Going Solar with SunRay solar
 

Just signed up to have solar put on my roof with SunRay Solar out of Concord. Can't wait to get it working with a 10.6kw system sould be enough to cover what I use. Already have solar hot water (tubes) that work great. Be nice to see that meter turn the other direction. I Like these guys they have done other work in the lakes region...............come on SUN:cool::cool:

Is your system net-metering through your utility provider or off-grid battery storage?

NH Magazine
 

Has a great article on 'Virtual Grid'. The laws had to be changed to allow this. They show a yoga studio in Sandwich as an example.

we are considering going solar
 

We have been discussing going solar power in the spring. My husband is hoping to cut our bill completely out at the least. Do you know when you get your investment back? The average time it takes? 5-10 years?

Sunday solar
 

I have an appointment with Sunray Solar as well. I looked into solar a few years ago when I want Geothermal. Then the cost for panels was higher and not much incentives. ROI was 15 years. Now from what I have been told so far the panels are more efficient and cost less. ROI may possibly be now 5-6 years. We will see how it goes. Anyone else had any PV solar experience?

depends
 

it depends on a few things, cost of electricty, size of the system you put in and these credits they sell every year(i still don't understand them). You also can get a credit on your property taxs if your town has set that up. In my case it looks like it will be about 8 or 9 years. Give them a call they are great people to work with. I will say that there price is a little higher because of what they use for equipment. But you get what you pay for is what i have found out. :)

System
 

I believe it is net-metering there will be no batteries. They are using the En-Phase micro inverters which are more expensive but I think they are worth it nice neat install. Can monitor the the system from your smart phone. The panels are 265watt panels. I'm learning

Meet Mike
 

Hope you get to meet Mike Fay (owner), nice guy loves what he is doing. There quote might be a little high but I've been looking around and they are doing some quality work. There web site has a house in tuftonboro that I have seen and the one in Center harbor is right up the street from me. Erik was my sales person

The bottom line solar isn't cost competitive. The only reason the payback is approx. 8-10 years is the government subsidies (and we all know the Gov has no qualms about spending our children's money). Solar would be 30+ years without tax incentives. We should be pushing natural gas powered trucks and homes but the Enviro-Taliban crowd view nat-gas as an enemy since it is carbon based despite the clean burning nature of the fuel.

To produce 10.6kw using 265 watt panels would need 40 panels. That seems like a lot panels stationed somewhere on your property.

wow...lots of information
 

wow there is a lot of information to absorb without a glass of wine :-)

I will say just a year or so ago we were stationed on Fort Dix, NJ and a ton of the base housing had solar panels on them. Not all but a lot of them. Everywhere you go in central to south jersey you see them, farms etc....

So they surely must save money if the military is spending a lot to install on base housing :-) cause gov't doesn't ever waste money LOL

40 panels
 

Yup you are correct 40 panels on the garage roof, front and on the back shed dormer.

I used to visit Fort Bliss in Texas a lot and their housing also had solar panels on the roof. In NJ did each roof have just a small handful of panels or was the entire roof covered? I'm thinking there was probably just a few in which case their probably only heating water with them. Such as the case in Tx from what I understand...

I agree the payback just isn't there (yet.) In Mass a few companies are advertising a free solar install however the catch is you agree to give back just about everything you produce back in the "system" that's how the company eventually gets their payback. Their sort of in turn selling the electricity produced back to the electric company and you sign a contract committing to that setup for many years depending on every homes situation. For the install you usually save around 10% a month off your bill that's it. The only way to benefit from day one is to write them a check upon completion and you own the system. For app. a $25,000 install cost there's a good chance I may not be around to even break even. :eek:

I really wanted to do something with solar and I talked with the guy from the place in Laconia. I can't think of his co. name, but he was on this forum for a while. He told me not to do it. I was disappointed but at least he was honest.

hmmm he was in that (solar) industry and told you not to?? How come can you elaborate??

