Hello, I’d really appreciate some input on the subject of solar power panels. I’ve ready a lot and I’ve learned a lot in the recent months by Googl’ing and I realize it’s a big undertaking and in order to generate a small amount of KWH it takes a lot of hardware/installation. I’ve been very interested for some time in this subject, not so much for my needs here in California (where my average monthly electrical bill is roughly $65, even when I run the A/C in my studio from time to time), but more for the time I spend in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where electricity is about 10 times as expensive and where the price per KWH increases every 2 months.
My question is; how realistic would it be to attempt to power a house in Brazil using solar panels?
My question is; how realistic would it be to attempt to power a house in Brazil using solar panels? Of course it would be preferable to completely power the house with solar power, though partial solar power would also be helpful. It is hot in Rio 9 months out of the year (sometimes even all year long), and when it’s hot there is plenty of sun. The cost of electricity is so high in Brazil (roughly 6 times higher than the US…and it goes up every 2 months or so) making it unaffordable to run A/Cs for most people.
1. Is there any way that I could run between 3-5 wall A/C units in a house, or one central A/C unit for the whole house (all day and all night) as well as to run the rest of the house’s appliances (fridge, freezer, TVs, computers, lights, etc) using solar panels? I realize I’m asking a lot and I’m not sure how many KWHs it would require to run all of the above-mentioned, but is there a chance it could be done by only using the roof of the house as the resting area for the panels? If so, how much would it cost in hardware/installation to generate that much electricity?
2. I’ve seen solar panel systems on TV shows that apparently generate DC and then it gets converted to AC and then something else happens so that it can be used directly for the house…and when there is an excess of electricity, it feeds that solar-generated electricity back into the city electricity which turns back your meter. I have also seen systems that have battery arrays that are charged from the solar panels and then the house is run off of the batteries. Which of these 2 methods is best? (In my case, there may be one month where we’re not at the house and one month where we are…could the “off months” be used to store generated electricity?)
3. Does anybody know if it would be better to seek to purchase solar panels in Brazil, or cheaper to import them from another country?
4. Has anyone heard of the SolCool Solar-Powered A/C? http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/07/16/solcools-solar-air-conditioners/ could this be a solution for those of us seeking to power A/Cs from solar panels?
Thank you for taking your time to read this. Looking forward to your answers!
Thank you to all for your good answers and input. Is there any way that I can add answers (to your answers) or further comments to this thread?
Woah…way to much info for a question…so I’m going to write my answer based on JUST the question and not the book of additional information you posted.
My understanding is no, solar power isn’t there yet. However, you could greatly reduce your energy costs by supplementing your home with solar power. How much really depends on where you live. For example, in the arctic Minnesota area where I am from, solar would not be the greatest thing. We get a lot of snow fall in the winter (thus covering the solar panels till they could be cleaned off) and we have some very short days in the winter with a lot of overcast days (thus reducing or eliminating the effectiveness).
I think it would still be a worthwhile investment if you plan to live in the home long enough to allow the solar panels to pay for themselves.
14 responses to Can Solar Panels Power My Whole House-Including A/Cs?
Woah…way to much info for a question…so I’m going to write my answer based on JUST the question and not the book of additional information you posted.
My understanding is no, solar power isn’t there yet. However, you could greatly reduce your energy costs by supplementing your home with solar power. How much really depends on where you live. For example, in the arctic Minnesota area where I am from, solar would not be the greatest thing. We get a lot of snow fall in the winter (thus covering the solar panels till they could be cleaned off) and we have some very short days in the winter with a lot of overcast days (thus reducing or eliminating the effectiveness).
I think it would still be a worthwhile investment if you plan to live in the home long enough to allow the solar panels to pay for themselves.
References :
Ok, Now for the fun!
Powering a House ( How big a House? Sq ft.? ) I’m Guessing Average House—2 Bedroom 2 Bath + living Room + kitchen. 2,000 Sq. Ft.
5 tons of Air Conditioning Required.
60 amps at 230 VAC Just for Air conditioning.
Is Natural Gas Available–for Stove? For Heat? For A Generator?
Wind Power—is it Windy there?
Diesel Generator—? bio-Diesel?
Gasoline Generator—Gasoline Price? Brazil
Powering a House Solely off Solar Panels is Probably NOT Feasible For you. it Would Probably Take 100,000 sq. ft of solar Panels to Supply the Electricity Needed For Supply ing Power to A/c Unit and Everything else.
1) To Live Off the Grid—Power is Generated By Other sources-Solar, Wind or Generator or a Combination of Both or all.
2) Power is then Stored in Battery’s in a Battery Room.
12-60 Battery’s. Depending How Much Power you Want to Store?
3) Battery’s are wired into an inverter and this converts Power To 115V Electricity.
4) Powering the House( Except the Air Conditioning Unit) off Solar and Wind Combined is Easy and Feasible. or Solar alone.
Lights,Radio,Tv,Stereo,Computer,Toaster, —no Problem All Draw Very Little Power Relatively Speaking.
Power Consumption is Measured in Watts—
60 Watt Light Bulb—
750 Watt Hair Drier—
1,200 Watt Toaster—
2,300 Watts Air Conditioner—20 amps x 115 Volt=2,300 Watts
400-750 Watts Average Computer—
Look up Solar Homes—
Living Off the Grid—
Think Living on a Sail Boat or Power Boat at Sea For a Month—How do They Do it??? Wind Generators & Solar Panels Charge Battery’s,Battery’s Store Power For Use,inverter converts it to 115v.
or use Battery Power Directly for 12vdc Refrigeration and Lighting.
