# A question about solar, please



## clamjane (Sep 5, 2005)

I don't know much about solar energy at all, but I have been reading and enjoying your site here. I am really getting interested and I have a question. Please cut me some slack here because it may fall into the "duh" category as far as questions go.

My biggest expense is heating and cooling my house. Is there any practical and inexpensive way to put up a few solar panels to, not run the system, but rather kind of help it out and lower my monthly electric bill?

I am not talking about the expense of batteries or selling excess back to the power company.


----------



## Allan Mistler (Jun 1, 2004)

Jane,
Not knowing where you are is a minor challenge in determining the applicability of solar electric, but that aside, your best bet for the heating part of your question would be direct solar water heating rather than via solar electric generation. Solar water heating is very cost effective and efficient. Here's a link to an on-line book that explains various versions as well as a how to... http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/how_to.htm


----------



## clamjane (Sep 5, 2005)

Sorry I didn't give enough information. I am in the deep south, mild winters and hot humid summers.


----------



## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

clamjane said:


> Sorry I didn't give enough information. I am in the deep south, mild winters and hot humid summers.


How Do you heat your hot water? Your location the biggest return on investment would be a solar hot water system for your domestic needs.

Might check out solargary's website on different ideas how it could be setup. I think it's www.builditsolar.com


----------



## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

Any "alternative energy" project must be geared to the exact environment/location. Daytime temps, night temps, seasons, humidity, wind, trees, etc. etc.

Solar is not so good for providing electricity (expensive, complicated and provides very little electricity). Solar is very good for providing heat (hot water, hot air, etc.). At first glance at your situation, where perhaps cooling is a priority, solar may not be the answer - perhaps shade, de-humidifying the air, air movement, etc. are more the answer.

Describe your environment and climate in more detail.


----------



## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

"Practicle way" . . . .Yes

"Inexpensive" . . . . .NO

"Deep south" . ."Cooling". . . .usually means lots of $$$

Solar hot water . . .Yes, by all means

Another example of the "upfront" price tag scaring someone away from "Solar".


----------



## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

Quote:
Another example of the "upfront" price tag scaring someone away from "Solar".

Ain't that the truth.. 

Quote:
"Deep south" . ."Cooling". . . .usually means lots of $$$..

http://mb-soft.com/solar/saving.html


----------



## clamjane (Sep 5, 2005)

Jim-mi said:


> "Practicle way" . . . .Yes
> 
> "Inexpensive" . . . . .NO
> 
> ...


Well, when you say "Practical way. . . .Yes, "Inexpensive". . . .No. That is confusing to me, because to my way of thinking, if the price out weighs the benefits, then it is not practical.

As far as the "up front" price tag scaring someone away, it could, but I haven't discussed my means with you, nor will I.

However, I do desire to be as responsible as I can, and reduce my carbon footprint as much as I can, and use my personal resources as wisely as I can. I would not want to spend twenty or thirty thousand dollars on something if it were only going to save me fifty dollars a month.

I live in an older house and right now I am looking at ways to insulate my exterior walls and pricing low e windows, my utility bills are ridiculous and I would like to do what I can, within reason, to change that. I got some very useful information from SolarGary (sorry if I got that name wrong) on another post about that subject, but really, when it comes to solar, I would like to know more than.....it's expensive. Shoot fire, insulation, low e windows, my electric bill, it's all expensive.


----------



## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

I don't know everything about solar energy, but I have lived with it for close to 9 years now. We did not buy an expensive system, we just added to it little by little. We started out with just one panel and 2 batteries, a small charge controller and automotive inverter purchased from Walmart. We charged our batteries at that time with a vehicle pulled up to the house. It did not cost us much at all.

Then we kept adding componets as we could afford to. For people on the grid, you can easily set up a small system just to run certain things. My friends run their tv, stereo & lights with their solar system, which is not hooked up to the grid. 

All I can tell you is, we have never had an electric bill and we live only with our small system. It has never let us down in all these years. But, I do not live like most of the people here. My main energy usage is mainly for our laptop computers for running my business. And these computers are on about 12 hours a day, almost every day. Heat appliances is something we just can not power at this time. Maybe in the future. We do intend on adding wind power, as we live in NY and it is not known for it's sunshine. During the summer though, we hardly ever have to run our generator (we have a DC only type of generator now).

katlupe


----------



## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

clamjane said:


> I don't know much about solar energy at all, but I have been reading and enjoying your site here. I am really getting interested and I have a question. Please cut me some slack here because it may fall into the "duh" category as far as questions go.
> 
> My biggest expense is heating and cooling my house. Is there any practical and inexpensive way to put up a few solar panels to, not run the system, but rather kind of help it out and lower my monthly electric bill?
> 
> I am not talking about the expense of batteries or selling excess back to the power company.


