Adding solar to old victorian

[delete]

Hi folks! I live in Minnesota, and I'm planning on adding about 20-60 solar panels to my house, some as backup, but most as grid tied (with enphase microinverters)

I plan on enrolling in Xcel Energy's Minnesota Solar Rewards program, and am navigating all of the drawings, forms, etc. to design and set up my system. Looking forward to some great advice!

[russ]

@ ScoobydooHaus - Welcome to the forum!

Hope we can be of help! Mike and Sunking are the experts while I try to be a helpful flunky.

Again - welcome.
Russ

[Mike90250]

Go to http://www.pvwatts.org/ and input your location, a 1KW array size, and crunch the #'s for different orientations and compass points, and see if you get enough sun to make a worth while investment. In California, it's a no brainer, but I don't know about your site.

[Sunking]

you might want to research things a bit before jumping in, particularly property values and ROI.

A Grid tied solar system on average has a negative ROI upon installation of around 40%. So for example it only raises your home value $4 for every $10 you invest. Some states like California it is about even, northern states where sun lacks less than 40%.

As for installing a solar system on a Victorian home I would think would bring down the value of the home as it completely defeats the architecture style of the home.

Perhaps a pole mounted system hidden behind the house may work?

[peakbagger]

I have seen a few installs on victorians in various magazines, where the roof is replaced with standing seam roofing with Unisolar stick on solar cells. If the right color is selected for the roofing, the cells arent readilly apparent. Unfortunately Unisolar doesnt appear to be a viable company at this point and there have been issues with longevity of their product, so it is probably not a direction to pursue.

Otherwise, if they are visible from the street, conventional panels are not going to be real attractive and if you are in a historical area most likely not legal. At a minimum some manufacturers offer annodized black frames to make them stand out somewhat less.

The other issue is access to the panels. The house is in a snowy climate and given that most victorians are at least two stories, access to the panels for cleaning off snow in the winter is going to be real difficult. They will melt off eventually and the enphase inverters will help, but unless you have a poorly insulated attic, it could take a few days.

There is a lot to be said for a pole mount