cost effectiveness

limey44460 · Feb 25, 2020

i would love to get into solar but it is cost prohibitive.one battle born battery would pay my power bill for 4 months.i was quoted $51.000 for a solar system to pay my $250.00 a mont bill with a payoff in 13.1 years. as i am now 66 that does not seem too practicle.

John Frum · Feb 25, 2020

Agreed, its a big outlay and a long wait for for the payoff.
13.1 years is ~4775 days.
Battleborn batteries for example are rated for 3000-5000 cycles and have a 10 year warranty.
Inverters don't last forever either.
Same for panels.

I think its about freedom and independence.

kenkoh · Feb 25, 2020

limey44460 said:
i would love to get into solar but it is cost prohibitive.one battle born battery would pay my power bill for 4 months.i was quoted $51.000 for a solar system to pay my $250.00 a mont bill with a payoff in 13.1 years. as i am now 66 that does not seem too practicle.

I think they're trying to rip you off. Average monthly electric bill in PA is $106, $106 x 25 years = $31800, for my needs I worked out going completely off grid solar would cost me around $14000 including Battleborns and replacement after 10-12 years, still less than half. replacing inverters probably around half the price still.

Freddmc · Feb 25, 2020

Still comes out to 31800.

kenkoh · Feb 25, 2020

Jay2020 said:
Isnt it 106 x 12 x 25 but your product seems to work out LOLOLOL

Yes I'm slow and bad at math.

kenkoh · Feb 25, 2020

Jay2020 said:
Isnt it 106 x 12 x 25 but your product seems to work out LOLOLOL

In reality I actually will spend around 10-12k thats it.

kenkoh · Feb 25, 2020

Jay2020 said:
That is cheap!

Ta hell with math, ya still got da right product!

I'm sure everyone else here can do even better, month ago I didn't know what watt hour was.

upnorthandpersonal · Feb 25, 2020

I've never looked at time to get a return on investment. I just like the idea of being independent, and to kinda prove a point that it can be done way up north. That said, my set-up isn't coming near 51K, but then again, my usage is probably a lot lower than yours as well as $250/month seems incredibly expensive to me. Also, I am getting a return after all but not in the traditional sense - instead based on some consulting I do on the side that I got into because I built the system and people/companies wanted to know more and needed advice implementing systems.

kenkoh · Feb 25, 2020

upnorthandpersonal said:
I've never looked at time to get a return on investment. I just like the idea of being independent, and to kinda prove a point that it can be done way up north. That said, my set-up isn't coming near 51K, but then again, my usage is probably a lot lower than yours as well as $250/month seems incredibly expensive to me. Also, I am paying back after all but not in the traditional sense - instead based on some consulting I do on the side that I got into because I built the system and people/companies wanted to know more and needed advice implementing systems.

Even if it's not cost effective, I rather be my own power provider, my own security, water & food supplier....

offgriddle · Feb 25, 2020

limey44460 said:
i would love to get into solar but it is cost prohibitive.one battle born battery would pay my power bill for 4 months.i was quoted $51.000 for a solar system to pay my $250.00 a mont bill with a payoff in 13.1 years. as i am now 66 that does not seem too practicle.

My good person, I feel you pain.
There's not reason why you cannot consider beginning microscopically and from the standpoint of a hobbyist, just like I am doing. It really is a kick to know that I am are for example watching an LED telly, and/or enjoying an evening's LED lighting or music or device charging that has been provided totally by the courtesy of the sun and a bit of elbow grease and very, frugal and wise purchasing and resourcefulness.

I'll admit I am a bit unusual in the first world because I have no affordable grid connection near me and I am a working pauper so I have to be super capricious regarding not only how I make electricity, but how and when I use it.

Just a thought ... one 100 watt panel, = £100. One 20 amp sportsman grade 12 volt lifepo battery with built in BMS, (I use two), =£125 each, (start with one). One MPPT 20 or 30 amp charge controller can be had for less than £100.00. One, decent quality locally purchased automotive grade, 12 volt to 120 volt AC 750 watt inverter can be had for <£100.

Those are your big ticket items, the rest of the parts like the rack for the one maybe two solar panels can be fabricated by yourself along with bits of wire and such scrounged up locally. I would recommend using MC4 connectors and fuse holders for proper connection to the panel(s) as they are not expensive and assure a very nice, safe and durable wiring connection.

