I was interested in adding some solar to my house and still keep the electric utility as a backup. But there are no solar companies around here to do the work. (BTW, I'm in the NE)

What do you recommend? But mail-order? Is it a do it yourself type of job?

I was told it cost $8 a watt to go solar. I could probably swing about a 2000 watt setup. Do you think 2000w is enough for 2 people in a 2000 SF house? I figure if I run the toaster a couple times a week I can use the power grid.

Also if the panels go on the roof, should a new roof be put on first if the shingles are about 17 years old?

And as far as future budgeting, when will the solar panels, hardware and batteries need to be replaced?

Thanks

I personally would replace the roof first, but that depends on how you mount your panels...laying flat on the roof vs stand mounted.

2000w won't go very far, but it's a start.

Most solar panels are guaranteed for 25 years, but the sellers I spoke with say they can last 80 years, although they will gradually lose some of their power producing qualitites over the years.

Anything that uses a lot of watts such as a toaster, heaters, clothes dryers, etc would need to be on power supplied by the electric company.

BPS makes some very small start-up units(plug & play) with everything ready go. Only installation is mounting the solar panels, and running wire from panels to unit, and from unit to breaker box...very simple. They run from $4000 and up.

Kt

The average house uses about 9,000 KW hours in the US. If you are average, that system would take care of 30% of your energy needs. Of course, if you are conserving energy better than the average american, you'll be in much better shape than that.

Before you try a DIY installation, make sure to read up on your local building codes. It will likely require permits and an inspection.

- You could talk to a local electrician, and show him the details of whats involved in putting the PV system in. I think that most electricians would be willing to tackle something like the Enphase system I did -- its very very straight forward wiring, and most of it is just run of the mill 240VAC wiring that any electrician could do. Again, there are some safety issues unique to PV that need to be understood. With this kind of deal, you could do as much of the physical installation work as you want, and let the electrician do the wiring.

On estimating power output of the system, you don't have to guess (as in the calculation in one of the posts above), just go to the NREL PVWatts calculator, and plug in your location and numbers -- it will give you a very good estimate.

One thing that cannot be overemphasized is to do a solar site survey to make sure that your array won't be blocked from the sun by obstacles -- PV arrays are very subject low output with even partical shading. Here is a DIY site survey you can do in an hour:
http://www.builditsolar.com/SiteSurvey/site_survey.htm
Alternatively, you can use Google SketchUp to do a site survey.

More on DIY PV systems at the attached link.

Gary

They handle everything and you pay only monthly rental.

I believe the reason they make sense and cents is that
some companies locked in a rate or incentive in 2005.

It bears spending a few minutes on it at the least.

If I were ready to install solar (I'm not in myhouse yet) I would be reading up on the rental to find out why they're
worth is (if they are).

FYI - solar can heat you and IMHO solar heating is the
best use of the Sun. Plastic pipes under a tedlar cover
in a box will heat up and be useful for air heating.

Home Depot sells a corrugated plastic 4" pipe, 100' for
about $35 ! It would be simple to run air through it.
I seem to have ideas that few others have. *

Reflective fixtures can guide sunlight into the house
through windows thus using the glass for more than keeping
out the air.

I'm a materials scientist and have 30 years experience in
analytical lab work for mostly metals and water samples.
For 10 years I've studied our energy situation and solutions. It's growing very fast.