I'd wager all of your electrons are from hydro anyways?
Magical power from the glowing orb in the sky - solar all the things
- Thread starter 6thElement
- Start date
Bah, they've analyzed to the other side of the nearby main road which is a 1/4 mile away but not my street.
sunroof.withgoogle.com
Project Sunroof
Enter a state, county, city, or zip code to see a solar estimate for the area, based on the amount of usable sunlight and roof space.
sunroof.withgoogle.com
Correct. Only 3% of local power comes from carbon sources an a third of that is biogas. Burning methane is a hell of a lot better than releasing it. But we do have an integrated power grid so anything saved here could int theory reduce the load on some coal burner in Wyoming.
Good point. That's probably one of the things generally overlooked in a conversation about where the power comes from...
All the sun here, this is using the power usage figure from my old house which was quite a bit smaller, but had single pane windows so maybe equivilent? Just need to get my stupid taxes finalized so I can jump into my solar system, too many projects going on eating too much of my time
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw
It’s not just Glen Canyon—dams around the Southwest are taking a hit
Hydro power is decreasing as climate change hangs the Southwestern US out to dry.
arstechnica.com
Ok sun-sucking monkeys, anybody go through Kota for their solar? About to pull the trigger on a system, not sure if it's even worth my time to get a quote from them, but I've been seeing their trucks absolutely everywhere as of late. Did any of you have them quote, were they competative?
Did a couple locals, TSLA, and Sunrun. Ended up with Sunrun. They've had a few issues with the install process, but I'm getting an array 10% larger for same px because of their fuck ups. Super communicative as well. Px was slightly higher net, but I was able to do a longer term, so less forward capital outlay (keep money invested). They also built it 20% larger on assumption of an electric vehicle, which TSLA and half the locals wouldn't do.
Better insulation could also be worthwhile to look into. We have put 300mm on the roof, new windows and insulated the floor in the basement.
Just put a battery in and charge it with off peak power then use it in the day time, it's the sneaky loophole, over here anyway.
A battery is hugely expensive here.
Leaning toward Sunrun but figured I'd ask about Kota. Sunrun has a better price and lead time than anybody else with an actual reputation, they'll cover the cost to upgrade my panel to 200 amps which I need even if I don't go solar, and going through Costco I get almost $3k back in costco giftcards which I can spend on fancy scotch. The 20 year financing at 2.99% drops the monthly cost fairly substantially. Even if I don't put the tax credit toward the system and re-amortize my monthly payment would be just a hair less than my electric bill for a system 147% larger than my current usage (planning 1 EV and 1 PHEV) with a single LG back-up battery.
The battery is stupid expensive for what it is, would never make much sense as a way to save on your bill, but having power during our bi-monthly outages after the sun goes down seems worth it. I really want 2, but if we're adding an EV anyway that can feed the house off it's battery spending $12k for a second battery when a Mach E extended range has the equivalent of 9 batteries doesn't pencil out.
Have you been getting separate quotes from the solar companies or using one of the web based central quote website doodads?
I think I'm still more interested in a ground array than roof panels...
I'm kind of interested in a ground array as well - we have a decent spot (I think) up at the top of our hill - not sure how many could be placed up there...
Separate, have yet to find a company that will quote anything without an in person meeting, hence trying to limit my number of quotes.
I have a giant roof, whatever you picture as being a giant roof, double that and that's my roof, and it's only a few degrees away from perfectly aligned with the sun, so this shit is going on the roof.
Ford F-150 Lightning Pro Is a Better Deal Than a Tesla Powerwall
Jason Fenske does the math and presents the advantages the electric pickup truck offers over Tesla’s stationary energy storage system
www.autoevolution.com
^Yep, if I could get a Lightning Pro at MSRP I'd be very tempted to buy one just as a battery. $40k-$6.5k fed tax credit- $24k not buying 2 batteries = $9500 for a brand new truck. The only issues is that any time I'm driving it I'm without my back-up battery at home. Thus a single battery seems like the answer, I can keep all the important stuff going on the single until I get home with the EV at which point I can turn on the AC.
I used the central thing to start with here, then requested more detailed quotes. They were still using the roof profile and such, but were pretty close to what I actually got installed.
Note that only a few EVs have vehicle to home power applications:
The Lightning ($3.x k extra fancy EVSE with home CCS connector for the DC hookup and then an extra inverter on the home side).
The Kia/Hyundai twins can export some small amount of AC via their J1772 and an adapter. I think it’s just 15A 120V. Euro people get 240V since that’s what they run. No auto switchover for house use so not super useful.
