Solar power

[FraggleRock]

Im tearing down my 125 and Im ordering a 300 reef ready. My question is, would it be practical to hook up solar panels to run the tank? I have not researched this very much but if any of you guys have heard of someone doing this any ideas would be great. My utility bill here in Illinois is around 250 a month!:?:

 

[Snowboarda42]

This guy did:

"Each Sharp panel costs $875, plus inverters etc. the whole system is about $50K for material plus the labor to install which is a few thousand. however there are state and fed rebates plus a rebate from DWP. so i am not sure yet what my final cost will be.

in 6-7 years or less it will pay itself off in cost savings and then it is FREE. maybe then i can retire and still have my hobby."

CLICK for the original thread. RC warning.

 

[FraggleRock]

Thats great cause it WILL pay for itself! Utilities all over the United States will never go down,only up. Its pricey to get from start to finish,depending on how much you want but, after a few years you can run your tank and many other things for FREE! That only means more$$ for this hobby.

 

[Scooterman]

Sad that they don't make solar products cheap enough to encourage people to use more if it everywhere, even if you only get a little out of them, think how much money & energy would be saved overall if we all had roof tops full of panels.

 

[burning2nd]

I THINK thats a great great great idea....

with battery's wired in sequience and controls you will get paid from your power Co.. over time..

its a lot right off the bat.. but it will quickly pay for it sell and start paying you back..

i have a friend, who is a solar nut, solar powerd golf cart, solar heated pool, all kinds of things..... great stuff....

the way it works is you wire in to your house.. for what you dont use you will send back up stream and your meter will (in sort) run backwards.

 

[Katchupoy]

That would be a good plan if you can afford it.... Also take a look at wind turbines if you have a windy neighborhood. Ask your utility company if they do grid tie... this will save you lots of money on batteries.

Here is what im eyeing on my project...
http://www.windbluepower.com/Wind_Blue_Power_Lite_Breeze_Complete_Low_Wind_Kit_p/cy-low-kit.htm
it uses a TLG Blades.

Here are some info about TLG...
http://www.tlgwindpower.com/tlg500_whyisitbetter.htm


Hope yours become succesful...

 

[Katchupoy]

Also in addition... I too have a 250 dollar monthly bill on electricity. But the two major culprits in my case is not the tank but the water heater and clothes dryer. If you can connect your solar panels to directly heat your water heater then you will be able to cut cost where its needed. You can do so by replacing your heating element via 12 volts heater element. A lot of projects used this element as the power shunt so in your case you will just use it as your main load.

 

[salty joe]

You also might want to consider using sunlight to illuminate your tank.

 

[danno14]

Guys-
I've done a LOT of research on this topic....
As for PV (photo-voltaic) the price of entry is really high. It's subsidized in part by the Federal Govt. via a $2000 tax credit (up to, 30% of cost), and various by state with CA contributing the greatest incentives. Rebate link:
http://www.dsireusa.org/library/includes/incentive2.cfm?Incentive_Code=WA27F&state=WA&CurrentPageID=1&RE=1&EE=1

Here's a link to a solar power estimator:
http://sunpowercorp.cleanpowerestimator.com/default.aspx

Because of the initial price, limited sun, and lack of rebates in my area, the ROI is in excess of 10 years and likely closer to 20.

Solar water is another story- same $2000 tax credit (up to, 30% of cost). More efficient than PV, and less $$ to get setup. Typical $5-6k for a system that will supply the typical family. It's said that the 2nd biggest utility charge is heating water. Even in Seattle, there are systems that will do most of what you need. Look up Thermomax for more info on evacuated tube solar.

Have fun!
D

 

[hank]

that sounds cool. I herd the same thing about getting paid for the extra power.

 

[MC Lighting]

I used to own a solar company that I got out of and handed over to my partner there are a lot of things to consider here in WA it is more economical to run wind turbines if you can (most can't) as stated ealier solar water heating is a cheap and very effective means to save energy this day and age.

 

[dnjan]

Also in addition... I too have a 250 dollar monthly bill on electricity. But the two major culprits in my case is not the tank but the water heater and clothes dryer.

You can reduce the impact of those items a lot if you replace your clothes washer with a front-loader. Not only uses less water, but due to the very high-speed spin, clothes dry in half the time (at least mine do).

 

[Katchupoy]

Good points there MC and Dnjan...

But in my thread here...
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34261

I too am using a front loading (very new) washer dryer... Sometimes it makes me wonder, is it really saving me energy or just water? If its water then its no use since water is cheap. I want to concentrate in energy.

See.. for 7 years I have lived in a 800 SF apartment. And my electric bills range from 75 to 120 dollars.

