On grid sales

[bubba07]

I live in the Arizona Desert and wanted to start helping out.  Instead of going totally  off grid, can i set up some solar panels and tie into the grid?  Can i sell the energy to the local power company?  What would it take to set up this type of system and what can i actually save for the money i spend setting it up?  Also what can i expect in maintenance costs to keep these running?

[kurt]

well i can tell you this much a guy i know on irc was looking into doing a grid tie system $12000 worth of panels and inverter and the aussie goverment was gonna give him an $8000 rebate on that purchise and he figured out that he would be better off investing the $4000 he was going to be out on the deal in bonds as that had a better return on investment than $12000 in solar selling power back into the grid. now granted solar panels are 1.5 x the price in ozz as they are in the us so his $12000 would not go as far but i think if you sat down and figured it out you would be faced with similar numbers but worse becouse the united states does not have the rebates that ozz does. in short solar grid tie will never be a money maker.

[DamonHD]

Yes, you will NOT make money selling solar PV power back to the grid.

In the UK the costs and grants etc are a little different, but the fact is at kW generation levels it's not going to be a money spinner.

It may however give you a warm feeling inside because you are helping reduce CO2 emissions, which will be true after a few years operating your panels and reducing your  net drain from the the grid.  Switching to energy-efficient lights and appliances, while less glamorous, will have the same effect, so do that too, and that will noticeably save money,

I've gathered a few numbers for the UK at:

http://www.earth.org.uk/

and in particular look at the "Can PV or Solar Thermal be cost effective ways of reducing CO2 emissions for residential buildings?" quote/link about half-way down the page.

It's not all hopeless by any means.  The earth.org.uk site has just been moved over to a low-power server that I intend to run from off-grid solar PV as much as possible (it's only been so for a very short while so far: I still have several bits to expand/build)!  And I already run my office lighting off that same PV system, see elsewhere on the same site for details.

Rgds

Damon

[bubba07]

I was not out to make any money off the venture just trying to be efficient with my money while helping the environment.  Would the money be better spent helping with research.  Unfortunately height restrictions in my town prevent any wind power ventures.  I have switched to more efficient cfl's and appliances, but would like to do more.

[DamonHD]

Well, the payback from solar PV in the UK is 25 years+ if at all.  You may of course do much better depending on local climate and on electricity charges.

If you have (say) 12+ square metres of south-facing unshaded (roof) space you could install 2kWp+ of panels which could make a serious dent in your power usage while the sun is out using a cheap and simple grid-tie.  Below that I don't think is likely to be worthwhile in terms of effort unless you can move some things off-grid entirely probably with the aid of some battery storage.

You won't make/save money overall (at least not for many years) but you will reduce your power draw and may even help the grid a little while you are exporting excess.

You will also be helping grow the market and reduce costs for others!  B^>

Rgds

Damon

[DamonHD]

(I note you are in the desert so space and climate are probably NOT a limiting factor for you, but I have no idea about your local grid power prices, rebates, etc!)

[DanB]

A very good book on the topic is Got Sun Go Solar by Rex Ewing and Doug Pratt.  It's a good place to start...