Thanks for the video- it does a great job showing the installation. One question I haven't seen asked before- what brand of hardware (rails and brackets) did you use please?
OK. Gonna do the same with my home. Now I think panels come with micro-inverters attached to the panels. Installation costs should be similar. Thank you.
Well, I am a finance guy, but not like some would think. I'm an investor by nature, anthropology student by academic and green energy enthusiast. For an investment that has a lifespan of 25-30 years with a positive equity return of 20ish years, that's almost the most attractive investment I've come across. The only investment I could think would be better would be a more efficient panel with a longer lifespan, which is continuously being developed. Solar energy = green energy = money in the
I see. So, if you make approximately $2,500, or save $2,500, and net paid about $16,000 for the unit, would it be fair to say that the solar panels would pay themselves off in about 6-7 years?
Then, of course, the sweetener would be the increase in home equity due to the solar panels?
@Fenix26 Yes, we figure a payoff in about 6-7 years. But when you consider that the panels add about $10-15K in value to the house, the payoff is much better.
So, if you pay off the unit in 6-7 years and the life expectancy of the unit is 25-30 years, right away you are looking at, roughly, 20 years of free, invested capital? From my calculations, if the panels last approximately 25 years, one would be looking at a 50k profit.
Is this true by your calculations and if so, why doesn't everybody do it? Especially, those that live further south than the Virginian latitude?
@Fenix26 Well, we just figured a payoff in 6-7 years and we have always been interested in renewable energy. Anything 20 years in the future is so far out there as to be that you can't really plan for what will happen. There could be some breakthrough and we'd all be powered by cheap home cold-fusion systems.
You'll have to ask "everybody" about why they don't do it. Maybe coming up with $31k cash for the initial payment is an issue.
@Fenix26 One more thing... finance guys like to see a payback in 2-3 years at the longest. To them, 6-7 years is not economical. I think they're idiots, but that's how they make the rules at banks and such.
@Fenix26 A "per month" savings isn't meaningful, as we use no commercial electricity in the summer months but use it extensively in the winter months. We probably save about $1000 year in electricity cost. Then we get about $1500 per year in energy payments. And we will probably get most of the cost of the panels back when we sell the house.
gr8 video, thanks for putting it up. btw -- you don't have battery backup meaning ... if there is a power outage you are not covered -- is there a reason, why you did'nt opt for it?
Our power seldom goes out -- it's probably up 99.99% of the time. Batteries and inverters are expensive, and batteries need maintenance and replacement. It's hard to spend $5k or more on something that will be used 0.01% of the time, then have ongoing battery replacement every 6 years.
I have a couple small standalone UPS systems for minor outages and a generator for longer outages.
@iceman6ck3 This has been asked and answered in the comments below. But the short answer is: No. When utility power goes, the panels stop producing power.
@MacOSJoey We had several trees cut down last year, although there are LOTs of other big trees. There is still some shading that cuts down the power output in the mornings, but we hate to cut down 20 more trees to fix it.
@1HGClark It's down below in the comments. The bottom line was that the complete turnkey system cost $32k, and we got about 52% back from the federal and state governments.
@premiersat There is flashing... I mentioned it in the video. The flashing are the little aluminum bits that the workers put a bead of caulk on, then slip under the shingles.
FWIW, the system has been in place for more than a year and works great. There have been no leaks or other physical problems.
@90466893 I'm electrician I started it 7 years ago and I love my job. Now I have an interview with a company that install solar panels, and solar water heating in Chicago, good luck and If you love what you do, do it, otherwise just don't.
@90466893 well I progress in 2 years because I have the motivation to take as career nor as job,plus I bought books and study by myself to learn. I believe some people just do work because they have to, and later they complain about it, if you like what you do, always you wants to do better because just you like or love it. I love my job.
@90466893 about the pay as electrician here in chicago well depends of the experience and how well you do your job along with knowledge. no matter what you do for living always take proud of it. I do.
ok so here is my question can i connect the solar pannels to a whole bunch of car batterie sto charge them during the day and at night us ethem for the ac i have a 12000 btu minni split how many batteries do i need to power them and how many solar panels to charge them will it work
@kankunkid Can you connect solar panels to a whole bunch of batteries and charge them? Yes you can. Do I know how exactly to do it and give you clear advice in 500 characters? No, I don't. Google "charge batteries using solar panels" and see where that gets you.
