Electricity Saving With a Solar Panel System
Solar panel systems do it yourself fabrication with electricity saving purpose is not surprisingly on the increase among a world population that feels the crunch of two globe crisis going on hand by hand; the energy crisis and the financial crisis. Just take a look at your power bill and then at your pocket. One is constantly showing higher balances whereas the other lower. In both cases, demand is totally overpowering supply leaving the average consumer with an ever wider gap between power bill expenses and available income.
Our planet is running short on conventional power supplies, like oil and gas and has not taken the necessary steps to prevent this unbalanced state or the deterioration of the environment. In many cases it is the common people that are investigating solar panel systems and implementing available technology in order to save electricity, money and the planet.
In addition to making conscious changes in their habits and routines at home when using power and water many are contemplating an innovative approach to saving. They understand that the actual source of non renewable energy they are currently using is running dry and drying their thin wallets in the process. It is an ongoing reality that has to be terminated, and that’s why many are taking a closer look at home solar panel systems and finding it a cost effective solution.
Alternative energy like a solar panel system offers both solutions, the advantages of saving power and money, and a lesser impact on the environment. They don’t become exhausted by use, are in natural large quantity around us and environmentally friendly.
The main renewable energy sources are sun, wind and water. They could be categorized in three forms of solutions: solar energy, wind energy and hydro energy.< These energy sources not only offer a savings solution to the general economy and the individual pocket, but also many benefits and advantages over conventional non renewable energy sources.
Solar energy when used with today’s advanced technology becomes a reliable source of heat and light, and capable of creating other forms of energy. It is ready available and for free. Nobody needs to be convinced of its abundance and the lack of a controlled human monopoly. Its use will definitely facilitate big electricity savings and have a say in a greener environment.
Electricity saving solar based solutions for homes are really easy to build and inexpensive. Several applications are available for home lighting, heating system, cooking, etc. A trendy implementation is the charging and storage of solar energy into solar cells. It is amazingly simple to do and it is accomplished by the production of solar panel systems. A home based solar lighting system will put an end to the electricity bills, and a smile of satisfaction in the home owner’s face, when the lights are on during the night and the electricity company has nothing to do with it. For heating solutions a solar power system is an investment that pays entirely for itself in no time, and after that it will continue to give the service and advantages for free. For people spending a lot of time in the kitchen, image a cooking device that does not use any fuel for cooking despite the fact of being able to boil, roast and bake for several people.
Wind power solutions are more appropriate for buildings, mansions or farmhouses. Free pollution wind power systems are based on equipment commonly known as wind turbines, wind mills and wind generators.
Water power solutions are applicable when hydro energy is converted to run different kind of vehicles and some electrical appliances.
All these renewable energy sources will permit the average person to reduce the ever increasing cost of living, and shrink or totally get rid of electricity bills.
Solar panel systems offer the option of electricity saving and aid at fighting power outages. Start your own fabrication of home solar power systems and add participation to a greener environment and a better future for the next generations.
Copyright © F. Prida. All Rights Reserved.
F. Prida
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Solar panels as an investment and saving – sounds too good to be true!…?
(Firstly I apologise for the length of this, but I wanted to explain the whole situation just so there’s no ambiguity).
Here in Brisbane, Australia we get 7-8 sun hours per day on average (source: http://www.livingin-australia.com/sunshine-hours-australia/ ); our household uses ~20kWh per day based on the average of all the power bills for 2009. Using this calculator ( http://www.bdbatteries.com/panelcalculator.php … too lazy to crunch the numbers myself) it tells me the ideal system is 3.2 kW. Our house has a large north-facing roof so that is good enough for solar panels. For practicality (and to keep the numbers conservative) I sourced the figures for a 3.5kW system which is within the price range of $30-40k, but after selling RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) and taking advantage of federal and state subsidies and offsets it is priced at ~$15-20k; I’ll assume a worst case (say, $25k) to keep it conservative.
With a Home Equity Line of Credit Loan we currently have $220,000 in debt overall. At ~6.5% interest the monthly repayments are ~$1,190. If we were to throw the $25,000 for the entire solar setup onto the loan, the loan would increase to $245,000 and interest would be ~$1,330 per month, a $140 increase. Since we are currently paying $126 per month ($4.20 per day) in power bills, it seems it is not worth it. However, 3.5kW x 7.5 avg sun hours gives 26.25kWh daily, or ~6.25kWh more than is needed. When taking into account the 44c/kWh feed-in tariff that is a lowest possible return of ~$82.50 per month (I say "lowest" because it is real-time net metering, so if we have nothing running during the day it will send a lot of power priced at 44c/kWh to the grid; when we buy it back when we are back from work at night it will cost only 16c/kWh, so overall we will gain more than $82.50 per month).
So then if we had to pay $140 extra per month on the loan but that eliminates $126 per month in power costs and includes $82.50 at the minimum in feed-in credits, is that is effectively a saving of $68.50? I know it isn’t really a saving per se since simply paying loan interest doesn’t reduce the loan’s size, but to me it seems to be a saving since the power cost of $126 per month will always be there so it may as well be moved from one account (elec) to another (HELOC loan) without making much difference financially; also the HELOC loan can be paid off and thus interest repayments become lower, while the cost of electricity is only set to rise (on top of inflation-adjustment each year, we are expecting sharp rise when the carbon trading scheme gets passed, and the generators were granted a 16% increase for January 2010 anyway!!!). Additionally when the 3 kids have moved out of home the power use will drop, leaving more electricity for the grid (so more money returns) in addition to less expenses overall (so the HELOC loan will be easier to pay off) – seems like a double win!
There are two major downsides that I can immediately see: variable interest rate rises and home valuation. However for the latter, I am not sure whether it is really a problem. For all I know, solar panels would most likely increase the value of one’s home (seems to be logical anyway), which in turn means more flexibility regarding the floor of the HELOC loan if it is needed.
I am somewhat naive regarding how HELOC works so that is my main concern in this plan. So is this too good to be true, or have I missed something (I generally don’t believe in "too good to be true" hence why I am asking).
Naive re HELOC; I am one of the 3 kids mentioned in the question (19yo) so this is just for me to propose to my parents as an idea.
it usually takes like 20 years before u make your money back on the panels
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You have made a bad assumption. You will only get peak power four hours a day November through January and then only when the sun shines. You will get power at other times just varying degrees of full power. If you average 8 Kilo Watt hours per day you will be lucky.
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Not bad. I’ll answer with what I know about California (USA) – it may or may not apply to where you live.
If your power utility offers net metering on an annual true-up basis, then less sun in the winter doesn’t matter. You would theoretically build up a credit on your power bill in the summer, and draw it down in the winter.
If your utility offers time-of-use metering, where the rates are higher during the sunny hours, then you may not need to size your system so large.
The value for sunlight hours – was that "peak equivalent sun," intended for sizing solar systems? In the winter here, the sun is out for 10 hours, but the equivalent sun is only about 2 hours, when dawn, dusk, and overcast weather are taken into account.
If your utility is set up such that they will never pay you cash for power, then it’s pointless to size your system so large that you might generate more than you use over the course of a year. This is in fact how the utility works where I live. The first year that our system was installed, we generated $80 more electricity than we used. We didn’t get a check for it, the balance was just set back to zero at the end of the year, as a donation to the grid.
What you should do is ask a professional installer to look at your house and make a quote. They will probably know about the financing angle, too. Then decide whether it’s truly a value, or whether they’re trying to do a sales job on you.
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