Regards, OG

Craig · Feb 25, 2020

I honestly do not think that if you have reliable energy from a power company that you can get anything cheaper until storage prices come down.

For my situation it's way cheaper and dinner to have my own off grid system in the woods. At my city home I enjoy the peace of mind that not relying on a power company means. Plus here in California summertime power outages are becoming fairly common.

That being said 50k is ridiculous.

I would think the job could be done for less than half of that on a DIY basis maybe even 1/4

offgriddle · Feb 25, 2020

Craig said:
I honestly do not think that if you have reliable energy from a power company that you can get anything cheaper until storage prices come down.

For my situation it's way cheaper and dinner to have my own off grid system in the woods. At my city home I enjoy the peace of mind that not relying on a power company means. Plus here in California summertime power outages are becoming fairly common.

That being said 50k is ridiculous.

I would think the job could be done for less than half of that on a DIY basis maybe even 1/4

Yep, based on a $200 dollar a month power bill for example, to totally replace the grid for say $25K DIY is about a 10 year break even, not including any costs associated with maintenance and replacement items backup generator fuel and such.

nosys70 · Feb 25, 2020

you do not need battery for solar.
all electricity you spare (or do not buy) during the day is already benefit.

Craig · Feb 25, 2020

nosys70 said:
you do not need battery for solar.
all electricity you spare (or do not buy) during the day is already benefit.

Very good point. Sometimes I forget others needs are vastly different than mine.

FilterGuy · Feb 25, 2020

@nosys70 is absolutely right. If you are looking at it from only the ROI point of view, you need to look at a no-battery solution first. I put in a 4.7KW grid tie solar system without batteries 13 or so years ago. I calculated it paid back in about 6 or 7 years. The same system today would cost a lot less and in the mean time the price for electricity has gone up. Consequently the pay-back would be even faster. At this point I only pay ~$10/month to the utility company (This is a minimum bill that they impose for the right to be connected to the grid). Consequently, batteries do not make economic sense for my house.

$50K does seem out of line. My sister had a system professionally installed in St John V.I. It had lots of panels and two Tesla power walls. The cost to her was ~50K, but everything is 25% to 50% more expensive on the island. However, the cost of electricity to her is so high she expects a 6 or 7 year payback. On top of that the reliability of the grid is horrendous. With her batteries, the house just keeps going right through the nearly daily power outages.

FilterGuy · Feb 25, 2020

FilterGuy said:
However, the cost of electricity to her is so high she expects a 6 or 7 year payback.

I should point out that the 6-7 year payback is made possible in part by the big 30% federal tax credit.

John Frum · Feb 25, 2020

PG&E have done a lot more to promote solar power than most.

FilterGuy · Feb 25, 2020

smoothJoey said:
PG&E have done a lot more to promote solar power than most.

Recently that is very true in a very negative way. Multi-day 'Public Safety Power Shutdowns' has made the emergency generator and solar market very busy. I don't hear the ads for solar installers any more because they all have more business than they can handle.

offgriddle · Feb 25, 2020

nosys70 said:
you do not need battery for solar.
all electricity you spare (or do not buy) during the day is already benefit.

Tis true, however, clouds happen and a battery provides the buffer that keeps the power on when clouds come and go.

limey44460 · Feb 25, 2020

kenkoh said:
I think they're trying to rip you off. Average monthly electric bill in PA is $106, $106 x 25 years = $31800, for my needs I worked out going completely off grid solar would cost me around $14000 including Battleborns and replacement after 10-12 years, still less than half. replacing inverters probably around half the price still.

I CHECKED AND ELECTRICITY IS CHEPER IN PA AND WV DONT KNOW WHY.PROBABLY THE SAME REASON WE USED TO PUMP NATURAL GAS FROM TEXAS TO OHIO AND THEY SAID THAT WAS WHY IT WAS SO EXPENSIVE?

cost effectiveness

New Member

Tell me your problems

Solar Enthusiast

New Member

Solar Enthusiast

Solar Enthusiast

Solar Enthusiast

Administrator

Solar Enthusiast

"FOREVER BEGINNING"

Watts are Watts!

"FOREVER BEGINNING"

Solar Enthusiast

Watts are Watts!

Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers

Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers

Tell me your problems

Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers

"FOREVER BEGINNING"

New Member

Similar threads