Solar Cost - Expenesive?

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Photovoltaic cost - Colorado (BackHome# 54 7/01)

Is Solar Electricity Expensive?

Cost Effectness of Solar Electricity

When Is Solar Economical

Cheap Elecrtical System

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Photovoltaic cost - Colorado (BackHome# 54 7/01)
© Copyright 2001 "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published BackHome# 54 7/01

HELLO MR SOLAR:

I read, for the first time, your column in BackHome. I appreciate the information and look forward to future columns. I'd like to get started in converting some of my needs to solar and am trying to gather as much information as possible. Would you help me with a simple question? My home is small, and heated by electric baseboard. I have three levels but we spend most of our time on the main level and can be comfortable using only one eight-foot baseboard from October through April. Occasionally, I may turn on one more during one of our super-cold Colorado nights. We get amazing sunshine for 300 days of the year and I wonder if we could use photovoltaic panels to power the one baseboard heater. I'd love to do this since it would drastically reduce my utility bill and get me involved in solar power at the same time. Can you advise me how to get this project underway? I'd really appreciate any help you can send my way.

Jaime P.... Broomfield, Colorado

HELLO JAIME:

I am very happy that you have found us and look forward to our future articles. Using and generating your own power will, of course, help you do your part in reducing pollution and conserving our valuable resources. The use of a 120-volt portable electric heater is similar to using electric baseboard heat, so I'll use that as an example. A small portable electric heater that uses 1500 watts per hour will use 15,000 watthours in a 10-hour time period. This 15 kWh may seem like a small amount to someone used to a typical suburban home, where burning 1,200 kWh per month is common--however, in solar electric terms it is substantial.

Here's why: photovoltaic or "PV" panels generate between 50 and 120 watts per panel, depending on the manufacturer, system, and application you've chosen them for. It doesn't take a very sharp pencil to figure out that you'll need more than a dozen panels to come close to the power needed to operate even a small resistance heater. Panels can cost from $275 to over $600 depending on size, so the up-front investment can be substantial.

What's more, even with a full 12-to 14-hour day of sunshine, your solar panel array will not benefit from all the daylight you enjoy. Because of the angle that the sun strikes the face of the panel array in the earliest and latest hours of the day, much of its energy is lost in the earth's atmosphere. During the midday hours, the sun gets a much more direct shot at the solar modules, as it doesn't have to pass through as many dust and moisture particles on the way. The bottom line is that, in your Colorado locale, you might only actually receive 5 or 6 "full sunlight" hours each day, and of course none at night.

This isn't to say that solar energy is a waste of money. But using your investment to power an electric heater is certainly not the best use of it. One of the first steps in setting up a solar power system is to make a detailed inventory of what your lighting, appliance, and other energy needs are. This means totaling the wattage of your light bulbs, stereo, refrigerator, TV, vacuum, microwave, computer, fans, tools, and so forth, and taking into account the duty cycle, or actual time it's operating, of each item over a 24-hour period.

With this information, it's a simple matter to determine how many PV panels you'll need to run your household...and you may find the number to be greater than you expected. Faced with the choice between buying more panels and reducing power usage in the household, most people take the second choice and look to conserve where they can by installing compact fluorescent bulbs and energy-efficient refrigerators and appliances--and rethinking other needs by converting to natural or LP gas for cooking, space heating, and hot water requirements.

We have learned at the Do-It Homestead that one 50-watt solar panel will produce approximately 180 watts per day on average here in southern Utah, winter included. We live 100% on solar electricity as we are located atop a mountain and the utility's electrical lines are over 8 miles from us. The local power company charges about $10 per foot to bring in electricity and so for us--in light of a $422,400 setup cost--there is no choice but to use solar-generated power where we are.

So solar is economical in our case--as well as for other people who are located more than a mile from utility power. Also, if you are interested in having a backup system, then some form of renewable energy is an excellent idea so that when your power goes off you will at least be able to have lights, radio, and TV, and operate your refrigerator and computer.

In generating electricity, the most economical method is to use a small, or "micro", hydroelectric system, but you must have a continuous source of water for this, situated to allow enough fall, or head, to drive the water turbine. If you have a windy location with a substantial and consistent breeze then I suggest that you use a wind generator--but note that that you must have daily wind, and not days or weeks without any wind, or just seasonal wind. The most expensive, but probably most reliable and adaptable energy source is an array of photovoltaic panels, as we use here at the Do-It Homestead.

For an approximate cost comparison, I'd say that wind comes in at about $.06 per kWh, microhydro at $.05per kWh, and solar electric at $.55 per kWh. These costs include generation equipment, storage batteries, and inverters to convert your stored DC power into user-friendly household AC power. Note that recently, with drastic increases in the cost of utility-supplied power, even the greater investment in solar isn't out of line considering that once the system's installed, the owner will never pay another utility bill again.

If you are fortunate enough to have running water at your Colorado home then possibly you can use the hydroelectric setup. This will be more economical than using your grid power, and you'll still have the opportunity to learn about alternative power.

We have an on-line alternative power course that may be of interest to you. This course goes into greater depth about solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, as well as the use and storage of electricity. We offer this course both as an independent study program, and through an accredited college program that has tests, examinations, and transferable credits.

