Bruce's Journal

[B&B Happy goats]

I haven't actually calculated that out yet. I started a spreadsheet so I could see how much the bills WOULD be if I didn't have the panels but the dang electric company keeps adding new "fees" and jacking the rates and the "fees" change monthly making it really hard to have the spreadsheet do the calculations. Our electric rate is $0.18/kWh with a daily charge of $0.49 plus all the added fees.

The next bill would have been about $134 if I didn't have the solar. The last one would have been $155. I have to pay $66 on the coming bill but that is because I have no excess credits built up. My fault because I've been charging my Prime and didn't cancel the net metering sharing so some of my credits have been going to the other account. I used up all my credits with the last bill and owed $4, first time I've paid since Feb 2016. I should get back to not paying after this month (or not much next month) since I cancelled the net metering. I'm now using my "excess" in my car.

But, IF all my bills were $134 the payback would be about 12 years. And one thing is certain, the price to have power coming from the utility has only gone up and will continue to do so making the breakeven come in fewer years. I've had the panels for 4 full years so far. Note that mine are ground mounted on sched 80 metal pipe and can be adjusted seasonally increasing the net output by about 15% more efficient (but not as efficient as trackers, though those are much more expensive). As such the installation cost was higher than it would have been if the panels were on the roof ... which they would have been if we had any south facing roof!

The web site that stores the production data says I've saved 52,000 pounds of CO2 and "planted" the equivalent of 1,300 trees. I have NO idea what algorithms they use to calculate that but I suspect it is wrong in my case since my power company has mostly hydro (from Canada) plus solar and wind based power.

Thank you, then when is the cost of the panels paid off? I would think it would be a major incentive to use it here in Florida.....

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

OK, specifically for @Senile_Texas_Aggie I did a couple of videos (hope they come out) of (static) snow. Unfortunately it was a weird misty snowy day, no blue sky and sun so a serious lack of contrast.

From the front door around the street side and a view of the barns.

To the barn and back

I came to realize yesterday that I won't be getting to that last rack of wood in front of the house any time soon. The pallet forks are on the barn side of all the empty racks and there is way more snow than I'm going to shovel between the barn and the forks. I have to run parallel down near the barn then turn uphill to get to the forks. The tractor isn't going to do anything on a snowy (even if mostly shoveled) side hill other than want to slide down into the barn. At least I had this epiphany BEFORE I needed to try it.

Yeah, you do seem to have more snow than I have, or perhaps ours just blows around better in the open fields. Either way, you’ve got a lot. Will you hand carry the wood?

 

[Bruce]

Yeah, you do seem to have more snow than I have, or perhaps ours just blows around better in the open fields. Either way, you’ve got a lot. Will you hand carry the wood?

We will see, no need to rush things DW and I are going to So. Cal for a niece's wedding mid March. Even if there is wood DD2 won't necessarily keep the stove going so I'll probably switch the oil furnace from the basement thermostat back to the first floor thermostat and figure the wood heating season may be over for the year.

Thank you, then when is the cost of the panels paid off? I would think it would be a major incentive to use it here in Florida.....

In theory 2028 but if the power company keeps raising rates it will be earlier. The panels have a 25 year warranty.
Everyone needs to evaluate putting on solar based on their local situation.

• The Federal Tax credits were 30%, dropped to 26% this year and 22% next year and zero after that unless the Feds decide to change it again.
• Some states also have tax credits.
• Then there is how the power you feed back into the grid is valued. Here it is the same as the retail price you pay but any credit you earn in a given month expires a year later, use it or lose it. USED to be you could transfer the $ credit to another account. They killed that a couple of years ago. Some places you can get cash for your extra credits.
• And in VT there is a $0.05/kWh generated credit for every kWh you generate regardless of if it ever hits the grid. That is a 10 year thing, drops off after that (guess I have to go back and recalculate some). Since my array is putting out about 8 mWh's a year that is $400/year. That is the only incentive the state/utility provides ... but see the next bullet
• When I had mine installed (grandfathered) there is no restriction on how the credits could be used. A couple of years ago they killed that too, credits earned on newer installations can't be used to pay the fixed costs (like the per day fee), only against kWhs you pull from the grid above what you sent them in a given month so there is no way to have NO bill other than going off grid. Pretty much the minimum bill is close to $20/month which therefore can't be used to "pay" for the system.
• About the time I got mine (end of 2015) Nevada basically killed residential solar, all the big companies pulled out. The per day price for net metered accounts jacked to double that of non net metered accounts and the price the utility paid for the power you put on the grid was at the wholesale rate they paid for other power yet you still got charged retail for anything you used. And I don't THINK that was even net difference. Meaning if you sent them 10 kWh during the day they credit you that much at the low wholesale rate, when you then pulled 10 kWh at night they charged you retail. Here (and I think most places) that would be a wash.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Another one for Mr. @Senile_Texas_Aggie since I'm quite certain you don't see this sort of thing at your house

You are right, Mr. @Bruce, we rarely see that sort of thing here.

