With the ever increasing cost of energy needed to run, heat and air condition a home, consumers are seeking alternative means to bring the cost of energy down, as well as ease up on the planets natural resource supply.
Solar panels, used for harvesting the sun’s natural power, are the most familiar and commonly researched alternative source for energy today. This is probably due to the idea that solar energy is free for the taking; however, the cost to collect the energy is not free.
During our latest energy efficient home project we researched the viability of adding Direct PV (photo voltaic) solar energy to the home.
This is what we learned after careful and lengthy consideration--
it was not very cost effective, at the present time, even after we calculated in the grants we could get for switching to solar. The following are some of the reasons for our determination:
1. The actual efficiency of the equipment available in the U.S. market today is limited. The system we were looking to install would cover the entire south side of the roof, that is 52 feet wide X 18 feet high. The best case scenario was the system would generate approximately 25% and definitely no more than 50% of our total energy needs. Our base average kilowatt consumption per month before air conditioning is 959 kilowatts.
2. Our construction design and technology produces an extremely energy efficient home structure that requires minimal use of energy to produce heat and air conditioning. We calculated (using 2006 Philadelphia Electric Company rates) and verified with the firm selling the direct solar panel system that the payback for the cost of the system was at least 17 years and most likely the panels would need to be replaced in 20 years when their warranty was up.
3. To eliminate confusion we need to define the difference between a Passive Solar design system and a Direct Solar system.
a) Passive Solar design system incorporates features that best maximize the heat gain from the sun into the design and construction of a home.
An example would be the warmth from the sun shining in through the window in the winter. In the summertime, an adequate roof overhang will block the same sun from shining through the window due to the angle of the sun which is different in the winter from the angle in the summer. These design features should be little to no extra cost for a typical new home being constructed, and they are heat gains by design which you do not have to pay a utility company for.
b) The Direct Solar system, in contrast, is usually equipment added to your home to increase a home’s direct heat gain surface to capture more of the sun’s energy for hot water, or to convert that energy into electricity which can be used for heating, air conditioning, lighting, etc.
These direct solar systems can be quite costly. After payback time for the equipment and maintenance costs it may cost more than conventional electricity from the utility grid, or be comparable to paying your electric bill for the next 15 to 20 years, in advance, due to the price of the equipment. If you finance the equipment, the payback for the warranted equipment
will make the cost of the solar energy even more costly.
Stayed tuned for the rest of this blog : Solar Energy - Investment Payback and Your Home : Part 2
Comments