From Guest-Blogger Kevin Vogel: What Does Solar Power Mean for Your Monthly Utility Bills?
The main consideration for an investment in solar power is the peace of mind that comes from an investment in a renewable energy source. By investing in solar power for the home, the individual is ensuring that they will be providing a long term power source that is both clean and sustainable for the lifetime of their home. This means that power hungry comforts like air conditioning and central heating and air cost a fraction of what they would if that power is drawn from a traditional source like coal burning power from an electric utility. It is worthwhile to examine the relationship the consumer has with utility company should they decide to install solar power into their homes.
After deciding that solar power is right for their home, the consumer will need to contact a suitable company capable of making the right determination for the solar power needs of the home in question. A company will come on site and determine the physical characteristics of the home in question and determine the best way to maximize a solar power installation on those premises. The company will evaluate the site for effective solar power placement to help determine a cost effective way to generate electricity on the premises. The consumer should realize a couple of things here.
First, the consumer should realize that their home will remain connected to the existing power grid. The utility company needs to be in place to generate power for the consumer on days when solar energy is not enough to meet the energy demand of the home. Plus, the excess power that is generated by the solar system can be sold back to the utility company. Often, a home with an installed solar power unit will not have the resources to store excess power that may be generated. Since the utility company is already tied into the grid with a system designed to effectively manage electricity, it makes sense for the individual consumer to be connected to that system. Occasionally, companies and utilities will even lease their solar panels to the consumer for use with their homes, thereby lessening the initial investment and insuring that installation of solar power systems in homes meets existing standards. This also helps the consumer to navigate the complicated route of regulation and rebate through one reliable source.
The savings from adopting solar power into the home are significant. Although it needs to be stated that the initial investment from the consumer remains high, the long term payoff is often enough for the consumer to offset their initial investment and even make a significant return, depending on the energy usage of their home. Even for a large home with many rooms and high air conditioning usage, solar power can reduce the cost of utilities by a huge portion. The company only needs to determine how effectively the solar system can be installed on the premises to maximize its energy yield. This shiny blue panels provide not only self sustaining power, they also provide comfort and energy piece of mind.
Kevin Vogel writes for http://www.exclusiv-home.de/#solaranlage where you can read about using solar power in your home.
The article does not provide the internal rate of return. It should do so for the situation where there are no incentives for installing PV systems so that we will know what the true internal rate of return is.
Also, it is cheating to remain connected to the grid. Doing so clearly indicates the limitations of solar energy.
The rate of return would depend on the price to purchase electricity in a given service area. My rate is 14.64 cents per kWh. I would desire a system with 18 220W panels which would be a 3960W system. I can buy 235W panels made by MX solar in NJ for $0.75/watt. Throw in mounting, wiring, grid tied inverter and labor and you are probably talking about $2.00/watt. This system could generate as much as 16kWh/day. Last month I used 11.8kWh/day which includes dishwasher, clothes dryer and hot water. In the worst case that is a 13 year payoff on a system that should last at least twice that long and probably longer.
I have not seen any incentives ever that can be applied to any system that is not exclusively grid tied so to state that this indicates any limitations of solar energy doesn’t take into account the politics and the influence of the power companies which made sure that this was a requirement. Any use of battery charging for backup or independant running negates any incentives I have ever heard or read about. Something I totally dissagree with especially considering the situation in NJ currently. Many PV arrays are not producing any power for the companies or houses they are attached to while the grid is down so those establishments cannot take advantage of this power.
Thtee points to make:
1. the utilities demand that no power be sent into the grid if there is a malfunction and linemen must repair the distribution system and this resulted in rules precluding using the solar panels if the grid is “Down” However I could build a safe isolating interface correcting this and still isolating any grid feed without the proper service from the utility working 100%. So why is it not done? “Stupidity!”
2. The addition of solar collectors is NOT ENOUGH ! the home or business uses more electricity for space heating and cooling than for all other purposes combined! The important addition one must make is increasing the exterior insulation in walls, roof, and if possible between living space and basement or crawlspace under the building. I suggest three to six inches of closed cell foam and covering weather proof siding mounted externally to the existing walls and an additional six to twelve inches of foam on top of the roof covered with shiny Galvalume roofing panels and including support girders for mounting the solar collectors built into the additional insulation and roofing structure.for doors add a second door with “Thermopane” type clear panel to all external doors in addition to the existing. also add a second single hung or other appropriate style windows to the inside of the windows and because the airspace is greater than one centimeter add horizontal glass shelving every six inches from the top to bottom of the space between windows and as wide as can be fitted to prevent convection air currents from transferring heat from window to window.
3. Add a powered ventilator for days when there is a moderate and comfortable weather outside like 70 degrees F. and under 50% humidity and freshen the atmosphere inside. I also add a small (Computer type 4 inch fan in a vent opening in an outside wall up near the eves and with a quality air filter to draw air in year round when it is not raining or foggy so that fresh oxygenated air is maintained inside or use a small air conditioner with an outside air intake mode, it will help maintain the interior at near 60% or 70% Any dryer humidity induces respiratory problems similar to “The Common Cold.” (If your family gets the sniffles every winter then check your home for insufficient humidity, it is often the cause. Because heating the air reduces the humidity a large amount!)
The increases in thermal efficiency will greatly reduce utility power consumption every day of the year!
“the home or business uses more electricity for space heating and cooling than for all other purposes combined!”
Which is why it generally makes more sense for homes to use solar power for heating than for producing electricity, yet the push is to use solar power to generate electricity while using solar power for heat is often not even considered.
By using an absorption system, it is possible to use solar power for cooling, but I have no information about the cost of doing so.
Your blog is quite good. I suppose everyone should use solar energy systems as, it is renewable resource and is beneficial for environment and ourself. It has long term benefits. so go solar, as I am using solar system after going through http://mysolarzone.com/