Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Some solar panels handle heat better than others. The thin film panels do, I believe, (and hope) which is what I will be using. They are less efficient per square metre, but as I have plenty of north facing roof this doesn't worry me. The cost per watt is more important for me.

Burnsy, at 4pm the panels would be producing about 70% of there maximum due to the suns inclination. Combined with the 37 deg temps that would come down to about 56% of maximum output. (80% of 70)

My system will be a 1.5 kw, so when I am at home using power then there won't be any excess, but when Di and myself are at work, there sure will be.

In winter, I recharge my batteries using Off Peak power, but don't export from that system.

Merry Christmas

Tony

I like it buy low sell High, kinda like day trading!

UL listed 60 watt solar panels on sale $0.98 per watt
http://sunelec.com/

I saw those over on the homesteading forum. Apparently they are about 7% efficient, so you'll need more room for a given amount of wattage production.

I see what you are saying, almost 2x the footprint of the others. But the upside is the heat almost has no effect on the electrical production which makes them better in summer heat when you need them most. I have a 23'X35' storage shed in the back yard I would mount them on. Shipping is expensive...$100 for 4 panels

98c/watt is 4900% more then the cost of mains power

Thats $58.80 per 60watt panel...a one time cost

And at 60c/watt feed in tarriff... that's only 38c/w.... and at about 25c/w mains.... that's bugger all...

Sorry I only speak English:)

Well, it seems it's math time, which brings out the nerd in me.

So if we have 4 60-watt panels at $58.80 each plus $100 shipping, the total cost is $335.20. Let's call it $400 including mounting and such.

Normal panels last 25-30 years. These are cheapies, so let's say 15 years. In decent locations, you can average about 5 hours of insolation per day. So that'd be 1200 watt-hrs per day on 4 panels. After inverter losses, it'll probably be more like 900 watt-hrs.

Doing this for 15 years, your total power production would be 4,930,875 watt-hrs or 4,931 kw-hr (how power is quoted in the US). So your average cost will be 8.1 cents/kw-hr. This is actually very close to the holy grail of 6 cents/kw-hr sought by alternative energy to be competitive with cheap fossil fuels.

Hmm, I may have just convinced myself to buy some of these

Some more for the nerd in you to chew on…
$58.80 – $17.64 federal rebate = $41.68 – $20.58 state rebate = $21.10 per panel and there is rebates from the Georgia power companies: http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/inde ... 1&state=GA
I would rather the feed in tariffs but take what you can get!

OK, so my numbers are EBITDA

My solar system is now all in, done and dusted.

I was cheesed off for a while as I was on a K1 tariff (small business), which meant no credit for feed in to the grid. I was able to change that but maybe didn't need to (that may be you Burnsy saying I told you that!) as the power meter turns backwards. The only problem then will be if I produce more than I use, which prolly won't happen.

I never thought that seeing the disc turning on the meter would make me smile. But it does when it is going backwards!!

Solarshop did the installation and I have no fault with them and have found their advise very clear and concise. They use the thin film Kaneka panels which are only 60 watts so a bigger footprint than any other panel. However Kaneka are no longer making these panels due to the larger footprint, and I'm not sure of the details of their larger panels.

Needless to say, I purchased a 33, (60 watt) panel system still in time to receive the $8000 Gov rebate. I haven't been home enough to check out it's performance, but for every hour that it is on, it switches off when the sun sets, it has produced 1kw per hour. Even 2 hours after sun up, the system is producing around 500 watts which surprises me.

Nice looking panels rick.