Ease of Use / Ease of Installation
One of my loyal readers, Sarah, posted the following comment in reference to my scheduling update:
You know, the more I read and understand how complicated it is to install solar panels, the less likely it is that I will even consider it for my own home. I firmly believe that we need to develop and use alternate sources of energy, but it ought to be easy to do for non-specialists.
I’m not sure that I agree completely, but here are my thoughts.
First – Ease of Use. Solar electric systems are extremely easy to use. Once they are installed and turned on, they need almost zero maintenance. You should probably check the inverter meters periodically to make sure that they are working and at approximately the right power level, but that’s about it. If something breaks (say, a panel), the part needs to be replaced. Panels have a warranty of 25 years these days and the installation is warrantied (by state requirement in NJ) for 5 years.
Systems that include a battery backup have some extra maintenance for the batteries, and those batteries need to be replaced every few years (I seem to remember 5, but I could be wrong). Sealed batteries don’t need much else – older lead-acid batteries may need to be checked more often.
Second – Ease of Installation. Solar power systems are a bit more complicated than a standard electrical upgrade. In addition to good old 120V AC, you have to contend with DC wiring at higher voltage. There are additional disconnect switches to be installed because you are feeding power into the utility’s network – you could theoretically fry your neighbor’s appliances if something goes horribly wrong.
However, the system itself is no more complicated than, say, satellite TV or a home computer network. Both of those are installed by homeowners everyday, and by pros for people who don’t want to or can’t install them.
I think the problem is that this is new. One of the stories on the New Jersey Clean Energy Program website talks about how there were 18 utility technicians on-site when they started up the system. They all wanted to see the meter turn backwards and know what this system was like (a good thing – they have to work with it). I wouldn’t be surprised if I see a crowd when my system is installed. Another story on that site talks about a self-installation – by a retired history teacher.
Once upon a time, only trained technicians from the phone company (that’s THE phone company) installed phones and phone jacks in your house. Now, almost anybody can do it and you’re expected to buy your own phone and plug it in. Once upon a time, only degreed specialists sitting in air-conditioned rooms with glass windows all the way around used computers – now anybody can boot up and connect to just about anybody else with a computer (and create blogs!).
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Specialization – when something is beginning to be introduced to the world, it is only understood by a small group. Imagine when cell phones first started being used (the brick or bag phones). The technology is so expensive and difficult to install/configure/use that it is limited to a small group. Computers were in this phase in the 50’s and 60’s. “How smart do they have to be to do this?” is the question for this phase.
Common Use – eventually, technology is put into use by “most” people. Cell phones and computers fit into this category now. You can live without it, but you’d rather not. “How do I use this?” is the question for this phase.
Dependency – when common use of technology reaches the point where nearly everybody uses the technology, and when the older alternatives are all but abandoned, we reach the point of dependency. Electricity, indoor plumbing, and even the internal combustion engine have reached this point. Airplanes are probably here, too. The key to recognizing dependency is when you need to fix the technology when it’s broken as opposed to using the older alternative. “How did we ever live without it?” is the question for this phase of technology.
Solar energy (especially in home use) is now on the cusp between Specialization and Common Use. It will become cheaper, easier to use, and more standardized as time goes by. You’ll be able to buy panels, inverters and “wiring kits” off the shelf. New main electrical panels may include one or two plug-type outlets for you to plug your inverters into – as opposed to having to re-wire. The hurdles that you have to cross to install and use solar energy in your home will become standardized, so that the utility inspection will be merged with the local electrical inspector, and the wiring will be so standardized that you can do it yourself.
Thirty years ago, would you have dared to plug a printer into your computer’s CPU? Would you even have those two things?
More Problems
I got an e-mail from my installer over the weekend. He states that the permit should be ready by the week of 4/12, and he wants to schedule the install then.
However (there always has to be a however), Sharp has notified him that all 185-watt panels are being diverted to a large job in Germany, and his shipment won’t arrive until May. He’s offering to change to 175-watt panels and fit an extra three on the roof, for an increase in price of $375 out of pocket and increase in total wattage of 225 watts. He thinks that we can make the technical adjustment in the rebate application later.
Personally, I’m a little cranky about this. Cranky with Sharp for taking equipment away from the little guy to give to the big guy elsewhere. Cranky with my installer for either not ordering promptly when I committed, or for finding out at the last minute. I’m also a little worried that the engineering will have to be redone and the permit might get delayed.
