My Solar PV Thread

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

The feds like to see that $ per watt number.

If they are a servicer and installer did you ask about a used inverter?

I imagine they won't. But thats why I'm interested. Trying to go used as much as possible.
For them they will say something like "no bc reliability"
But what they actually mean is: "No we make half of our money from upselling."

[redpoint5]

One of the things these subsidies do is make companies uninterested in competing for the contract. The first guy that came out spent 3hrs talking my ear off, informally quoted a $33k 10.4 kW system, then sent me an email saying they aren't interested in the job. Another outfit 45 minutes away said we were outside their service area. What, do they serve Corvallis only?

One of these subsidies runs out in the middle of this year, and the solar installers will all be fighting tooth and nail for jobs when they have a bunch of idle workers. It's disgusting how Oregon government creates these market distortions just so politicians can pay lip service to "being tough on pollution", and creating x number of "green" jobs (which will more than disappear once the subsidy runs out). I guarantee there was no specific objective laid out when the bill was passed, which should be illegal.

Had the subsidies not been there, the solar companies could enjoy a steady amount of work based on normal demand levels. Instead they spring up while the subsidy is here, and go under once they dry up.

If the government were really interested in efficient use of resources, they would implement tiered pricing so that the first block of electricity consumption was cheap, and each incremental amount gets more expensive. It's progressive too because the poorer people can get cheap electricity for their essential need, and those with more financial means can pay more for the luxury.

Nope, instead we get regressive subsidies that allow relatively wealthy people to pat themselves on the back for being great environmentalists by installing solar in a very poor location, at public expense.

[freebeard]

Have you considered Jack Rikard's 'selfish solar' design philosophy?

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Have you considered Jack Rikard's 'selfish solar' design philosophy?

Selfishly Solar - EVTV Motor Verks

The person in me who refuses to pay others for things I can do myself loves it. But very cost-prohibitive and the ROI gets harder to make work vs net metering. Especially if you're like me and have net metering with peaky production and a lot of under/over shoot.
In the future when the solar tax/ fees go up it might make more sense to go off grid.

[oil pan 4]

Most of your inverter failures are the first year or 2 and then randomly taken out by a lightning strike.
Ideally get one about 3 years old with 7 years of warranty left, for around half the price of a new one.

3 problems with tiered pricing.
It's not a hip, cool buzz word.
It doesn't require other people's money.
It doesn't allow the government to pick winners in the market.

[redpoint5]

I don't like those DDG links because they usually don't have anything relevant. I just watched part of an ETV episode about a Tesla powered Caddy. Not sure what that has to do with "Selfish Solar", which sounds like something specific, and not related to EVs.

The whole subsidy corruption is what I'm getting at; that elected officials don't really want to solve problems, they want to be perceived to solve problems. Either that, or they are profoundly inept, which isn't entirely unlikely I suppose. Perhaps some combination of ineptitude and corruption?

[Xist]

I do not click on links without knowing what they are. I learned my lesson from Strong Bad--using the Internet irresponsibly since 2000!

[freebeard]

I was lazy (it's sunny outside today). Hayden55 posted the relevant link at #34.

[redpoint5]

With Oregon's net metering law, there's no financial incentive to do selfish solar. You can bank up to 1 years production and true up. Excess is donated for free. Ideally you shoot for 95% of needs and pay our cheap Oregon rates for the 5% supplemental from the grid. You'd over produce in peak summer periods, and underproduce in the winter.

A backup battery is appealing, but then again backup generators are cheap and my parents already have one.

I'd consider selfish solar if there were a financial incentive or power production were more evenly distributed about the year (Hawaii).

As a minor update, the quote for my parents ground mount included panel optimizers, and I questioned why a string inverter wasn't quoted instead. He said that his company tries to be proactive about problems in panel output, and that requires them to have panel-level monitoring. Reading between the words, I believe they are distributors for the optimizer brand, and don't get any cut from selling a string inverter...

...and as I'm typing this they called back. He gave me a legal reason I need an optimizer, and that's because we were planning to trench to the house, then run through the crawlspace to the electric meter at the far end of the house since that's the least trenching and most direct route. Oregon law requires rapid shutdown at the panel if it's on your roof, or enters a habitable building at all.

I could trench around the house to the meter and avoid that legal requirement, but then it's not as direct and involves more trenching and burrowing under a 5' wide concrete pathway.

[hayden55]

Pretty much. I think the thing with electric cars is ridiculous as well. Gotta actually pay enough in taxes to get their tax credit. So everyone under 60k+ is **** out of luck.