Solar panels

[tmosley]

Your wife thinks solar panels are ugly? Having a roof full of solar panels scores big points socially, and I think they really make a house look beautiful.

Depending on how large your plot is, you should be able to put them on the ground if that would be an easier battle for you. The set I bought at the beginning of this thread is sitting on the ground in front of my house. I'm going to move it back to the well house before too long, as soon as I can get an electrician to come out and wire it up properly for me.

 

[Elwar]

Your wife thinks solar panels are ugly? Having a roof full of solar panels scores big points socially, and I think they really make a house look beautiful.

I'll be building a guest/pool house down the road and she gave me free reign on the design...I'm thinking a full solar roof.

 

[tmosley]

Sweet.

 

[jkr]

they DO look just like shingles now...flat, "terracotta"

 

[Bradley in DC]

I've been one of the biggest cheerleaders for Walmart, but I would advise not shopping there.

Pulling their sponsorship of Glenn Beck reeks of fascism.

They didn't pull their sponsorship of Glenn Beck--they pulled their ads from all of them.

 

[Deborah K]

Deb: How big of an inverter do you want, and do you want it to hook to batteries, the grid, or both?

As for bulk pricing, I have found a website that seems to do just that. They have panels for as little as $2/watt (those go fast, so you have to buy them as soon as they are available). http://sunelec.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5&zenid=775a308a355ec768a556a4ccde8e61ab

Actually, I just looked, on the front page there, they have some for 1.98 per watt. That is cheaper than I have seen anywhere.

tmosley, Mark isn't sure how big the inverter should be but thinks we'll need about 7kw to run our house. ?????? We are big do-it-yourselfers but will need to study up on all of this.....

 

[tmosley]

tmosley, Mark isn't sure how big the inverter should be but thinks we'll need about 7kw to run our house. ?????? We are big do-it-yourselfers but will need to study up on all of this.....

Deb,

7kw is a LOT, unless he is talking about a maximum load (ie with the Microwave, Dishwasher, dryer running). Since you are going off grid, I would tend to err on the side of caution and get an inverter with 2X the amount of juice that you would need. You'll probably find yourself doing a lot more to conserve once you start switching over to solar power, so you may not need as big of a system as you think.

Another good thing about grid tie, you don't have to worry about spike loads like microwaves, so you need only get an inverter that is the same size as your solar array.

 

[Deborah K]

Deb,

7kw is a LOT, unless he is talking about a maximum load (ie with the Microwave, Dishwasher, dryer running). Since you are going off grid, I would tend to err on the side of caution and get an inverter with 2X the amount of juice that you would need. You'll probably find yourself doing a lot more to conserve once you start switching over to solar power, so you may not need as big of a system as you think.

Another good thing about grid tie, you don't have to worry about spike loads like microwaves, so you need only get an inverter that is the same size as your solar array.

Yeah, 7kws is a lot but the house is 3000 s.f. with a well. And in the summer it gets over 100 degrees for a couple months. In the winter it gets down to freezing. Plus, my 86 year old mother in law lives with us and we have to strive to keep her comfortable.

I'll tell Mark what you relayed. Thanks buddy.

 

[tmosley]

Ok, Sun Electronics is now selling amorphous Si solar cells for 98 cents/watt, and crystalline cells for $1.75/watt. Just FYI.

http://sunelec.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=543

http://sunelec.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=262

I'm about ready to move forward on this The price is right, and the probability that energy prices will be going to the moon shortly due to foolish energy and economic policy coming to a head...

Word of warning on the amorphous cells, they are a LOT bigger than the crystalline ones. You likely won't be able to fit them on your roof, and these aren't as good looking as the crystalline ones. If I decide to get those, I'll be putting them in the back yard. I may build a nice frame that will allow me to put a tarp over it in case of hail.

 

[pmbug]

I got myself a Sun Oven (sunoven.com) over the holidays and cooked myself a Paella with it. It worked great. With a clear sky, but low winter sun, the oven maintained 350F from 11am - 2pm and probably would have lasted at 350F 'till 3pm, but I didn't leave it out that long.

I put the pot in the oven around 11:30am (I had heated the oven @11am in order to off-gas/clean it first). When the pot went into the oven (after cleaning), it was cold (not pre-heated). I pulled it out an hour later and, while it was hot, the brown rice was not cooked and the water was not boiling. I stirred it up a bit and reset it into the oven. The oven had dropped from 350F to 250F in the interim. The oven got back to 350F within 5 minutes and almost immediately, I saw steam condensing on the glass door, so I knew the water was boiling.

When I pulled the pot out ~40 minutes later, it was done. It turned out great which really surprised me as I expected some difficulties while climbing the learning curve.

 

[Elwar]

Sweet...

So, why did the oven drop from 350F to 250F?