A Spring Update

April 6, 2005 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Hybrid Vehicles, Solar Energy 

It was recently pointed out to me that this site hasn’t been updated recently.  Time to fix that with a few little notes.

Power production is up as expected now that spring is here.  We’re getting about 30kWh on sunny days.  Of course, if you get 2.5 inches of rain and the Delaware has a 50-year flood, you produce nothing.  (The flood didn’t affect the house – just my commute.)

We still have not sold our SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Credits).  My wife and I are leaning towards NOT selling them, based on the premise that this will force utilities to pollute less.  We’d retire them instead.  A reader points out that we could sell them to renewable companies and help the environment.  Right now, the highest offer that we’ve received (unsolicited for the most part) was $150 each.  Reportedly $175 is the going price now – I expect it to continue to climb until near the end of the SREC fiscal year in a few months.
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I’m also in the hunt to buy a hybrid car – probably a Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV.  So far no local dealers are willing to take my deposit – though one dealer thinks he’ll be able to accommodate me in a month or so.  I plan to write more about that quest and the final results here, and therefore I’ve started a new category.

That’s all of the news for now.  Once I get a full year under my belt, I plan to write up the full statistics on my solar usage and production.

Questions and Answers

February 16, 2005 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Solar Energy 

A potential customer from Freehold, NJ sent me an e-mail with questions, having been referred by an installer (not the people who installed my system).

After replying, it seems that my replies might be useful to all of you as well.

Good Evening, I have recently had a consultation with an XXXXX XXXXX representative, and your email was given to me by him.

I was hoping, if you had a moment, to hear from you on how you feel regarding your solar panel purchase.

Were the savings they estimated realistic?  Has the system cut your energy bill?  All year long?  – and a large portion of recouping the original cost appears to be the sale of solar energy credits – have they sold as easily as promised?

The kamagra pills for buy viagra pills our storefront sale that is available online are high quality. All men with ED fail to satisfy the usually in stock order levitra online sensual urges of their female partners. Just like viagra 100 mg other erectile dysfunction drugs it also displayed side effects that usually occur after taking this medication. The dosage of penegra medicine may be maximized to 100 mg if not showing the cialis online prescription effect (15 to 20 minutes and then men can start the sexual activity) silagra 100 mg has three adapted versions, viz. We have produced at least a little electricity every day except for January.  We had a few zero-production days in January – when the panels were snow-covered or when the skies were VERY cloudy and/or rainy.  One factor for that in our installation is the fact that our roof with panels faces east (100 degrees), and therefore the angle of the sun to the panels is narrower in the winter as the sun moves farther south.

Our 6.875 kW system went “live” in June of last year.  Our record production day was 42 kWh, and obviously the minimum was 0.  I calculated an average based on June to mid-December data and got about 17 kWh/day.  We don’t have a full year’s data yet.  Our installer (not XXXXX) predicted that the system would generate about 2/3 of our electric usage and the numbers seem to bear that out.  We haven’t done a rigorous analysis yet – that would require the full year and we’d have to figure out usage based on inbound power from the utility, outbound power to the utility, and solar production.

PSE&G doesn’t have automated billing for residential solar customers – they have to send an erroneous bill automatically and then send a manually-generated correction each month.  This makes it a little tough to compare usage to last year (pre-solar).  That’s supposed to be fixed in the 2nd quarter of this year.  They do read the meter via a phone line that they install (at their cost), and the meter provides both an inbound and outbound counter.  Supposedly, the meter will also “phone home” if there is a power outage.

So far, I have gotten few nibbles on the offer to buy SREC’s but the market is new.  The state’s brokerage website has only been online since last fall.  We have listed our SREC’s at $200 each (an SREC is essentially 1 MWh of solar production) as have members of the state BPU who have solar.  I’ve gotten a solicited offer of $115 before the state system existed, and I recently got an unsolicited offer of $135. My wife and I haven’t decided whether to sell them at all or not (selling them allows the utility to continue to pollute more than if they couldn’t buy them and had to produce clean energy themselves), but I’m the more likely to sell them and I won’t do so under $150 each.  I expect things to get interesting in April, when the utilities have to complete their purchase for the year.  Also, the state just changed the rules to require that state minimum solar production requirements for the utilities must be met with SREC’s from NJ – rather than other states that might be cheaper.

Our investment was about $16,000 – the state paid the rest.  Based on our current energy savings, we expect the payback to be 16-18 years. As electricity rates increase, that timeframe will shrink.  This calculation does not include SREC sales.

Has the value of your home appreciated due to the solar panel installization?

