I'm putting together some real numbers on a spreadsheet today that I will post on here when I get it compiled, but for my region of the US. Durango, Colorado, $15,000 covers practically all the hardware necessary to put a house on solar panel power with a utility grid-tie that permits a person to backfeed any excess power they are generating but not using back onto the utility line through the power meter running it backwards and generating credit that will be used during the night time and other "rainy days". This is what I am coming up with for a 3.28kWatt system with sun tracking on an average sized house. approx. 2800 sq ft. with a kWatt hour total for the year of 7100kWh. With an average of 300 sunny days the solar system could produce up to 8865kWh. This particular household in the lower usage months requires about 500kWh/month and in the high usage months it's 900kWh/month. The high usage was during the two hotest summer months with A/C. The lower usage months were five months in the spring and two months in the fall. This house is heated with gas.
Now, the kicker for southwest Colorado residence is the $3000 rebate from LPEA that applies to this solution and the 30% tax break from the Federal government that applies. It brings a $15,000 hardware cost down to $7,500. Installation costs will vary for each household depending upon existing conditions. For some households roof mounting the panels flat on the south facing roof will be the only option. For others, ample free ground space is available and if zoning restrictions permit, a sun tracking solution would be best. Mounting the solar array on a 6-10 inch steel pole near the house where the sun is visible from sun rise to sun set will gain the owner up to 50% more generated energy than mounting statically. I am nearly ready to spec this hardware out for people on a DIY basis and soon there afterward, I'll have some basic cost estimates for turnkey or item by item labor costs.
I'll do a spread sheet for wind solutions as well, but I'm concentrating on the solar panel solution first.
Feel free to email me with your thoughts and interests. Have a great day!
James jdlmodelt@yahoo.com
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