The Poziombke Page: SOLAR

I really haven't blogged much about solar. People are probably thinking Pacific NW doesn't it rain all the time? Why have solar? While sunny helps for solar, panels still generate power on cloudy days, and they actually are more efficient when the air is cooler. A 100 degree day is not good for solar.

Initially we wanted a net zero house with no natural gas and to use electricity for everything and have that offset by solar, but a few design choices led us to having gas powered radiant heat in the basement and gas powered hot water. Both are on a tankless system, and with a well insulated basement the radiant heat system should be super efficient. For the upper level we chose an electric ductless mini split heat pump system that the solar should more than offset and for cooking we chose induction over gas. While I have not used induction before I've been impressed by the demonstrations, most if not all of my current cookware will work and it doesn't use gas.

Another big reason for doing solar is that before the end of the 2016 the Federal government has a huge incentive. 30% of the cost is paid back in a tax credit, not a deduction but a credit, it's basically like a 30% off sale, since when tax time comes around that amount is taken off of my bill. On top of that until the year 2020 the local utility company will pay 54 cents for every kwh generated whether or not I use it or put it back into the grid. OK further research is showing now that value is more like 40 cents due to the number of people taking advantage of it and the utility company having a cap, either way it's a good deal.

So what did we install. We put up 20 Itek 285kw panels for a system total of 5700kw. We went with 10 Blue Frog micro inverters versus a serial inverter, they cost a bit more, but the warranty is 5 times as much and they have really cool internet monitoring built in, so you can see how your system is performing, all you do is plug the monitoring device into a wall outlet, it will sense the solar panels and record the data. The device even connects to the internet over WiFi.

This system should cover 90-100% of our electrical needs. Check back in a year for an update.

A few other key details. I will have two electrical meters, a production (solar) and a net (utility company) basically it tracks what I'm feeding the grid versus what I use. When I generate more than I use like say in July I get credits from the utility company, in February when the situation is reversed the utility company applies the credits generated over the summer months to cover the difference.

The question I get the most is will you have power when the power goes out. FALSE. This is not true. This is for safety reasons, mostly to protect fire fighting and utility company crews. If the inverter senses no power from the grid it shuts down and will not deliver any power to the electrical panel. There is also a shutoff switch on the exterior of my house between the two meters that utility or fire fighters can pull to shut off the power from the solar system.

Here are some pics.