Any of you running wind or any type of solar power or heating on your homes?

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4Ryan6

4Ryan6

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Apr 14, 2002
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I've been curious for some time regarding wind and solar power and was wondering how many out there may already be running wind or solar power to either assist your home power loads or run completely off the grid or grid linked?

Some states in the US have a lot higher incentives to undertake this kind of thing with tax rebates and such as that, which would be added incentive if your state was a participant in major assistance to undertake this kind of thing.

Solar power does not only cover the use of solar panels, but external heating water tanks as well using the daily sun to heat outside water tanks or multiple tubing exposed to the sun collecting heat to assist in heating your home water.

I'm seriously considering starting with a DIY solar water heating project but there's so many options from tube collection to batch tank collection, I have plenty of strong roof mounting area for a tube collector, not sure about roof mounting a batch tank collector though.

There are so many options out there!

http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/solar-water-heaters

So are any of you considering this, or in some ways already doing it?
 
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Mum and dad have two solarhart units and a 6KW solar electrical inverter and put power back into the grid ... their power bills are very low as a result.
Dad also has 3 rainwater tanks and his own pumps, and a sustainable garden on the block he bought next door - 1/4 acre for veggies.

His shed is the same size as his house ... I call that manly.

He recently put pink bats through his ceiling to try to reduce heating and cooling bills - has a log fire and an electric A/C.

He doesn't like evap A/C ... but they are a lot cheaper to run than refridge.
 
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That's asinine. Some neighbourhood associations are pretty petty groups. It's one of the reasons I'm moving. I have a large backyard and a garden which is all good until I put a composter in. It's an insulated one which you cannot smell or even see. I had to get rid of it because one of the neighbours complained about it. This was after they complained about the small tree fort I built for my nephews, which I actually had to get the city out and make sure it was up to code as well. They're way too concerned about "curb appeal".
 
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My wife and I were under similar restrictions until we moved out in the country, now my nearest neighbor is approximately 1/4 mile away, so we are only bound now, by what it costs to incorporate it into operation.

At first being 10 miles out of the nearest town seemed to be seriously inconvenient, but the first time I setup my DJ equipment outside in my backyard and threw the power to the speakers and knocked some pine needles from the trees, I knew it was the right move.

I never could have done that in town without the police knocking on my door, much less anything else I am now considering installing to ease the power consumption cost sting, it would be extremely nice to have the power company reimburse us for a change.

I am a do it yourself fanatic, my present computer cooling is evidence of that, and my first step towards green will probably be solar water heating, I'm just not sure which type setup I want to run yet and I was hoping maybe some of you were into this kind of thing already, and could share tips and ideas?

 
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Tanks to reduce your dependence on scheme water is easy and cheap ... if you have plenty of roof area and good gutters it makes sense ...

A sloarhart can put a dent in your hot water heating costs during the Summer months too.

For a solar electric array and inverter you have got to look at the price for the setup, vs the KWH's your electricity supplier will rebate you at for injecting the power into the grid ... Ry I have no idea how that works over there ... so its something to really checkout properly. Alternatively you could use a solar array to charge batteries (lots of them) and then use the batteries to power an invertor to make AC power to run some discrete lighting and low power devices ... somehow.

Also, look at the possibility of running your waste water from the washing machine into a tank, mixing it with scheme water, raising the ph and cleaning it a little, and pumping it aroudn the property to water trees and hedges.
 
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Is this very costly to install and is it worth it to you?
 
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For me to do a house off grid I figured it would be around $20k for what I want. That includes a 12kw backup generator, transfer switch, inverters, betteries, 6kw of solar panels, and all the other cables, breakers, etc. It would be over $10k to run power lines so for me it's well worth it. For other people the cost would be higher but luckily I deal with solar power companies and work for a stationary power company. With this and geothermal heating I should be living pretty cheaply once done.
 
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Here in New Jersey, the Governor (yes, that one) jumped on the Obama green energy bandwagon and there was tons of money available to homeowners for loans to install solar. Along with federal grants, you could could, at that time, borrow enough from the State and get enough back in grant money, to effectively pay for the installation of the solar panels plus an energy credit to subsidize monthly electric usage. That program has since ended and all the loan monies form the State of NJ and federal grants have dried up. But, if you acted on it when they offered (like my neighbor) you end up owning the panels after 3 years and pay 60-90% less per month in electric usage, depending.

Now, there are independent solar energy companies offering packages for solar panels and generation. You pay nothing up front but lease the solar panels for 10 years and switch your electricity generation supplier to their company, which is (supposedly) generated by solar farms. They pitch the lease fee as only being for the solar panels, but it also includes overheads for the installation costs passed off as fees and etc. Of course, you can opt to pay for the installation and solar panels up front, but their pricing structure is, IMO, ridiculous. It's not a bad deal if you plan on staying in the home as it will pay for itself after 15+ years.

The joke is you can buy solar panels, mounting equipment, wiring, and associated sensors and switches and install it yourself for a fraction of the cost these companies charge you but the kick in the pants is getting a licensed electrician to sign off on it as well as the permitting from your local County/Town.
 
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