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You can push excess power into the grid. It will reduce / reverse your electricity bill. Look into local regulations.
by cake-rusk 1y ago
You can push excess power into the grid. It will reduce / reverse your electricity bill. Look into local regulations.
- thechao 1y agoI've got a co-op that won't net meter below a fixed cost that's close to my monthly. I just like the idea.
- solardev 1y agoCan't you buy some home battery backups and either use them for time shifting (buy low, sell high) or just for backup power?
- adrianN 1y agoA kWh of batteries costs about 200€ where I live, but if the panels cost a comparable amount to a normal fence you can probably just run the AC a bit cooler when the sun shines and use your house as a thermal battery.
- thechao 1y agoHold on, let me translate my stupid freedom units into Science™. My exterior house walls are already ... 30cm thick? That's 15cm of insulation + structure, a thermal gap, and then 10cm of stone facade. I only have to run the AC for a few hours at night, once the house warms up after a full day of sun. The only time of year I need "full AC" is during the high summer when the temps go above 40°C. What really kills me is that house is heated with propane, owned by a local monopoly, and the cost of propane has a 300% surcharge. The next time the HVAC packs up, I'm getting a heat pump, and adding solar panels (I only need a few); the savings in propane will pay for the HVAC/solar in a few years (in fucking TEXAS). The irony of this is not lost on me.
- adrianN 1y agoIf you had a solar fence you could run the AC during max solar production for a couple of hours and not use it the rest of the day then. You might want to do the math on replacing the HVAC with a heat pump before it breaks, might be a good investment.
- thechao 1y agoThere's an enormous premium on heat pumps in the U.S. So, there's a manufacturer of heat pumps here, in Austin; they sell a heat pump for 1600$ in Australia (installed); but the same unit is 9000$ (installed) in Austin. Part of the difference is labor (about 1000$); the rest ... I dunno? The difference in cost in electricity vs. propane runs about 1500$/yr. My current HVAC unit is good for another 5 years, or so. I'll just wait it out.
- adrianN 1y ago1500 return on 9000 investment is 16%. Hard to beat that with other investments.
- thechao 1y agoUnderstood, but the heat pump, itself, depreciates. They're good for about 10 years, out here, so you'd have to knock 900$/yr off the "investment". That takes it down to 6%, which is better than a high yield savings account, for sure. My suspicion is that the folk who make these heat pumps are well aware of the pricing structure in central Texas.