VW MEB vehicles like the ID.4 with the 77 kWh pack will get vehicle to home (VW calls this bidirectional charging just to be different) with a software update. Not sure how that’s going to work without a new EVSE: they’ve showed off a small 22 kW bidirectional level 3 charger (“DC Wallbox”) before, which is kind of like Ford’s thing but with DC both ways.
VW unveils new 22 kW bi-directional DC charging station for electric vehicles
VW has unveiled a new 22 kW bi-directional DC charging station for electric vehicles that sort of closes the gap...
electrek.co
Yep, allegedly it's coming to the Mach E too, and my wife won't shut up about them so that's what we're looking toward. Any infrastructure I have to buy/install is going to cost a hell of a lot less than a second $12k battery. I imagine all EVs will have to step their game up and add it as a feature in the near future, it's just too damn logical of a feature to omit.Note that only a few EVs have vehicle to home power applications:
The Lightning ($3.x k extra fancy EVSE with home CCS connector for the DC hookup and then an extra inverter on the home side).
The Kia/Hyundai twins can export some small amount of AC via their J1772 and an adapter. I think it’s just 15A 120V. Euro people get 240V since that’s what they run. No auto switchover for house use so not super useful.
VW MEB vehicles like the ID.4 with the 77 kWh pack will get vehicle to home (VW calls this bidirectional charging just to be different) with a software update. Not sure how that’s going to work without a new EVSE: they’ve showed off a small 22 kW bidirectional level 3 charger (“DC Wallbox”) before, which is kind of like Ford’s thing but with DC both ways.
VW unveils new 22 kW bi-directional DC charging station for electric vehicles
VW has unveiled a new 22 kW bi-directional DC charging station for electric vehicles that sort of closes the gap...
My Taco is getting replaced sooner rather than later with an F150 hybrid that'll run my house as well if need-be until either back-up battery prices come down or the EV/powerbank thing works itself out.
Here’s a nice article detailing the state of the 3rd party bidirectional EVSE/charger (VW’s is an outright charger) world:
techcrunch.com
And here’s a blurb that suggests that the MME isn’t bidirectional capable. Last line. Who knows what’s possible via OTA in the future but I wouldn’t count on it.
arstechnica.com
Are bidirectional EV chargers ready for the home market? | TechCrunch
With a stream of EVs coming on the market, the race to introduce bidirectional charging is heating up.
techcrunch.com
And here’s a blurb that suggests that the MME isn’t bidirectional capable. Last line. Who knows what’s possible via OTA in the future but I wouldn’t count on it.
PG&E will pilot bidirectional electric car charging in California
Ford and General Motors are both working with PG&E on trials.
arstechnica.com
Got the engineering back on my system today, papers are signed, extra-big-ass solar system en-route, with room to more than double it if I want to. Looking like 6-8 weeks out which sucks, but it is what it is. Also due to local codes my battery has to go on the opposite corner which means jank wire routing no matter how they do it, again, it is what it is. Just dumb that I can park 3 massive Li-ion batteries in my garage, but can't hang one on my stucco wall surrounded by nothing buy more stucco, brick and concrete.
Never turning off a light again.
Never turning off a light again.
My house is consistently kept 2-3 degrees cooler in the summer since having my system installed, and we don’t even think about opening the house at night any more if it’s warm outside. And yet, I think I’ve paid $20 for electricity in the past two years. No ragrets.
Last edited:
^Thats the goal. We run the AC hard all summer because we dig a cold house, but our power bill is higher than giraffe nuts.
Shit wasn’t cheap, but at least I’m paying for something I get to own and benefit from rather than paying Edison.
Shit wasn’t cheap, but at least I’m paying for something I get to own and benefit from rather than paying Edison.
I guess we have the 4th lowest electricity in the country, and all of ours is hydro (or non coal). But we haven’t needed AC in the house yet. I do have AC and heat for the bong-shed, though.
looking into solar/roof combinations to see if I can expedite this. Our roof is about 6-7 years out so solar is out of the question until I get a new roof. Has anybody done the combo thing? It feels like a scam but I can't do one without the other right now.
I'd still really like solar with battery backup for our frequent power outages. But our electricity bill is only ~$40/month.
ours was $400 last month. Thanks MA!
How many KWh is that?!?
Well there’s your problem right there. We are. Yikes. This might explain it.
Boston records hottest 30-day stretch in history
The heat wave was record setting for a number of reasons in Boston.
www.google.com
Well shit, Sunrun called today to schedule my install, had to push it back due to meetings already scheduled at works. Looks like it'll be 40 days exactly from accepting the proposal to stealing all your UVs to power my refrigerator.
Now that I've solved the energy crisis, gunna have myself a beer
Now that I've solved the energy crisis, gunna have myself a beer
Did you end up talking with Ro?
Finishing daylight at -23kWh from yesterday.