Hope this Helps…
www.OcRefrigeration.com
References :
Commercial Refrigeration Contractor,Designing and installing Refrigeration Systems on Boats. Freezers and Refrigerators off 12vdc Battery’s Working Well.
Designing & installing Inverter Power systems on Sail Boats and Power Boats to Generate their own Power.
Solar panels can get outrageously expensive, but once up they pay for themselves over time (a very long time). If there is a good breeze where you are, you may want to consider, in addition, wind turbines (which can also cost a good chunk of change).
What I would consider is finding out from maybe a local university of the possibilities of geo-thermal heating and cooling. While it is expensive as well, it is also a terrific way to save on power needed to cool a house, letting you use any sort of solar/wind combo for electricity. I would suggest having the solar/wind power batteries to store and run electrice devices, which would include your pumps for geo-thermal.
References :
What is the avg. cost icluding fed rebates on system(louisiana) , 2300 sq. ft. , not really interested sole usage just for additional help? What kind of savings would I expect.
Several great articles and comments. However, way too simple. The inverter needed to change DC current from solar energy also needs to be at 60 +/- Hertz for induction motors i.e. refrigeration, furnace fan, pumps etc. There is also the issue of being in phase with the commercial electrical supplier. Putting electricity back into the system is NOT the same as pouring excess water back into a reserve. Storage batteries, tranfer switches, inverters, phase synchronization are BIG factors. A complete system that can be integrated with existing electrical wiring is not simple. 100% support for solar power but be aware putting solar panels on your roof and connecting a couple of wires to your current electrical distribution panel isn’t realistic.
Not really a comment but a question. I have a inground pool at my house.(in Texas where it is alway hot in the summer.) It holds about 20,000 gallons of water. It is a saltwater pool so the pump needs to run about 6-8 hrs a day. I also have a 3 1/2 ton a/c unit (i think. might be 5) that runs a whole lot in the summer time. Being a txu costomer (whos rates are way to high) I was wandering if I could go solar on just these two things, which would knock my elec. bill way down, and what it wiuld probably cost.
comment by darrell deibel is the most realistic of the lot;you have to factor in the cost of roughly 70 commercial pv panels,the cost of the requisite inverter(preferably a sinewave unit) to handle the ac load,the cost of enough batteries to run for at least 2 days when it might be cloudy the space requirements for that many panels and batteries,the installation costs and periodic maintenance needed for the duration required for the installation to pay for itself. a more practical approach will be to increase the number of fans in your home,install a more modest system initially,and upgrade in stages.
my wife and i just built a new house, we also have TXU energy. a few questions and i am vary handy and can build just about anything. we are looking at alternate power sources to reduce and maybe put back power to the grid. looking at wind power it seems that the texas wind pattern or area we would be in the light blue so i am not sure of how wind would pay for itself.
1st we have a 400 amp electrical service to provide us with what we are useing and will need. At 400 amp we would need approx. 46,000 watts, how many panels would this be?
2. we would also need batteries, how many?
3. plus the inverter?
4. plus transfer switchs?
5. what is a phase synchronization?
is this used to put power back into the grid
thank you sharing, i’m looking an information regarding solar panel.
I think it is possible to power a house with solar panels because I’ve worked before to a house developer that made a house the sustained all its needs without any help from others. They have installed solar panels in the roofing.
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yes and no, split cool makes a dc A/C that will run off of 48vdc, it wont cool a lot of space, but it will provide A/C, you will have to have more than one unit, depending on the size you want to cool. Is solar power there yet? it depends on how much you wish or can spend for it. If you size it properly you can run resistant heat on it.. as in your cook tops and ovens. Or you can place everything including a swimming pool pumps (not necessarily heating, although technically THAT too) on it, but let utilities power the hideous consumers, spa, cook top, ovens, A/C’s… Since it is not likely incandescent lamps will be used, on a system that has batteries and inverters, you’re not going to consume a lot of energy from them. And just because someone has breaker box is rated 400 amps, also does not mean that someone will be consuming that full amount.. however if you were going to create such a system, you would need Eight 6000watt inverters, that will give you 48KW… There are industrial inverters that can put out 50KW in one unit.. How many panels would you require to charge such a system, I’m not a designer, but it seems that u would require at least quarter the rated output being placed into it. (12KW in.) What it all comes down to, is what are you willing to spend for such a system and is it all worth it to you.. Don’t forget, do you have the space for it all as well.. IF you can sell power to the utilities, like most places in the USA you can do, you can skip the batteries.. but if you lose power, makes no difference if the sun is shining or not, unless you have a backup generator, you go into the darkness with the rest of the population around you. Check out midnight solar, they might be able to assist you better with your questions. midnightsolar.com
I am a ignorant about all of this solar power things, but I would
Like to make my own experiment. Can u tell me if is there any
Place in my area where I can purchase solar cells to star a project?.
No No NO not going to happen, don’t believe what these guys tell you about solar, they only tell half of what is going on, you will never see a house powered entirely on solar that will work for you all of the time, too many things to get right and nobody is going to get it right, most people do not have enough room to do a project that big, and again, it’s not going to happen, i know plenty of solar specialist, and they are finally saying that solar can help somewhat, but to do a entire house no way, just no way. You will never be able to cut the utility line to your house, trust me on that one.
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