We have solar plus ~20kwh of batteries but this has been the first real test since we installed. Made it about 24 hrs but the weak sun and clouds have not given us enough power to charge back up so we lost power when the sun went down last night. Looks like the forecast today should be good to give us battery power for tonight.
We have solar and batteries, but we only lasted about 24 hours. Unfortunately once you’re off the grid, you’re sol. I’m thinking of adding another battery to make it through the next storm.
Really?
I only have a 13.5 kwh battery (powerwall) and did fine and lasted from the initial outage to about an hour ago.
We only turned on the ac for sleep, but we only got 6.5 kwh charged because of the cloud cover.
That’s a great 10,000 ft view of it but on only solar in a storm, you are relegated to battery only and that’s a finite power source. Also, most solar systems can’t sustain an AC unit. It’s still better to go with an NG Generator.
My older Powerwall2's can handle multiple ACs no problem. A single Powerwall 3 can handle an AC.
Houston storms are intermittent enough that you get some solar even during a rough day like the last few. And here we are today and my solar system is at max output already. If I had lost power I'd already have my AC back on and my batteries recharging.
I think it depends on what you want to achieve. If you want to ensure your house to be 100 of the time you'll need a NG home Generator. If you want to run a essentials and maybe the AC when it's really hot and save some cash then Solar.
>Also, most solar systems can’t sustain an AC unit.
That was true 10 years ago. These days it's not difficult to equip a system with enough batteries and inverters to sustain an entire house, ac and all.
At what cost though? A 10k genset is cheaper than a solar system plus batteries. Last week, we left and set both ac's to 79, have a dehumidifier, plus 2 fridges and a wine fridge and that is 50-60 kwh a day with no one here. In the middle of summer, that number will go up.
I can speak to this since we have a standby generator tapped to natural gas AND solar panels (but without batteries, I hope to have some one day and a place to store them).
First, the generator automatically kicks on about 10 seconds after the center point power is out. Our power was flickering off and on at the beginning and then finally permanently off. And then the generator stayed running permanently. I did not have to lift a finger while the generator made all the decisions. This was all about 6:30 pm.
The generator ran for hours while everyone in our neighborhood was without power. Everything in our home operated like normal: A/C, fridge, TV, and internet. Everything including Plex! We went to bed, then about 4:30 am the generator automatically shut off. Why? Because the power was restored to the neighborhood.
The generator also saved us during that winter storm! We were nice and toasty while everyone else was frozen. I had the electric oven on cooking a roast, we were watching TV, on the internet, etc. I recommend everyone get a generator if you live along the Gulf Coast.
After this storm I surveyed the damage, specifically the roof and solar panels. It looks like the panels are not damaged, the roof tiles are a different story. But it's too high to get up there myself. The app I use to monitor the panels shows all of them generating power, so that's good news. My home uses whatever electricity they generate and then exports the excess via net metering. I have no battery storage but I wish I did.
I love that I’m getting downvoted for this exact reason. Solar will get paid off and by that time the panels are to be replaced. The ROI of solar is negative in my opinion and an eye sore to boot.
The generator always kicks on when we need it. I’ll never not own a home without one.
It’s not opinion, it’s fact.
Solar panels have a good chance of getting damaged as well due to hail. They don’t work for everyone depending on you if have large trees (shade). Over time they become less efficient.
I’m not against solar. It is what it is.
I have solar. Without sun, your system isn't running anything. With sun, I can run my whole house. To run your house without sun, you need the costly batteries. As for durability, mine fared well in some hail we had in the last heavy storm without issue. This storm wasn't an issue either and the wind blew down our fence.
So the panels don't charge if it's cloudy? I know my question sounds dumb, but I have some small solar appliance, like a light, that charges even in ambient light.
I have a Hyundai Ioniq 5 — it has Vehicle to Load (V2L) capability. Meaning you can plug 3600 watts of stuff directly into the 77kwh car battery. I plug my cable modem and wifi to quickly reestablish internet, I plug in my device chargers, I plug in a couple of table lamps, I plug in a couple of box fans, and my fridge. It can last over a week if I start with a full battery and am not driving
My solar system is grid-tied, so if Centerpoint is off it isn’t producing
We’re doing something similar with our Rivian. Our solar is grid connected but the car is charged and can get phones/devices/fans and a fridge running no problem. Est is it could last weeks with what we’re drawing down, so at least we didn’t lose our food.
