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  • Mike 134
    replied
    Just an FYI this was the cloudiest January on record for the Chicagoland area. My output reflects that. I had 19 days of 5 KWHs or less per day of output from a 7.2KW size system. Just for reference today was mostly sunny and after clearing the snow in the morning I still made 26KWHs.

    Leave a comment:


  • J.P.M.
    replied
    Start with "Solar Power Your Home for Dummies", a free online download.
    Don't buy or commit to anything or talk to peddlers before you know more about what you're doing and the realities of residential energy generation and use that knowledge to see through what those with stuff to sell you will try to foist on you. Avoid big box and/or national retailers. Stay local. With some sharp negotiating you'll stand a better chance of a better price than the national outfits who are mostly bottom feeders anyway. And, you;ll have a higher probability of a better quality install.get a better quality install.

    Get familiar with your utility rates for both gas and electric and their NEM particulars (if some form of NEM is offered) and the details of any REC program.

    Abandoning gas appliances or gas as your primary energy source may/may not be a good idea.

    Your research on rates NEM and RECs and their possible future direction can give some guidance.

    After you read the Dummies book, Give your home an energy audit with the initial goal of learning annual usage.

    Then, if saving money on energy bills is one goal of your exercise, consider conservation methods. Saving/not using energy is way more cost effective than buying or creating more of it. If you're really interested in the economics of PV, google "Solar Process Economics".

    Natural gas as a heating method has been hard to beat on price per unit heat delivered in the past.

    Know that you'll need some way to clear snow from an array if you expect to have winter energy production. Peddlers don't talk much about that.

    Expect about 2.5 to maybe 3 miles/kWh for range mileage on an EV.

    Welcome to the neighborhood.

    Leave a comment:


  • bcroe
    replied
    Originally posted by Shemp
    New guy. I just had my initial consultation with a solar installer (Costco affiliate) and think I should make the move to solar. I live in Northern IL and have a perfect roof for a large array. I have a new very efficient gas furnace and dryer. 11 year old gas water heater. 10 year old gas boiler and another small supplemental gas furnace for a bonus room above the garage. 1 central air and another for the bonus room. I was sized for a 1500 service and am allowed to double that. We are still on NEM 1. I'm planning on getting the Toyota Sienna hybrid and probably fairly soon replace the water heater to electric. I'm thinking about adding 30% to my current requirement.
    Does anyone have any recommendations? Seems like a good time to switch.
    Thanks,
    Jeff
    In northern IL here too. In general solar performs poorly here primarily
    because of the dominant cloudy skies. The first staying snow may put
    your roof array out of business for the rest of the winter. I get around it
    with over 100 panels, ground mounted so I can clear most snow. Just
    now I can only run about 50%, because some ice froze on with the below
    zero temps, and I need a better combination of sun and temp to get it off.

    What is 1500 service? Are you just trying to reduce the electric bill, or
    also take on some of the HVAC? The property here is 100% electric,
    that required extensive use of heat pumps, chosen for very low minimum
    temp capability and high SEER. These are variable speed inverter driven
    technology, anything less should be high on the hit list. Depending on
    capacity, the reversable heat pumps can take on some of the heating as
    well as cooling. The energy budget here is about 28,000KWh a year,
    depending on the severity of the winter.

    The clothes dryer here is unvented, no heat blown outside. It does
    use a heat pump, maybe not the most important feature. What I am
    finding, is in winter clothes can quickly be dried by hanging in front of
    one or more of my mini split heat pumps, helps keep the humidity up
    too. May special racks for that purpose. Of course in summer clothes
    go out under the sun.

    The best approach is to itemize your energy needs, and see what can
    be reduced. Match equipment to your needs. good luck, Bruce Roe

    Leave a comment:


  • Mike 134
    replied
    I'm in northern Illinois also and if I couldn't have done it myself it would not have been worthwhile. Your utility ComEd? At $0.15 per KWH takes to long to pay off in my opinion. How much is the cost per watt for the install? Just an FYI if you have solar you cannot apply for time-of-day pricing with Comed. Did they tell you how many RECs you'll get credit for over the 15 years?

    Leave a comment:


  • Shemp
    started a topic Make the switch to solar?

    Make the switch to solar?

    New guy. I just had my initial consultation with a solar installer (Costco affiliate) and think I should make the move to solar. I live in Northern IL and have a perfect roof for a large array. I have a new very efficient gas furnace and dryer. 11 year old gas water heater. 10 year old gas boiler and another small supplemental gas furnace for a bonus room above the garage. 1 central air and another for the bonus room. I was sized for a 1500 service and am allowed to double that. We are still on NEM 1. I'm planning on getting the Toyota Sienna hybrid and probably fairly soon replace the water heater to electric. I'm thinking about adding 30% to my current requirement.

    Does anyone have any recommendations? Seems like a good time to switch.

    Thanks Jeff
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