Would it be possible to show us a picture of what they look like on you garage and shed? The reason I ask is because I'm thinking of getting some PV panels also. Not to the extent that you did but maybe half that many.

Basically I think he felt it wouldn't be cost effective at all for us. I was very surprised too, that being in the business, he would tell me to not do it.

Not meaning to comment positive, negative or criticize, but I find it astonishing that their gallery has so many panels mounted on roofs. I know for a fact, after operating off grid solar for 30 years, that aim (compass position) as well as tilt has to be right on, or you lose a lot of power. Just how many houses have the perfect roof slope and aimed exactly right? I don't see any lift on the top and bottom of the arrays to compensate. Again, not a criticism, just amazing. :confused:

This is how (if possible) I want mine to go:


http://www.spreadthesunshine.com/upl...69381_orig.jpg

Remember pendulums swing both ways. For the last five years solar has been red hot, but now oil prices are crashing, and the politics are changing. It's not 2009 anymore.

Ask yourself one more question, if you have to sell your house in a few years, is it worth more or less with solar panels on the roof? All else being equal would you buy a house with old solar panels on the roof.

Snow? Roof Age?
 

Okay, silly question. Who's going up on the roof after every snow storm to clean the panels?

Make sure you have a new roof, otherwise in a few years you may be taking the panels off to replace the roofing due to age.

Panels
 

On a 12 pitch roof facing south they are pretty much self cleaning, just as the roof is now with out them. Also when you are covering pretty much the whole roof the abuse on the shingles stops. The back part which is a SHED Dormer roof (still part of the garage) is a little different with a lower pitch (a 4) which is fairly flat I may have to do something but then again those panels won't be working much for 3 to 4 months and I have accepted that. As the off grid guy said not many people have true south facing roofs but I built my house to be as close to that as I can thats why the tube system I have on my house now for hot water( Main house not garage) works well. I would not be doing it if that was not the case. I would go mounted in the yard. Solar isn't for everyone but I'm betting the price of electicity will go up just as fuel will again at some point and I'd like to be doing something to cut that off if I live long enough to see the whole pay back ok, if not I hope the kids enjoy it...

Shoreline Protection Act
 

In 2009, I was a project manager for a beautiful home located on the Northern end of the lake. The owner wish to populate the shorefront with solar panels because the law protected the trees. DES claims he could not place panels permanently along the shoreline and solar panels are not a good 'excuse' to cut down the trees. The trees were grown to the point it block the sunlight off season and in the morning and evening hours. He planned on placing the solar panels on movable dollies to circumvent the law. I have yet to see him do so.

Things may have changed since then. I was told there was a number of modification to the law.

Out of curiosity how much did they quote you for the system? What are the rebates like?

Nice!
 

That's a great attitude to have and I commend you for trying to reduce your "footprint".

Good luck with your project!! I sincerely hope you will keep us updated as to it's progress and savings!

Dan

the key benefit
 

So far unmentioned is the key benefit of having power when the grid goes down, which could happen due to weather or terrorist activity. It's not a matter of if the power will go down, it's just a matter of when and how often.

Slightly Off Topic
 

But another question has hit me (as the new guy headed up soon)... How often does the region have power outages? more than the average of other areas?

Today and tonight we are having high winds and a great deal of rain in Tuftonboro. We lost power around 5:00 Pm and our 20KW Koehler generator we purchased from Generator Connections last year is running straight out.
This was the first outage we have had this year. I can't speak for other areas.

oh a lot of the houses had them and they covered the whole roof or at least one side. If you go down streets on base housing they were lined on all roof tops top to bottom. It was for electric...

I think this thread jinxed the whole power being out
 

I am kind of finding it funny, that there is discussions of power outages today earlier and now there are power outages LOL. Ok I only think it is funny because I have power at my house, but I am sure I wouldn't be too happy if I were in an area that doesn't have it.

