Home PV solar systems are a consumer ripoff!

[J.vick]

Originally Posted by rpseguin

Most people use power in their homes in the early morning and at night, but depending upon location, peak grid loads are often during the day (industry, businesses, air conditioning, ...).
It would be interesting to look at the data for each of the Hawaiian islands.


If we do end up moving to Hawaii, we would eventually want to install a solar system, presumably grid-tied.

Anybody have some rough ballpark costs for a 2KW PV system installation? And what are the rebates? Ie, what is the cost of the system after rebates?
3KW system?


I have been advocating for quite a while that I think our country should be making a national investment in renewable energy and in energy storage systems. I think that we should commit to spending at least $100 billion per year for at least the next 10 years on renewable energy, in terms of solar production and installation, research and development, infrastructure and technology, battery technology, ...
This would IMMEDIATELY create many tens of thousands of good paying, long term jobs (production, R&D, installers, maintenance, ...). These jobs would be local. The boost in available electrical energy would reduce the price of electricity AND lower the costs of fossil fuels (demand for fossil fuels will fall).
This would also help lower our dependence on foreign fossil fuels and the associated vulnerability to oil price spikes and turmoil in other countries.

I also would like to see us have a big change in the way we build buildings to take advantage of passive solar and utilize the lessons of the past, pre HVAC, as many houses were smartly built to take advantage of the Sun.

I couldn't agree more there should be more solar and renewable energy investment done in the US as it is in other countries.

[walkabout2014]

What happens if a storm knocks out power to the neighborhood? In most cases a house with PV solar connected to the grid will not be able to supply usuable power to the home so you won't have power, same as your neighbors. Not much benefit during power outages. You would need special inverters in order to use power from the panels during the day. Even so, batteries are needed and there would only be enough to power low power draw items like laptops, cell phone chargers, or a light or two. A refrigerator or electric heater probably won't work or will drain the batteries too quickly.

I have read that inverters used in PV systems have a lifespan as little as seven years.

Some utility companies pay much less for solar generated power than what the charge for power they supply to the homeowner. When the solar panels are producing power at mid day, most people are not home to use the benefits so the extra power goes to the net meter and the utility pays the homeowner less per kilowatt than they charge you at night.

Check the contract thoroughly before signing. I have read many reports from homeowners that said they did not receive the benefits that they anticipated. Don't rely on the PV solar provider for information as they are in it for the money. Find the facts yourself.

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[J.vick]

I have had my 3kw system for over 12 years with no problems (knock on wood).
California is pretty reasonable on the charges. I pay about 500.00 @ year and it gets hottttt here in the summertime.

[leilaniguy]

Most of the folks I know here on solar are not tied to the grid at all. They all have batteries and inverters and get by just fine. One guy I know went through Hurricane Iselle and didn't even know the power was out (for 2 weeks).