Thanks. I appreciate the link. The wall box is $25 less than the Tesla wall box and requires a J1772 to Tesla adapter. IMO there is no good cost advantage. The major expense is running the 220VAC line to the garage.
You should do some research on solar farms. Solar panels are very much like metal roofs on a 12/12 pitch. Snow doesn’t stay on them for long. I too grew up in upstate NY. New England averages about 1/3rd the amount of snow. Our towns all-time yearly snow record is less than what the town I grew up in averages every year.
Seabrook is NOT in line to shut down anytime soon. Earliest date is 10 years away. More likely 15-20.
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The situation with chargers for EVs has been solved. The lord called the three most powerful people on the planet–Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin and Elon Musk to a meeting. “Fellows”, the lord said, “This world is a mess. I am going to end it in 30 days. Go back and tell your people”.
Biden addressed a joint session of congress with the following message:
“There is good news and bad news. The good news is that therr is a supreme being. The bad news is that he will end the world in 30 days”.
Vladimir Putin said this to his henchmen: “There is bad news and even more bad news. The bad news is that there is a supreme being. The even worse news that he is ending the world in 30 days”.
Elon Musk called his VIPs to a meeting.
“There is good news and even more good news”, he exclaimed. “The good news is that there is a supreme being that is ending the world in 30 days. The even better news is that we don’t have to install more EV charging stations”.
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That is a misconception. Perhaps 75 years ago Hoover Dam generated enough electricity to power Nevada, Arizona and some of Southern California. Most of Nevada’s energy comes for sources other than Hoover Dam.
There has been growth in the new supply of energy in many parts of the country. The sources of renewable energy that supplied Southern Neveda in 2022:
Hydroelectric 3.42%
Wind 2.38%
Geothermal 6.02%
Solar 13.66%
That is because a wire in air can dissipate heat more easily than one inside an enclosed space. You will find just putting the wire in conduit requires larger gauge due to thermal dissipation concerns and fire ratings. Inside a wall with combustible materials…more concern.
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Absolutely.
A coworker had solar installed on a much lower sloped roof in Chelmsford. First thing free of snow were the panels and usually the day after heavy snow. Despite the statistics for sunny vs cloudy days, his system was doing quite well. Many months bills less than $50 and quite a few where he received a credit. And panel efficiency continues to improve…
Solar panels still generate power even in very cloudy days. Most cloudy days are partially cloudy and when the Sun peeks through they operate at peak efficiency. An article I read from CNET quoted one expert saying that even on very cloudy days solar cells produce about half the power they would in clear days.
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Very doubtful. Panels convert a given percent of the light into power. That percent doesn’t go up on cloudy days. They’re still generating, of course. It would take pretty thin clouds to reduce power 50%.
Here’s some context, even if it’s not in English you get the idea. Heavy clouds would reduce power 90%.
edit: here’s an English text version that says basically the same thing:
" If the sun is shining directly overhead in a cloudless sky, we receive around 1000 W/m2 of sunlight on the earth’s surface. With light cloud cover, some of the light is absorbed and scattered by the clouds and more of the light that comes through is diffuse (scattered, not direct) and the earth’s surface might have to make due with something like 830 W/m2.
Medium cloud coverage could reduce total irradiance down to 300 W/m2 and low-hanging clouds could bring it down to
230 W/m2. If it is really really overcast, you might end up with less than 150 W/m2 in the middle of the day."
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Still talking about Droughts, misconceptions aside, Nevada gets 70% of its total water supply (drinking, irrigation, etc…) from the Colorado River and the projections for “Dead Pool Condition” is approximately 2033 when the Lake Mead is so low it can no longer provide water for drinking or hydroelectric power. Yeah, I’ve read about a possible plan to drill new inlets to suck water off the bottom, but…
All the participating states that draw water from Colorado River are having a hard time coming to an agreement, but I bet that when it’s dry, they’ll be wishing for water from the “Wishing Well…”
I’ve lived in West Texas in the mid-'90s and I remember the water restrictions. I lived in Tucson, AZ, in the late '90s and the water restrictions were even more strict then. But in the early '70s, when I was stationed at Luke AFB (west of Phoenix, AZ) and the base had it’s own wells and those wells started going dry and the severe water restrictions in place then, the rest rooms had signs up in them that read, “If it’s Yellow, let it Mellow; If it’s Brown, Flush it down…”
I know it was done with “tongue-in-cheek” but all out door water use was prohibited, no car washing, no lawns, flower beds, no kids water toys, and the base swimming pools soon closed as they could not refill them…
I looked for data like that briefly and couldn’t find it. Still, some total cloud cover won’t stop solar cells from functioning but will inhibit them. They aren’t all that efficient, topping out at about 23% conversion rate for home units. Cells for space flight and research have higher conversion efficiencies. Then again, they can afford and justify them.
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Who ever said it was? I surely didn’t. I pointed out that there’s been a HUGE growth in Solar and Wind in New England. And growing all the time. We’re looking at getting solar on our house. I’ve cleared out the trees I needed to clear out, and received some estimates. It’s a one day job. The absolute EARLIEST is sometime after April. That’s how busy they are. We can get 100% net coverage with Solar. I know several people who do it - I’ve seen their electric bills before and after. Payback for a system is less then 7 years. After7 years…it’s all savings. Do your research. I have.