Been contemplating this
 

But I haven't seen one actually running. Just how loud are they? I'm thinking my neighbors are going to be pretty close. As much as I would like the security of a backup, I'm concerned (even in an outage) about being an annoyance.
Something you can compare it to?
Thanks

A grid tie system is useless when the grid goes down. The only way it will work is if you have a battery bank to store energy to. Battery banks are extremely expensive when brought to scale.

Generator Noise....
 

MGWillia--

I have a 20KW Generac. I would describe it as perhaps a little louder than when a slab-mounted home Central Air compressor kicks on. (I know this is a relative term, since some AC units are louder than others) :D Definitely not as loud as a lawn mower. You can definitely hear it, but it is not that bad.

Also, if you have a well and septic, I can tell you from personal experience it gets pretty gross around the house after a day or two without power. :eek: Don't worry about offending your neighbors!

Besides after a day or two without power if you invite neighbors over for pizza, coffee, whatever they will also be happy you have one. ;)

Generally speaking "big box store" "cheaper" ones will be louder than a quality unit built with noise in mind. All the big / better name manufacturers offer "quieter" units at a premium of course.

Thanks dpg. Generally speaking, all in, what does a kohler, installed run? And if you know, how much fuel does it consume? The place we are looking at is oil heat, so is need a separate tank.

Making your own electricity is very expensive. If I ran my little 5000 watt 24-7 it cost about $40 a day. I still would never be without one. Oh, and don't worry about your neighbors. The only thing that would annoy them is if you have one and their house is dark.

Not really sure about Kohler - google it...

Calculating the payback period...
 

I see lots of mention of the time for "payback" for installing solar and eliminating the cost of utility provided electricity. In calculating the payback period, is the present and future value of the initial investment factored in with an internal return if invested elsewhere for 10 years?

For example. If I take $10,000 and invest it today at an average return of 5% yearly, in 10 years that $10k would then be worth $16,470.10. Would the initial $10k investment save $6,470.10 over 10 yrs.?

generator cost and fuel consumption
 

Hi again MG WIllia--

I know you asked for Kohler figures, but I thought I would give you my Generac figures, so you at least have a ballpark. 20KW with 100 amp automatic transfer switch, $9500.00, which included all parts, delivery, installation, etc. Purchase price is directly proportional to KW size of the generator. (Note that this is at my primary home in CT where EVERYHING is expensive. NH figures may be less). I use propane fuel and it burns approx. 3 gallons per hour. Current cost of propane is around $2.80-ish per gallon. I have a 500 gallon propane tank and could therefore go almost a week on the generator 24 hours per day.

good luck.

MM

I just had a 20KW Kohler installed by the Generator Connection and it cost right around $8,500.00 for everything.

It uses approximately 2.25 gallons per hour at full load. I also had a 500 gallon LP tank installed...

Dan

Thanks!
 

Very useful information.. thanks again

I have the same Generator. Same cost and it includes trenching if necessary and running all lines. A nice turn key installation.

www.nhec.com/news.php increasing electric rates starting October 1. With gasoline now below three dollars per gallon, and electric rates going up .... not sure what this all has to do with installing solar panels on the roof of your house....but something to consider......duh....what?

Thanks for the info FLL...that is a good reason for people to start investing in solar energy as well as other sources of renewable energy.

time could prove me wrong but I think solar is a poor investment. subsidies will expire as nat gas (almost limitless supply) becomes even more competitive. solar panels are ugly and they depreciate. think it's a fad that will become fade over the next 5-10 years.

Evidently Vermont doesn't think so. Vt Towns are going bongers over solar energy.

Tell that to Deen Kamen
 

The inventor of the Sedgeway and originator of USRobotics. He invested heavily into solar. Just look at all the solar panels on top of the buildings he owns in Manchester!

Also, UNH appears to be going solar.

Segway
FIRST

:D

sycophants all. time will tell. and are you truly suggesting we should take a cue from VERMONT!

