Successful Systems

Posted by Steve Harris on December 23, 2007, 08:21:15 PM

Successful Systems
We are planning a new home and I would love to hear from those of you that have been successful in designing an Alt power system. We are considering a combo Wind/Solar on grid. The house will be ICF ( I am a certified Amvic ICF contractor) construction and have a geothermal HVAC system. I do want the ability to operate on our own if the grid goes down as it often does here. I expect to invest around 30K to be included in the construction loan so we can amortize over 30 yrs. I know that a new construction project is the perfect time to do this and we plan to break ground in 2008. Please share what you can!
 

Posted by Thomas Allen Schmidt on January 04, 2008, 04:56:25 AM

Re: Successful Systems (Reply #1)
Hello Steve.

While trying not to sound to pessimistic (out of respect for our host) the best advice I can give you is to, shop around!
Renewable Energies (RE) is a sellers market, as opposed to a buyers market (unless one happens to be "filthy stinkin rich") and where Photovoltaics are concerned its all premium priced and (to use the expression loosely) a  freeforall. Its maddening. Here are a couple of sites that show the very wide swings out there.

http://www.pool-heat.com/pv/pvlist/pvsolarex/pvsolarex.htm

Look particularly at the Solarex MSX 77. This PV module is no longer in production. Solarex was a subsudairy of the American Oil Company (AMOCO) which, as you may know, sold out to British Petroleum (BP) which also produces PV modules.
The MSX 77's are very similar to the following PV modules.
Except for the price and warranty.

http://store.altenergystore.com/Solar-Panels/51-to-99-Watt-Solar-Panels/Power-Up-BSP60-12-60-Watt-Solar-Panel/p3995/

In all my "shopping around" things of this nature, where as this is one of many extremes, are a commonplace occurrence.
The PV market is just another one of many markets in the world today that cater to those that can afford very large quantities of there product. Please do not let the PV industries banner of saving the planet Earth from certain doom be your only decision when buying into solar. They, just like the rest of us, have belly buttons too.

Pity about Earth.
 

Posted by Steve Harris on January 04, 2008, 08:38:50 AM

Re: Successful Systems (Reply #2)
Thank you Thomas,
By the way not that it's particularly relevant but my baby boy is a Thomas too. I do understand the market dynamics you described and I have been looking into Alt power for quite a little while now. The reality is "Not Rich"(borrowing the money), "Not Saving The Planet",(safety-security-economics). We have Ameren power here and they are very proud of their kilowatt's even though the grid is old and truly unreliable. I just don't feel that I have enough knowledge to begin purchasing parts for my planned system. Is there someplace I can get educated, not a sales pitch?
 

Posted by John D on January 04, 2008, 09:20:45 AM

Re: Successful Systems (Reply #3)
Steve,

You mentioned that Ameren is your utility company.  Do you know about the Ameren plan that lets you pay for electricity based on demand?  If you're unable to go "grid-tied", at least you might be able to use solar or wind energy to offset a portion of your electric bill.  By using electricity from your alternative system during peak hours, you should do well.  Check here for more information:

 http://www.powersmartpricing.org/

John
 

Posted by John B on January 04, 2008, 10:14:42 AM

Re: Successful Systems (Reply #4)
Steve,

The folks here at AES (and their competitors as well!) can put together a packaged deal for you. A great way to start is to look at a packaged deal like this one and make sure you understand the purpose of every item in the package.
http://store.altenergystore.com/Kits-and-Package-Deals/Grid-Tied-with-Battery-Backup/Grid-Tied-w-Battery-Backup-Package-1/p6075/

Places like these below can help you with that.
http://www.nrel.gov/
http://www.sandia.gov/Renewable_Energy/renewable.htm
http://www.awea.org/
http://www.energy.ca.gov/

Once you understand the reason for everything in that package and how they all integrate then you can start to put together your own package. I too looked at having a small wind generator and in the end decided that it was not worth the trouble. Wind looks really good on initial price/performance, but if you have anything less than a steady 15 knots available to you every day then you are likely to end up with a wind generator producing about 20 percent of its rated capacity.

John
 
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