@ljpapadak No. If grid power is lost, then there is no power from the solar panels. It's possible to design a system with batteries, a standby inverter and automatic disconnect switch, but that adds LOTS of complexity. The fact is that the grid is on 99.99 percent of the time, so it's hard to justify spending $10,000 to handle 5 minutes of outage per year. Still, it's worth thinking about.
Great video! Well shot, well edited with a clear narrative. I'll be starting on my 6kW system soon and look forward to seeing the meter spin backwards!
Federal rebates are $1,000 per installed (nameplate) kilowatts, up to
'$6K, can be taken over several tax years. Micro inverters like these are the way to go, but I would wait until later this year when panel makers will include them
within the panel, thus no need to mount the inverters seperately. And they will cost a LOT less than the Enphase inverters used here (which run $160 to $220) per panel. They will also ALL have a warranty equal to the 25 year warranty for the panels.
very impressive, I am considering building a solar panel "roof" over my backyard shed of about 30' x 30 to power my home'; just don't know where to begin..
@artoliva The overall system has a maximum capacity of about 4.2 kW. The realistic maximum is closer to 3.9 kW. This past summer, I saw 3.5 kW output at one point, and that was well past the summer solstice.
@straightshooterz Yes, we are aware of the shade you can see in this video. Since the video was shot, we cut down several trees and will be cutting down several more. We put off installing solar at this house for several years because the house is literally in the middle of the woods. Unfortunately, we have to sacrifice the trees for our solar array.
I am curious why this system uses an inverter for each panel. Considering the inverter is most likely to fail before anything else in the system, your setup would be harder to replace them than one inverter mounted next to the circuit breaker box.
You got a 52% State/Federal reimbursement? My state just lowered their reimbursement rate for Solar. They want people to get solar, yet keep lowering the rebates to help with the up front costs.
@Resistoon I've not had any of the inverters fail yet, but it's my understanding that the system will continue to work with all the other inverters if one fails. That means that an inverter failure will knock out only one of the 18 panels and leave the other 17 working.
One other advantage of the roof inverters is that it simplifies the wiring. It's a simple 240V/30A circuit to the roof and I don't need heavy cables for DC panels. Thanks for the comment!
@leonscorpio19 We paid about $32k, and the government (federal and state) will reimburse about 52 percent of the total.
As for running the A/C, we are connected to the grid at all times. When we generate power, we feed power to the grid. When we consume power, we consume it from our panels and the grid. Therefore, the A/C (and all other devices in the house) run perfectly normally.
@carypeck Thank you for the quick response. Have you had any trouble with them? They look like they would be hard to get to. Can you add windmill or gen or batteries to this setup?
@carypeck No, I've not yet had any trouble. However, they were installed at the end of June 2010, so they've only been in place for three months. The system could be engineered with batteries and/or other generation devices (such as a windmill), but that would definitely increase the complexity. It definitely could be done, though.
Very nice video, However I was wondering why I do not see your system on the enphase website. Maybe you could add a link so we could look at your output.
Thanks! Unfortunately, I do not have a continuous Internet connection at this house -- no DSL or cable modem service is available. Therefore, I can't connect to the Enphase Web site.
This a first class video on how solar panels are installed. Thanks for taking the time to produce this. Amazing to see an electric meter go backwards.
Yo Bob, mighty interesting. Looks expensive. Did you get a subsidy or tax credit to make it affordable? Over 2kw from the panels? Daytime, of course, and not counting
air conditioning, I think we could live well on that power budget. I will look forward to hearing about your real, bottom line, benefit against your electric bill. Making the meter run backwards kind of gives me a tingle in my leg, as they say....
Yes, the federal and state subsidies add up to about 50 percent of the full cost. It's definitely expensive but we've always been interested in this and (as you probably can remember from the windmill we tried to build years ago) have wanted to alternate energy for a long time.
I wish we could just run the meter backwards and get paid for our generation, but it's a little more complicated than that. Still, it was good to see the meter going backwards!
Thanks for the video- it does a great job showing the installation. One question I haven't seen asked before- what brand of hardware (rails and brackets) did you use please?
a1pilote 6 days ago
@a1pilote Sorry, I don't know what brand of hardware was used. It was all supplied by the installation company and it was no discussed with me.
pvreditor 6 days ago
OK. Gonna do the same with my home. Now I think panels come with micro-inverters attached to the panels. Installation costs should be similar. Thank you.