I do not agree that its a fad. It is the future. The sun is not going away, if it does we all will be in a different place...

The cost of the technology is getting progressively cheaper, within a few years I think it will be much more affordable for the average consumer. At some point the rebates and incentives will diminish, however the cost per solar generated KW will decrease as well putting it well below the power companies, which are only increasing their rates and will continue to do so as people look to feed the grid with their own generated power. Some companies are starting to charge a grid maintenance fee to grid-tied solar providers/consumers.

Panels are becoming more efficient, and new ways of focusing/channeling the sunlight to increase panel output are in the works. I am hoping for new technology in storage such as better batteries so that you can go off-grid easier and to scale. The batteries needed to power a 5000 square foot house these days would make you go broke just setting it up.

Solar panels may be ugly, so are roof tops! I would much rather see solar panels on rooftops than high tension lines in our valleys and wind turbines on our mountain tops!

ok guys, check back in five years to see who's right. you're investing in yesterday technology that is irreversibly being installed on your house. to offset a minor electrical bill which may become cheaper (relative to inflation) over time. good luck with that. peace. out.

Something wrong with Vermont that I don't know?

Rusty:

Nope. It is a great place to ski and look at the foliage in October.

Or Maybe ...??:look:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/792582...r_free_energy/

power
 

I think it's more windy here than sunny, why can't someone figure out 2 or 3 3ft. high wind turbines for the roof or a house? Not everyone has a southern exposure for solar either. Also the only wind I can find are real high prop ones.
Wynn

Because low to the ground the wind is too turbulent to get any real good power from. You can build small wind turbines that could put out 20 or even 30W, but nothing where you're going to get significant gains.

too bad. we live on Windy Point Rd on Long Island and it gets crazy windy here sometimes (like today). again, as with solar, somewhat unsightly but with both technologies, you're offsetting a fairly inexpensive bill. my electric bill is dwarfed by my propane which as far as I know has no alternative with exception perhaps of geothermal which has its own issues.

State largest Solar Farm
 

looks likes a good project in the works.
As the articles says much ado about politics!

http://www.unionleader.com/article/2...WS05/141029131

NH Co-op interconnect issue
 

SO, the solar is moving forward they will be installing on Wednesday but let me tell you about the NH Electric co-op, we filed our interconnect agreement and they told us that they would like to check the transformer that is next to my house.......now mind you THEY want to check it. So I needed to put in an order to have them check it, that order cost me $190.00.So you say why do the order, good question. IF you don't they won't sign the interconnect agreement and then you can't turn on the system. So being held hostage is still a good way to make money.Can't wait to see whats next, the transformers down the street, the main lines, the poles........:eek::eek:

Just found out that Sun Ray solar will take that cost off my bill. Thanks

The NH Electric Co-Op folks are a bunch of thieves. I'd love to know what the top dogs make there but of course that information isn't released to the co-op members who own the co-op.

update picture solar install
 

First day of insatall

panels on
 

panels on roof

Nice!! Thanks for posting.

Nope
 

I don't live there but the state let my "in laws" live there, way up in ski country.:D:D:D


ToW

Den...Out of Curiosity please check back when the system is functional and let us know how it works. Not sure if you said it or not but does the system supply the whole house? And on day after day of clouds how much back up is there before they shutdown if that's the proper lingo?

Looks great, now what happens when you need to replace your shingles under all those panels?

Ok
 

It's not an off grid system so on the good days you hopefully turn the meter backwards and on the cloudy days it goes forward. So the hope is you create as much as you use and the Nh co-op is holding it for you. we will see but I have noticed it's been mostly cloudy since they put the panels up:eek::eek::eek:. We are still waiting for the NH Co-op............ahhhhhhh

You Don't
 

Shouldn't have to once they are coverd up they stop taking the abuse. But the ones on the side are a different story...................I'll let you know:confused:

Work completed, but?
 