To make this simple, As already Stated, Solar Panels are Expensive for What you are trying/wanting to do. Your Best Bet would be to Learn Other ways to cut your electric bill, like mentioned above about solar water heating and A lot of other things. Just learning to turn off lights, using bulbs that use less electricity. If you have light fixtures that have several bulbs, you might be able to lower the wattage or take one or two bulbs out. By using a fan at night to pull the cooler air into the house, forcing the hotter air out, you might be able to not run your AC. I am not familiar with your Family, But I use a small energy Eff window AC just To Cool my Bedroom if it gets to hot to sleep. Or U could raise your cooling thermostat a couple degree's, that would help. Use a Clothes Line instead of a Dryer for alot of your clothes washing and always wash full loads of clothes. If you have more than one freezer when the food starts getting low in each, as soon as you can, repack things so you can get all into one freezer, unplug the other. Most tv's and chargers etc, draw some wattage while off, you could use a switch/power strip to cut these off completely. Just become Very Aware of what electricity you are using and try to figure out ways to Not Use So Much!! Good Luck!!


----------



## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

Clamjane..

Katlupe has the right idea. A little at a time. Not many can afford to install a full fledged system at the beginning.. Including myself! It took me several years to get to the point of where I'm at now.. And I'm still small beans!

I suggest the best way to learn is by doing. Invest in a small amount of PV and power a room or maybe your garage just to get the feel of it. Keep records of usage and charging and see for yourself just how it works. Be it a small system or a whole house unit, It all works about the same. Just be sure that your initial investment can be used in the future if you decide to expand. In other words, Buy the good stuff from the get-go..

I helped a friend power one room in his home with solar. He had 2 breakers in his fuse box that powered his bedroom. (Lighting and for the outlets) I combined them and ran them to a 500 watt inverter, Bypassing the fuse box completely. He invested in 150 watts of PV, A small charge controller and a couple of batteries. His bedroom became a little island inside of the house..

He didn't have much in there.. A small TV, A small stereo and a couple of lights but he was so proud of it and showed it to everyone that came around!

He kept expanding and now his whole house is solar powered! He chose to change a few things like the fridge.. (Which is now propane) And his water supply system to keep the costs down but still have the same functions as normal. No more electric bills for him.. 

It seems everyone has their own story on how they got there.. (Or, Here) I'm sure when you decide to chase the idea, You'll make yours too! Just keep it fun! 
~Don


----------



## clamjane (Sep 5, 2005)

12vman, I was just writing a long reply thanking Katlupe, PD-Riverman and others and I don't know where on this computer it went. LOL and now I am thinking about messing around with electricty. Seriously, I think the way Katlupe and you have done it is the way to go. Riverman had some great ideas about saving too, we are already using the low watt bulbs and I am going to employ some of the other ideas mentioned.

This sounds doable and I am going to learn more.
Thank you all


----------



## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Yes it would be wise to invest that first 500-1000 into insulation and good windows etc.
Yup, tighten up the house first.

Practical . . . .I mean that it certainly could (a system) be done . . .and yes 20 t0 30k could easily be that "up front" cost.

Good idea on the "start small and build up"

The idea of the big price to "save 50 a month" . . . . . .thats 50 times 12 . . . .
And you will have the satisfaction of knowing your system
is using the Sun to lessen your "carbon foot print".

Thats a feeling thats hard to describe.


----------



## clamjane (Sep 5, 2005)

Well, I am encouraged and I am going to see what I can do. Thanks everybody


----------



## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

Hi ClamJane,

There are a lot of things you can do to lessen your cooling expenses, and some of them will also help your heating bill at the same time:

- Insulation helps both cooling and heating

- Sealing up air leaks around doors, windows, ... AND where plumbing and electrical lines, light fixtures, ... penetrate from the living space into the attic or crawl space.

- Insulating and sealing the joints on any ducts that are not already inside the living space -- one good study says that this is a 30% loss on a typical home.

- Preventing unwanted solar gain through windows in the summer. This can be a very big heat gain when you don't want it. Overhangs above south windows, solar screens outside of the windows, shade trees, trellis, ...

- Light colored roof and walls on the house.

- Anything that reduces energy use inside the house (efficient lights, appliances, getting rid of phantom loads, just turning stuff off, ...). Anything that uses power inside the house ends up as heat that your AC has to take out. These kinds of things both reduce direct electricity use and save AC electricity as well -- a double payoff 

More ideas here:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/passive_cooling.htm

and:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SolarHomes/solarhomes.htm
This last one has to do with building efficient homes, and some of them are in your type of climate. I like the NC Guide To Building and Planning Solar Homes, and the Richard Crume Solar Today article on his NC home (both free).
I realize you are not building a new home now, but some of the techniques can be used on existing homes.


A lot of these kinds of things have very good paybacks.

Gary


----------

