Home Solar Power Systems

please i need to know your combination of solar panels (with the wattage), inverters(how many and its rating), batteries(how many and there voltage) specically for like a 16KW load.Please i will like also to know there manufacturers for refrences.

If you mean you use 16 kWh a day, you’re similar to us. If you mean your load is constantly 16 kW, that’s way out of our league.

Our system is 2.5 kW, and grid-tied (no batteries). It supplies basically all of our kWh’s averaged over the year.

You can see the specs at

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/roderick/solar/photovoltaic.html

We are looking at buying a house and renovating it, and were wondering about using solar or wind power to power much of our house. We will have a well, be on a septic system, have a wood burning furnace for heating the house, so we would like to have solar or wind power so we can use as little electricity as possible (its insanely expensive here!). We also have our appliances (fridge, stove, washer, dryer, freezer).
How much would a basic set up be for a 900 sq ft, 3 bedroom house? For either wind turbines or solar panels and necessary equipment? I am in Southern Ontario.

Thanks!

Go to canadiantire’s web site and search solar panel.

they range from $30 — $1000

what waste products does solar energy have

If you are asking at the source i.e., at the sun, it would be helium and other larger molecules which are formed from the progressive nuclear fusion of smaller atoms staring with Hydrogen atoms as the raw material. But I really doubt if they can be called "waste" as traditionally "waste" is something "undesirable" created by a man-made process – the fusion happening in the Sun is not a man-made process, neither can we term the fusion products as "undesirable" from human perspective.
If you are talking of waste products generated by "using" solar energy on the earth, well there are literally none during the usage of solar energy. However, the wastes generated during manufacture of the solar cells/panels and their support apparatus like circuit boards/batteries/invertors and during their maintenance are indirectly wastes generated by using solar energy. Also, the gases/radiation expelled by the solar cells/panels and the support apparatus during their life-time can be termed as "wastes" as well.

I just saw in the news that the gov is giving out incentive to people that goes "green" in their home. My question is whats the incentive and how much does installing/ buying solar power in my house cost? (average cost for 2 story residential)

I live in CA and have a solar system. The state incentives are given through your utility. My utility has a cap of $10K, but I was told we had a higher rate per kwh. The next town over has PG&E and can get a more of a rebate if they got a larger system. Usage and percent of offset will determine how large of a system you will want to get. I have a 2 story 2000sf home, I had a 3.74 kwh dc system. It’s total cost was $26K, I got a $10K rebate and a $2K fed. tax credit (the fed. tax credit has increased to 30% of the total installed cost, so I would have received a $7800 tax credit if I waited till this year). I expect to break even in my 6th year. There are a number of factors that can affect the break even time, rates, usage net metering policies etc. This system produces close to 75% of my usage. My bills in the summer were under $25, my highest bill was $35 in Jan and last month it was $6.11. Part of my savings is energy efficiency and reduced waste.

My best advice is have a licensed contractor come to your home and give you a real quote. You can usually get your usage history from your utility so the contractor can give you advice on what size system would suit your needs.

I put a link to the CA solar initiative website. It is complicated but they have a chart that will tell you what the rates are. I think it would be easier to call your utility, I think they all have a designated solar person.

i am having trouble deciding which is better. tankless water heaters are turned on only when i need hot water, but solar heating preheats the water with solar energy. I know there is no heat loss for the tankless and it saves more space.

They are both efficient. The problem with solar as mentioned is that they are subject to the availability of sunlight. I believe that ambient temperature has an effect on efficiency, that is, in the winter the water won’t be as warm as in the summer.

Tank-less is more reliable. But you have to get one that can heat the volume of water you expect to use.

A solar + tank-less will be okay for long duration water use (like showers, laundry). It takes time for the warmed solar water to get to the point of use. If you’re just washing your hands, you’ll use the tank-less and none of the solar water. I don’t believe any homes are plumbed for two water systems (solar and other).

Using a circulating pump with a solar system may help its efficiency but it costs a few dollars a month to run.

Check this site:

http://www.tanklesswaterheaterguide.com/

If I had the bucks, I would put tank-less systems at each fixture.

I’m interested in purchasing a 5 watt solar panel to hook up to a car battery.

You can get one that has a diode. This will stop the discharge.

Why do you want to charge the battery with a solar panel? You may only over charge the battery and cause it to wear out earlier. It is better to to let the car’s alternator do the charging for you. Unless of course you have other electrical items plugged in that drain the battery.

I live in india. My house has 5 ceiling fans, 1 TV, 1 refrigerator, 1 washing machine, 1 electric motor for pumping water, 1 electric iron, 1 electric heater for heating water, 8 tube lights, 6 bulbs. Also tell me how much will it cost me to have these solar panels installed in indian rupees. Also tell me where to get these panels in india. Thanks

I’d suggest checking out…

http://earth4energy-manual.com/blog/

watch the free video review of one of the most popular guides to building your own source of alternative energy.

Hope it helps & Good luck!!!

- Katie : )

I am looking to find out the cost and reward for a home solar panel and the amount of energy it can produce. Maybe some web sites that can give me detailed info.

read about solar heating for you home. If you have the money to invest in it then in the long run you will be glad you did. I read about a guy that got his housing costs down to nothing using that and other methods. Its worth it.

I’m interested in installing myself but have no knowledge of solar panels.Can the excess be sold back to the national grid and how does that work?. What is the average cost?. Where is the best place to get all the equipment from?. Does anyone sell kits for individuals with everything needed included.? What can be run off an average size panel. What is the best size panel to start with?.

They don’t really produce enough electricity to sell to the National grid. I assume you’re in the UK. A better bet is panels that heat water using the heat of the sun. In winter the water coming off the mains is close to freezing, warm it up before it goes in to your hot water tank and that will save energy and much cheaper than solar panels that produce electricity. I assume you are turning your computer off when not needed. Turning your TV off instead of leaving it on standby. Using low energy light bulbs. Wearing warm clothing in winter and turning the heating down a little. Driving only when you have to? Saving energy is usually better than producing it. I’m quite interested in these new "bright" LEDs – they are really efficient at producing light. I find "low energy" light bulbs are useless for many applications. Like I can’t see to read! Leds may replace them soon. I had LEDs for my Christmas lights and they were efficient and controllable.

I am looking into solar power and land prices are cheap in AZ. Does anyone know what kind of Federal or State incentives are offered for Solar power?

I’m in arizona and i’ll just give you the buzz from the citizens. We have solar energy out here, I’ve just been told that it is a bit expensive out here to have installed if you aren’t doing it yourlself, but in all reality it works. Depending on where you are moving in the beautiful desert state, we have LOTS of wing, and PLENTY of Sun. I live in lake havasu, our entire town is surrounded by mountains which causes wind constantly and the heat here in summers is 120 + f. No exaggeration. I would definitely say go for it.