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  • Need some thoughts on a new home

    Hi guys,

    First off this is a great forum, I finally signed up to ask a couple questions:

    I am buying a new construction home, which already has solar panels for a total of 6.74kwh but they aren't the best or most efficient ones only around 18.7%. they do have some space left to add panels. There is no battery, and they're directly tied into the grid.

    The builder did this to avoid cost of getting gas line extended to the house so there is no gas.

    Questions: we do have time of use discounts. What's the best way add more capacity to the system? Use same panels or use different panels?

    They used APsystems yc600 microinverter. Is this good? Should I change it out?

    Reading the forum it seems battery isn't there greatest cost savings, but should I still get something like harbor smart? Any downsides? Mainly for outages

    How do I know I will automatically switch to grid when needed? If I do get batteries can I get an installation that grid and pv only charge the batteries and I use the electricity from the battery (or is it not efficient due to RTE loss?)

    ​​​​​​Because of the gas issue, water heater, heating, cooling , cooking is all electric. The estimators aren't great at telling me what's the right system size without sending out quote requests, which I don't want to go.

    Is there any program to trade up pvs to better ones? Is it worth it?

  • #2
    Trading up PV's is not worth it, in my estimation, the labor involved and the giving-away of the old panels, you are spending a lot of $ for just a few more % of power.

    Can you consider propane delivery ?

    Generally, micro-inverter systems, aren't easily converted to Hybrid/grid-battery systems. are there inverters under the panels on the roof, or a big inverter in the garage ?

    If you only expect 1-3 day outages, a small gasoline generator is much more cost effective than a large battery bank. If you are planning for a hurricane to tear down all the power poles and 3 months to get restored - - - guess what happened to your rooftop PV panels - they are gone too.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

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    • #3
      Originally posted by pvNoobster View Post
      Questions: we do have time of use discounts. What's the best way add more capacity to the system? Use same panels or use different panels?
      How much is the system producing and how much energy are you looking to offset?

      Upgrading your electric water heater to a heat pump water heater would be a good starting point if you're looking to decrease energy consumption. Depending on how much water you use and where you're located that can shave ~3000kWh/yr off for ~$1300.

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      • #4
        cost of hybrid heat pump's have come down a lot and I see them brand new on facebook craigslist for $300 to $600. Same thing with generators. Saw a craftsman generator a lowes for about $600 and I paid $1000 for the same thing over 10 years ago. Probably best to live in the home and see what you spend on electricity FIRST before jumping and adding more panels. who knows maybe the home is very efficient and you dont' hav ea big family so it will be big enough?
        federal tax credit for solar still good for a while.
        Last edited by khanh dam; 08-19-2019, 07:06 AM.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by khanh dam View Post
          cost of hybrid heat pump's have come down a lot and I see them brand new on facebook craigslist for $300 to $600. Same thing with generators. Saw a craftsman generator a lowes for about $600 and I paid $1000 for the same thing over 10 years ago. Probably best to live in the home and see what you spend on electricity FIRST before jumping and adding more panels. who knows maybe the home is very efficient and you dont' hav ea big family so it will be big enough?
          federal tax credit for solar still good for a while.
          At this time and unless the law changes, it's still good until 01/01/2023..

          But: Note that the 30 % fed. tax credit drops to 26 % on 01/01/2020, and to 22 % on 01/01/2021.

          Also: The fed. tax credit for residential installs disappears entirely on 01/01/2022.

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