And it doesn't take much snow for the GT to get stuck even with chains on the rear wheels and an additional 50# weight on the back. And if there is ice on the hill? no differential lock and the chains polish the ice rather than moving the tractor.

Do you think you could get a rear mounted PTO snow blower for your tractor? And maybe get some aggressive chains that will bite into the ice? Here is an example of a rear mounted PTO driven snow blower in action. This guy lives in central Ontario, so maybe it would be similar to what you face:

Regarding chains to get, there is another guy who got aggressive chains for his tractor and they work great:

Anyhow, I hope you can get something that will do the job for you. I don't want you to have a heart attack from shoving snow!

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Baymule]

If I had to deal with those temperatures I would hibernate! Brrrrr!

 

[Bruce]

But Bay, then your animals would all starve to death if they didn't die of thirst first!

No way I'd do a rear blower. First I'd be a permanent pretzel if I had to twist around and drive backwards. Second, I think a rear blower would be more suited to long paths/roads than to my relatively small circular parking area.

If I get chains I think I'll go with the front wheels since it would aid in grip and steering and my front tires are probably about the same size as the rear tires on that B2601. Not sure how I would haul around chains big enough to go on the rear wheels let alone get them tight. My neighbor down the road has chains only on the front of his 105 HP cab Zetor, he uses the bucket to clear people's driveways.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Thank you Bruce for explaining that for me, guess I won't go in that direction at my age.
Oh, your namesake is chocolate and white now that he is out in the sun and fully dried off cute as a button !

 

[Bruce]

So Mike and I are twins! Well we already were anyway.

I also forgot to mention that the panels are more efficient in cold temps than hot. They are rated under "ideal" conditions (70 or 75°F IIRC) with the sun exactly perpendicular. My array is rated at 6.6 kWh under ideal conditions. It can (and did yesterday when it never got to 0°F) produce above that. I'll never see that if it is 90°F so that is another thing to take into consideration. Of course whoever is sizing the array to a customer's needs should know that and take it into account.

I saw a video of a guy in Australia who had made his own array. It was IIRC well above 100°F and he tested the theory by hosing down the array, output jumped as the panels cooled off. Of course it wouldn't be energy efficient to power a well pump to hose the panels down all summer long. Plus you would need a REALLY good well.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Lol, not quite twins, you are chocolate Mike is a redish brown....but both quite dear to us

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

We will see, no need to rush things DW and I are going to So. Cal for a niece's wedding mid March. Even if there is wood DD2 won't necessarily keep the stove going so I'll probably switch the oil furnace from the basement thermostat back to the first floor thermostat and figure the wood heating season may be over for the year.


In theory 2028 but if the power company keeps raising rates it will be earlier. The panels have a 25 year warranty.
Everyone needs to evaluate putting on solar based on their local situation.

• The Federal Tax credits were 30%, dropped to 26% this year and 22% next year and zero after that unless the Feds decide to change it again.
• Some states also have tax credits.
• Then there is how the power you feed back into the grid is valued. Here it is the same as the retail price you pay but any credit you earn in a given month expires a year later, use it or lose it. USED to be you could transfer the $ credit to another account. They killed that a couple of years ago. Some places you can get cash for your extra credits.
• And in VT there is a $0.05/kWh generated credit for every kWh you generate regardless of if it ever hits the grid. That is a 10 year thing, drops off after that (guess I have to go back and recalculate some). Since my array is putting out about 8 mWh's a year that is $400/year. That is the only incentive the state/utility provides ... but see the next bullet
• When I had mine installed (grandfathered) there is no restriction on how the credits could be used. A couple of years ago they killed that too, credits earned on newer installations can't be used to pay the fixed costs (like the per day fee), only against kWhs you pull from the grid above what you sent them in a given month so there is no way to have NO bill other than going off grid. Pretty much the minimum bill is close to $20/month which therefore can't be used to "pay" for the system.
• About the time I got mine (end of 2015) Nevada basically killed residential solar, all the big companies pulled out. The per day price for net metered accounts jacked to double that of non net metered accounts and the price the utility paid for the power you put on the grid was at the wholesale rate they paid for other power yet you still got charged retail for anything you used. And I don't THINK that was even net difference. Meaning if you sent them 10 kWh during the day they credit you that much at the low wholesale rate, when you then pulled 10 kWh at night they charged you retail. Here (and I think most places) that would be a wash.

A friend of mine thinks we should ge5 solar power in my chicken coop because we have lights on a timer. I politely explained how much money we have invested in these 40 darned chickens, and never see more than $2.50 on a good week! My old farmer friend, nodded his head, sat back in his chair, very smugly and said...‘she’s finally getting it’.