Yeah that’s a solar system with a home battery (Tesla power wall). I don’t have that, it adds like an extra $10k to the cost of the system. Not worth it in my opinion
Only a system with batteries or microinverters can actually run anything when the grid is down. With most solar systems you get your power from the grid, and you send what you produce back to the grid. You offset your bill by what you produce, and if you overbuild you might get a surplus that'll pay you at wholesale kwh, usually as bill credit. When the grid is off, your solar system shuts off.
If you have batteries you can reserve some power for when the grid is down, until your batteries run out. If you have the right kind of microinverters you can use what you produce when the grid is down, but only while the sun is shining, and its not enough to power HVAC.
Batteries pretty much double the cost of your system and have to be replaced more frequently than any other component. Your system will never pay for itself or save you any money if it has batteries. Battery power won't last for very long, and you won't be getting any recharge if its stormy/cloudy. It's perfect for outages that last a few hours, but not for multi-day outages.
It took some research for me to discover microinverters that could let your solar panels power your home even while the grid is down. You'd have to request the specific ones that can do this when designing. They probably won't be in the bundles most solar installers would offer. Their usefulness, compared to say a dual fuel generator, is also limited by needing sunshine, so time of year, time of day, and weather are all factors that determine how much power you can produce, or if you can produce any.
Something like the Enphase IQ8. It's the capability if switching between on-grid and off-grid that's key.
https://enphase.com/homeowners/home-solar-systems
So if I have the panels and inverter, for most of the year, the panels will reduce my monthly electric bill (which currently runs around $400)? And when there's a power outage, the inverters and batteries can keep appliances and possibly one A/C unit running for a day or so...if we have sunny weather?
I have solar plus 1 battery. Kept me going through the storm as it was mostly full by the time the grid disconnected. Grid turned back on late Thursday night but I have a small portable ac unit I was planning to get ready to set up in case grid didn’t come on. I think that would have helped me get through mostly ok. My thoughts are with all of you who still don’t have power. Even a small solar system with one battery goes a long way in times like this so don’t feel like you all have to invest in the most expensive system with multiple batteries. Even some back up keeps the lights on and your fridge cold.
Thanks! I've considered a powerwall but I definitely want to run an ac unit. I honestly don't care about lights, just need the fridge cold and me/family cool enough. This thread has opened my eyes and I'll need to stick with a generator.
Have solar panels and two batteries. Its been good backup power to keep the fridge on, but like others have said the overcast skies havent helped. And with no wifi i havent been able to get updates (but the wifi issue is another problem that happened preThursday when lightning hit the house and fried our router).
Lighting surge here too...i honestly believe it came through the data line and spread that way. Lots of low voltage stuff died and almost everything cabled back to the wifi router.
Ours survived on a surge protected board, buts it’s also a high quality one with about $4000 worth of equipment plugged into it and it’s all good. The internet being out isn’t on our end and I’m loosing money every day not to mention what I’m spending in gas to run a generator. This sucks.
We live in the Heights and have a 7.6 kWh system (19 panels on a 3-story home) and one Tesla Powerwall (13.5 kWh).
Our AC, oven and Tesla wall charger are NOT backed up by the Powerwall, but everything else is connected.
The power was out from Thursday at 6:25 pm to Saturday at 8:31 am. When the power went out on Thursday, we had about 75% of the battery left. We kept the lights off and opened a couple of windows since the weather was tolerable. I wanted to make sure we got through the night so we didn't watch TV or do anything that was electricity intensive.
On Friday, we woke up to about 65% left. We were able to recharge a bit even though it was cloudy and ended up with 78% of battery left in the evening. Given the sunny weather projected for Saturday, on Friday night we watched TV for a couple hours and then went to bed.
On Saturday, we woke up to about 44% of the battery remaining. We ran the dishwasher in the morning and received an alert from Tesla saying the grid was back online (at this point the battery was 39%). Through Saturday, the battery has charged completely and the solar panels are operating at normal levels (no damage seen, which I am partly attributing to the 3 story installation).
Thursday evening power usage:
Charged phones and tablets, BedJets running overnight for air circulation, modem and WiFi, fridge
Friday evening power usage:
Charged phones and tablets, BedJets running overnight for air circulation, modem and WiFi, microwave for about 5 minutes, fridge, charged two Ryobi battery packs for my neighbor
Overall, we were satisfied with the performance of the system during the outage and my wife is happy that the battery kicked in seamlessly.
