EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Solar Power
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-17-14, 10:39 AM   #291
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

The solar upgrade the Mini Splits, 220V variable speed pool pump Led lights… are really paying off. We carried forward 1,745 KWH into this month. This month we are ahead 525 KWH for a total 2270 KWH. Last year we used all the solar power and used another 534 KWH. We have made over a 1.11 MWh this month. We do not drive the Chevy Volt near as much over the summer school break.
We have not used anything but the Mini Splits to cool with so far this summer. We do use the new HVAC ECM blower motor on low to circulate the cool air through the house.

I think we are basically done making changes we just need to wait until the next zero out date and see where we stand but it looks very good so far.

I really think we have a great chance to zero out this year. The new law passed and they have to pay us wholesale when they zero us out. We pay $8.29 a month meter fee. I don’t think we will cover the entire meter fee but we should cover all our usage and some of the meter fee.

I would be very pleased if we can cover all our usage as you know that also covers driving my Chevy Volt 20,000 solar powered miles a year.


Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	June.JPG
Views:	987
Size:	117.8 KB
ID:	4424  

Last edited by pinballlooking; 06-17-14 at 10:51 AM..
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-17-14, 10:49 AM   #292
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Very cool! I'm glad to hear its all paying off for you.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-17-14, 11:09 AM   #293
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
Very cool! I'm glad to hear its all paying off for you.
Thanks there are so many variables when you are adding things to save power and adding solar to cover your usage. If I was someone looking at doing a similar thing as we did and you are not in a rush to make so many changes.

It would be good to add all the energy saving things first then look at what your usage is. Then you will have a great idea on how much solar you need to get. A energy monitor like the TED 5000 is so useful. It is not perfect but it still is very helpful.

In the beginning we thought we would just add some solar then keep adding some more each year until we were where we wanted to be. The power company charges $100 application fee each time you make a change. You have to pull permits each time you make a change.

Solar panel shipping is very expensive it is also much more expensive if you don’t buy full pallets.

Sales are always full pallets let’s face it DIY you need to keep the cost down to get the fastest payback with the best hardware.

We also started out just wanting to cover the power needs for the Volt. That quickly turned into wanting to be Net Zero! This site really helped me wanting to save more power and with help of some of the members here I was able to install my Mini Splits and get me well on the road to Net Zero.

It was a lot of hard work to get here all DIY route but it is worth it and so nice to see the results paying off.

Now if I could finish my taxes and get some of the money I paid in back that would be great. Having your own business with some side business is very time consuming getting all the info together.

Last edited by pinballlooking; 06-17-14 at 02:57 PM..
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-14, 10:12 PM   #294
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

We had another Great solar month. 1,995 KWh. For a total 10.2 MWh this year.


We will carry forward 773 KWh add that to 1,745 KWH carried forwarded so far this year. That leaves us with a total carried forwarded 2,518 KWh for this year. We will use that this winter for heating.

Our power bill will be $8.29 again this month. (Meter charge)

The Mini Splits are doing better on power usage than I thought they would. They also keeping us very cool.


Other solar installs post your number for this month.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	June14.JPG
Views:	937
Size:	140.0 KB
ID:	4444  

Last edited by pinballlooking; 06-30-14 at 10:45 PM..
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-14, 11:09 PM   #295
where2
DIY Geek
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Sunny Florida
Posts: 401
Thanks: 74
Thanked 83 Times in 73 Posts
Default

June provided 537kWh from my 4.4kW PV array.

Year to date total now: 3.19MWh
where2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-04-14, 01:05 PM   #296
Vern2
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Vern2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Arizona
Posts: 145
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Smile

Pinballlooking,


Some how I got unsubscribed. Might have happened when I formatted hard drive.

Subscribed again.

Was looking for an L2 charger, like this one.
__________________
Vern
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Last edited by Vern2; 07-06-14 at 01:05 PM..
Vern2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-14, 12:14 PM   #297
NeilBlanchard
Journeyman EcoRenovator
 
NeilBlanchard's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Maynard, MA Eaarth
Posts: 383
Thanks: 78
Thanked 39 Times in 32 Posts
Default

My brother's 6.37kW system produced ~7.3MWh in one calendar year starting June 19 2013.
NeilBlanchard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-14, 01:23 PM   #298
Vern2
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Vern2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Arizona
Posts: 145
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Smile

Pinball, was hopping TED 5k was working out for you...

The TED Home Pro solar monitoring, I'm still working out kinks.

Ordered the GE WattStation Model 01. The Model CP01 has a 50 amp welding plug on it. Just mount it to garage wall, plug into one of two welding plugs not being used in shop, zip zip.

$999 Before price drop
$679 Price
$452 cost
$224 Fed discount
__________________
Vern
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Last edited by Vern2; 07-06-14 at 01:26 PM..
Vern2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-14, 07:45 AM   #299
Vern2
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Vern2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Arizona
Posts: 145
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Smile

I found out why Watt Station had a price drop.
__________________
Vern
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Vern2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-14, 08:40 AM   #300
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vern2 View Post
Pinball, was hopping TED 5k was working out for you...

The TED Home Pro solar monitoring, I'm still working out kinks.

Ordered the GE WattStation Model 01. The Model CP01 has a 50 amp welding plug on it. Just mount it to garage wall, plug into one of two welding plugs not being used in shop, zip zip.

$999 Before price drop
$679 Price
$452 cost
$224 Fed discount
It is hard to beat this one LCS-20, 15A, 240V charging, 22′ cord.
Featured Products | ClipperCreek EV Charging Station | ClipperCreek Vehicle Charging Station

It gets great reviews and has a 3 year warranty.
It is great for the Volt but if you are planning on getting another EV you might look at getting a 30a charger.

For now I would just get the small for $395 and sell it if you get a car later that has 6.6kw charging.


We have a place at Lake Hartwell about an hour away. It is just out of the EV range but I got 48.3 EV miles with AC on the entire time.

Going there and back we used less than ˝ gal gas. I installed a 240v L2 charger there over the weekend. It is just so much nicer to be able to charge in about 4 hours.



If you don’t mind a kit I really like this one.
http://openevse-store.myshopify.com
I built one of these and I really like it.

My build
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/applia...ment-evse.html

I am not sure you save that much now that the prices have come down. But you can upgrade this one to go to 3.3KW- 10KW charging and beyond.

It has a very small standby power draw.


Last edited by pinballlooking; 06-21-21 at 06:43 PM..
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:47 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design