Things to consider before installing the solar panels. Those solar panel installers are not qualified to judge the condition of your roof. How old is your roof, what condition is it in? Should you consider having it replaced before the installation of the solar panels? Winters in NH are hard on roofs.
Next, your home was designed with the type of roof installed, for instance: Asphalt Shingles. Should you have an engineer visit your attic and examine your rafters and construction to ensure your roof can support the additional weight of the solar panels.
Finally, will the installation of the solar panels affect the drainage from your roof?
Just out of curiosity, if your solar panels generates more energy than your home needs at any given time, will your utility company accept the excess energy? And will your utility company provide you with a credit for energy you send back to it?
I’ve read that some utility companies are becoming less generous, they will take the excess power, but offer no credit. They even make it sound like they are doing you a favor by “accepting” the excess power…
Yes they are. Two of the companies are roofers. And my roof is less then 5 years old.
Yes. And that’s how I get a 100% net coverage. The excess electricity it generates is sold to the electric company which is deducted from the electricity I use during night. It’s spread out over the year because some months we use the AC a lot at night.
All these questions you’re asking have been answered. I’ve researched it thoroughly.
Here are the 2 big things you need to watch out for with solar.
1 - Leasing. Probably thee biggest rip-off. The companies leasing you the panels will install the panels for FREE. Then charge you a leasing fee. This fee plus your nighttime electric bill sometimes exceeds your old electric bills. In some cases - much more. These lease agreements are very long term and near impossible to get out of. Homes with leased solar panels devalues your home because the new owner MUST take up this lease, or you have to buy the lease company out of the panels which in some cases 2-3 times the cost of an install.
2 - Use a local solar panel seller that does the installs themselves. There are many companies selling solar here in NH that are from CA or NV, or OR…etc… They then hire local contractor to install the panels. If there’s a problem, it becomes a finger pointing game. The only places we are getting bids on are local companies (NH and MA and even ME) that do their own installs with their own people.
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I didn’t get the panels installed for free, but my electric bill went up after I installed my solar panels. I just recently went back to my original provider(Ohio Edison) as I had been with CleanSky- which was using solar and wind power and charging me 24 cents per kWh- the average for Ohio is about half that. The solar company has been calling me several days a week since I asked OE to switch me back to them, but they never leave a voicemail so I never know why they call me.
I have been spending $150/month on average(even on the ‘budget’) for my electric bill- for a 750sq.ft. home. Before I was spending maybe $100~$125 at most in the winter due to heating my well pump house.
It would cost me $10~$15 more per month to charge my car once during that time, so it should be about $5~$8 using Ohio Edison again. Thankfully I can charge at work, so it’s free
How is that possible? Somethings not right here. I know at least 20 people who bought solar panels in the past 10 years. Most had their net electric bills dropped to ZERO. The others didn’t have an ideal location, but it was good enough to drop their electric bill drop 90%.
I also know a guy who owns half an island off the coast of Maine. Built a beautiful 3,000sq/ft Timber frame home. Completely off the grid. He does have propane delivered (by boat) for his furnace and refrigerator. But everything else is solar with batteries. No problem what-so-ever. He is close enough to shore to get good cell tower coverage and 5G.
No idea except that I was having my electric supplied by a company using solar and wind power for my electric, which cost me 24 cents per kWh as opposed to the .7 cents I used to be charged under my previous supplier. The company must have switched me over without my knowledge.
I ran a branch panel to my garage to add 220 for my welder and a couple other circuits. I think it cost me about $150. Both gas and electric were run for the stove and dryer but we use electric. Around here dryers and stoves will be both but water heaters and furnaces and fire places are predominantly gas.
Point is it should be your own decision not the governments.
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So, they weren’t YOUR solar panels?
I live in Virginia and my electric power is provided by Dominion Energy (DE). Our home is just over 2,400 SF and we replaced the furnace and A/C about 5-years ago, not with the top of the line, but real close…
Last month, July 2023, our electric bill was $71.08 for 501 kWh. The cost per kWh is about 11 cents and that came to $55.11, which includes generation, transmission, and fuel; and the rest of the bill is “riders,” surcharges and taxes…
The “riders” are charges to recover the costs of clean energy and environmental programs that cannot be avoided per Virginia law regardless of my generation supplier. (Their words, not mine…)
Virginia is pretty good at keeping a handle on DE and our bill had three credits, totaling 33 cents, for past issues with overbilling the customers… It does not come to much per household, but considering the millions of customers, it adds up.
My son is a Master Electrician and licensed in over 30-states. He is not your typical local electrician, he lives in his RV and he travels to big jobs. He only works new constructions, like factories, call centers, etc…
I asked him what would cause such a steep jump in your cost per kWh and he’s offered these possibilities.
1, You might have been on an introductory plan and that plan has not expired and you are paying open-market prices… See if you can get on another plan…
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You might have been on a fixed rate plan and it is now a variable rate plan and if your fixed-rate plan had a long duration. For example, if you reach the end of a 36-month plan, you will get three years of tariff hikes applied at once.
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Your original provider went out of business and now you have to get your electricity on the wholesale market. If this happened then, all customers are switched to the “Provider of Last Resort” or POLR, who charges a very high rate per kWh. If this happened, you need to find a new provider as the POLR can bounce you around form one provider to another, with each charging you outrageous rates.
Your one source of information might by your State Corporation Commission. You can get their number on-line with Google, “State Corporation Commission in (your state…)”
Good Luck!