Debate switching to solar power

Well, powerwalls are fine if you have the panel capacity to keep them charged, and can afford them
 
First thanks everyone for all the great responses. I knew you guys would be good to kick this around. It’s brought up honestly so many thing I didn’t even think of.
To answer acouple questions I remember, If I did it I would be tied to the grid. I do have gas I live 1 mile south of Chicago city limits so it’s densely congested. The house was built in 54 I bought in 12 and gutted it to the studs. Insulated the walls which it had none to a r13. Then when I sided I put up a r3 I believe foam board before the vinyl siding. My ceiling joist had alittle blown in so I came in and filled the joist with blow in then took a r25 unfaced and went opposite of joist. Then I put shoots in the rafter bays and insulated from eve to peak with a r19 faced insulation.
When I installed the furnace and ac I gutted the old system ran all new ductwork. Which I sealed every joint and seam personally with a duct sealer then taped. All my ductwork and plenums are insulated the system is tight.
My garage is fully insulated just like the house it’s a detached 3 car. I haven’t put a gas furnace in yet. My good friend gave me a new Dayton 220v electric heater last year for the garage. I didn’t want to use it but havent got the one I want yet and wanted to keep the garage warm during the winter months for the sake of my tools and all the other stuff that goes with winterizing a garage full of waxes and liquid that will separate or freeze. Granted Chicago had a frosty of a winter a lot of -digits for a week or single digits for weeks. Well keeping my garage at 50* almost tripled my electric bill those four months. I will not do that again this winter that infared heater will be installed before winter. Wish I did radiant from the start oh well.
My ultimate goal is to get my home as efficient as I can which will help with everything down the road. Looking into solar I thought would be the next step. With some of the good points brought up I don’t think I use enough electricity to make it beneficial. I don’t know what a full system would cost but I’m the type that would find the products and do myself once well informed and confident. I have three great electricians I know just not experienced in solar but in large ups systems, residential, and industrial no experience in solar. But not having a cert. contractor will probably make me loose all the federal and state rebates so that’s a downside. Someone threw a number out there and if the going rate is 40k I was really off from thinking in the lines of 10-15k for a system. A lot of thinking and typing I needs a rest thanks again guys for the info.
 
The only thing I would add is that with a micro-inverter system the only overhead cost is the installation and each panel will pay for itself (over some amount of time). So only the solar disconnect and some wiring are the only cost that have to be amortized over the panels. In other words, for a DIY system, if you use Grid Tied Micro Inverter panels, you might find that you can install just a few panels effectively and then add more over time if you feel it is warranted. Every kWh from solar is a kWh you don't pay the electric company for. Agreen it might be tougher to get rebate on the installation but should not be a problem for all of the material including the panels.
 
Cadillac said:
First thanks everyone for all the great responses. I knew you guys would be good to kick this around. It’s brought up honestly so many thing I didn’t even think of.
To answer acouple questions I remember, If I did it I would be tied to the grid. I do have gas I live 1 mile south of Chicago city limits so it’s densely congested. The house was built in 54 I bought in 12 and gutted it to the studs. Insulated the walls which it had none to a r13. Then when I sided I put up a r3 I believe foam board before the vinyl siding. My ceiling joist had alittle blown in so I came in and filled the joist with blow in then took a r25 unfaced and went opposite of joist. Then I put shoots in the rafter bays and insulated from eve to peak with a r19 faced insulation.
When I installed the furnace and ac I gutted the old system ran all new ductwork. Which I sealed every joint and seam personally with a duct sealer then taped. All my ductwork and plenums are insulated the system is tight.
My garage is fully insulated just like the house it’s a detached 3 car. I haven’t put a gas furnace in yet. My good friend gave me a new Dayton 220v electric heater last year for the garage. I didn’t want to use it but havent got the one I want yet and wanted to keep the garage warm during the winter months for the sake of my tools and all the other stuff that goes with winterizing a garage full of waxes and liquid that will separate or freeze. Granted Chicago had a frosty of a winter a lot of -digits for a week or single digits for weeks. Well keeping my garage at 50* almost tripled my electric bill those four months. I will not do that again this winter that infared heater will be installed before winter. Wish I did radiant from the start oh well.
My ultimate goal is to get my home as efficient as I can which will help with everything down the road. Looking into solar I thought would be the next step. With some of the good points brought up I don’t think I use enough electricity to make it beneficial. I don’t know what a full system would cost but I’m the type that would find the products and do myself once well informed and confident. I have three great electricians I know just not experienced in solar but in large ups systems, residential, and industrial no experience in solar. But not having a cert. contractor will probably make me loose all the federal and state rebates so that’s a downside. Someone threw a number out there and if the going rate is 40k I was really off from thinking in the lines of 10-15k for a system. A lot of thinking and typing I needs a rest thanks again guys for the info.
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If you don't use enough electricity (or pay enough for it) to make solar viable then you should not do it. However for a small installation, your 15-18K figure is very reasonable, and if you get the 30% tax credit this year, it would pay for professional installation (which I would highly recommend if only for the warranty).

Google has mapped every roof in America and can tell you a lot about sun-hours and slope direction.

Remember it is a mistake to buy more solar than you need unless you get a KWh for KWh return from your utility, but I think it is an even bigger mistake to buy batteries as a good utility company is the best battery (it is 100% efficient).
 
davidcarmichael said:
... but I think it is an even bigger mistake to buy batteries as a good utility company is the best battery (it is 100% efficient).
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Curious why you say this. What happens in a big storm and the grid goes down? Batteries can be a very good thing to have.
 
mikey said:
Curious why you say this. What happens in a big storm and the grid goes down? Batteries can be a very good thing to have.
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Simple. When the grid goes down conventional solar is dead. This includes all "Powerwall" like systems.
To run your solar without the grid your have to spend a LOT of money. You are much better off with a gas generator.
 
When the grid goes down in my area, my home is powered by the batteries. This is the main reason I opted for batteries and it works. No more running to the store for ice when the power goes down for a day or more.
 
you can get disconnects to turn a grid-tie solar set up into a standalone one if you have battery storage, but they're not commonly installed . Typically the power company doesn't want the risk of backfeeding into the grid when linemen are working on it.
 
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