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smdl
I love Gary too..on a plate!
Member since 5/06 32461 total posts
Name:
me
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Anyone installed solar panels?
I am considering using them to alleviate some of the cost of oil.
Did anyone installed the solar panels?
How much did it cost?
When are you supposed to recoup the cost?
How many did you install?
Who did you use?
TIA
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Posted 6/24/08 11:41 AM  |
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Lisa
I'm a PANK!!!
Member since 5/05 22334 total posts
Name:
Professional Aunts No Kids
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
I would love to know also
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| Posted 6/24/08 11:50 AM |
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bicosi
life is a carousel
Member since 7/07 14956 total posts
Name:
M
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
FM GoldenRod. He has a ton of info on this.
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| Posted 6/24/08 12:03 PM |
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rkoenke
my little piggys
Member since 3/08 4315 total posts
Name:
rachel
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
i think it's like $16,000.00 or something.
it pays itself off quick b/c you don't pay any electric, then they BUY the electric from you!
this is what i heard anyway.
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| Posted 6/24/08 12:04 PM |
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
DH is very interested in this. One company he looked into requires you to still use LIPA at night. During the day, all the excess is being sold back to LIPA but nothing stored for your own home. He didn't like that there is no complete way to be self sufficient, at least not with that company.
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| Posted 6/24/08 5:19 PM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by Kerie-is-so-very
DH is very interested in this. One company he looked into requires you to still use LIPA at night. During the day, all the excess is being sold back to LIPA but nothing stored for your own home. He didn't like that there is no complete way to be self sufficient, at least not with that company.
I don't much about a house that you would live in, but we have solar panels on our vacation house. For the little power that we use at night, we must have 8 or so batteries and as the batteries get old, they do not retain their power and we will lose our nighttime power (not a huge deal, except to have the fans on when it's hot.) So I would imagine that lighting a big house would be tougher and constant maintenance of batteries - you also need the space for the batteries. You should see Larry Hagman's house - he has an entire house jsut for batteries (he also has a 25K sq ft house and powers 5 of his neighbors in need)
Message edited 6/24/2008 7:09:19 PM.
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| Posted 6/24/08 7:09 PM |
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smdl
I love Gary too..on a plate!
Member since 5/06 32461 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by Erica
Posted by Kerie-is-so-very
DH is very interested in this. One company he looked into requires you to still use LIPA at night. During the day, all the excess is being sold back to LIPA but nothing stored for your own home. He didn't like that there is no complete way to be self sufficient, at least not with that company.
I don't much about a house that you would live in, but we have solar panels on our vacation house. For the little power that we use at night, we must have 8 or so batteries and as the batteries get old, they do not retain their power and we will lose our nighttime power (not a huge deal, except to have the fans on when it's hot.) So I would imagine that lighting a big house would be tougher and constant maintenance of batteries - you also need the space for the batteries. You should see Larry Hagman's house - he has an entire house jsut for batteries (he also has a 25K sq ft house and powers 5 of his neighbors in need)
I thought they had many years of warranty of them.
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| Posted 6/24/08 7:45 PM |
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GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
I don't have them yet, but I put down the deposit for them last week. As soon as the contractor builds a roof for them to go on, we'll have them installed.... 
Rebates cut the cost in roughly half. We are spending around $25k for almost 9kilowatts, which is quite a bit of power (and covers our entire south-facing roof).
Estimates with current power costs are about 11 years. The panels have a 25 year warranty on them.
We are doing "Net metering". We are on the grid at night, but any extra power during the day goes to the power company, and they take that power off of our bill.
I've talked to several companies, and none of them recommend having batteries in the house to live totally off the grid. Every one of them recommended doing the net metering, and taking from the grid when needed.
I'll have plenty of photos, details, charts, graphs, etc when it's up. (The system emails me graphs of power production, usage, etc. for the day, month, year, etc...)
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| Posted 6/24/08 9:31 PM |
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Lisa
I'm a PANK!!!
Member since 5/05 22334 total posts
Name:
Professional Aunts No Kids
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Shawn....how much power will you have? Meaning, can you run AC's, computers lights, dishwasher and washing machine?
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| Posted 6/24/08 9:38 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by Lisa
Shawn....how much power will you have? Meaning, can you run AC's, computers lights, dishwasher and washing machine?
Yeah I am curious to hear this as well.
Did they give you any figures as to how many KWHs you can use per day?
Right now in the summer months I can see myself going through 40-50 KWHs per day with all the electric I use. 
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| Posted 6/24/08 9:54 PM |
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GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by Lisa
Shawn....how much power will you have? Meaning, can you run AC's, computers lights, dishwasher and washing machine?
I got the maximum amount of panels that would fit on my roof (we actually changed brands to one that had slightly better capacity per sq ft). Once they are running, I plan on doing all sorts of informal tests on my own. I should be able to run about 75% off-grid, but I plan on seeing how much I can turn on and have the power meter not move at all. That will tell me real-world numbers as to what I can run off the panels without tapping into the grid. I don't totally trust the charts and numbers that I've seen posted. Those are ideal situations, which may not completely apply to my house.
Also, once I'm on-line, I'll be more than willing to try out any scenarios that anyone wants me to try. (Microwaving while half the house lights are on, with TV, A/C and dishwasher..... or any weird combination that you can think of)
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| Posted 6/24/08 10:02 PM |
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sunnyplus3
:)
Member since 11/05 8749 total posts
Name:
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
every year there is a free solar tour in the Fall, there are at least 100 homes on LI that you can tour open house style & talk to the homeowners, look at the paperwork on what they paid for their system & view their LIPA bills. Its a great way to see houses that maybe similar to your own including the direction of the sun & see how it really works. 99% of the companies won't install the panels on your house unless your roof is very new, we have factored the price of a new roof into what it will cost us.
