Solar DIY

[CharlieM]

Thanks!

[WRasco]

Curious questions to those with solar homes, do you have to pay any taxes on th empower you sell back to the electric company? Got to figure Uncle Sam wants his cut.

Any issues with reselling a home with solar installed or under contract?

[91cavgt]

I’m looking to do something VERY similar when we find some property, but instead of grid tie I want to go with a hybrid setup. A hybrid setup is a combination of a grid tie and an off grid setup. It has a grid tie power inverter that sells the excess power back to the electric company, but it also has a battery bank so you can still use the system if the power goes out.


There is a place in Sulfur Springs called Signature Solar where you can buy used 180 watt panels for $35 each. They come on pallets of 24 and sell for $840 for the entire pallet. Yes, these are used and are 8 years old but that doesn’t bother me. I’ve got a 245 watt Sharp panel that is at least 10 years old and it is still putting out really good power. The good quality solar panels are designed to put out within 10%-15% of their rated output after 25 years.


Lithium batteries are coming down in price and are now pretty affordable, IF you don’t mind doing some assembly work yourself. I just bought 3 lithium battery kits that come with the BMS and 100 amp/hr cylindrical battery cells for $260 each from Battery Hookup. Granted, you can’t run much at all on a 300 amp/hr battery bank, but this is for an RV. Personally, to power your whole home I would want a 48 volt battery bank that is around 1,000 amp/hr capacity. Even with the cheaper prices, you would still be looking at $10k minimum, just for the batteries! Yikes!!!

[bboswell]

Excellent info!

[Mattyd]

Excellent information with extreme detail. Our little place in Rocksprings is powered by PEC as well. When we retire and build our barndo there, I plan to do solar. PEC is expensive as heck, but, when you’re the only company around, you can be expensive.

[Greenheadless]

Tagged for later

[ken800]

Sorry, haven't been around for a while. I bought my panels from a place in Houston called Ontility. They get dreat deals from time to time on shipping container loads. I wasn't happy with my location/setup as there were too many times a panel or two was hit by shade. I'm over behind my barn now (or will be). Unfortunately there is a rock shelf over there and I can't dig down so I have a guy coming next week or two do drill the locations for the posts to support the frame. Being out behind the barn will also give me the ability to go hybrid. At some point I'll start building a battery bank and get it to a point where I can run three critical items in an extended power outage: water pump, portable heater or portable A/C for one room in the house. Coffee maker.

Pedernales has changed a bunch of their rules and procedures for getting on board and such. You'll need to reach out to your utility and ask for a packet for install. It should contain everything you need as well as explain how to provide technical drawings.

As far as taxes, I've always consumed more than I make so I don't have a credit at the end of the month. Since I now get a lot of my power free, I've quit worrying about be miserly, lol. That plus an electric car that I have to charge every other day eats through any overage by the morning.

[Pedernal]

^^^Thanks for sharing… curious as to which brand-model e-vehicle you have and how you like it??

[WRasco]

Great write up. But like everything else it looks like the cost has gone up.
The lowest I can find the Talesun 405W panels is $325.00 each.

Or maybe i have not found the right wholesaler...