioner. By the time you get enough modules to run an A/C it would be pretty crazy to not have it grid-tied if possible.
BTW, a grid-tied system is about $7-$10/watt installed and before rebates and tax credits. Depending on where you are the final cost might be less than half of that - maybe even a lot less than half.
p.s. A south facing array tilted at latitude in Amarillo, Texas gets an average of 5.8 solar hours per day. A solar hour is the equivalent of one hour of 1000 watts/square meter of light.
If you are looking for a small project using a few cheap panels from harbor freight, an attic fan is definitely more realistic than an air conditioner. By the time you get enough modules to run an A/C it would be pretty crazy to not have it grid-tied if possible.
BTW, a grid-tied system is about $7-$10/watt installed and before rebates and tax credits. Depending on where you are the final cost might be less than half of that - maybe even a lot less than half.
p.s. A south facing array tilted at latitude in Amarillo, Texas gets an average of 5.8 solar hours per day. A solar hour is the equivalent of one hour of 1000 watts/square meter of light.
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My solar PV system cost 20k plus installation. I had to pay 10k because I got a federal credit and state rebate. I borrowed the 10k; I pay 55 per month on the loan. $33 is interest on that interest, I deduct $8 thru taxes. So I pay $47 per month.....PV saves me about $80 per month off my bill. My old $100 per month is now $20 per month. This occurs because PGE gives credit at .33 per kw from noon to 6 PM. Without subsides I would lose $ every month. But with the subsidies I save $33 per month. Do you care to guess what nuclear, coal, oil, nat. gas electricity costs without subsides? And I saved a polar bear.
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