All4Solar 1 week ago
now if you do not mind, can you tell me the approximate value for the panels, inverters and accessories - all installed?
All4Solar 2 weeks ago
@All4Solar If you scroll down and read, this question has come up a couple times and been answered.
pvreditor 1 week ago
love the video man
MrBrucebracey 1 month ago
@MrBrucebracey Thanks!
pvreditor 1 month ago
really informative and interesting
jayejayeee 1 month ago
wow u r rich!!here in mauritius it's too expensive only one solar 80 watts is about $1000 maybe more!
oolesh 2 months ago
@oolesh Actually, I'm Bob. Rich is my brother.
pvreditor 2 months ago
Well, I am a finance guy, but not like some would think. I'm an investor by nature, anthropology student by academic and green energy enthusiast. For an investment that has a lifespan of 25-30 years with a positive equity return of 20ish years, that's almost the most attractive investment I've come across. The only investment I could think would be better would be a more efficient panel with a longer lifespan, which is continuously being developed. Solar energy = green energy = money in the
Fenix26 3 months ago
I see. So, if you make approximately $2,500, or save $2,500, and net paid about $16,000 for the unit, would it be fair to say that the solar panels would pay themselves off in about 6-7 years?
Then, of course, the sweetener would be the increase in home equity due to the solar panels?
Fenix26 3 months ago
@Fenix26 Yes, we figure a payoff in about 6-7 years. But when you consider that the panels add about $10-15K in value to the house, the payoff is much better.
pvreditor 3 months ago
@pvreditor
So, if you pay off the unit in 6-7 years and the life expectancy of the unit is 25-30 years, right away you are looking at, roughly, 20 years of free, invested capital? From my calculations, if the panels last approximately 25 years, one would be looking at a 50k profit.
Is this true by your calculations and if so, why doesn't everybody do it? Especially, those that live further south than the Virginian latitude?
Fenix26 3 months ago
@Fenix26 Well, we just figured a payoff in 6-7 years and we have always been interested in renewable energy. Anything 20 years in the future is so far out there as to be that you can't really plan for what will happen. There could be some breakthrough and we'd all be powered by cheap home cold-fusion systems.
You'll have to ask "everybody" about why they don't do it. Maybe coming up with $31k cash for the initial payment is an issue.
pvreditor 3 months ago
@Fenix26 One more thing... finance guys like to see a payback in 2-3 years at the longest. To them, 6-7 years is not economical. I think they're idiots, but that's how they make the rules at banks and such.
pvreditor 3 months ago
What is the approximate percentage of savings do you get a month with the new solar panels?
Fenix26 3 months ago
@Fenix26 A "per month" savings isn't meaningful, as we use no commercial electricity in the summer months but use it extensively in the winter months. We probably save about $1000 year in electricity cost. Then we get about $1500 per year in energy payments. And we will probably get most of the cost of the panels back when we sell the house.
pvreditor 3 months ago
Great Vid! Thanks for the Upload
adheeshz 4 months ago
gr8 video, thanks for putting it up. btw -- you don't have battery backup meaning ... if there is a power outage you are not covered -- is there a reason, why you did'nt opt for it?
ramvaradan 5 months ago
@ramvaradan Thanks for the nice comment!
Our power seldom goes out -- it's probably up 99.99% of the time. Batteries and inverters are expensive, and batteries need maintenance and replacement. It's hard to spend $5k or more on something that will be used 0.01% of the time, then have ongoing battery replacement every 6 years.
I have a couple small standalone UPS systems for minor outages and a generator for longer outages.
pvreditor 5 months ago
thanks
youandme1235 5 months ago
good video. Since this is a grid tie system does it provide power to your home if the power from the utility company is off? Just curious.
iceman6ck3 6 months ago
@iceman6ck3 This has been asked and answered in the comments below. But the short answer is: No. When utility power goes, the panels stop producing power.
pvreditor 6 months ago
Don't these guys wear harnesses??
loretobarbados 6 months ago
@loretobarbados I never wear a harness on the roof. It's just a 1-story home.
pvreditor 6 months ago
Oh that would make sense. It drives me nuts to see solar panels shaded. Thanks again for the great video!
