Signature Solar Blowout Panel Deal: $62 for 350w

[doox00]

Nice. Too rich for my blood and I think even $50k would be like 25 years return on investment foe me. Still you can't put a price on energy independence, which is why I am slowly building my system...

10 years max for me, probably 8 years though, my electric bills average ~700 a month and I will produce 75% of my yearly needs. The worse months have already passed and I produced nearly half of what I used already in 4 motnhs, from now until oct-nov I will produce 95%+ of my own electricity, this month already I have not used grid but very occasionally, like after several days of bad weather, even today it is overcast and drizzle off and on and I am producing 5-8k watts right now. Yesterday was rain/thunderstorms most of the day so my battery is low. Ohh and I have another 8k+ watts of panels I am adding this summer, total cost for that was ~2100 for the panels, 1300 for the inverter and ~2k for the ground mounts/wiring I will build for them, 30% tax credit for that too.

Weather right now....

 

[Sycraft]

Is there such a thing as an entry level inverter (less than $300) that acts like a UPS and not just charger/inverter?

ie. you add a battery, maybe some solar later, and it acts as a 10-20ms switch to the battery in case of power failure like a DIY UPS

I don't think so, you need more stuff than that because the issue is that for something like that, your system is tied to the grid and it needs to isolate itself to do that. For safety reasons your system can't be putting power back on the grid when it is out. So inverters that are going to tie to the grid have to shut down when it does. That's how a system like mine works, if the grid goes out, it turns off and stays off until the grid is back up.

If I wanted to add batteries and stay up when the grid is out I then need another device that will cut off the grid if it goes out. Enphase makes such things, like a meter collar that can isolate your electrical service at the meter. But without that it isn't allowed. Linemen need to be able to work on downed power lines without fear that they are being energized by a customer.

If you just wanna DIY a UPS, Eaton (Tripplite) makes some inverter/chargers that you hook to batteries and then you have a UPS. Those don't take solar though, just batteries. It works like a normal UPS, you just supply how much battery you want.

Small inverters do exist, they are called microinverters, that's what my system uses and you have one per solar panel, rather than one big inverter for all of them. It has advantages, but does cost more. However, if your system is grid tied, meaning you normally get your power from the electric grid and not exclusively from solar, they have to shut off when grid power goes out unless you have something that'll isolate them from the grid.

 

[DogsofJune]

Is there such a thing as an entry level inverter (less than $300) that acts like a UPS and not just charger/inverter?

ie. you add a battery, maybe some solar later, and it acts as a 10-20ms switch to the battery in case of power failure like a DIY UPS

A UPS for? We talking phones or microwaves? There are things out there, but not for big stuff at $300.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Fucking A, just over 20 cents a watt. Damn solar really has come down a ton in price. Granted the kick in the dick was always what it costs for someone else to install it. Some 15 years back a measly 3.26kW installed had a $23k price tag on it, but with local/state/federal rebates it knocked it down to just over $3k, and at the time that price it made sense to not DIY it. I got them primarily because at the time I had absolutely massive amounts of salt water fish tanks, keeping 400 gallons of water at 80°F in a room that average about 60°F uses a surprising amount of power. Now a couple busted tank seams later, I've largely given up that hobby, and even only 3.26kW I haven't had an electric bill in years and really have a running total that just gets bigger until I get a check at the end of the year (not a huge check, but not paying power is nice). But in all fairness, I live in a climate where AC isn't needed (none on the house) and I use gas powered appliances, so if I was all electric I probably would have to pay some bill. But PG&E pushing over 40 cents per kWh I'm ok with staying gas powered.

 

[sfsuphysics]

I spent ~70k total on my system, you can get 30% tax credit back on your entire install cost, since I diy'd it that includes specialty tools I had to buy etc, so in my case I got like 21k in tax credit, since I paid more than that in income taxes I got the 21k back, if I only owed/paid 10k in taxes I would get the 10k back only, they won't give 30% of the cost in a cash refund unless you owed at least that much in taxes.

IRS laws may have changed since I got mine, but you can carry over any unused credits to the next year for solar.

 

[vibe]

Just read they are about to set a 3000% tariff on solar cells from Asia

sooo if anyone was hesitating, definitely shouldn't wait

 

[DogsofJune]

I grabbed two 460 watt panels for an ecoflow delta 3 plus with a Delta Pro Smart extra battery. It took some thought to connect the two. EcoFlow was trying to be proprietary.
Fortunately, EcoFlow sells a generator and needs an adapter to work with the Delta 3 and Delta 2 series. Got the 3600 watt extra battery for $700 instead of the delta 3 series extra battery for $2000.
I got 4624KWh of mobile battery backup for less than $1200 and the Delta 3 having 2 ports for DC Charge Input at 11V-60V 500W Max ea.

In case you all is looking at solar gen's for random electrical needs in the boonies.

It'd be good for glamping. Porn movies on a big sheet at the local park, indiscreet torrent seeder run on a RasPi from some random trailer, etc.