Need information about on the grid solar power

1 Posts
May 31, 2006 06:46 am
Need information about on the grid solar power

Hello, my name is Brian.  I live in Arizona and am trying to figure out a way to make my electric bill cheaper.  I have a 2 story house with 2 air conditioners and it is about 100+ degrees outside here.  I was wondering what capacity inverter I would need and what kind of solor panels I should use with it.  I also want to be able to add extra panels in the future.
Apparently the power company is obligated to buy back excess power.  This means that if I am not using any power and the solar panels are doing their job, the meter should run backwards.
Thanks in advance
-Brian
 
Jul 2, 2006 07:24 am
Re: Need information about on the grid solar power

If you want a cheaper electric bill each month the answer is simple, abstain.
 But since we all know that will never happen...
On your AC units there will be a tag or sticker showing the voltage, and the amperage that is required for the machine to function properly. It may only show a maximum or minimum breaker or fuse size. Go with the maximum for these calculations. Once you find them quickly multiply them. Now you know the wattage they(you) need. Now you will need to know the number of hours you will need the machine to operate. Once you have that, quickly multiply the number of hours times the wattage. Ok its about time for an example here. Lets say one of your AC units requires a 30 amp circuit at 240 vac.. That would be 7200 watts, now pick a PV module, any module... go ahead just pick any one... good choice,
A Kyocera KC175GT with a price tag of $885.00 U.S.
Of course the more one purchases the less they cost each which is a good thing because you will need at the very least 42 of them at $37,000.00 U.S. in order to stay cool for about 6 hours or so. Maybe ten if the home is well insulated and the doors do not get opened much. This would also depend on the number of hours of equivilent full rated charge you could get from a PV module in your region.
I got those number by taking the 7200 watts and dividing it by 175 and rounding up. If you need the AC at night then just double the PV array size and add a bank of batteries. Lets see here that would be 7200 watts for 10 hours? or 72,000 watthours (72kWh) divided by a nominal voltage dc of 48 which is 1500 amphours at 48 vdc. Of course the batteries would be dead every morning so we should make the bank a little bigger. Its always best to shallow cycle deep cycle batteries because they live longer and will not have to be replaced as often. So shall we say 5 times for a battery bank of 7500 amp hours at 48 volts.
Now pick a battery... go ahead... Ahh! the Surrette 2KS-33PS, 2 Volt single cell, 1766 AH @ 20 hour rate. $590.00 U.S. each.
It will take 24 of them in series to make a 48 volt bank at 1766 amp hours and at least 4 of those banks to make 7064 amp hours. close enough. For a cost of $56640.00 U.S.
Lets add the PV array $70,000.00 and now we have $127,000.00 Then there is the inverters... huhh?... hello!... Where did he go?...We didnt even get to talk about how much the power company would pay him for his electricity! If you see him tell him to check out www.dsireusa.org Thanks.

Once upon time PV was looking good. The quality was going up and the prices down. But then all of a sudden new manufactures are poping up like weeds all over the world and now there is this "shortage" in the raw material stock (silicon) for making PV cells and the quality has started on a decline while the prices are going up. Progress?
 
65 Posts
Jul 2, 2006 11:11 pm
Re: Need information about on the grid solar power

Hey Brian - Thomas probably narrowed down upon your biggest consumer of energy, your AC. If we can get your cooling costs down we'll probably significantly reduce your electric bill.

You are actually fortunate that you live in AZ because there is an air conditioning alternative for you that will significantly reduce your electric bill.  Because the Arizona climate is relatively dry you can take advantage of evaporative coolers (also known as swamp coolers). Evaporative coolers use a fraction (around 25% or less) of the energy that AC units use. On a good dry day an evaporative cooler can't 100 degree F days down into the mid 70's.

Evaporative coolers work by forcing the hot air through a wet pad. So, evaporative coolers inherently consume some water while they are running.

Alt-E sells evaporative coolers that can work directly off of a few solar panels. See:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Energy-Efficient-Products/Evaporative-Coolers/c500/

Another tip for keeping your home cooling costs would be to install a solar attic fan. By constantly pulling out the hotter in your attic the floors below stay cooler and your air conditioner (or evaporative coolers Smiley need to work less - which means they need less electricity. And because solar attic fans don't need any wiring they're fairly easy for the do-it-yourself to install. 

See here for solar attic fans that Alt-E offers:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Energy-Efficient-Products/Fan-Products/Solar-Attic-Fans/c1001/

While I think it's fantastic that you're interested in going 'grid-tie' with solar, the first step to renewable is looking at how you can make your home more efficient first.

Hope that helps!

AltE
"Making Renewable Do-able" (tm)
http://www.altEstore.com/
 

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