MacOSJoey 6 months ago
how much do you paid for this complete sistem?
javierurieljr 6 months ago
@javierurieljr Scroll down just a couple of comments and you'll see.
pvreditor 6 months ago
It looks like you'll get some shading on those panels because of those trees... How does it affect your power output? Good video, though.
MacOSJoey 6 months ago
@MacOSJoey We had several trees cut down last year, although there are LOTs of other big trees. There is still some shading that cuts down the power output in the mornings, but we hate to cut down 20 more trees to fix it.
pvreditor 6 months ago
how much was the entire system?
1HGClark 6 months ago
@1HGClark It's down below in the comments. The bottom line was that the complete turnkey system cost $32k, and we got about 52% back from the federal and state governments.
pvreditor 6 months ago
there is no flashing used on the roof mounts? Isnt dangerous?
premiersat 6 months ago
@premiersat There is flashing... I mentioned it in the video. The flashing are the little aluminum bits that the workers put a bead of caulk on, then slip under the shingles.
FWIW, the system has been in place for more than a year and works great. There have been no leaks or other physical problems.
pvreditor 6 months ago
thanks for the video very informative.
padlock100 7 months ago
@padlock100 You're welcome!
pvreditor 7 months ago
this is my future job of what i'm studying?! I'm going to miss my skin tone.
90466893 7 months ago
@90466893 I'm electrician I started it 7 years ago and I love my job. Now I have an interview with a company that install solar panels, and solar water heating in Chicago, good luck and If you love what you do, do it, otherwise just don't.
oewbuilders 4 months ago
@oewbuilders
How's the pay like? how would i be able to progress?
90466893 4 months ago
@90466893 well I progress in 2 years because I have the motivation to take as career nor as job,plus I bought books and study by myself to learn. I believe some people just do work because they have to, and later they complain about it, if you like what you do, always you wants to do better because just you like or love it. I love my job.
oewbuilders 4 months ago
@90466893 about the pay as electrician here in chicago well depends of the experience and how well you do your job along with knowledge. no matter what you do for living always take proud of it. I do.
oewbuilders 4 months ago
ok so here is my question can i connect the solar pannels to a whole bunch of car batterie sto charge them during the day and at night us ethem for the ac i have a 12000 btu minni split how many batteries do i need to power them and how many solar panels to charge them will it work
kankunkid 8 months ago
@kankunkid Can you connect solar panels to a whole bunch of batteries and charge them? Yes you can. Do I know how exactly to do it and give you clear advice in 500 characters? No, I don't. Google "charge batteries using solar panels" and see where that gets you.
pvreditor 8 months ago
Nice Video, concise yet informative.
MegaWisdom777 8 months ago
@MegaWisdom777 Thanks!
pvreditor 8 months ago
Does your system still work if you loose power from the grid?
ljpapadak 8 months ago
@ljpapadak No. If grid power is lost, then there is no power from the solar panels. It's possible to design a system with batteries, a standby inverter and automatic disconnect switch, but that adds LOTS of complexity. The fact is that the grid is on 99.99 percent of the time, so it's hard to justify spending $10,000 to handle 5 minutes of outage per year. Still, it's worth thinking about.
pvreditor 8 months ago
That was a nice video
podus12 10 months ago
@podus12 Thanks!
pvreditor 10 months ago
Great video! Well shot, well edited with a clear narrative. I'll be starting on my 6kW system soon and look forward to seeing the meter spin backwards!
RedwoodGeorge 1 year ago
@RedwoodGeorge Thanks! And good luck with your system... it's good to be part of the solution.
pvreditor 1 year ago
Federal rebates are $1,000 per installed (nameplate) kilowatts, up to
'$6K, can be taken over several tax years. Micro inverters like these are the way to go, but I would wait until later this year when panel makers will include them
within the panel, thus no need to mount the inverters seperately. And they will cost a LOT less than the Enphase inverters used here (which run $160 to $220) per panel. They will also ALL have a warranty equal to the 25 year warranty for the panels.
theBike45 1 year ago
very impressive, I am considering building a solar panel "roof" over my backyard shed of about 30' x 30 to power my home'; just don't know where to begin..
artoliva 1 year ago
how much energy do they produce?
artoliva 1 year ago
@artoliva The overall system has a maximum capacity of about 4.2 kW. The realistic maximum is closer to 3.9 kW. This past summer, I saw 3.5 kW output at one point, and that was well past the summer solstice.
pvreditor 1 year ago
have you notice the shade issue.
straightshooterz 1 year ago
@straightshooterz Yes, we are aware of the shade you can see in this video. Since the video was shot, we cut down several trees and will be cutting down several more. We put off installing solar at this house for several years because the house is literally in the middle of the woods. Unfortunately, we have to sacrifice the trees for our solar array.
pvreditor 1 year ago
Nice documentation video of your install.
