Solar panels on SBH
- Thread starter waynek
- Start date
stbartshopper
Senior Insider
The owners of the Villa we rent each year installed solar panels on the ground. They said they were expensive to purchase and install and did not do the job adequately of heating the water and so they gave up and stuck with the propane.
MIke R
Senior Insider
as I have said..I dont believe solar panels to heat water 24/7 is an efficient use of solar energy at all...I cut my gas consumption by 23% going tankless and fired by propane..a much bigger bang for the buck going that route than solar....and then I took my solar energy and redirected to more useful purposes like powering lights and small appliances
JEK
Senior Insider
Lot's of stuff on eBay http://www.ebay.com/bhp/unisolar -- but: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Conversion_Devices
PIRATE40
Senior Insider
....Big fan of the tankless heaters also....Mine run on Natural gas, just pennies to take a hot shower. While we are on the energy saving subject, I replaced all my 75 watt halogens in my store with Toshiba LED floods and spots....some months my usage is half, most times at least 40% less than before. Have to get the right Toshibas and the 4000K light color...
MIke R
Senior Insider
exactly....next time go Rinnai...gas....keeping water hot 24/7 is simply nuts......and outdated
MIke R
Senior Insider
yeah we re looking at LED spots too .....need to keep it warm white though....dont want it looking hospital stark white
fins85258
Senior Insider
We are in the process of doing an energy retrofit in St Croix and here is an example of how solar panels can work for you. The end result is "Net Metering" where you generate power and it runs backwards into the grid and inturn turns your meter backwards or greatly slows it down. One of the guys down there just finishe puting avout 1500 sq. ft. of paneles on his house because the cost of power is structured as follows. He is charged about $75-90.oo/mo for power but the fuel surcharge from the power company runs about $350.oo/mo. The cost of doing the retrofit on his home was around $13,500.oo and so the payback is in about 2-1/2 years if he can hit and maintain zero.
What can you do with an extra$500.oo a month?
What can you do with an extra$500.oo a month?
Bart -my real name-
Senior Insider
This thread has evolved to off island matters, so I'll ask, how did you guys pick your solar installer/system/pannel type, etc? I haven't done a ton of research, but so far, I'm surprised at how little information there is out there. Lot's info on this company or that, and lots of info on the science behind solar, but not a whole lot on Brand X of pannel vs Brand Y and things like that.
MIke R
Senior Insider
there is really not much too it...there are essentially two types of panels...Monocrystalline Silicon and Polycrsyatlline silicon with the former being more efficient....Mono also makes electricity better on cloudy days....other than that they are basically the same....with wattage deliveries being different...more watts..more money...they also come soft and pliable or hard and glass.....the other thing you need is some kind of voltage regulator
JEK
Senior Insider
Bart -- these guys have a good website on the technology and options. Elon Musk of Tesla fame is the chair of the board and his cousins are the founders.
http://www.solarcity.com/residential/
http://www.solarcity.com/residential/
Bart -my real name-
Senior Insider
Thanks folks!
When I was poking around on the web, I found this site: http://costofsolar.com/ with a message of "input your information and we'll tell you how much you'll save". I did that and the infomation was vague, but they called me and we talked. They're supposed to send a guy out to do a real assessment and give recommendations of # of pannels, pannel type, installers, etc. This group doesn't do any of that, they just give you options. And the assessment is free. Sounds too good to be true, so I asked how they make money off all this and he said whatever contractor I choose, pays them a finders fee. I have an appointment with them in a week and a half.
I'll also contact the SolarCity folks to get their take on my situation.
For anyone else, here's the link to the article that Andy posted: http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/03/now-you-can-get-solar-panels-best-buy
When I was poking around on the web, I found this site: http://costofsolar.com/ with a message of "input your information and we'll tell you how much you'll save". I did that and the infomation was vague, but they called me and we talked. They're supposed to send a guy out to do a real assessment and give recommendations of # of pannels, pannel type, installers, etc. This group doesn't do any of that, they just give you options. And the assessment is free. Sounds too good to be true, so I asked how they make money off all this and he said whatever contractor I choose, pays them a finders fee. I have an appointment with them in a week and a half.
I'll also contact the SolarCity folks to get their take on my situation.
For anyone else, here's the link to the article that Andy posted: http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/03/now-you-can-get-solar-panels-best-buy
andynap
Senior Insider
Thanks Bart but I posted the link
Bart -my real name-
Senior Insider
Whoops. Sorry, didn't see it.
Petri
Senior Insider
We have some city apartment houses moving from district heating to geothermal (and we don't heat just when we're home, it's static +23C or so through the winter, day and night).
The district heating is owned by the city and still quite cost efficient (compared to e.g. electricity or oil) but they've been raising the prices over the last years to get more money to the city coffins. The city isn't fond of these movers.. Overall the district heating is quite ecological as it's a by-product from the electricity production.
In the suburbs it's quite common to build both geothermal and connect to the district heating, if available. As you pay just for the amount of heat used, it's reasonably cost efficient.
