DIY Solar Panels

[NightStalker]

I will say part of the decision of putting in solar is economics. And with recent declines in cost, the economics are looking pretty good.

In my area of central Texas, with my weather, my roof tilt, and my latitude, one watt of installed solar will generate 1.43kw-hours of AC coming out of the inverter. I pay 9.4 cents per kwh (or 0.094 $ per kwh). With this information, and knowing the cost of your instillation, it is easy to calculate the return on investment. My local company is quoting a grid-tied instillation 4kw system cost of $12,400. This works out to $3.10 per watt. So each watt of installed solar will generate 0.094 x 1.43 = or 13.4 cents of electricity each year, while costing $3.10. This yields a return on investment (ROI) of 4.3%. This is better than I could get buying a CD at the bank, but less than I could get wagering in the stock market. BUT if I take the 30% federal solar credit, my cost of installation drops to $2.17 and my ROI goes up to 6.1% That is pretty good for a risk free & tax free investment.

[NightStalker]

If you have a company put solar panels on your roof and then sell you cheaper power, you are missing out on the federal rebate (the company is claiming it). IF you have the cash up front, it is better to own the panels yourself.

[NightStalker]

If you have a BIG off grid load, check out the Aquion salt water battery's. The cost per 1000kwh is less than lead-acid.

[honchogrande2]

If interested I have a NEW PV Powered inverter 5200, 240v for sale $2700. never used. New runs $3500

pm me if interested

[91cavgt]

Early in this thread I mentioned the importance of using the proper size wire. Well, I thought my short wire running to my charge controller was large enough. The wire from the solar panel is 10 gauge to a foot away from the charge controller where I have it connected to push terminals so it is easy to hook the wires up to other items. From the push terminals, I was using 16 gauge wire to run the 12 inch run to the charge controller. Well, the last sunny day we had I discovered the 16 gauge wire was very warm to the touch! When wire warms up it means it is not big enough to handle the current correctly. This leads to high resistance which means power loss.

So today I did some rewiring and upgraded this 16 gauge wire to a 12 gauge wire. After a full day of running the charge controller, the new wire is ambient in temp. Success!

[HoustonR6ryda]

Renogy products any good?

[John123john]

And how much of electricity this solar panels give?

[Brazos Hunter]

And how much of electricity this solar panels give?

That is a relative question. The angle of the panels in relation to the sun; the number of hours of usable sun light; the time of year; what gauge wire is used...I could go on and on.

Michael
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

[Log152]

Oh, maybe I'll get one of those, too.

[Log152]

Hi. Saw a question here: How much electricity do the panels produce? I agree with the previous comment, it all depends on the location. You can find out more here - https://www.jioforme.com/pros-and-co...ntages/928794/. This article gives the pros and cons of solar panels. Maybe someone will need this information.

[RWB]

I will say part of the decision of putting in solar is economics. And with recent declines in cost, the economics are looking pretty good.

In my area of central Texas, with my weather, my roof tilt, and my latitude, one watt of installed solar will generate 1.43kw-hours of AC coming out of the inverter. I pay 9.4 cents per kwh (or 0.094 $ per kwh). With this information, and knowing the cost of your instillation, it is easy to calculate the return on investment. My local company is quoting a grid-tied instillation 4kw system cost of $12,400. This works out to $3.10 per watt. So each watt of installed solar will generate 0.094 x 1.43 = or 13.4 cents of electricity each year, while costing $3.10. This yields a return on investment (ROI) of 4.3%. This is better than I could get buying a CD at the bank, but less than I could get wagering in the stock market. BUT if I take the 30% federal solar credit, my cost of installation drops to $2.17 and my ROI goes up to 6.1% That is pretty good for a risk free & tax free investment.

I am not sure that is the right way to look at it. Your initial investment is gone and you have to recoup that before this ever generates an ROI. If you invest conservative in the market you will make your % return and still have your initial investment. Yes I know you can loose money in the market.

[texan4ut]

Maybe someone on here with solar power knowledge can help. I bought a solar charge controller/inverter combo as in the picture. It is hooked up to 4 100 watt panels and I have 4 12 volt rechargeable batteries for solar systems wired to produce 24 volts. Batteries will charge up to right at 26 volts. When I turn on any AC device such as a light bulb as soon as I do the input from the solar panels stops and only battery power.is used during the day time. Batteries drain quickly to 21 volts and this shuts off the system. As soon as the batteries come back up to 25+ volts the system cuts back on and the drain begins again. Of course at night with no power from the solar panels the drain on the batteries is quick and won't recharge back up until day light. Checked every setting I can find. I had 2 batteries originally and since they drained so fast I added to more. Not much difference. Any suggestions or do I have a bad controller. TIY

[texan4ut]

Picture

[91cavgt]

Picture

Do you have the lights and other items connected through the load output on the charge controller? This could be the problem. They aren’t designed to handle much of a load and are primarily designed to only run one or two lights when the panels stop putting out power.


Are the lights you are running 12v, 24v, or 120v lights? This also matters and can drastically change things. What size batteries are you running?

[Pedernal]

What is the capacity on the batteries you are using?? How is the load “light” hooked up to the system??

Tried to look up the user manual but the website does list much info on it. From some none model specific video they show features that show systems both charging batteries and running loads at the same time. So if your particular model is supposed to do that something is obviously wrong.