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The Hole in the Rooftop Solar-Panel Craze
Wall Street Journal ^ | May 17, 2015 | BRIAN H. POTTS

Posted on 05/19/2015 4:42:18 AM PDT by thackney

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excerpted for Wall Street Journal
1 posted on 05/19/2015 4:42:18 AM PDT by thackney
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To: thackney

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.


2 posted on 05/19/2015 4:49:00 AM PDT by rstrahan
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To: thackney
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.

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.

3 posted on 05/19/2015 4:52:43 AM PDT by sphinx
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To: thackney

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.


4 posted on 05/19/2015 4:53:06 AM PDT by NewHampshireDuo
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To: NewHampshireDuo
The idea was never to save money - only to have backup power for some critical items if the power went out.

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.

5 posted on 05/19/2015 4:57:20 AM PDT by Dad was my hero
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To: rstrahan

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.


6 posted on 05/19/2015 4:58:14 AM PDT by logic101.net (If libs believe in Darwin and natural selection why do they get hacked off when it happens?)
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To: rstrahan
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.

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.

7 posted on 05/19/2015 5:01:48 AM PDT by The_Media_never_lie (The media must be defeated any way it can be done.)
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To: NewHampshireDuo

What size battery system do you have with it?


8 posted on 05/19/2015 5:02:32 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney
I'll wait for the real deal, thank you very much


9 posted on 05/19/2015 5:04:04 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: rstrahan

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.


10 posted on 05/19/2015 5:04:27 AM PDT by Dad was my hero
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To: Dad was my hero

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.


11 posted on 05/19/2015 5:06:02 AM PDT by wrench
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To: Dad was my hero
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.

How does adding heat to a cooling system help in any way?

12 posted on 05/19/2015 5:08:39 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Dad was my hero

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.


13 posted on 05/19/2015 5:10:05 AM PDT by NewHampshireDuo
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To: wrench

Hmmm, I’ll have to talk with my solar pusher about that. thx.


14 posted on 05/19/2015 5:10:16 AM PDT by Dad was my hero
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To: thackney

4 group 24. Plus a battery that I can carry around.


15 posted on 05/19/2015 5:13:23 AM PDT by NewHampshireDuo
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To: thackney
apparently it works off the "coolant". It is called solar thermal air conditioning. (I'm quoting from the article I first saw about it) The collector superheats your AC system's additional refrigerant which reduces the workload f the compressor. This increases the system's efficiency rating and lowers the overall power consupmtion.

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.

16 posted on 05/19/2015 5:16:18 AM PDT by Dad was my hero
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To: thackney

Elon Musk’s Grand Plan to Power the World With Batteries

http://www.wired.com/2015/05/tesla-batteries/


17 posted on 05/19/2015 5:18:39 AM PDT by Hotlanta Mike (‘You can avoid reality, but you can’t avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.’)
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To: NewHampshireDuo
4 group 24

I don't know what units you are describing to understand the amount of storage that contains.

18 posted on 05/19/2015 5:31:42 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Dad was my hero

Thank you, I’ll read up to learn more.


19 posted on 05/19/2015 5:32:59 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Dad was my hero
Not sure how you can do that without cutting power from the grid totally.

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.

20 posted on 05/19/2015 6:08:40 AM PDT by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
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