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I’ve replied to his e-mail asking him to call me at work this afternoon. We’ll see what he says.
Am I making too much of this? Or is home solar energy really this far from being ready for prime time?
NJ Requires Utilities to use Solar Energy
This press release from the NJ State Board of Public Utilities details an doubling in required use of renewable energy and a new requirement that some of it come from solar power.
Basically, 4 percent of a utility’s power (up from 2 percent) must be from renewable sources. This new rule mandates that 90 megawatts of NJ electric power come from solar energy.
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An article in today’s Trenton Times (couldn’t find it online) talks about how small businesses and households can get a renewable energy credit, which can be sold to a utility to allow them to meet their requirement. This could reduce our project costs, so I’ll be digging to find out more about that and will report more when I have it.
Another NJ Solar Customer
Found this today, at the top of Google’s news after searching for “solar energy”.
Days of Solar Energy Dawn Across Area (NJ Express-Times)
These folks are way up in Warren County.
Here’s a quote:
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Winka [director of the NJ Office of Clean Energy] said generating electricity locally is a goal of the power industry. With more local sources, there is less reliance on electrical transmission lines where power is lost due to resistance, Winka said. Local electrical production reduces resistance, increases productivity and reduces costs to consumers, he said.
That fits my reasoning completely – one of the reasons that we’re installing our system is to reduce the load on the electrical infrastructure (a fancy term for the local wires).
Also mentioned in the article is Partners for Environmental Quality, an interfaith religious group committed to getting religious institutions and groups involved in a sustainable environment. These folks have their headquarters just around my corner in Trenton!
Citizen Smash on Environmentalism
Citizen Smash (aka Lt. Smash, or The Indepundit) runs a blog on many issues. For a while, he posted his experiences while called up as a reservist in Iraq.
Today, he has an entry on his blog about environmentalism and questions for the presidential candidates.
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Solar energy doesn’t really pass the “costs a little more” test right now – the payback is very long. But then, I had other reasons to go solar.
New Jersey – the Green Power State
Word comes to us today from SolarAccess.com that the NJ state government is pushing hard to build a green power infrastructure in the state: Solar Energy Message Amplified in New Jersey
The truth is that NJ really is working hard on becoming green. The incentives right now are incredible – 70% on most small projects (under 10kW). With this effort, the state is trying to create a bank of installers for solar system for homes and businesses. Right now, there aren’t many installers (maybe a dozen in NJ that I found in my search), but this will dramatically grow that number. Of course, the downside to this effort with installers is that they’ll be taught the cookie-cutter method of installing solar. The current installers are likely to be much better at customizing each installation to the owner’s needs.
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This effort also will be creating radio ads explaining the benefits of solar energy on their building. THIS part will be the greatest positive step for this effort – once we have many more solar installations, prices will come down along with pollution. (The price decrease won’t help me any, but at the very least I should be able to serve as an example.)
More Solar Bloggers
Found another few online solar bloggers today:
Debris.com solar panel installation – this takes you direct to his solar site, from there you can hit his home page.
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As of today, our check hasn’t been cashed (or at least the bank hasn’t noticed), but hopefully progress is being made anyway.
Other Solar Power/Alternative Energy Blogs
Here are a few other Solar Power/Alternative Energy Blogs for you to peruse:
Bird in the Bush – The Renewable Energy Blog
PowerFrontiers
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Piedmont Biofuels
That’s all I’ve got today in 30 minutes of searching. There are lots of blog pages that talk about solar power – search Google on “solar”, “power”, “photovoltaic” and “blog” to see them.
Some of the Components
It’ll be a few weeks before we get the permits. I’ll try to provide interesting information in the meantime to keep you interested.
Sharp’s JH-3500U is the inverter that we are using (we’ll have 2 of them). This inverter has been in use for 8 years in Japan, and was recently introduced to the US. This is a grid-connected inverter with no backup capabilities – if utility power fails it shuts down. Here is the PDF spec sheet.
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Sharp’s NT-185U1 is the solar panel that we are using (we’ll have 36 of them). This panel is also new, and is the top of the Sharp line at the moment. This is the PDF spec sheet for the panels.
Been There – Done That
Here are a few websites of people who have already installed home solar power systems:
Michael MacFaden’s System in San Jose
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