6960 watts going down the road

Joined
Nov 27, 2015
Messages
783
Location
S.E. Idaho USA
I just wrapped up a large grid tie job that uses 8 of these 22' x 10' arrays. They will be pole mounted in a field, I made the racks, so of course they are designed to be easy to pick with a small crane and placed in position in minutes! 290 watt panels, the cheapest I have ever paid per watt, they just keep going down in price. Believe it or not, this is a road worthy setup, I have delivered over 35 of these big arrays, one as far as Elko NV. with zero issues. Every now and then, when asktruck.jpged, I'll tell some the pickup is solar powered, IF the diesel engine is off, gets them thinking. :shock:
 
Haha that's great.. beautiful commute..
 
PV.jpgAn aerial view of all 8 arrays delivered onto the job site. Now, I'm done with this project, other contractors will finish it all up. The benefit to me (and my customer) in doing it this way is that I do all the labor intensive/time consuming work in my shop, in between my usual crane work. So I can work cheaper (and happier)then if I had to spend days on site, where I'd be unavailable to do a pop up crane job. Often, if I'm not more or less available in a couple hours or so, people will call my competition, and we don't want that.

The last day I was there delivering, I drove the crane back to town, leaving my flatbed and trailer there. So the next day I rode the eMontague 31 miles, into a stiff headwind no less, back as a shuttle. A couple farmhouses on the route had dogs "on guard", that I had noticed in my drives. Forewarned, I just hauled ass past them at 30+ mph, and they were left behind, licking their nuts. One didn't even have time to get up, just woofed once and realized I was already GONE! The next day, I flew over and took this pic, and at some point will land in the field uphill from the PV site. By the time I drive, ride, and fly to a site, I pretty much know all about it and the route to it, luckily I live in a scenic area so it's all fun.

The arrays will go downhill from the defunct (bad design to start with, plus the company is out of business) wind turbine. The owner refuses to remove the tower, even though I told him it will cast significant shade during summer afternoons (south is at 9:00), he'll figure it out eventually, he wasted big bucks on the POS turbine and doesn't want to lose face, yet.
 
Hi CPG, just curious how our Australian costs stack up internationally.
It seems we can get a 20 panel, 5.4 kW system delivered and installed ( roof mounted) for Au$3,000 ( US $2500), and i think an extra kW is another $500 .
I wouldnt ask your prices, but wonder if you think this is value or just junk kit being shifted cheaply.
This is typical of the deals on offer...
http://www.solarpowernation.com.au/special.php?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6tKVnenz1AIVlY2PCh2dBAI6EAAYAiAAEgJLTfD_BwE
 
I clicked on your link, and didn't see anything about that being an INSTALLED price, maybe I missed it but no matter as even if that's just the "stuff" that is a killer/no brainer price, jump on it! I also don't your price you par per KWH of grid power, but of course the more expensive it is the better the investment in a solar system is. We, well, not me, but others, pay Idaho Power about 6 or 7 cents, some of the lowest in the nation I believe, due to our abundant hydro power. It's been a while since I've checked as my personal rate is pretty much locked in at......zero. I pay 5 bucks a month basic hookup fee, a great deal for having in effect the use of the utility as a storage battery of infinite size and 100% efficiency.

As I type this my hydro is putting out the usual 24/7 750 to 800 watts, the wind turbine 1200 to 1500 watts, and the solar systems (two) probably about 3500 watts, so a total of around 5.5 KWH going into the grid, less whatever is being used in the home at the present, and as it's 94 degrees out there I'm using the 12,000 BTU air conditioner (it consumes 1.2 KWH) so still about 4.3 KWH spinning my meter backwards. 100% of the excess power I produce today will be available to me to use this winter for my electric boiler/radiant floor heat, lighting, and all the other electrical things this winter. I spell all this out as it is a pretty good feeling knowing that I am "making money" (or avoiding spending it by paying a utility bill, same difference) day after day no matter what. There is a total lack of the little nagging discomfort when consuming relatively large amounts of power, caused by knowing "when next month's electrical bill comes it's going to be a whooper," hell I think I''ll crank the AC down a bit more! It's pretty guilt free consumption, even over consumption at times (like using the electric cloths dryer on a hot sunny day instead of a cloths line because it's easier....) but that is life with a large enough grid tie system to cover 100% (and more) of your needs! The funny thing is, I'm not wealthy, far from it, but long ago I realized the benefits of making the investment and it has paid off for decades and will continue to do so for the rest of my life, not many things do that! I drove old cars and trucks, and was otherwise frugal, instead of buying new and eating the depreciation, now I'm reaping the awards of spending that money instead on my own personal "for life" power system. So yeah, do it, you won't regret it :D
 
Thanks CPG.
for comparison, I pay a flat rate od Au $0.23 /kWh (US$0.18) and use an average of 12.5 kWh per day . Grid service connection fee is Au$0.76 per day. My annual bill is currently approx Au$1700, but this month all kWh rates have been increased by ~20%...so next year i would expect to be paying Au$2000 + unless i do something !!
We dont get a parity deal on power fed back to the grid, but the rates have also increased for next year to Au$0.10 - 0.15 kWh,...so the payback figures do work quite well i think.
those system prices are fully installed ( standard on roof set up), by certified companies , with 10 yr warranty.
Infact i was just quoted Au$3400 for a 6.5kWh system !
i figure with 6.5 kW i can easily cover my daytime usage and likely feed 25+ kW back to the grid which would effectively pay for the evening /night/morning usage.
I am seeing a < 2yr cost recovery, and as you say, an ongoing earner !
Two minor problems though..
roofspace....probably less than enough for 3kW even ! ....without some creative/expensive/ugly framework ! :cry:
Tree shade..on that part of the roof that is useable, its partially shaded for 30% fo sunlight hours ( morning and evening) ..so the efficiency would be way down on even that 3 kW system ! :cry: ..Not my trees either,. public parks.
..and no space for ground/pole mount without similar issues...this is a small city lot.
So i either have to start looking for a more suitable property :shock: ..or rethink somehow. ???
 
In a weird way, having enough property to put your solar where ever the hell you want, not just being limited to your roof, can be a huge advantage. At least for me, that and my need/want for enough land for a (very) small airstrip motivated me enough to somehow make it happen, (I lived on my first 5 acres for 6 months BEFORE legally buying it, just a handshake with the farmer and a fair bit of trust on his part), go figure. Then as the decades went by, and the property value increased, and more people moved closer and I preemptively sold out and once again moved to even more rural property, all in order to preserve my flying privileges and also have room for my energy systems, it all made perfect financial sense! When people here hear I have my own airstrip and airplane, they think wow they guy must have some dough, i have NO dough but I do have. thanks to the plane, a large chunk of property that has doubled in value since I bought it. So in spite of my sincere desire to piss my money away on flying and solar panels, over the long haul it has proven to be financially astute. I'm some sort of Forrest Gump of real estate it seems, and I owe it all to flying and my interest in renewable energy.
 
Ben Franklin is credited with saying "a penny saved is a penny earned". No longer true. A penny saved is about 2 pennies earned!!! Income taxes, cost to earn money and all sorts of other things get you that second penny. And in your case maybe even a nickel. Congrats and thanks for sharing.h
 
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