Can anyone offer personal experiences with 1/2 solar power for appliances etc./grid electricity in residence.?
Posted on 2010 under Uncategorized | 2 Comments29 Jan
Residential Construction.
I’m not sure if this is what you meant, but this sounds like a grid-tied solar electic system. The idea is that you stay connected to the grid, and thereby avoid the expense and hassle of having batteries. When your array is producing more than you use, the electric meter runs backwards, effectively giving you a credit. At night, the meter runs forwards again.
It’s often the best payback to displace only a portion of your electric usage, if you have tiered or time-of-day electric rates. For example, say the power company charges you 10 cents a kWh for the first 300, then 30 cents per kWh for every one over that limit. In that case, you would have a solar system to drive your net usage down below 300 kWh, but it would be poor economy to try to drive it to zero.
We have a grid-tied system. It doesn’t displace the 50% you’re looking for – ours displaces substantially all our electric usage. If you have specific questions, please email me through my profile.
by pissy_old_lady, on January 28 2010 @ 11:28 am
Solar power will not run high usage appliances..dryers, stoves…etc…you will have to use gas or propane…after looking into this myself I strongly suggest you look into wind power…much better if you are in an area that is windy.
References :
by roderick_young, on January 28 2010 @ 11:49 am
I’m not sure if this is what you meant, but this sounds like a grid-tied solar electic system. The idea is that you stay connected to the grid, and thereby avoid the expense and hassle of having batteries. When your array is producing more than you use, the electric meter runs backwards, effectively giving you a credit. At night, the meter runs forwards again.
It’s often the best payback to displace only a portion of your electric usage, if you have tiered or time-of-day electric rates. For example, say the power company charges you 10 cents a kWh for the first 300, then 30 cents per kWh for every one over that limit. In that case, you would have a solar system to drive your net usage down below 300 kWh, but it would be poor economy to try to drive it to zero.
We have a grid-tied system. It doesn’t displace the 50% you’re looking for – ours displaces substantially all our electric usage. If you have specific questions, please email me through my profile.
References :