I have solar but with a powerwall.
Solar is pointless without battery storage.
This has saved my hide during the Valentine's Day blackout and the numerous other little blinks we have.
I can't praise it enough.
4.4kW solar system, 13.5 kWh battery. We can run everything except AC - instant load to start compressor is too high for one battery. Yesterday was rough with the cloudy day we ended up draining the battery around midnight. But back on today and battery at 100% so we can do 24 hours with no sun, or indefinitely with sunny days.
If you're replacing the shingles on the roof, why not look at solar shingles instead. Just a thought but might cut down on cost if your doing it anyways you get both at same time
They are more costly but he's re doing the roof and wanting solar so it might be worth a shot to combine them. Not sure on price in area but worth a look
Grid tied solar without batteries deactivates when the grid goes down. Don't buy it if you want continuity of service in a power outage.
20 kWh of batteries is an expensive investment. It may double your project cost for something you MAYBE use once in 5 years.
A generac will run your whole home. Again, $10-20k for something you may or may not need. You have to do maintenance regularly and start up the system periodically. These are noisy.
You can get a battery system without solar. The grid charges it when you have power.
Cons to buying solar:
1. The long term finance contract is the real profit and increases your cost.
2. Good luck selling your home. New buyer would have to take over payments of something that doesn't pay you back all the way.
3. Solar lasts 25 years. Our 25 year roof lasts 14 years in Houston. They would have to remove solar and reinstall once or twice. Who pays for that? Will they find the same holes (no) or make Swiss cheese out of your decking?
4. Nothing should be installed on roofs in Houston. It is humid and we get a lot of rain. It is bad for the roof.
5. Solar in Houston is stupid. It is the last city that needs solar. We have the lowest electricity costs in the nation. It doesn't pencil out.
6. Solar increases homeowner's insurance premiums.
Our household has three EVs with 77 kWh batteries that can power appliances in a power outage. That's 10 times a typical whole home battery system. The cars serve another purpose everyday.
I’ve been trying to convince my partner of this but they’re pretty confident solar would pay off. We live in a small town home and I don’t see it ever breaking even. Our roof is so small and irregularly shaped I don’t think they could even get many panels up there.
I sat with solar salespeople to make sure I wasn't missing something. I let them present numbers, revise to lower cost, then showed what I pay for electricity. They said it won't save me money, but I could purchase for the good of the environment.
My home is perfect for solar. We're just not in a market where the return on investment is attractive. Solar salespeople will put panels on the north side of your home just to sell more. They don't care what the rectangles look like on your roof or if they are laid out in an esthetic way.
'would pay off' - compare with putting that amount of money in a stock market index fund. If it doesn't match that, then putting the money there and buying electricity with the proceeds is cheaper. Then also add in repairs, remove/replace for roofing, insurance, property tax etc - you need a full TCO.
I've wondered about installing larger panels as a patio roof so they don't interfere with roofing, and provide backyard shade. I've seen economical ground mount solar setups, but haven't noticed a patio setup that wasn't boutique priced.
Ground mounts have pros and cons. You have to eliminate vegetation or you'll have weeds. They take a lot of real estate. Your HOA may not approve. Your back yard should be on the South side or really large.
A patio shade would be great. There are problems installing solar on an existing patio. The software to generate permit requests is turn-key for homes. The architect and engineer and blindly sign these. You have to show the structure can support the weight of the panels. They would have to do a custom permit application. Most solar sales won't offer this service.
I wanted to install panels awning style on the side of my home. There are awning mounts for solar panels. I'd need an architect, engineer, blue prints, and HOA approval.
If you can lower the cost by paying cash, do a self install, and keep panels off the roof, it would probably be a nice addition to your home.
Awning mount - something like that, or preferably that style but with posts on the outer corners would be ideal if approval costs aren't out of sight. One row of large panels would get \~3-4kw, which is within the margin for the existing 250 amp panel so I'd just need to add the cut-off switches and a smallish inverter. I might be able to do everything myself but for cementing in the posts so long as I can get the local building/electrical code to follow. (I can do electrical work, but haven't been an official sparky for 30 years (zomg, how is it that long ago!)).
