Solar panels on SBH

[waynek]

If not for electricity why not use solar as a heat source for pools in SBH? I put in evacuated tube solar panels on my house in Toronto last season to supplement my NatGas heater for my pool. My payback will be about three years and the cost was about C$4.5k.

Surely this would make even more sense in SBH as the pools are small and the ambient temperature is quite high Anand the pool season is 12 months vs 4 months. A relatively small panel would be enough to heat the pool to a more comfortable temperature. Or maybe no one cares enough to heat the pool water as pool heaters seem relatively rare in the villas that I have rented. It seems strange to me to have a villa worth something like €2-3M and not heat the pool.

And I still think PEV makes tons of sense in the islands rather than burning diesel.

 

[stbartshopper]

The owners of the Villa we always rent invested in solar panels and they just did not do the job. Maybe it was not enough sun? Anyway they are still in place but are not used.

 

[waynek]

I noticed that one of the villas that you can see from Gouverneur beach, I think it is Ancre de Gouverneur, has solar panels mounted. I couldn't tell from the distance if they were for water or PEV.

 

[waynek]

There is an article in the March 3, 2016 issue promoting the use of solar energy and apparently the Collectivite will help to finance the purchase of panels. It also mentions that there are hurricane proof mountings.

 

[RickyG]

Off Grid system I completed out in the weedz, has performed well over the past few months.

 

[waynek]

Are those standard car batteries? You need to invest in a Tesla PowerWall.

This past summer I installed 10kW of panels on my house in Toronto. Here in Ontario there is a very favourable tariff for solar through a program called MicroFIT so I earn $0.384/kWh. If I generate the estimated amount of power the payback is about 7 years.

 

[MIke R]

I use Trogan batteries....it's all I use on both my house solar system and my boat solar system......outstanding performance

http://www.trojanbattery.com/reliantagm/

 

[RickyG]

Thats what I have....Trojan L-16-RE-B 6V, 370AH

 

[NYCFred]

Recently had a ride in a Tesla - an amazing car and a really fun ride. Hard to understand the restrictions, other than the power of unions...

Who wants a coal powered automobile in 2016?

On a related note, would love to do solar on FI. South facing shed roof, and the place is empty 6 months of the year. I'd be making $$$.

Do not under any circumstances fall for the free "We'll put panels on your roof and split the $$$" scheme. Involves leasing your roof to the panel operator, and can hamper the sale of the house or encumer the new homeowner.

 

[waynek]

Who wants a coal powered automobile in 2016?

So then get rid of coal fired plants as we have here in Ontario. Even if your electricity source is primarily coal, an electric vehicle still has less GHGs. See http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-cars-green . Even in coal heavy countries like China, India and Australia the emissions of EVs are about he same as regular gasoline powered cars. In other parts of the world, even in the US, electric cars have far fewer GHG emissions.

And if you put up solar panels then you are offsetting much of the "dirty" electricity used by your car. And given the fact that you are likely to charge your car at night the electricity going into your car is likely to be cleaner than average.

Here in Ontario the bulk of our power comes from nuclear and hydro. At night, when I charge my Tesla, on average about 5% of the electricity is being produced by natural gas plants, 0% by coal or any other carbon based fuel source and the CO2e Intensity is about 24g/kWh. See http://live.gridwatch.ca/home-page.html

The only coal that I would be using would be from the Kintigh Coal fired plant in Somerset, NY that I can see from my house across Lake Ontario on clear days (assuming that Ontario was importing power from NY state which is rare).

But to get back on topic - I assume that the electricity generated on SBH comes from a diesel powered plant - isn't it located by the industrial port? Surely offsetting that with solar as much as possible is a good thing, n'est ce pas?

 

[elgreaux]

Yes but the initial cost of the panels and installation is high, as has been pointed out they don't seem to work as well as promised other than for hot water (we've had friends try on a few occasions and give up)... also not so good in a hurricane, might not be insured for winds over 150 mph.... for some reason they really haven't caught on yet... and we use very little electricity actually... I would be willing to try solar hot water heaters one of these days...

 

[NYCFred]

So then get rid of coal fired plants as we have here in Ontario. Even if your electricity source is primarily coal, an electric vehicle still has less GHGs. See http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-cars-green . Even in coal heavy countries like China, India and Australia the emissions of EVs are about he same as regular gasoline powered cars. In other parts of the world, even in the US, electric cars have far fewer GHG emissions.