I don’t know.  We haven’t gotten appraisals or put the house on the market since installation.  We only got one negative comment from a neighbor – he was looking to sell his home and was worried about the effect that our property would have on his sale.  He got at least his asking price, and the new owners think our system is “cool”, so it doesn’t seem to have mattered.  We’ve gotten many positive comments. One funny story is posted on my solar blog about a police officer who stopped by to ask about them – he lives nearby.  Our installer provided information that states home values increase $20 for every $1 in energy cost savings.  He felt that we wouldn’t see a property value increase of the full $52,000 project cost, but that it would be at least the $16,000 net cost to us after state rebates – probably more like 20-23K.

Bottom line, are you glad that you made the investment?

Yes.  I’m a computer-type and my wife is an engineer – so the “cool” factor was involved.  Additionally, we skew a bit liberal in values, so the greenness was a factor as well.  Last, it has reduced our electric bills.  We’re happy.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Additional thoughts:

1.  There is NO maintenance required.  The panels get washed by the rain, and the electrical equipment requires no attention at all.  All we do is write down the daily readings – more out of engineer curiosity than anything else.

2.  The inverters have fans built in that are a bit louder than normal small appliance fans.  It’s a little quieter than our microwave when it’s running.  You may want to consider that when placing them.  They usually go near the breaker box anyway.  Also, they do cause minor interference on AM radio – we listen to the local news every morning and have just gotten used to it (“computer” beeping sounds in the background).

3.  We’ve had no physical trouble at all.  No roof leaks, no wind damage (and we’ve had winds short of a hurricane last fall), not even anything flapping in the wind.  I also believe that it keeps the attic cooler in the summer than our bare asphalt shingle roof did.

4.  You’re welcome to see the installation if you wish.  If your Akeena rep is who I think it is, he has his own home solar to show you, but you’re welcome to see ours.  Keep in mind that we are using Sharp equipment installed by someone else (though they’re all similar).

Another Hamilton NJ System

September 27, 2004 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Solar Energy 

I’m signed up to offer my SREC’s (Solar Renewable Energy Credits) on the NJCEP website. At that site, my e-mail address is available, so that people can make me offers.

The other day I got an e-mail from Nick, who has a system of his own in Hamilton, NJ. He’s about 2-3 miles from me as the crow flies.

His system is a 7.6 Kw Sanyo/Sharp system. The panels are Sanyo 180W panels – the Sharp 185’s weren’t available. Nick says about the panels: “the Sanyo is a hybrid design which operates at a higher efficiency than any other module I found. It also operates at a wider range of the light spectrum so it tends to harvest more power. They were also about 5% more expensive.” The inverters are the Sharp 3500 watt inverters – the same as mine. He did a self-design, self-install, working with a local electrician. He had the same trouble that I did with the township, but his time from permit application to completed installation was only 6 weeks (I suspect that he benefited from us a little, as he applied later).

I haven’t seen his system yet, but he agreed that I could post the pictures that he e-mailed to me. Here they are, with my guesses at what we’re looking at.

pv_house

This is the view from the front of the house. Apparently, the front of his house points east, so part of the panels are pointed east and part are pointed south.

East Array

This must be the eastern ones (the file name is “east array”).

South Array

This is the south-facing array.
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pv_inverters

The Sharp inverters on the left and panels on the right.

CB Panels

Nick added the ability to hook up to a backup generator plugged in outside the house. The thing at the top with meters and the big switch looks like the transfer switch. The breaker panel on the right is the main house panel that utility power is connected through. The panel on the left is the sub-panel for backup protected power. The solar inverters input into the house system there. The little box on the left is a whole-house surge suppressor.

Disconnect Switches and Meter

Here are the external disconnects. The DC disconnects are on the right. The AC disconnect is in the right-hand side of the meter panel. Note that PSE&G hadn’t changed out the meter yet in this picture from July – it’s probably been done by now. Nick and I both prefer the old analog meter – the new digital meter doesn’t really show power flowing from the house to the utility very well. It’s much nicer to see the meter turn backwards.

Below the box on the right in this picture is the connect point for a future generator.

All in all, it’s a nice system – especially for a self-install. His system produces more power than mine, but cost him a few thousand less. Nick is talking about us visiting each other’s systems to compare notes, and we’ll probably do that soon.

Now he gets the joys of startup billing issues from PSE&G!

Solar/Hydrogen Combination

August 27, 2004 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Solar Energy 

At the University of New South Wales, a team is working on solar cells that generate hydrogen.

This is pretty cool. These new solar cells will take water as input, and photolyze hydrogen and oxygen as output. The hydrogen will then presumably be used in fuel cells to generate electricity. Unlike conventional solar electricity, the hydrogen can be banked for later use (yes, you can do that with batteries, but you can’t put the battery into your electric car today) or use elsewhere (like overseas).

