Home Solar Panels?

[ladypanther]

15 hours ago, Anybodyhome said:

Not any more. McCrory signed legislation to discourage solar by not allowing excess power to be sold back. Helps his Duke Power buddies.

A lot of other states, which are a little more progressive with their renewable and non-coal burning energy, will buy excess produced from solar.

That is so blatant...should have been big news when it happened!  Hope that gets changed.

Aren't there some tax savings?  What does that amount to?

[cookinbrak]

Yes, you can sell the excess back, or sell everything you produce and just buy electricity.

https://www.duke-energy.com/business/products/renewables/generate-your-own/interconnection-up-to-20kw

 

[Anybodyhome]

4 hours ago, cookinbrak said:

Yes, you can sell the excess back, or sell everything you produce and just buy electricity.

https://www.duke-energy.com/business/products/renewables/generate-your-own/interconnection-up-to-20kw

 

The link you posted is for business/industry and does not apply to residential.

[Anybodyhome]

7 hours ago, ladypanther said:

That is so blatant...should have been big news when it happened!  Hope that gets changed.

Aren't there some tax savings?  What does that amount to?

There are federal tax breaks, not sure about state.

[cookinbrak]

2 hours ago, Anybodyhome said:

The link you posted is for business/industry and does not apply to residential.

Does anyone here read? From the webpage, explanation of insurance necessary for residential vs business.

Quote

Insurance Certification

Customers are required to demonstrate liability insurance coverage maintained with an insurer authorized to do business in North Carolina. This should be submitted to Duke Energy Carolinas with the interconnection request.

The required coverage for a residential customer shall be a standard homeowner's insurance policy with liability coverage in the amount of at least $100,000 per occurrence. The required coverage for a nonresidential customer is comprehensive general liability insurance with coverage in the amount of at least $300,000 per occurrence.

 

[jayflip]

I was thinking of doing the same. 

Electricity bill in CA is $300+ per month fml. 

[Anybodyhome]

I was incorrect in my earlier statement regarding Duke Energy/Progress Energy buying back unused electricity.

Found this on Duke's website:

https://nccleantech.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/Duke-Energy-Carolinas-Solar-Guide-FINAL-3.pdf

 

[Devin]

I used to work in solar sales for about a half a year back in early 2016.    Thing about it is that the benefit is very very situational.    Never do a solar lease.   Financing is the way to go because you'll own it by the time you're done paying it off.   Not being able to sell excess back is a huge detriment.  In California/New York most other places solar is available, you're able to do that so it leverages the benefit a bit more.  In my opinion, it's worth it if you're using a LOT of energy.   (over 3-4k a month on average).  Reason why is because in that situation you're getting a higher majority of your energy from a cheaper source than buying it from duke.  Also,  if you're considering buying... need to make sure they're giving you a warranty.   Also, if they can guarantee the perfomance of the unit in writing that'll make sure your unit doesn't degrade over time.   Hope this helps. 

[Jase]

I am in the process of building solar panels from wafers for about 50 cents per watt. The trouble with DIY around here is that duke won't let you connect it to their system without reviewing it first and giving them a shut-off. So my DIY panel making will be for a few select off-grid items.

[Paa Langfart]

 

On 1/31/2017 at 2:58 PM, Jase said:

So my DIY panel making will be for a few select off-grid items.

 

[cookinbrak]

On 1/31/2017 at 2:58 PM, Jase said:

I am in the process of building solar panels from wafers for about 50 cents per watt. The trouble with DIY around here is that duke won't let you connect it to their system without reviewing it first and giving them a shut-off. So my DIY panel making will be for a few select off-grid items.

You could use it to power freestanding things, like a water heater.

[Cat]

On 1/31/2017 at 2:58 PM, Jase said:

I am in the process of building solar panels from wafers for about 50 cents per watt. The trouble with DIY around here is that duke won't let you connect it to their system without reviewing it first and giving them a shut-off. So my DIY panel making will be for a few select off-grid items.

What about a solar panel to run pool equipment? Any ideas how difficult/expensive this would be? My husband is very handy and understands electrical and machines very well but doesn't know anything about solar though I'm sure he could set it up.

 

[Jase]

3 minutes ago, Cat said:

What about a solar panel to run pool equipment? Any ideas how difficult/expensive this would be? My husband is very handy and understands electrical and machines very well but doesn't know anything about solar though I'm sure he could set it up.

 

That depends entirely on the power demands of the equipment, which I'm not familiar with.  In theory you could build a battery bank to power just about anything, BUT if you want to draw a decent amount of current from it, getting a good inverter (to convert the DC current from the batteries to AC) can get expensive. As can the batteries themselves.

[Jase]

http://www.rpc.com.au/information/faq/system-design/12v-or-24v.html

good general info about building an off grid system and battery bank

http://www.freesunpower.com/project1.php

here's how to wire up an easy combiner for panels, site has some other good info as well.

http://mavericksolar.net/

This site has some interesting examples of DIY solar projects people have done