The work is all completed on the solar install on Sun Rays end now we are waiting on the NH Electric Coop to do their thing, change a pole, hang a new transformer etc. Trying to get them to call you back is the bigest issue, what's the deal with that all your looking for is a time line so you know what is going on and you have to make 5 phone calls to get one. Not pleased
picture is of final conections at meter, larger systems have to be connected this way instead of in your main panel. a few well placed plants and you'll never see it. Now if we could get some sun:laugh::laugh:

Nice looking electrical hookup. Thanks for posting.

Honest
 

Hey, I used to be an honest car salesman(course I quit 2 jobs!)

Solar update
 

The system was turned on Dec 17th right in the middle of the lowest sun angle but I was still making some power with the front panels best days where about 22 to 25 Kwh. Snow was an issue on the back (low pitch) but the front (12 pitch) was self cleaning. I only had to get the rake out once but once you start the avalanche it comes down real quick. Bad part is it's right in front of the garage doors and if you've cleared the driveway then you now have more to do. Weather was not the best but from the time the sun has been going up higher it has really been working with all panel going best day was 54.9 kwh, they like cold and bright. last months electric bill was$41.00 the year before it was $167.00 part of that is the Co-op $27.82 member charge which will never go away. My avg usage last year same time was 27 kwh per day. But so far so good no issues and everything is working as they said it would. Today even with the clouds it made 28 kwh.:):):)

Any updates on your solar panels would be appreciated!

Solar Update
 

Be glad to , the system has been working great, about the end of Febuary the system started to pick up, it likes the cold and bright sun shine. Even on an overcast day it makes some power (15kw avg) but on a good day I avg anywhere from 50kw to a high of 68kw. We use about 23kw a day more when the ac is on so what happens is you bank extra killowatts you make. On your bill you see how much extra you have, right now I have 1400 in the bank. My bill with the NH Coop is $28 a month (member fee) below>This is what info you get from the inverters that I have, tons of info on the web site too much to post but it's a great tool to watch your production, the picture is from my smart phone, the app shows all the info the web has.

Awesome, so in summary your electric bill is now zero(if you excluded the member fee). If you keep producing more than you use, how do you get credit for that? For instance, i remember when my mom was a teacher she "banked" dozens of vacation days of the years she never used.

Solar
 

Yes it is zero, you want to bank them for the winter when some days you don't produce any because of snow. You will use them but you want to bank as many as you can. You know the old saying "make hay while the sun shines" stock up for the winter :eek:

Well said
 

very well said, and i cant argue with any of it.....we have been thinking about solar too, and we are finding that it is not what people crack it up to be. We do have a solar system for the pool heater that works well, circulation, not cover.

New jersey...
 

you are correct, they are all over new jersey. Even the street lamps have a panel attached to the pole, and a small battery, and thats it, i dont know if they pump the excess back into the grid or not, makes sense to do it that way, i just dont know if they do or not, ill post a picture tomorrow of our street lamps.....

Den65 any update
 

This thread has gone quiet but I am thinking of making the investment with Sun Ray. Den65, any update on the system for us? How much do you get in RECs? That's still the confusing part to me.

Power Consumption
 

Solar is a great idea, where there is sun. New Hampshire averages 2519 hours of sun a year or about 54% of the time, which isn't bad. Arizona on the other hand averages 3806 hours a year, or about 85% of the time. NH is tied for 8th least sunny hours in the US. A better long term addition for energy savings that has few moving parts and little if not any depreciation is heat pumps. They heat, they cool very efficiently and the maintenance is very minimal. Solar is a good idea in the right geographic location.

Already have relatively new heat pumps. My house has lots of roof space heading due south....it's a pretty good home for solar. Still would love to speak/chat/email with someone who has a system.

Would it not have made sense to replace the shingles prior to the panels being installed? By the way... once the panels are installed, the warranty from the shingle manufacturer is void.;)