Solar Panels on Roof
By katprice
@katprice (806)
United States
March 2, 2007 8:57am CST
Are there any others out there in myLot land who have solar panels on their roof? I read where Home Depot will come and perform the installation, so I've been looking in to having that done. My electric bills have been outrageous so I am very anxious to start using solar power. I'd like to start with a small system which runs my water heater and then add on from there.
1 person likes this
3 responses
@helpmehelpyou (534)
• Canada
6 Apr 07
your water heater runs on 220 volts i would think, with a draw of 30 amps maximum. i should think you may want to start by offsetting your lighting costs first. they only draw 120 volts and max 15 amps. properly set up with the chargeing system monitor,and a miriad of batteries to store the power, the neccesary power inverters to change 12 volts into 120 volts, and a completely separate system of wireing to feed the components that will work on this system, i'd say you are looking at a few bucks. $10,000.00 might do it
@katprice (806)
• United States
23 Apr 07
Ouch, that's a hefty price tag. Luckily, you can start small with solar and add on as you can. Keep linking the panels together and soon the whole rooftop will be covered. I'm also looking at tankless water heaters which are way more efficient than the conventional ones, and they take up a lot less space too.
1 person likes this
@helpmehelpyou (534)
• Canada
13 May 07
i've been looking into tankless hot water heaters too and it seems to be the way to go. although i think going with a gas water heater on this basis would be the most efficient
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
2 Mar 07
We do! We totally relied on them and the 2 windmills for all of our power. Our appliances were sized just for our system.
You need to see what power usage you have and then buy the size and number of panels you will then live under.
Anything with a heating element will use alot of power and should not really be used with solar power. Better to invest in an instant water heater that only runs when you run the water.
Real Goods located in Ukiah, California was where we got our panels and they were really good at leading us through the selection and installation back 7 years ago when we put ours in.
Good luck with this one. It is so worth it.
@killahclaire (3665)
•
2 Mar 07
I do not think that would be much good to me as I live in scotland which is not very sunny. Good luck to you though.
I imagine it would be very tricky becaus ei suppose you would want it to hold energy within it so that you still have power at night.
I would be very interested in have wind turbines connected up to my house but as I live in a big city in a block o flfats I can't really see that happening.
Good luck though and maybe you should lok into if there is any help with funding as you are doing something positive.