I am curious why this system uses an inverter for each panel. Considering the inverter is most likely to fail before anything else in the system, your setup would be harder to replace them than one inverter mounted next to the circuit breaker box.
You got a 52% State/Federal reimbursement? My state just lowered their reimbursement rate for Solar. They want people to get solar, yet keep lowering the rebates to help with the up front costs.
Resistoon 1 year ago
@Resistoon I've not had any of the inverters fail yet, but it's my understanding that the system will continue to work with all the other inverters if one fails. That means that an inverter failure will knock out only one of the 18 panels and leave the other 17 working.
One other advantage of the roof inverters is that it simplifies the wiring. It's a simple 240V/30A circuit to the roof and I don't need heavy cables for DC panels. Thanks for the comment!
pvreditor 1 year ago
@pvreditor
Yes, and the inverters have a warranty of 15 years. I have 16 of them on my system, and I think it's the way to go.
More pros than cons, IMO.
dahur 1 year ago
@dahur Hey, thanks for sharing your experience!
pvreditor 1 year ago
How much did this install set you back if i may ask and can you run your A/C normally with it?
Great video and thanks.
leonscorpio19 1 year ago
@leonscorpio19 We paid about $32k, and the government (federal and state) will reimburse about 52 percent of the total.
As for running the A/C, we are connected to the grid at all times. When we generate power, we feed power to the grid. When we consume power, we consume it from our panels and the grid. Therefore, the A/C (and all other devices in the house) run perfectly normally.
pvreditor 1 year ago
@pvreditor HOLY mackeral!! I wasn't expecting that kind of number but with the rebates, i guess that's not bad.. lol.
thanks for the response.
leonscorpio19 1 year ago
Thanks for this video! very nice quality, steady hold camera and nice coments from you in the video!!! great job!
taztaz79 1 year ago
@taztaz79 Thank you!
pvreditor 1 year ago
What kind of inverters are those? Thank you.
carypeck 1 year ago
@carypeck They are Enphase M190 inverters. Thanks for stopping by!
pvreditor 1 year ago
@carypeck Thank you for the quick response. Have you had any trouble with them? They look like they would be hard to get to. Can you add windmill or gen or batteries to this setup?
Thank you Jason
carypeck 1 year ago
@carypeck No, I've not yet had any trouble. However, they were installed at the end of June 2010, so they've only been in place for three months. The system could be engineered with batteries and/or other generation devices (such as a windmill), but that would definitely increase the complexity. It definitely could be done, though.
pvreditor 1 year ago
Ok, thanks for the quick reply. I was wondering how these inverters would deal with a situation like that.
xpshooter1 1 year ago
Very nice video, However I was wondering why I do not see your system on the enphase website. Maybe you could add a link so we could look at your output.
Have a Nice Day
xpshooter1 1 year ago
Thanks! Unfortunately, I do not have a continuous Internet connection at this house -- no DSL or cable modem service is available. Therefore, I can't connect to the Enphase Web site.
pvreditor 1 year ago
This a first class video on how solar panels are installed. Thanks for taking the time to produce this. Amazing to see an electric meter go backwards.
stanwrite 1 year ago
Thanks, Bill!
pvreditor 1 year ago
Yo Bob, mighty interesting. Looks expensive. Did you get a subsidy or tax credit to make it affordable? Over 2kw from the panels? Daytime, of course, and not counting
air conditioning, I think we could live well on that power budget. I will look forward to hearing about your real, bottom line, benefit against your electric bill. Making the meter run backwards kind of gives me a tingle in my leg, as they say....
BoeingCat 1 year ago
Yes, the federal and state subsidies add up to about 50 percent of the full cost. It's definitely expensive but we've always been interested in this and (as you probably can remember from the windmill we tried to build years ago) have wanted to alternate energy for a long time.
I wish we could just run the meter backwards and get paid for our generation, but it's a little more complicated than that. Still, it was good to see the meter going backwards!
pvreditor 1 year ago