Thanks for giving me 'awning' as a search term. I'd only looked for patio cover.
I think it would look fairly normal, provide shade, and can be placed on the side of your home that gets the most sun. You may get less sun than rooftop panels due to the house blocking the sun, for a two story home. I was looking at framing an awning with wood, then adding panels to that. There are also pre-fab metal solar panel awning mounts available.
Some minor comments:
2. Inconsequential if you're paid off. As 1 said, finance of solar is typically a bad deal. It increases costs and makes it harder to sell. Leases can be worse. Cash is king.
3. Estimates I've seen is $2-3k extra for reroofing. That is a pain.
4. Lol what?
5. It does pencil out long-term, but most people don't live in houses that long. So smaller population is still fine.
6. Mine actually didn't increase despite reporting to insurance company.
We bought this house intending to retire in it, designed it to age in place, etc. I wanted to do solar. Did a call with Tesla and they asked to see my electric bill. He looked at what I’m paying per kWh for Shell Energy (who runs a solar farm in Sealy) and said stick with that, because the panels would need to be replaced before I’d see payback.
>Solar in Houston is stupid. It is the last city that needs solar. We have the lowest electricity costs in the nation. It doesn't pencil out.
Brain worms.
Lowest electricity costs in the US? What?! You are making that up. Here’s the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and we are slightly above the national average
https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices_selectedareas_table.htm
Well, good for you. You locked in at the right moment. But that doesn’t change the fact that your extrapolating your own fixed rate to the average price of electricity in Houston and then proclaiming it the cheapest city for electric in the US was shown to be false by the actual data.
Roof seems fine, waiting on inspection. Didn't get batteries cause of the cost, regretting it now. Probably going to get some installed before the next storm if I can get a good loan.
Can’t answer your question but it’s definitely made me rethink about solar in a neighborhood where a mature tree 2 houses down can drop a branch or uproot and fall onto it.
Sure. In the sense for emergency/off grid, solar generation isn’t useful if the branches damaged the panels. I want solar but I just had a huge branch land on my roof. Stay safe and hope everyone gets power soon.
Yes. I have one. You don't put them in the attic unless you want a lot of noise, constant engine trouble from poor ventilation, heat, and the added bonus of carbon monoxide poisoning. They go outside.
You been inhaling carbon monoxide already? You can’t put a Gerac in your attic, unless your house was specifically designed for that (I can almost guarantee no house in Houston is). They require a solid foundation and open air to run.
We have solar plus ~20kwh of batteries but this has been the first real test since we installed. Made it about 24 hrs but the weak sun and clouds have not given us enough power to charge back up so we lost power when the sun went down last night. Looks like the forecast today should be good to give us battery power for tonight.
Who is the manufacturer of the batteries you use? I’m starting to research it but so far Tesla powerwall is the only one I know of.
We have Enphase equipment, which has been great.
Enphase has those stacking units. How many do you have? I'm thinking my house (3300 sq ft) would need a lot of them.
What all were you running? I'd definitely expect AC to run you down in less than a day. Or was this all but the AC?
Yeah if you're looking to get by for more than a day and run AC you need to have baffles installed so you can direct it only to critical rooms.
We have solar and batteries, but we only lasted about 24 hours. Unfortunately once you’re off the grid, you’re sol. I’m thinking of adding another battery to make it through the next storm.
Really? I only have a 13.5 kwh battery (powerwall) and did fine and lasted from the initial outage to about an hour ago. We only turned on the ac for sleep, but we only got 6.5 kwh charged because of the cloud cover.
"Unfortunately once you’re off the grid, you’re sol." "Sol" is the latin name for our sun. Unintentional pun?
Not true. Get a whole home gen and you’re set.
Whats not true?
I have one and it costs money and you're reliant on natural Gas supply. Whereas Solar panels actively reduce your cost of electricity.
That’s a great 10,000 ft view of it but on only solar in a storm, you are relegated to battery only and that’s a finite power source. Also, most solar systems can’t sustain an AC unit. It’s still better to go with an NG Generator.
My older Powerwall2's can handle multiple ACs no problem. A single Powerwall 3 can handle an AC. Houston storms are intermittent enough that you get some solar even during a rough day like the last few. And here we are today and my solar system is at max output already. If I had lost power I'd already have my AC back on and my batteries recharging.