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(Hat Tip: Dean’s World)

NJ BPU Commissioner Walks the Talk

June 22, 2004 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Solar Energy 

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Commissioner Connie Hughes is the first state utility board commissioner in the country to install a solar electric system on her home. (Press Release)

Her home includes a 9.9 kW solar electric system, a thermal solar system for her pool, and passive solar features on the south side of their house. She shares the home with her husband, James – a Dean at Rutgers University (our alma mater!).

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UPDATE: 7/7/2004 – They have pictures up on the NJ BPU Home Page, at least temporarily. It looks like Sharp panels, and almost definately the same inverters that we have (she has 3).

Another one in the area

June 4, 2004 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Solar Energy 

Found this article from the Lawrence Ledger – yesterday’s edition.

These folks are in the next town north of Hamilton. Their system is going to be 8.4 kW – about 25% larger than ours. Of course, it’s going on a barn – lots of room.
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UPDATE 2009: This guy is a member of the church that I ended up joining in 2006.  He and I served together on that church’s Green Team.

Roof Work Complete

May 10, 2004 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Solar Energy 

Today, the last of the roof work was completed. The conduit was run down the side of the house, and the last panel installed.

Here are the real final roof pictures.

Solar Installation Final

Here’s the front view. Note that the steppers are gone. (NEW picture taken without the sun behind the house.)

Solar Installation Complete - angled shot

Here’s the side view – shows off the panel color really well. (NEW picture taken without the sun behind the house.)

Conduit picture 1
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Can you see most of the conduit from the street? I don’t think so …..

Conduit picture 2

That’s because they hid it behind the gutter. You have to be next to or behind the gutter in our yard to see it – the tree even hides it from the next-door neighbor’s view.

Conduit picture 3

We can even paint it later.

I’m looking into the order of events for the rest of the project. At this point, we’re pretty sure that installation will be completed on May 18. However, we have a few rounds of inspections after that.

Installation – Day 3

May 5, 2004 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Solar Energy 

Today, a few “getting ready” steps occurred before the panels were installed.

Holes were drilled in the mounting rails for brackets and wires.

The ground wire was installed, linking the rails. The rails will eventually be tied to the house ground in several places.

The brackets for the panels were installed in the rails, to be relocated when the panels are installed.

Tomorrow, they expect to install panels.

Solar Installation Day 3

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Wires on roof

This picture shows a close-up of the rails and wires. The loops of wire are loose and we’re about to get a thunderstorm – I hope they stay on the roof!

Ground Wire on roof

I believe that the copper-colored wires are the ground, tied to the rails underneath the rail.

More to come tomorrow!

Another One Nearby

May 4, 2004 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Solar Energy 

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(NOTE: The link will probably expire at some point – sorry if you found this too late.)

Homeowner’s Insurance and PV systems

May 4, 2004 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Solar Energy 

Yesterday, I contacted my homeowner’s insurance company – New Jersey Manufacturer’s Insurance – in order to let them know that I was installing a solar electric grid-connected system.

Clearly, I’ve run into another educational gap. The poor representative that I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about.

Back in January, I called them to see if I needed to do anything with my homeowner’s insurance. At that time, I needed to explain the system for a few minutes and I was told that I didn’t need to change my policy in any way – I just needed to call back to let them know that I was installing the system.

Yesterday, I called back. The representative that I got took a little information (not much beyond “solar electrical system”) and went to talk to her supervisor. About 10 minutes later, she came back. She needed a semi-detailed explanation of how the system works (panels to inverter to main breaker box, and she needed LOTS of info on utility interconnection). She wrote down every word that I said and went back to her supervisor. After another 5 minute wait, she came back and told me that I was approved (whatever that means), and that I didn’t need to do anything else. She also said that she and her instructor thank me for help understanding the system.

We need a pamphlet, or a class, or something

I think I’ve come to the realization that there are two holes in the NJ solar educational process:
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1. Local Inspectors/code officials – mine thought I needed a transfer switch for a grid-connected system
2. Insurance – they don’t know what to make of it

Once my system is completed and approved, I think I may write a letter to the NJ BPU, with these suggestions:

1. When a new application is approved, in addition to sending the approval to the applicant, a copy is sent to the local planning department/building department/etc. Included is a letter offering to assist with the evaluation of the permit application and/or an invitation to a training session. Some local folks may be annoyed by this (“I know how to do my job, I don’t need any interference.”), but hopefully the others will understand what they are asked to approve before the permit application appears.

2. The BPU should put together a pamphlet with the basics of PV grid-connected, stand-alone, and battery backup systems. This should be sent to the appropriate person at all homeowner’s insurance companies doing business in the state.

I know that this would add expense, but the BPU and industry are already working to increase the number of trained installers (see my previous article). It makes sense to me that they have to beef up the rest of the installation infrastructure – and that they should start with municipal building departments.

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