It should be kept in mind that, in a system comprising PV arrays and batteries, all of the electrical energy comes from the PV arrays; none comes from the batteries. (With the possible exception of the energy that was initially stored in the batteries when they were purchased.)
The analogy I like to use is a municipality’s water system. The wells are like PV arrays, and the water tower is like a battery. Water does not come from the water tower; it comers from the wells. The wells “trickle charge” the water tower. The tower is simply a device for storing energy (potential energy) and a quantity of water.
How did you miss this sentence? “The pricing is higher than you estimated without state help”
That was my point. I said I thought **beowulff ** underestimated the cost of installation. We are still in the early adopter stage where various governments are providing huge incentives to make it worth wild. This is in the hopes of the breakthroughs that will actually make Solar Panels efficient and/or cheap enough to become a common and cost effective solution.
BTW: Maintenance is very minor and actually increases the life of your roofing. What upkeep were you thinking of? The panels are good for 20-25 years or more. The solid state AC-DC electronics should have a similar age and most systems do not have batteries.
Just so that I understand how a power grid works, I have a follow-up.
To sell back the power, you need an inspection and a bi-directional meter. Now I’m wondering, if you didn’t do all that, would the power grid still suck your extra power from you without paying you? Is there something inherent in the system or infrastructure that would allow or cause it to utilize the power from your generator?
Also, where there is a power outtage from a hurricane or something and you plug your generator into your home outlet, will it turn your neighbor’s lights on?
… sorry, these are just some questions I’ve always kinda wondered and this thread has reenaged my curiousity.
Also, am I even right that you can plug a generator into your home outlet to power you house in the first place? I believe I heard people do this but that it is unsafe for the house and for repairmen on the lines. I could have misremembered…
Simple answer, to connect to the grid you need to pass inspection by at least the electric company and the state and in most places your township.
The power company is required to change the meter to one that flows in both directions.
The typical on grid setup only runs when the grid has power. This is to avoid the situation of feeding power into the grid and thus endangering the line-man that need to work on lines that should be dead.
There are solid state and electrical-mechanical systems that allow for the lock-out of the connection to the street and the ability to then use the power being generated. I will be installing some system like this in the next year or two. I would then be able to power my Refrigerator or Furnace depending on the time of year and some other select appliances and lights. I would of course on my own, shut off nearly every circuit breaker in the panel before switching to pure solar power.
As to the generator specific question, if you ever wish to power your home wiring and have a large enough generator to bother you should follow many extra safety precautions and the electric companies discourage this unless set up by a trained electrician that is following regulations.
*Basic list of instructions, please look for more detailed ones. *
Secure the power from the street via the main breaker and the outside cut-off if you have one.
Turn off all breakers in the panel (or pull all the fuses)
Fire up the generator and feed the wiring. Check load.
Choose a circuit with a very light load and turn it back on and verify everything is working correctly.
Determine what kind of load your generator can actually support.
Note 1) You will need a cable with a male plug on each end to plug into the generator and an outlet that is hopefully near the panel.
Note 2) It is far simpler and safer to just run a few extensions cords and surge protectors from the generator to power what you consider vital.
Just to avoid the inevitable question, yes my system generates power even with up to 12"* of snow on it. The sun shines through the snow.
Added bonus, the panels heat up and the snow slides off on its own.
Slight Danger, when it comes down, it come down swiftly and it would not be fun to be caught under it. I strongly suspect it be dangerous to a brittle senior.
Jim
Possible more than 12", I have never had more than 12" since I installed my panels.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but the way I understand things to work in CA is:
The power company will buy back electricity from you, but only to offset your own use. They essentially give you a rebate on your bill, but if you generate more energy than you use, they don’t compensate you for it-- they pay you up to the amount you used and then say thank-you-very-much for the rest. (Actually, they don’t say anything-- they just take it.)
Erm, I don’t get it. Why do you need a basement or a generator for solar panels on your house?
The solar panel people put a net meter and a power transformer thingy on the side of your house. No generator involved, which would be redundant and pointless.
If I have a diesel generator in my basement and I plug it into the electrical outlet, will I get a check from my electric company? If I didn’t live in Florida, I mean.
You countered that statment by giving examples of cities in Florida where my scenario should be possible. You assumed that because those cities offer net metering, that all the conditions of my statement were met. But the other half of my statement was “a generator in my basement”.
The “joke” is that Florida homes don’t have basements. So regardless of which Florida cities have net metering, I can’t have a generator in my basement if I live in Florida because we dont have basements.
That’s all. . . carry on.
I cannot verify that for California, but what you describe will vary state by state and even company to company.
In my case if I generate more than I use, I get credits towards future bills. At this point I am not aware of any way to cash out said credits. However as I use more than I generate, this has not been an issue to think about yet.
I was thinking, if I had solar panels – forgetting the part about needing sufficient battery storage capability – why would I need a generator, if my roof is my power plant. A generator *would *be redundant if you shelled out the extra sheckels for batteries.
Short answer: Erm, yeah. I have a fusion generator in my backyard. J/K :: d & r ::
On the generator, I missed one hopefully obvious fact. You cannot run more amps to your house via an outlet than the outlet, its wire and breaker are rated.
So again, you are far better off just running a series of extension cords and surge protectors directly from the generator.
Large generators, especially ones that are in “non-existent Florida basements” are hard wired in the system on their own breakers and have to have excellent exhaust run. People do kill themselves running generators inside of basements via carbon monoxide poisoning.
**Any other Solar Panel questions? **
I am surprised by that capacity. You know your system best of course, but you really have a 6.7megawatt solar generator on your roof? And you have to buy power from the power company? Seems like a lot. Is there something I am missing?
Yes, depending on the exact connection from your house. One safety hazard in the post-Katrina clean-up was downed power lines with live electricity: even though the utilities had already shut off power to all broken lines, home generators plugged into wall outlets could power up the lines outside of the home.
Not to pile on too much, but I’ve already done the calculation: the total solar energy falling on a U.S. football field is about 7.3 MW. So that’d definitely be a big roof.