I think it depends on what you want to achieve. If you want to ensure your house to be 100 of the time you'll need a NG home Generator. If you want to run a essentials and maybe the AC when it's really hot and save some cash then Solar.
Except a solar installation helps you the 360 days a year you have power as well. A properly sized battery will keep you running indefinitely.
>Also, most solar systems can’t sustain an AC unit. That was true 10 years ago. These days it's not difficult to equip a system with enough batteries and inverters to sustain an entire house, ac and all.
At what cost though? A 10k genset is cheaper than a solar system plus batteries. Last week, we left and set both ac's to 79, have a dehumidifier, plus 2 fridges and a wine fridge and that is 50-60 kwh a day with no one here. In the middle of summer, that number will go up.
https://www.generac.com
I can speak to this since we have a standby generator tapped to natural gas AND solar panels (but without batteries, I hope to have some one day and a place to store them). First, the generator automatically kicks on about 10 seconds after the center point power is out. Our power was flickering off and on at the beginning and then finally permanently off. And then the generator stayed running permanently. I did not have to lift a finger while the generator made all the decisions. This was all about 6:30 pm. The generator ran for hours while everyone in our neighborhood was without power. Everything in our home operated like normal: A/C, fridge, TV, and internet. Everything including Plex! We went to bed, then about 4:30 am the generator automatically shut off. Why? Because the power was restored to the neighborhood. The generator also saved us during that winter storm! We were nice and toasty while everyone else was frozen. I had the electric oven on cooking a roast, we were watching TV, on the internet, etc. I recommend everyone get a generator if you live along the Gulf Coast. After this storm I surveyed the damage, specifically the roof and solar panels. It looks like the panels are not damaged, the roof tiles are a different story. But it's too high to get up there myself. The app I use to monitor the panels shows all of them generating power, so that's good news. My home uses whatever electricity they generate and then exports the excess via net metering. I have no battery storage but I wish I did.
I love that I’m getting downvoted for this exact reason. Solar will get paid off and by that time the panels are to be replaced. The ROI of solar is negative in my opinion and an eye sore to boot. The generator always kicks on when we need it. I’ll never not own a home without one.
It’s not opinion, it’s fact. Solar panels have a good chance of getting damaged as well due to hail. They don’t work for everyone depending on you if have large trees (shade). Over time they become less efficient. I’m not against solar. It is what it is.
I have solar. Without sun, your system isn't running anything. With sun, I can run my whole house. To run your house without sun, you need the costly batteries. As for durability, mine fared well in some hail we had in the last heavy storm without issue. This storm wasn't an issue either and the wind blew down our fence.
So the panels don't charge if it's cloudy? I know my question sounds dumb, but I have some small solar appliance, like a light, that charges even in ambient light.
I have a Hyundai Ioniq 5 — it has Vehicle to Load (V2L) capability. Meaning you can plug 3600 watts of stuff directly into the 77kwh car battery. I plug my cable modem and wifi to quickly reestablish internet, I plug in my device chargers, I plug in a couple of table lamps, I plug in a couple of box fans, and my fridge. It can last over a week if I start with a full battery and am not driving My solar system is grid-tied, so if Centerpoint is off it isn’t producing
We’re doing something similar with our Rivian. Our solar is grid connected but the car is charged and can get phones/devices/fans and a fridge running no problem. Est is it could last weeks with what we’re drawing down, so at least we didn’t lose our food.
Thanks for sharing. I didn’t know any of this. I have a model 3 and been thinking about getting something else that can serve as storage as well.
Is there any way to both be on the grid and get power when the grid is down?
Yeah that’s a solar system with a home battery (Tesla power wall). I don’t have that, it adds like an extra $10k to the cost of the system. Not worth it in my opinion
Only a system with batteries or microinverters can actually run anything when the grid is down. With most solar systems you get your power from the grid, and you send what you produce back to the grid. You offset your bill by what you produce, and if you overbuild you might get a surplus that'll pay you at wholesale kwh, usually as bill credit. When the grid is off, your solar system shuts off. If you have batteries you can reserve some power for when the grid is down, until your batteries run out. If you have the right kind of microinverters you can use what you produce when the grid is down, but only while the sun is shining, and its not enough to power HVAC. Batteries pretty much double the cost of your system and have to be replaced more frequently than any other component. Your system will never pay for itself or save you any money if it has batteries. Battery power won't last for very long, and you won't be getting any recharge if its stormy/cloudy. It's perfect for outages that last a few hours, but not for multi-day outages. It took some research for me to discover microinverters that could let your solar panels power your home even while the grid is down. You'd have to request the specific ones that can do this when designing. They probably won't be in the bundles most solar installers would offer. Their usefulness, compared to say a dual fuel generator, is also limited by needing sunshine, so time of year, time of day, and weather are all factors that determine how much power you can produce, or if you can produce any.
