Step 1 - Get a Loan to Buy a Solar Power System
From SolarPneumaticHybrid
I found this Power-Save or I should say I saw an ad on Planet Green. If the monthly rates on their loan is less than my monthly electric bill, I might get a loan from them instead of waiting for REnU to give me an installation date. REnU says it will be from 6 months to a year and a half before they install the system. With Power-Save they ship me everything (free shipping right now if you go to the link in their TV ad), and then I install it myself. My original plan for this website was to document my install of a solar system on my house with detailed How-tos with photos. So, maybe I will do this after all using Power-Save, but instead of waiting until 2010, I should be able to get started in less than a month. Now I just need to decide which of their systems to buy (which will determine my monthly loan payment). If I can meet all of my needs while having a loan payment less than my average electric bill than it will be a no brainer. If the loan payment will be more than my average electric bill than I don't know if I will go for the loan or not since my local utility does not cut checks for electricity, they only give electricity credits.
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Here's What Power-Save Offers
1A. POWER-SAVE SOLAR 1000 SYSTEM
Includes: 6 - 170 Watt PV Panels, 1020 Peak Watts (UL Listed and CEC Listed) 1 - Flush Mount Roof Racking System 1 - 1100 PV Powered High Efficiency Inverter (UL Listed and CEC Listed)
Only $5,999.00 (uninstalled) - ORDER SECURELY ONLINE OR CALL 1-866-297-7192!
- Plus shipping & handling; Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover Accepted
1B. POWER-SAVE SOLAR CALIFORNIA CEC 1K
Includes: 8 - 160 Watt PV Panels, 1030 AC Watts (UL Listed and CEC Listed) 2 - Flush Mount Roof Racking System 1 - 1100 PV Powered High Efficiency Inverter (UL Listed and CEC Listed)
Only $7,499.00 (uninstalled) - ORDER SECURELY ONLINE OR CALL 1-866-297-7192!
- Plus shipping & handling; Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover Accepted
2. POWER-SAVE SOLAR 2000 SYSTEM
Includes: 12 - 170 Watt PV Panels, 2040 Peak Watts (UL Listed and CEC Listed) 1 - Flush Mount Roof Racking System 1 - 2000 PV Powered high efficency Inverter (UL Listed and CEC Listed)
Only $11,299.00 (uninstalled) - ORDER SECURELY ONLINE OR CALL 1-866-297-7192!
- Plus shipping & handling; Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover Accepted
3. POWER-SAVE SOLAR 3000 SYSTEM
Includes: 18 - 170W PV panels, 3060 Peak Watts (UL Listed and CEC Listed) 1 - Flush Mount Roof Racking System 1 - 3000 PV Powered high efficency Inverter (UL Listed and CEC Listed)
Only $15,999.00 (uninstalled) - ORDER SECURELY ONLINE OR CALL 1-866-297-7192!
- Plus shipping & handling; Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover Accepted
4. POWER-SAVE SOLAR 4000 SYSTEM
Includes: 24 - 170W PV panels, 4080 Peak Watts (UL Listed and CEC Listed) 1 - Flush Mount Roof Racking System 1 - 3500 PV Powered high efficency Inverter (UL Listedand CEC Listed)
Only $21,499.00 (uninstalled) - CALL 1-866-297-7192 TO ORDER TODAY!
- Plus shipping & handling; Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover Accepted
5. POWER-SAVE SOLAR 5000 SYSTEM
Includes: 30 - 170W PV panels, 5100 Peak Watts (UL Listed and CEC Listed) 1 - Flush Mount Roof Racking System 1 - 4800 PV Powered high efficency Inverter (UL Listed and CEC Listed)
Only $26,499.00 (uninstalled) - CALL 1-866-297-7192 TO ORDER TODAY!
- Plus shipping & handling; Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover Accepted
6. POWER-SAVE SOLAR 6000 SYSTEM
Includes: 36 - 170W PV panels, 6120 Peak Watts (UL Listed and CEC Listed) 1 - Flush Mount Roof Racking System 1 - 5200 PV Powered high efficency Inverter (UL Listed and CEC Listed)
Only $30,999.00 (uninstalled) - CALL 1-866-297-7192 TO ORDER TODAY!
- Plus shipping & handling; Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover Accepted
Here's What My House Uses
So, I believe, the units of the bar chart are kilowatt hours. So, here is my question to the public: Which of the systems above would I need so as not to need to buy power from my local utility in June according to the graph if I am using net metering? Net metering means that if I produce as much energy or more than what I use in a given month, I'm not charged for electricity (I will be charged a connection fee or something like that but not charged for the power itself). If you are doing solar power for the environmental reasons, even if you have enough panels and batteries that you never take power from the grid, you should still do net metering since theoretically your neighbors will be using your surplus when your batteries are full.