Solar Tour & other info
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| Posted 6/25/08 6:45 AM |
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smdl
I love Gary too..on a plate!
Member since 5/06 32461 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by GoldenRod
Posted by Lisa
Shawn....how much power will you have? Meaning, can you run AC's, computers lights, dishwasher and washing machine?
I got the maximum amount of panels that would fit on my roof (we actually changed brands to one that had slightly better capacity per sq ft). Once they are running, I plan on doing all sorts of informal tests on my own. I should be able to run about 75% off-grid, but I plan on seeing how much I can turn on and have the power meter not move at all. That will tell me real-world numbers as to what I can run off the panels without tapping into the grid. I don't totally trust the charts and numbers that I've seen posted. Those are ideal situations, which may not completely apply to my house.
Also, once I'm on-line, I'll be more than willing to try out any scenarios that anyone wants me to try. (Microwaving while half the house lights are on, with TV, A/C and dishwasher..... or any weird combination that you can think of)
How many panels do you have? 24-25?
How long will it take for you to recoup from your cost of a roof/system?
TIA
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| Posted 6/25/08 7:37 AM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by smdl
I thought they had many years of warranty of them.
maybe the panels, but I can't see batteries having long warranties...but I really have no idea...our panels are 14 years old - and are holding up great, it's the batteries that are the pita (but we are not there often to keep up with them, like you would if in your house everyday)
ETA - it was jackson browne who is totally off the grid. larry hagman is still on the grid, but he sells back so much that he only pays $13 a year for power
Message edited 6/25/2008 8:10:40 AM.
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| Posted 6/25/08 8:04 AM |
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GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by smdl
Posted by GoldenRod
Posted by Lisa
Shawn....how much power will you have? Meaning, can you run AC's, computers lights, dishwasher and washing machine?
I got the maximum amount of panels that would fit on my roof (we actually changed brands to one that had slightly better capacity per sq ft). Once they are running, I plan on doing all sorts of informal tests on my own. I should be able to run about 75% off-grid, but I plan on seeing how much I can turn on and have the power meter not move at all. That will tell me real-world numbers as to what I can run off the panels without tapping into the grid. I don't totally trust the charts and numbers that I've seen posted. Those are ideal situations, which may not completely apply to my house.
Also, once I'm on-line, I'll be more than willing to try out any scenarios that anyone wants me to try. (Microwaving while half the house lights are on, with TV, A/C and dishwasher..... or any weird combination that you can think of)
How many panels do you have? 24-25?
How long will it take for you to recoup from your cost of a roof/system?
TIA
They just redid their calculations, based on the architect's plans that I gave them. I'm going to wind up with 36 panels, and a total of 8100 Watts.
With current prices, I should be able to recoup in about 12 years (there's a 30+ year warranty on the panels). With electricity cost increases, the payback will be much less than 12 years.
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| Posted 7/18/08 1:23 PM |
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smdl
I love Gary too..on a plate!
Member since 5/06 32461 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by GoldenRod
Posted by smdl
Posted by GoldenRod
Posted by Lisa
Shawn....how much power will you have? Meaning, can you run AC's, computers lights, dishwasher and washing machine?
I got the maximum amount of panels that would fit on my roof (we actually changed brands to one that had slightly better capacity per sq ft). Once they are running, I plan on doing all sorts of informal tests on my own. I should be able to run about 75% off-grid, but I plan on seeing how much I can turn on and have the power meter not move at all. That will tell me real-world numbers as to what I can run off the panels without tapping into the grid. I don't totally trust the charts and numbers that I've seen posted. Those are ideal situations, which may not completely apply to my house.
Also, once I'm on-line, I'll be more than willing to try out any scenarios that anyone wants me to try. (Microwaving while half the house lights are on, with TV, A/C and dishwasher..... or any weird combination that you can think of)
How many panels do you have? 24-25?
How long will it take for you to recoup from your cost of a roof/system?
TIA
They just redid their calculations, based on the architect's plans that I gave them. I'm going to wind up with 36 panels, and a total of 8100 Watts.
With current prices, I should be able to recoup in about 12 years (there's a 30+ year warranty on the panels). With electricity cost increases, the payback will be much less than 12 years.
Is it going to be on your addition?
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| Posted 7/18/08 1:59 PM |
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Acerone
I hate ants and ugly people.
Member since 3/07 6437 total posts
Name:
Chris
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
I had it for heating my pool.
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| Posted 7/18/08 2:04 PM |
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GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
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Re: Anyone installed solar panels?
Posted by smdl
Posted by GoldenRod
They just redid their calculations, based on the architect's plans that I gave them. I'm going to wind up with 36 panels, and a total of 8100 Watts.
With current prices, I should be able to recoup in about 12 years (there's a 30+ year warranty on the panels). With electricity cost increases, the payback will be much less than 12 years.
Is it going to be on your addition?
Yup. As soon as I have a roof, they'll put the panels up. When the installer came by about two weeks ago, he asked something like "So, is this the house?" I said "Well, half of it. The rest will be right about here.... " and I waved my hand in the direction of the addition. 
I'll have plenty of pics of the panels, the installation, the wiring, inverters, etc.
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| Posted 7/18/08 2:12 PM |
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