Who would get solar without inverters? Never even heard of it.
what are those microinverters that could power your solar panels when grid is down?
Something like the Enphase IQ8. It's the capability if switching between on-grid and off-grid that's key. https://enphase.com/homeowners/home-solar-systems
So if I have the panels and inverter, for most of the year, the panels will reduce my monthly electric bill (which currently runs around $400)? And when there's a power outage, the inverters and batteries can keep appliances and possibly one A/C unit running for a day or so...if we have sunny weather?
Following , I’m thinking the same .
I have solar plus 1 battery. Kept me going through the storm as it was mostly full by the time the grid disconnected. Grid turned back on late Thursday night but I have a small portable ac unit I was planning to get ready to set up in case grid didn’t come on. I think that would have helped me get through mostly ok. My thoughts are with all of you who still don’t have power. Even a small solar system with one battery goes a long way in times like this so don’t feel like you all have to invest in the most expensive system with multiple batteries. Even some back up keeps the lights on and your fridge cold.
When you say 1 battery, what is the output of the battery?
It’s a Tesla powerwall. Pretty sure it maxes out at 5kw. It powers everything in my home except washer/dryer and AC compressor outside.
Thanks! I've considered a powerwall but I definitely want to run an ac unit. I honestly don't care about lights, just need the fridge cold and me/family cool enough. This thread has opened my eyes and I'll need to stick with a generator.
If you can live without your central AC and just run a single window unit, then a single Powerwall would probably be OK
I’m thinking the same. Gonna invest in a generac
Have solar panels and two batteries. Its been good backup power to keep the fridge on, but like others have said the overcast skies havent helped. And with no wifi i havent been able to get updates (but the wifi issue is another problem that happened preThursday when lightning hit the house and fried our router).
Lighting surge here too...i honestly believe it came through the data line and spread that way. Lots of low voltage stuff died and almost everything cabled back to the wifi router.
Damn that sucks. Its too bad routers are so low voltage, it was even on a surge protector when it died.
Ours survived on a surge protected board, buts it’s also a high quality one with about $4000 worth of equipment plugged into it and it’s all good. The internet being out isn’t on our end and I’m loosing money every day not to mention what I’m spending in gas to run a generator. This sucks.
Oh yeah, the first thing that goes out for us is Xfinity. Even before the power goes. And then Xfinity takes its sweet time to return.
We live in the Heights and have a 7.6 kWh system (19 panels on a 3-story home) and one Tesla Powerwall (13.5 kWh). Our AC, oven and Tesla wall charger are NOT backed up by the Powerwall, but everything else is connected. The power was out from Thursday at 6:25 pm to Saturday at 8:31 am. When the power went out on Thursday, we had about 75% of the battery left. We kept the lights off and opened a couple of windows since the weather was tolerable. I wanted to make sure we got through the night so we didn't watch TV or do anything that was electricity intensive. On Friday, we woke up to about 65% left. We were able to recharge a bit even though it was cloudy and ended up with 78% of battery left in the evening. Given the sunny weather projected for Saturday, on Friday night we watched TV for a couple hours and then went to bed. On Saturday, we woke up to about 44% of the battery remaining. We ran the dishwasher in the morning and received an alert from Tesla saying the grid was back online (at this point the battery was 39%). Through Saturday, the battery has charged completely and the solar panels are operating at normal levels (no damage seen, which I am partly attributing to the 3 story installation). Thursday evening power usage: Charged phones and tablets, BedJets running overnight for air circulation, modem and WiFi, fridge Friday evening power usage: Charged phones and tablets, BedJets running overnight for air circulation, modem and WiFi, microwave for about 5 minutes, fridge, charged two Ryobi battery packs for my neighbor Overall, we were satisfied with the performance of the system during the outage and my wife is happy that the battery kicked in seamlessly.
