The Smart Way to Buy Solar Panels for Home
I don't know about you ,but watching my electricity bill get higher and higher made me extremely interested in getting solar panels for home use
However getting a good deal on a solar panel kit or wind turbine required some information I just didn't have. The questions I felt I needed answered are listed below with what I did discover before taking the plunge.
It's become kinda cool to be "green" - (kermit the frog would approve) but we all have to pay the bills, so an electicity generation system using wind turbines and solar panels for home needs to be cost effective.
The other really important thing to understand is just how to work out what your energy needs are. It's seems obvious but without knowing your current energy consumptiopn it's impossible to assess if "going green" makes financial sense.
However getting a good deal on a solar panel kit or wind turbine required some information I just didn't have. The questions I felt I needed answered are listed below with what I did discover before taking the plunge.
It's become kinda cool to be "green" - (kermit the frog would approve) but we all have to pay the bills, so an electicity generation system using wind turbines and solar panels for home needs to be cost effective.
The other really important thing to understand is just how to work out what your energy needs are. It's seems obvious but without knowing your current energy consumptiopn it's impossible to assess if "going green" makes financial sense.
Solar Panels for home use...where to start?
What is my current energy consumption? This may seem an obvious place to start when looking into solar panels for home use, but it wasn't my first thought.
I must admit my first thought was "What are the best solar panels to buy and will I need wind turbines as well?", but I soon realised I needed to understand the demand side of the equation (.i.e. what was my current energy consumption) before getting too excited about the supply side (what solar and wind solution do I want).
Working out your consumption seems easy. Do a walk through of your house, note all of your appliences lights etc, add there electricity requirements up and hey presto you have your electricity needs. Seems simple enough but....
What about calculating peak load, storage requirements (how many batteries, what type) and the best invertor. It all got a little complex.
As it is a little involved so I am putting together a little guide which I will post a link to later.
I must admit my first thought was "What are the best solar panels to buy and will I need wind turbines as well?", but I soon realised I needed to understand the demand side of the equation (.i.e. what was my current energy consumption) before getting too excited about the supply side (what solar and wind solution do I want).
Working out your consumption seems easy. Do a walk through of your house, note all of your appliences lights etc, add there electricity requirements up and hey presto you have your electricity needs. Seems simple enough but....
What about calculating peak load, storage requirements (how many batteries, what type) and the best invertor. It all got a little complex.
As it is a little involved so I am putting together a little guide which I will post a link to later.
Wind Generators for Home
Do You really a Home Wind Generator?
A common question when considering solar power for home use is "What happens on a rainy day?".
Now most solar panels for home use will still generate some power in cloudy conditions but the fall in efficency is normally dramatic (generally a 40 to 90% reduction) so some kind of backup option makes sense. However whether you choose wind depends on a number of factors.
Now just to be clear, I went for wind, for a host of reasons, but it may not be for everyone. You may choose to use your grid connection or battery storage to see you through. Or you may be in an area with very little wind so a home wind generator may not be practical.
For me the key thing that changed my mind was reading the Earth4Green guide. It convinced me that I could build very cheap micro home wind generators and just keep adding more and more of them (I have plenty of roof space) for redundancy
Now most solar panels for home use will still generate some power in cloudy conditions but the fall in efficency is normally dramatic (generally a 40 to 90% reduction) so some kind of backup option makes sense. However whether you choose wind depends on a number of factors.
Now just to be clear, I went for wind, for a host of reasons, but it may not be for everyone. You may choose to use your grid connection or battery storage to see you through. Or you may be in an area with very little wind so a home wind generator may not be practical.
For me the key thing that changed my mind was reading the Earth4Green guide. It convinced me that I could build very cheap micro home wind generators and just keep adding more and more of them (I have plenty of roof space) for redundancy
Should you buy a Solar Panels Kit?
Generally if it's packaged, it cost more. Are solar kits the same?
Solar panel kits, like most packaged items generally either cost more or cut some corners on quality.
Now before I get buried under the howls of protest from solar panel sales people worldwide, let me clarify. Not all solar panels kits are bad deals. All I am saying is that if you are buying solar panel for home use look into the detail of what the kit contains.
The irony of packaged deals is that they appeal to the people who are the least informed about homemade electricity generation. Yet you want to be very well informed indeed to really understand whether a solar pan kit is a good deal to considering when buying your solar panels for home.
Anyone who has every worked in a business that "packages" anything, be it food, holidays, electronics, you name it; will tell you that packaging an item add's costs and allows a retailer to hide costs.
Once again I am not saying all solar panel kits are bad, just that packages often have a mix and match of quality across the items they contain. For example in one solar panel kit the solar panels may be a reasonable deal,but the inverter could be a cheapy and a "special pricing clause" may require you to buy a top of the line storage system to qualify for the price.
So you can see that by changing the variables in the example above, maybe a different kit would have low quality panels but a reasonable inverter, the seller can adjust how profitable the solar kit is for them, whilst keeping you in the dark.
Now of course it's up to you, however when buying solar panels for home use I prefer to buy each of my items separately (within reason) so I am clear on the quality and cost of each item. Of course this requires you have at least a little knowledge of what you are doing. As I mentioned before I found the Earth4Green guide invaluable for this.
My logic for buying Earth4Green was that once I had my homemade electricity generator system set-up I would be able to manage it MUCH better if I really understand what was in it and how it works. The unexpected benefit was that what I learned allow me to set the whole system up for a fraction of what it could otherwise have cost.
