Solar electric

[Paul B]

A few months ago I installed Solar electric on my roof.
Yesterday it broke a record for me and generated 4,000 watts.
The power company is paying me for the 1,000 excess watts I was generating.
For once, I am getting money back from them.

 

[greggnyce]

When they pay you for the kilowatt do they pay only the kilowatt rate or the kw rate plus the bogus usage rate they tack on.

 

[Killerdrgn]

no they just pay you some junk rate.

 

[Paul B]

That is true, they don't pay you what you pay them.
But it is power that I don't have to pay for so yesterday while the sun was out the power, including my reef was free to run and I made a profit doing it.

 

[greggnyce]

How long do you think it will take to pay itself off? I worry that the outlay is so high that by the time it pays itself off they will need to be replaced. But I guess if you add in the usage fees you dont pay per kilowatt they add up. Did you calculate by any chance how long it might take to break even?

 

[hijinks]

How long do you think it will take to pay itself off? I worry that the outlay is so high that by the time it pays itself off they will need to be replaced. But I guess if you add in the usage fees you dont pay per kilowatt they add up. Did you calculate by any chance how long it might take to break even?

10 years would be a good number to hit to break even

 

[Paul B]

Yes, the panels are warrented for 25 years, being I installed it my self I will pay it back in three years. You get most of the outlay back in 90 days from the power company (In NY anyway) and $5,000.00 in taxes at the end of the year.
If you have to hire someone to install it it will take about 10 years to pay itself off at the present power rates.
You can also finance it if you want.

 

[hijinks]

solar panels are actually the best to use in this area.. due to high energy costs.. you can save more money then living in southern cali

 

[Paul B]

They are also more efficient when they are cold.

 

[greggnyce]

Thanks Paul.

 

[Keith P]

Pretty cool. If you don't mind me asking, ball park, what does that setup cost? How hard was the install?

 

[greggnyce]

Keith on the LIPA website there is a calculator that shows the approx costs, rebates, and tax credits for different sized systems. I want to look into getting a system just to run my tank and a pond in the future.

 

[Killerdrgn]

Oh yeah about the tax credits you can now deduct 30% of the entire cost of the Solar panels with no maximum. (used to be only up to $5,000. Combined with rebates and such from Con Ed or LIPA the costs really go down. It's 10 years pay back time for all costs without factoring in the deductions.

 

[Paul B]

I got back about $14,000.00 from LIPA.
The panels are $850.00 each, I have 22 of them and the inverter is probably about $400.00 then there are the maunting brackets.
It will cost you about $23,000.00 in materials.
It took me 4 days to install it myself

 

[BL007]

A few months ago I installed Solar electric on my roof.
Yesterday it broke a record for me and generated 4,000 watts.
The power company is paying me for the 1,000 excess watts I was generating.
For once, I am getting money back from them.

You mean up to now. Your solar system produced 1000 KW ?

 

[Rim_Reefer]

IF you dont mind me asking where did you purchase everything from?

 

[Paul B]

Bloo7, no, it produces 4,000 watts continousely when the sun is out bright.
It does have a read out as to how huch power it generates for the day but it is dark here now and the system is off so I can't access that information. It also reads how much greenhouse gasses it saves and that is up in the thousands of pounds so far.

Iverson, I got the panels from here

http://www.npcpsolar.com/

 

[TimberTDI]

So how much has your bill gone down to?

 

[Paul B]

It has gone down $100.00 a month

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I got back about $14,000.00 from LIPA.
The panels are $850.00 each, I have 22 of them and the inverter is probably about $400.00 then there are the maunting brackets.
It will cost you about $23,000.00 in materials.
It took me 4 days to install it myself

So do you mean you send 23,000.00 minus 14,000.00 plus 4 days of electrician work?. If so, not a bad investment for $100 monthly. Furtthermore, it may save you more when summer is coming.