We teach an online course that will help you easly understand much more about solar - check it out from our www page. For more information on either course, please contact Charlie at CharlieCollins@thoughtscreate.com/, or visit his web sites: www.thoughtscreate.com

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Is Solar Electricity Expensive?
© Copyright 1995 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published Daily Spectrum

Question: When is it cheaper to install solar power than to use the grid power?

Jim S
Apple Valley, Utah

Mr. Solar: Jim,The cost of providing power to rural areas has increased to the point that it is cheaper for the homeowner to install their own solar power system. The general rule is that if you are needing electrical power delivered to you that is more than a half of a mile then it is cheaper to have your own clean solar electric power.

Recently a farmer near Cedar City, Utah requested the local power company to install power. They came up with a cost to the farmer of approximately $30,000.00 to bring them power so that they could collect a monthly usage charge. Since they were less than a mile the farmer thought that was rather high. I explained to them that in California the going rate is $10.00 per foot or $52,800.00 per mile. In Utah the charge only approximately $7.00 per foot making their quote a bargain.

They decided to install a deluxe enviormentally clean solar electrical system. If you are looking at raw land away from power then you should realize that you do have a couple of choices.

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Cost Effectness of Solar Electricity

© Copyright 1994 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 3/6/94 Daily Spectrum

Question:Dear Mr. Solar; Would you please advise us on the efficiency of solar electricity. When we were building our home we were told that solar was very expensive and not that efficient for what you pay for the equipment, thank you.

Don G. Santa Clara, UT.

Mr. Solar: Don, generating electricity using solar electric panels for the home use is more expensive than connecting onto the local grid power, if you are located where you are within a few feet of a public utility that will provide you electricity. However if you are located over a half of a mile from electric power then it is more economical to generate your own electricity using either wind, solar or hydro. We are located over 3 miles from the grid utility power and to get a line to us would cost well over $70,000.00. We elected to install a environmental clean solar electric system which cost approximately one third of that amount. When you consider the price of a new car that looses about half of its value yearly then solar electricity is a prudent investment. After our initial investment we have not had any electric bills such as our friends in the city have become accustomed to receiving. The use of solar electricity also has other advantages, one of the main ones is that we do not have any electrical power outages which I understand occur at very inconvenience times with our friends in the city. In addition we also enjoy being completely self reliant.

The efficiency of solar electricity has greatly improved and today you are able to generate, store and use electricity for about 90% efficiency. Don to answer your question all that I can say is that solar is cheaper than hooking onto he grid when your home is located away from the city. If you also consider the fact that with solar electricity you are completely self reliant. If this is your priority then you should strive to reach that goal.

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When Is Solar Economical
© Copyright 1994 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 8/28/94 Daily Spectrum

Question: I have always been interested in Solar Electricity and now that I am planning on building a new home I think that it would be wise to check it out and see what the possibilities are for using it. Therefore would you please send me information and where to put it in my new home as well as what would it cost.

Robert H.
Alamo, Nv

Mr. Solar: Robert, the pay back of a total solar electric system 1 mile from the power company grid is immediate because the power company has to charge you to bring the power to your home. In California they are currently charging $10.00 per foot or over $ 50,000 per mile! We are very fortunate in this area that they only charge approximately 40% of that amount or about $4.00 per foot. So you see Robert it depends on where you live as to how soon you will realize a full pay back. In a city, I don't feel that it is a sound investment to go off the grid, to save money. However if you wish to be self sufficient and have a stand alone system where you will always have full power and not experience any power spikes or brown outs, then you should install a solar electric system.

Should you wish to buy property beyond the city limits, where there isn't any utilities then you will find that the cost of the land is much less and of course you will be ahead by putting in your own solar electric system.

Robert, I realize that you may be tired of the power rates going up yearly, however remember that to have your own system it will cost in the neighborhood of $.30 per Kilowatt hour and you are now paying only approximately 18 % of that amount. We realize that your power bill is rising about 10% per year and in a few years it will pay to install your own system. Perhaps when your local power company increases their rates to .50 to .70 cents per kilowatt hour or 10 times the current rate then it will be time to consider a large solar electric system costing perhaps $10,000 to $25,000.

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Cheap Elecrtical System
© Copyright 1995 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 2/20/95 Daily Spectrum

Question:I am on a very tight budget. Could you send me information on cheap solar power that I could set up myself? Thank you.

Michelle W
Cedar City UT

Mr. Solar: Michelle, this is a very timely question and I will try to give you some guidelines. Yes it is possible to start with an economical and add to a solar electrical system, and it is also possible to set up a "cheap" system. We started with only one solar electrical panel to charge a deep cycle battery, which was adequate to give us lights. our system generated about 200 Watts of power a day which ment that we could operate one 100 watt DC light bulb for a couple of hours at night. Our total system cost us less than $450.00.

We started with an American Made Solar electrical panel without any controls or inverter and this worked for about two years. It is possible to buy cheeper solar electrical panels, ones that have been "cooked" and lost most of their power. What I mean by "cooked" are ones which were used by electrical power companies to generate electricity and were set up with mirrors on them to generate more electricity. These panels are good, however they do not produce what they were intended to do and they carry NO substantial WARRANTEE.

Michelle, I would recommend is that you purchase only new solar electrical panels, a pair of 6 Volt golf cart batteries and a small charge controller which will protect your batteries. YOU SHOULD also invest in a voltmeter, ampmeter and the book Living on 12 Volts. With this set up you will be able to grow to met your demand.

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