Let's Talk Solar Panels on your House

bobzilla said:

In reply to Toebra :

keep in mind that the post you're responding to is almost 4 years old. lol

and it still isn't true

Toebra said:

bobzilla said:

In reply to Toebra :

keep in mind that the post you're responding to is almost 4 years old. lol

and it still isn't true

That was never in question. Just that you were having a 4 year old conversation. 

In reply to bobzilla :

Would the time matter to some or would they think it was a brand new conversation?

I thought it was new until I went back a few pages. 

And I have seen that OK has changed their Net Metering around so it doesn't COMPLETELY screw the consumer. 

But after speaking to my realtor last year about how a solar loan is unlikely to be taken over if you sell the house, requires, separate financing or using your equity to close it out. That it doesn't really increase desirability or increase home value (although our energy prices have recently increased dramatically). 

I also noticed in my homeowners policy renewal this year, that if your roof is damaged (wind and/or hail damage are incredibly likely to happen at some point in Oklahoma), the policy no longer covers the cost to remove and reinstall the solar equipment to replace the roof. 

bobzilla said:

In reply to STM317 :

It's why we have been wanting to add a wind generator. No one wants to sell those. They want to sell solar. 

I was trained on wind generators. They are next to impossible to justify  for residential use.  
        You need 105% clearance for fall safety.  In other words a 100 foot tower needs to be 105'  from a residence yet within your property. 
   You need that sort of height to achieve sufficient steady wind .  ( above the tree line) 
        Guy wires won't meet residential stability requirements.  
Thus you need to dig a massive hole, fill it with engineered rebar and pour tons of concrete on top.  That needs to be covered with a certain depth of soil. Then an expensive engineered tower gets bolted to the whole  deal.  Those lace tower ones are cheaper but cause more turbulence  so reduce output. 
   You need carefully designed large diameter  blades to  use the wind completely.  ( and quietly).    The Generator needs to be hyper efficient. Use of  rare earth magnets really is called for.   ( to generate  at low wind speed ) 

   Generators  using gear drive do not respond to low wind speed while rare earth magnets will work in wind speeds ( breezes ) as low as 5 mph. 
    While the big wind generators used on wind farms will use gear driven  generators. Maintenance goes up dramatically with those. 
      At the time the cheapest wind generator that had any sort of payback cost $85,000 that was a 15 year payback.   We sold some $        million plus generators for truck stops and high energy users.  While most hog farmers  could get by with $210,000 wind generators that had a 3-5 year payback.  
  Getting 3 phase generators added at least a year to delivery times. 
Oh and those prices are about 8 years old. 
  I've looked into Chinese made wind generators  they were 40% cheaper than the Italian made ones.  There was no  information regarding rare earth magnets but China is  the other source of Rare earth magnets.  

We sold wind generators using mostly Italian rare  earth magnets   But built in America.   
      Incidentally . The owner of the company I worked for  wound up in trouble because  he couldn't fulfill the contracts  he signed.  Claiming inability to get  the generators in a timely fashion.  ( 1 year)  I believe he tried because towers were erected and that was more than 50% of the costs involved. 
       For what it's worth there is a provision in the law that says if you conform to the space requirements the local authority must issue the required permits. 

In reply to frenchyd :

yeah you missed my entire conversation. our AVERAGE wind speed is 13-16mph at our place(6.5-7.0m/s) so low speeds aren't an issue. Actually, 10 years ago over speed was the real issue. We see at least 2-3 times a year 50-60mph winds. It was the 70mph gust that took down our 300 year old cottonwood tree. Sure, there are times when the wind is still and we won't make much, but that's not an issue long term over the average. IF we were trying to live off grid it would pose some challenges, but that isn't what we were looking for. 

In reply to bobzilla :

That average was the government numbers?   That's very impressive.  Would you like me to find who your local dealer is?   I believe I still have those phone  numbers in my Rolodex.
    The main tower source is up In Michigan and  the east coast was where we got the blades from.   Those were good blades,  Quiet  and strong.  
 I'm sure you can get a local contractor to engineer and build  the required base.  
    Regarding  high winds the generators we sold feathered the blades in those.  

No point for us now. With the development around us and us being under a decade to retirement we're not sinking that money into a house that will be leveled when we sell it.

That's sensible. 
  I could get solar panels if I cut the trees on the property line.  But like you in the near future new construction will eliminate the sun on my roof.