And if you put up solar panels then you are offsetting much of the "dirty" electricity used by your car. And given the fact that you are likely to charge your car at night the electricity going into your car is likely to be cleaner than average.

Here in Ontario the bulk of our power comes from nuclear and hydro. At night, when I charge my Tesla, on average about 5% of the electricity is being produced by natural gas plants, 0% by coal or any other carbon based fuel source and the CO2e Intensity is about 24g/kWh. See http://live.gridwatch.ca/home-page.html

The only coal that I would be using would be from the Kintigh Coal fired plant in Somerset, NY that I can see from my house across Lake Ontario on clear days (assuming that Ontario was importing power from NY state which is rare).

But to get back on topic - I assume that the electricity generated on SBH comes from a diesel powered plant - isn't it located by the industrial port? Surely offsetting that with solar as much as possible is a good thing, n'est ce pas?

Our Greens frown upon both Nuclear and Hydro.

AAMAF, we're in the process of dismantling priceless, clean renewable hydro dams because fish.

(And congrats. You're the first non-coal powered Teslette I've met).

 

[NYCFred]

Yes but the initial cost of the panels and installation is high, as has been pointed out they don't seem to work as well as promised other than for hot water (we've had friends try on a few occasions and give up)... also not so good in a hurricane, might not be insured for winds over 150 mph.... for some reason they really haven't caught on yet... and we use very little electricity actually... I would be willing to try solar hot water heaters one of these days...

Sit on your hands for a bit. I don't think panel efficiency will follow Moore's Law, but I do think better efficiencies are only a matter of (short) time...likewise for batteries.

 

[elgreaux]

Sit on your hands for a bit. I don't think panel efficiency will follow Moore's Law, but I do think better efficiencies are only a matter of (short) time...likewise for batteries.

yes I agree. thanks!

 

[waynek]

(And congrats. You're the first non-coal powered Teslette I've met).

Go to Norway, it is the second largest market for Tesla (after the US) and none of them run on coal. There are several thousand of us in Ontario and Quebec and lots of Tesla owners also have their own solar panels so they would likely also be non-coal, at least on a net basis. And I believe that California only gets about 7% of its electricity from Coal and you find lots of Teslas there.

 

[rtfield]

There is an article in the March 3, 2016 issue promoting the use of solar energy and apparently the Collectivite will help to finance the purchase of panels. It also mentions that there are hurricane proof mountings.

Could you provide more information on this article? The March 3, 2016 issue of...

Thanks!
Russell

 

[rtfield]

At least in the context of Gustavia, I've heard from a SBH government official that PV solar panels are discouraged because of the aesthetic effect they would have on the town. I have to admit that the red roofs do look nice. I happen to think solar panels look pretty nice too, though, but there is a lot of personal preference there.

Russell

 

[waynek]

I started this thread on my 2014 visit to SBH. I am back and I noticed in the Tropical Saint-Barth magazine for this year (No26) there is info on solar panels. It also points out that EdF charges the same price for electricity in all French territories - so the folks in France are subisidizing the cost of electricity in SBH and not providing an incentive to move away from the diesel generator.

..the electricity bills of the St Barts residents do no relect this cost difference, as the island benefits from 'cross-subsidization' , which stipulates that the tariff for electricity on French national territories is equal for all consumers. In practice this means that EDF SEI, (the long-time electricity supplier for St. Barts and for the majority of Frech overseas departments and collectivities) sells its electricity at a loss, the difference being compensated by the payment of a contribution CSPE, levied on the electricity bills of consumers in mainland France.

There are at least two solar installers listed in the magazine and it sounds like their is a "plan" in place to try to make the island much more self-dependent by 2025. But you still see very few solar panels in SBH. It also points out that the steep roofs typical in SBH are not great for panels at this latitude - they should be more horizontal. So car ports or the roofs of terraces may be a better place for panels.

 

[stbartshopper]

We have friends who have tried in several different places at their Villas and found them not to be worthwhile so they gave up.

 

[waynek]

We have friends who have tried in several different places at their Villas and found them not to be worthwhile so they gave up.

Not worthwhile in what sense? The payback is too long or they didn't produce enough power or they produced power during the day when it wasn't needed due to lack of storage? But it is interesting to know that one of the reasons that it isn't financially worthwhile is that the diesel generated power in SBH is sold at a loss.