Here's what an online solar power calculator told me
For 1000 kWh per month
If I never want to change my consumption, and I want to produced all my own power even in the peak consumption months, I need a 9kW system. The largest system listed on Power-Save's website is a 6kW system for $31,000 (if I install it myself). So, based on last year's energy consumption, this system, using net metering, would have made my electricity free for April, May, October, November, January, February, and March except 2009 April was 200 kWh higher than April 2008. My usage may be trending higher because I got a huge HDTV for Christmas so maybe it uses a lot more power than my old 30" CRT or maybe I simply watch a lot more TV or maybe the weather has my AC working a lot harder. The point is, with the new system with the digital real time energy consumption read out, it may be easy to do the math and set a peak rate and then make a habit of checking the meter frequently and turn off or unplug devices accordingly. $31,000 is more than I have ever spent on a car so I probably won't get that one. My bill for April 2009, 720 kWh was $58. Lets say it always costs me $58, then in a year I would only save $696 which means this system would pay for itself in 44 years assuming not interest and that the electric rates don't increase. If I switch to an electric furnace and an electric water heater, it could potentially pay for itself in 30 years including the cost of the furnace and water heater since my gas bill for April was $55. In the short term I need to lower the temperature setting on my hot water heater. I haven't used my furnace for over a month.
For 500 kWh per month
If I drop my goal down to 500 kWh per month I would only need a 5 kW I should be able to power my house in February, March, and April without changing my habits or appliances. On 5 of the other months it would probably cover 75% of my electricity and the rest over half. Raising my spring/summer thermostat setting to 80 degrees and reducing my Winter setting to 60 degrees plus being extra vigilant about unplugging things that we aren't using and by leaving the lights off when we really don't need them might be enough to pay only the base utility fee each month but the 5kW system costs $27,000 which I'm guessing probably translates to at least $300 per month so again, I probably won't be getting this system unless I can pay cash for it. If I can reduce my energy consumption so that 12 months a year I use 500 kWh per month or less, then this system would pay for itself in 56 years, if I could somehow switch to an electric water heater and electric furnace and still stay below 500 kWh per month, then maybe this system would pay for itself in 40 years, if it can last 40 years. But if electric rates double over the next couple of years, then this would pay for itself in less than 30 years. If rates went up even faster, maybe 20 years.
For 300 kWh per month
If I get the 3kW system, it would literally be a starter kit, at $16,000 I bet I could afford the monthly payments even though likely it will probably only reduce my electric bill from $58 to $25 at best. But then, because I will be installing it myself, I will make a good guinea pig and thus my site will finally have some truly useful content. I'll document it with photos and close ups of everything. Write very detailed accounts and thus maybe my site will become a destination for other do it yourself solar installers. And since this kit probably won't provide me with even half my energy needs, I will have tons of things to write about as I increase my conservation of electricity, expand the system, first with batteries (just for when the power in my neighborhood goes out), then with wind power (just to see what it can contribute), then by adding solar, or batteries, or wind based on data gathered from the actual system running on my house in my city and my needs. So if this provides me with $25 worth of power each month, it will pay for itself in 50 years. If rates double, 25 years. If rates go up to the point that what now costs me $25 a month costs me $100 a month, depending on how soon that happens, this system could pay for itself in 13 years. Even though I won't get any return on my investment anytime soon, from an environmental stand point it still makes sense. From a disaster preparedness standpoint it makes since too, Power-Save says their systems come with "PV Powered Inverters", does that imply that when the grid goes down, their net metering system will keep running as long as there it sunlight while others my stop working? While using the system without batteries, I could at least turn off all the breakers to most of the rooms in my house leaving only one room with power, thus leaving the fridge running and the AC. I wonder if my AC could run off this solar power system during a power outage?
I hope this site will take off with people providing the content free of charge like on Wikipedia, but if not, I'll be happy to provide it all. So we might actually have a real install to write about in July or August.
For 200 kWh per month
This may end up being my system because my budget may not allow the 3 kW system. If I end up getting this one it will definitely provide my site with more content and more regular updates as I very aggressively reduce energy consumption and add panels, wind turbines, and batteries gradually over time like the original plan. The 2 kW system costs $12,000 which is what I typically pay for a car. I can afford that (starting in October). This system would provide me with roughly $16 worth of power per month. That means that at my current rates, this system would take 85 years to pay for itself, 42 if rates double, 21 if rates quadruple.
For 100 kWh per month
If I start with the 1 kW system, maybe that will be more responsible. I would only owe $6000 and that way, if anytime I had some extra cash I paid that toward the principle, I could pay it off quickly, saving money on the interest and then all of my savings from the system and ad revenue from this site could then generate more content for this site perhaps sooner than any of the other systems would because instead of making loan payments for a few years, I might be able to save up for additional items in 6 months or less after paying for the 1 KW system. I think I have made my decision, I am going to call Power-Save to see what the financing is like (and to see if I can even qualify for the credit). If I get the 1 kW system from Power-Save, I might get the REnU too, and then I can compare REnU rent to Power-Save financing, some of you might find that interesting. And if I get 1 kW systems from both, I still won't be generating more net metering credits than I can use. Plus if I do this system in the next couple months, I'll have some alternative energy up and running on my house while I wait for REnU, and I'll have content on my website a lot sooner than I would have if I just waited for REnU. Of course if REnU calls me tomorrow, I still haven't generated enough referrals to get free rent so that could affect my decision to go with Power-Save, at least for the time being. Stay tuned. A 1 kW system will provide me with $8 of electricity per month and pay for itself in 62 years at current rates, 31 if rates double, 16 if rates quadruple.
