Posted on 05/19/2015 4:42:18 AM PDT by thackney
Most people buy rooftop solar panels because they think it will save them money or make them green, or both. But the truth is that rooftop solar shouldn’t be saving them money (though it often does), and it almost certainly isn’t green. In fact, the rooftop-solar craze is wasting billions of dollars a year that could be spent on greener initiatives. It also is hindering the growth of much more cost-effective renewable sources of power.
According to a recent Energy Department-backed study at North Carolina State University, installing a fully financed, average-size rooftop solar system will reduce energy costs for 93% of the single-family households in the 50 largest American cities today. That’s why people have been rushing out to buy rooftop solar panels, particularly in sunny states like Arizona, California and New Mexico.
The primary reason these small solar systems are cost-effective, however, is that they’re heavily subsidized. Utilities are forced by law to purchase solar power generated from the rooftops of homeowners and businesses at two to three times more than it would cost to buy solar power from large, independently run solar plants. Without subsidies, rooftop solar isn’t close to cost-effective.
Recent studies by Lazard and others, however, have found that large, utility-scale solar power plants can cost as little as five cents (or six cents without a subsidy) per kilowatt-hour to build and operate in the sunny Southwest. These plants are competitive with similarly sized fossil-fueled power plants. But this efficiency is possible only if solar plants are large and located in sunny parts of the country. On average, utility-scale solar plants nationwide still cost about 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, versus around six cents per kilowatt-hour for coal and natural gas, according to the Lazard study.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
As an appraiser, had the opportunity to do a study of the value of a rooftop solar system. Going in cost was $42K. Present value of the return over normal,holding period of a home was $7K. The only thing that made these systems viable was the subsidy for purchase, which would cover approximately 3/4 of the cost.
Not very many years ago, solar was 10x higher than conventional power, so that is tremendous progress. Solar isn't there yet, but I am all in favor of silver bullet solutions, and solar may get over the hump. I also expect that third generation feedstocks for biofuels will become cost competitive in the next ten years.
We have several panels on our roof. The idea was never to save money - only to have backup power for some critical items if the power went out. Didn’t go overboard with capacity and never even thought about a subsidy.
Not sure how you can do that without cutting power from the grid totally. From all I have seen and read (and have installed on my house) and a friend who installs them in another state, if they are hooked to the grid to send back power when they produce more than you are using, they have to be able to be cut off in the event power coming from the electric company stops. Because otherwise linemen working to restore power are working with live power coming back at them.
hindering the growth of much more cost-effective renewable sources of power.
This in my opinion is a key point. Some pencil pusher in DC decides what does and doesn’t get a subsidy or other handout. If your system doesn’t meet his idea of strict standards, ie. if it is innovative you have to compete against systems that get subsidies and you won’t be able to meet price points for consumers. You are frozen out of the market. I actually like the idea of solar power, but the govt is holding back the technology with mandates on subsidies.
Sounds like there is a lobyist there in the midst, somewhere.
When I worked for an electric utility, I had the chance to examine the economics for a "green power" generator at a landfill. If the unit ran 24/7 for the entire life of the generator (not possible due to equipment outages), the revenue from the electricity produced would not nearly have serviced the debt.
What size battery system do you have with it?
I had a “system” installed. First was solar assisted heating/cooling that uses solar to super heat the coolant for the heat pump. In FL this greatly reduced my cooling costs. At the same time I had solar hot water installed. Between the two of them I cut my electric bill by about 75%. Then added the last section which was PV solar - a 5kW system (20 panels). All qualified for a 30% federal tax credit. The tax credit made the payback at the current electricity rates a little over 7 years. If (which isn’t really if but more when) electricity rates increase the payback will shorten. Reduced my electric bills from over $300 a month to about $25 per month, half of which is the charge for the meter and hookup to the grid.
You can set up an emergency power bus that powers from either grid powered charger or solar powered charger. The system will automatically operate from whatever power is available, and will not backfeed when the grid is down.
This is the mechanism behind your computer UPS systems, just scale it up to a larger size, and power your essential circuits.
Commercial buildings and hospitals have backup power systems. Those systems do not try to power the entire building, just the emergency bus. Switching from grid to backup power is either automatic or manual, depending on hardware installed, and no chance of backfeed.
How does adding heat to a cooling system help in any way?
The equipment running off of solar runs all the time (radio and related communications gear for the most part). There’s no grid tie in. Ham radio equipment is all 12 volts so there’s no loss in inverters.
I do have a fail-over to mains power if the batteries get low and the mains are working.
Hmmm, I’ll have to talk with my solar pusher about that. thx.
4 group 24. Plus a battery that I can carry around.
I can say that we hooked up the system late August last year and our September elec bill dropped by almost 75%. Of course at the same time we also went live with the solar hot water heater but I attribute most of the drop to the solar AC system.
Elon Musk’s Grand Plan to Power the World With Batteries
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/tesla-batteries/
I don't know what units you are describing to understand the amount of storage that contains.
Thank you, I’ll read up to learn more.
Go to your circuit panel and pull that big one at the top. That is all it takes. The same applies to generators. That said, local lineman say that they don't care, because they treat every wire as though its hot and proceed accordingly. My issue is that I don't want out of phase electricity operating within my home, so I always disconnect when running the generator.
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