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Answers (6)
- skelly77
- Contributions:3
If your home has a good section of roof that faces south, then you should consider solar. If you are retrofitting an existing home, then there will be a number of extra tasks that you will have to perform. I recently installed 45 200 watt solar panels on my roof and it took me 2 years from when I started to research the project until the final go live.
Do not be discouraged by this. Though I had to install a new roof (so that i wouldn't have to deinstall the system later to put on a new roof 10 years from now), cut down some trees to reduce shading issues, move vents and a chimney from the back roof (which faces south) and upgrade my electrical system it was totally worth the effort. My payback on the system is conservatively 9-10 years with free electricity for at least another 30 years after that. My home resale value has gone up at least 3 times my installation cost. Plus I have enough extra electricity being produced that I can get a new electric vehicle (many coming out in 2010) and never go to the gas station again.
Incentives: The aforementioned 30% federal tax break on solar photovoltaic. This was extended 8 years as part of the original TARP bill and is now uncapped. I will be receiving a $12,000 check from the IRS next year from my installation this year. There are also state incentives in most states. Just be aware that the state incentives will be coming down as the price of solar panels come down. There is now a glut of panels and the prices have been falling. Oh and did I mention that with the coming cap and trade legislation for carbon that you will be able to sell your "carbon credit" to the utility every year. If you take the renewable energy credit market currently in NJ as an indicator then you will receive a check for $3,000 - 7,000 every year on top of free electricity. Not a bad deal.
Good luck.
Do not be discouraged by this. Though I had to install a new roof (so that i wouldn't have to deinstall the system later to put on a new roof 10 years from now), cut down some trees to reduce shading issues, move vents and a chimney from the back roof (which faces south) and upgrade my electrical system it was totally worth the effort. My payback on the system is conservatively 9-10 years with free electricity for at least another 30 years after that. My home resale value has gone up at least 3 times my installation cost. Plus I have enough extra electricity being produced that I can get a new electric vehicle (many coming out in 2010) and never go to the gas station again.
Incentives: The aforementioned 30% federal tax break on solar photovoltaic. This was extended 8 years as part of the original TARP bill and is now uncapped. I will be receiving a $12,000 check from the IRS next year from my installation this year. There are also state incentives in most states. Just be aware that the state incentives will be coming down as the price of solar panels come down. There is now a glut of panels and the prices have been falling. Oh and did I mention that with the coming cap and trade legislation for carbon that you will be able to sell your "carbon credit" to the utility every year. If you take the renewable energy credit market currently in NJ as an indicator then you will receive a check for $3,000 - 7,000 every year on top of free electricity. Not a bad deal.
Good luck.
I like the idea of evaluating a home for energy efficiency and then working on specifics to improve that.
I also think that tightening your home to the extent possible and then going solar is the best piece of advice I have heard in a long while. thank you Mr. Zito. It has long been a dream of mine to get off the grid -- over $3,000/year for energy, coal burned and irreplaceable oil wasted.
How much would an energy audit such as you speak cost? Who would I call to have this work done? I don't want some superficial evaluation, I would want a punch list of things to do, with very specific calculations as to cost/benefit ratios.
I also think that tightening your home to the extent possible and then going solar is the best piece of advice I have heard in a long while. thank you Mr. Zito. It has long been a dream of mine to get off the grid -- over $3,000/year for energy, coal burned and irreplaceable oil wasted.
How much would an energy audit such as you speak cost? Who would I call to have this work done? I don't want some superficial evaluation, I would want a punch list of things to do, with very specific calculations as to cost/benefit ratios.
- julie78787
- Contributions:17
The fastest way is to contact a reputable solar power installation company in your area. They will have all of that information at their fingertips.
Beware of promises of "free", "cheap" or "easy" green power. If it was free, cheap and easy, companies would be undercutting each other like mad and reaping the profits. Many of the "do-it-yourself" projects are unsafe, don't work, or aren't rated by the appropriate agencies, such as Underwriters Laboratories.
Beware of promises of "free", "cheap" or "easy" green power. If it was free, cheap and easy, companies would be undercutting each other like mad and reaping the profits. Many of the "do-it-yourself" projects are unsafe, don't work, or aren't rated by the appropriate agencies, such as Underwriters Laboratories.
- JohnZito
- Contributions:10
You might consider reducing the load of the house (energy conservation) before adding solar (energy production). It's almost always less expensive to conserve energy than to produce it.
In terms of heating/cooling your home, the goal of solar is no different than any other type of heating unit. It must overcome a certain load (the number of Btu's to heat/cool). If you reduce that load first by properly insulating and air sealing--and properly done is key here--the size of the solar will be smaller and more efficient.
A critical step is to have an energy rating done before the improvements, then after the improvements. A good energy audit/rating on the house will involve a blower door test for leakage and an infared camera for detecting where the leakage is coming from as well as where energy conduction is.
A good energy rater will then be able to tell you where to address the leakage and the re-test will let you know if you missed any areas. The rater's report will tell you what your air changes per hour are. A properly sealed home will need mechanical ventilation (that's the "V" in HVAC) at the rate of about 1/3 the volume of air per hour. It will also tell you what your Btu requirement will be for your heat source.
Then you can decide what size solar system you need.
- SoccerShepard
- Contributions:211
solar electric power org A good place to start
- Sunset Sunset Home Repair, "sunsetllc"
- Contributions:38
Well solar energy isn't cheap. About $20,000 to have a proper size system installed. The government will give you a 30% tax credit up to $2,000 on solar panels and solar water heater seperately, but don't try to find that out on the pathetic web site they set up to explain the stimulus plan to us( Recovery.gov). You can find more info at http://www.energystar.gov . Some states are giving even bigger tax credits than that. I understand that if your in the right state with the fed and state credits you can get half your money back. Couple that with with the savings in your energy bill and that may make it affordable for you.
If you want to take on a project you can actually build solar panels and windmill generators yourself from scratch. Check out http://www.earth4energy.com it's pretty interesting. There are other sites about this too. I haven't checked yet, but i bet there are books in the library that will tell you how to do it. I plan to try it myself once I get some extra time. It takes 2 days to build the solar panels or windmill generator and costs about $200, or so I'm told.
Good luck, Dan - http://www.sunsethomerepair.com
http://www.sunsethomerepair.com/blog/stimulus-package-benifits-for-homeowners/
http://www.sunsethomerepair.com/blog/home-green-home/
http://www.sunsethomerepair.com/blog/green-living-for-free/
If you want to take on a project you can actually build solar panels and windmill generators yourself from scratch. Check out http://www.earth4energy.com it's pretty interesting. There are other sites about this too. I haven't checked yet, but i bet there are books in the library that will tell you how to do it. I plan to try it myself once I get some extra time. It takes 2 days to build the solar panels or windmill generator and costs about $200, or so I'm told.
Good luck, Dan - http://www.sunsethomerepair.com
http://www.sunsethomerepair.com/blog/stimulus-package-benifits-for-homeowners/
http://www.sunsethomerepair.com/blog/home-green-home/
http://www.sunsethomerepair.com/blog/green-living-for-free/
I'm looking for ways to afford Solar Energy on my home. Anyone know where to start?
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