Now before I get buried under the howls of protest from solar panel sales people worldwide, let me clarify. Not all solar panels kits are bad deals. All I am saying is that if you are buying solar panel for home use look into the detail of what the kit contains.
The irony of packaged deals is that they appeal to the people who are the least informed about homemade electricity generation. Yet you want to be very well informed indeed to really understand whether a solar pan kit is a good deal to considering when buying your solar panels for home.
Anyone who has every worked in a business that "packages" anything, be it food, holidays, electronics, you name it; will tell you that packaging an item add's costs and allows a retailer to hide costs.
Once again I am not saying all solar panel kits are bad, just that packages often have a mix and match of quality across the items they contain. For example in one solar panel kit the solar panels may be a reasonable deal,but the inverter could be a cheapy and a "special pricing clause" may require you to buy a top of the line storage system to qualify for the price.
So you can see that by changing the variables in the example above, maybe a different kit would have low quality panels but a reasonable inverter, the seller can adjust how profitable the solar kit is for them, whilst keeping you in the dark.
Now of course it's up to you, however when buying solar panels for home use I prefer to buy each of my items separately (within reason) so I am clear on the quality and cost of each item. Of course this requires you have at least a little knowledge of what you are doing. As I mentioned before I found the Earth4Green guide invaluable for this.
My logic for buying Earth4Green was that once I had my homemade electricity generator system set-up I would be able to manage it MUCH better if I really understand what was in it and how it works. The unexpected benefit was that what I learned allow me to set the whole system up for a fraction of what it could otherwise have cost.
Homemade Electricity - Does it pay?
How long before your Solar Panel System and Home Wind Generators Pay for themselves?
This will be the first question your neighbours will ask, trust me.
They have been glued to the windows of their homes watching your project unfold and are thinking "Are solar panels for home use a good deal?"
Of course this depends on a range of factors, your current electricity use and costs, the future costs of energy and the cost of your homemade energy solution are the primary things to consider when determining how long it will take to break even.
Our breakeven point was 8-10 years when we included our government rebate, however the power company where we live have recently told everyone that thier power costs will increase by 25% this year, and 85% over the next 3 years.
This has reduced our breakeven point down to 5-7 years which is quite significant.
As for what value to put on the "free energy feeling" who knows, it's an individual thing. It is true that manu people who have invested in solar panels for home use feel pretty fantastic about generating their own electricity from the sun, this video clip from Americia's WCNC is a fine example.
They have been glued to the windows of their homes watching your project unfold and are thinking "Are solar panels for home use a good deal?"
Of course this depends on a range of factors, your current electricity use and costs, the future costs of energy and the cost of your homemade energy solution are the primary things to consider when determining how long it will take to break even.
Our breakeven point was 8-10 years when we included our government rebate, however the power company where we live have recently told everyone that thier power costs will increase by 25% this year, and 85% over the next 3 years.
This has reduced our breakeven point down to 5-7 years which is quite significant.
As for what value to put on the "free energy feeling" who knows, it's an individual thing. It is true that manu people who have invested in solar panels for home use feel pretty fantastic about generating their own electricity from the sun, this video clip from Americia's WCNC is a fine example.
Solar panels save homeowner cash
curated content from YouTube
Solar Panels for Home - Step by Step
In what order should I buy/build the components?
So lastly what should I do first?
Well for me I pursued knowledge first. I was in a real hurry to get off the grid but quickly found that solar panels for home use didn't come cheap when I looked in the store and online. The high costs caused me to pause and think, "I need to know more about this."
I found information on solar panels for home and followed the step by step guide EarthGreen guide, also covered wind power and all sort of other information i was not aware of. I'm not technical (call myself a bit of a DIY disarster) so it was a godsend.
Ok, once armed with good knowledge (knowledge is power, so they say) this is the order which recommend people approached things.
Well that about wraps it up. I hope you have found this lens a useful and helpful guide to using solar panels for home electricity generation. Feels free to leave a comment.
Cheers
Atmam Atomic
Well for me I pursued knowledge first. I was in a real hurry to get off the grid but quickly found that solar panels for home use didn't come cheap when I looked in the store and online. The high costs caused me to pause and think, "I need to know more about this."
I found information on solar panels for home and followed the step by step guide EarthGreen guide, also covered wind power and all sort of other information i was not aware of. I'm not technical (call myself a bit of a DIY disarster) so it was a godsend.
Ok, once armed with good knowledge (knowledge is power, so they say) this is the order which recommend people approached things.
- Setup a small very cheap solar panel for home "proof of concept" project. The point is not to spend up big on solar panels for home use until you have built a reasonable working knowledge of how to generate your own homemade electricity. Then is you do decide to go for a solar panel kit you can ask the sales person some searching questions
- Assess your energy needs, peak load requirement, what inverter is the best fit for you and what storage solution best fits your needs.
- Buy installed the solar panels and invertor (get one that includes monitoring software if you can)
- Install a basic battery storage system, you can always upgrade later if your home wind generators are not sufficient
- Get your first micro wind turbine installed to provide you with some redundancy on a cloudy day.
Well that about wraps it up. I hope you have found this lens a useful and helpful guide to using solar panels for home electricity generation. Feels free to leave a comment.
Cheers
Atmam Atomic
Reader Feedback
submit
-
Reply
- Rayzorblades Rayzorblades Apr 29, 2009 @ 11:21 am
- I can't believe how great that would be to have at home. Keep up the good work and if you're interested in reading about my writing, check out my home wind power blog.