Now recently we purchased a 1000SF (1978) house. Still using the same space heaters, still using the same schedule when its on or off. But now using brand newwasher and dryer compared to the old top loading washer and dryer from the apartment. My bills are hovering 220 to 250 dollars.

OBTW, I noticed that my water heater has two heating element compared to one from my apartment... If that makes a difference.

So I too am very interested on how fraggle rock will solve his energy issues.

My next step is to do a full wash on washer and dryer using a "kill a watt" meter... on both top load and front load to actually see if theres a big difference or is it just a hype...

 

[dnjan]

Sorry - I had forgotten your mentioning the front-loader in your other thread. Imagine how much more your electricity bill would be if you didn't have one! (by the way - you are running the fast-spin setting, aren't you?)

One of my concerns about solar-electric on the roof is how do you keep the things clean enough to avoid losing efficiency? Here in the Pacific Northwest we don't have a lot of sunlight to spare anyway for most of the year, and I would think that additional loss of output due to dirty collectors would make things even worse.

 

[FraggleRock]

I want to start by saying thank you for your feedback! I know that the big oil companies hate the word solar power lol. We on the other hand would love to be able to afford the "Green" route, but it doesnt seem fair that they price these things over the average families budget. I would like to see and Im sure its out there, a solar panel maybe for individual items. Not trying to go broke to start one up either. My solution to the hot water heater was to go tankless. They run about a grand but it only heats the water you need, sort of an on demand type of deal. That keeps you from heating that huge tank 24 7. The "going green" idea is catching on but does the Gov. and these huge Oil companies really stand behind it? My opinion is that they wish it would go away!

 

[danno14]

Take a look at how much $$$ BP is putting into alternative power.... they have the money and need the goodwill. This sort of investment will help us all, by generating new ideas and helping to drive down pricing of existing technologies.

Cesar- Take a look at your windows... the largest loss potential with relatively easy solution (caulking). Of course, if single pane (built in '78 may mean that) requires all new units to prevent the loss. A larger house, particularly one that has more heat loss potential, means more places for that loss to occur. Figure an apartment was heated on at least one surface (and possibly two- ceiling and floor) by someone else. D

 

[MC Lighting]

sadly it is the oil companies and the goverment who are pushing for these things to go green simply because they make money. Think about it for a minute why would everyone push for the hybrid cars when they don't do anything to save the planet its a huge marketing campaign to make the big companies and the backers a lot of money. BP is a huge supporter of solar simply because they are one of the larger manufactures of them and they are making a killing doing it. As I stated I used to own a solar company and sadly I am fully aware of the marketing and hype that is put into this stuff if I told you that it takes the same amount of energy to make the solar panel that you will get out of it in its 25 year life span would you still buy it to save the planet probably not.... All of the global warming and such is nothing more than a perfect platform for big companies and the goverment to make a lot of money its sad and its true, in case anyone who is a firm gloabl warming beliver did anyone see that this year was one of the coolest in many years? Gloabl warming is something the planet does over and over this is nothing new and will continue to do so when we are long gone. Anyhow sorry to get off topic I just want people to think about all aspects of the technologies not just one Wind is by far more effecient than solar and for those who can utilize it I strongry recomend it along with solar hot water heating. If you can afford the investment the solar power WILL save you $$$ in the long run especially as energy costs go up but for those of us here in the NW its not as large of a offset as say when I lived in sourthern CA.

 

[salty joe]

One problem with tankless water heaters is that you can't get a trickle of hot water. Unless enough water is flowing through them, they won't fire up. I read about luke-warm water causing the TWH to opperate erraticly, producing alternating slugs of luke-warm and ice cold water. Another drawback is the pricy vent required.

 

[burning2nd]

its a little more complacated then they just dont wanna loose money..

i work for rath gibson, we own mid south. thats the Co. that owns all 300 and something oil platforms in the gulf... and we have some others east and west... when your turning billions monthly.. and you just change things.. it will crash the econemy.. so the change has to be slow... its not that they dont want the solar power, ITS just that they need to figure out how to work it in to the system with out geting a "critical error" if you will

 

[dnjan]

One problem with tankless water heaters is that you can't get a trickle of hot water. Unless enough water is flowing through them, they won't fire up. I read about luke-warm water causing the TWH to opperate erraticly, producing alternating slugs of luke-warm and ice cold water. Another drawback is the pricy vent required.

Don't know about the gas units, but the newer electric units are much better at handling low flow. They regulate the amount of current supplied to the heating elements based on the water flow. Maybe a trickle won't work, but the electric unit I installed in a friend's house 2 years ago is much better at low-flow than the ones I put in my own house ten years ago.