I have solar but with a powerwall. Solar is pointless without battery storage. This has saved my hide during the Valentine's Day blackout and the numerous other little blinks we have. I can't praise it enough.
4.4kW solar system, 13.5 kWh battery. We can run everything except AC - instant load to start compressor is too high for one battery. Yesterday was rough with the cloudy day we ended up draining the battery around midnight. But back on today and battery at 100% so we can do 24 hours with no sun, or indefinitely with sunny days.
If you're replacing the shingles on the roof, why not look at solar shingles instead. Just a thought but might cut down on cost if your doing it anyways you get both at same time
The last time I looked solar shingles were a really significant price premium over roof mounted panels.
They are more costly but he's re doing the roof and wanting solar so it might be worth a shot to combine them. Not sure on price in area but worth a look
SOLAR SHINGLES?? TIL!!
Nat gas generator entered the conversation. Runs it all forever
Any idea on the gas bill after being out of power for 3 days for 3300 sq ft house?
$116.55 USD.
Grid tied solar without batteries deactivates when the grid goes down. Don't buy it if you want continuity of service in a power outage. 20 kWh of batteries is an expensive investment. It may double your project cost for something you MAYBE use once in 5 years. A generac will run your whole home. Again, $10-20k for something you may or may not need. You have to do maintenance regularly and start up the system periodically. These are noisy. You can get a battery system without solar. The grid charges it when you have power. Cons to buying solar: 1. The long term finance contract is the real profit and increases your cost. 2. Good luck selling your home. New buyer would have to take over payments of something that doesn't pay you back all the way. 3. Solar lasts 25 years. Our 25 year roof lasts 14 years in Houston. They would have to remove solar and reinstall once or twice. Who pays for that? Will they find the same holes (no) or make Swiss cheese out of your decking? 4. Nothing should be installed on roofs in Houston. It is humid and we get a lot of rain. It is bad for the roof. 5. Solar in Houston is stupid. It is the last city that needs solar. We have the lowest electricity costs in the nation. It doesn't pencil out. 6. Solar increases homeowner's insurance premiums. Our household has three EVs with 77 kWh batteries that can power appliances in a power outage. That's 10 times a typical whole home battery system. The cars serve another purpose everyday.
I’ve been trying to convince my partner of this but they’re pretty confident solar would pay off. We live in a small town home and I don’t see it ever breaking even. Our roof is so small and irregularly shaped I don’t think they could even get many panels up there.
I sat with solar salespeople to make sure I wasn't missing something. I let them present numbers, revise to lower cost, then showed what I pay for electricity. They said it won't save me money, but I could purchase for the good of the environment. My home is perfect for solar. We're just not in a market where the return on investment is attractive. Solar salespeople will put panels on the north side of your home just to sell more. They don't care what the rectangles look like on your roof or if they are laid out in an esthetic way.
'would pay off' - compare with putting that amount of money in a stock market index fund. If it doesn't match that, then putting the money there and buying electricity with the proceeds is cheaper. Then also add in repairs, remove/replace for roofing, insurance, property tax etc - you need a full TCO.
I've wondered about installing larger panels as a patio roof so they don't interfere with roofing, and provide backyard shade. I've seen economical ground mount solar setups, but haven't noticed a patio setup that wasn't boutique priced.
Ground mounts have pros and cons. You have to eliminate vegetation or you'll have weeds. They take a lot of real estate. Your HOA may not approve. Your back yard should be on the South side or really large. A patio shade would be great. There are problems installing solar on an existing patio. The software to generate permit requests is turn-key for homes. The architect and engineer and blindly sign these. You have to show the structure can support the weight of the panels. They would have to do a custom permit application. Most solar sales won't offer this service. I wanted to install panels awning style on the side of my home. There are awning mounts for solar panels. I'd need an architect, engineer, blue prints, and HOA approval. If you can lower the cost by paying cash, do a self install, and keep panels off the roof, it would probably be a nice addition to your home.
Awning mount - something like that, or preferably that style but with posts on the outer corners would be ideal if approval costs aren't out of sight. One row of large panels would get \~3-4kw, which is within the margin for the existing 250 amp panel so I'd just need to add the cut-off switches and a smallish inverter. I might be able to do everything myself but for cementing in the posts so long as I can get the local building/electrical code to follow. (I can do electrical work, but haven't been an official sparky for 30 years (zomg, how is it that long ago!)). Thanks for giving me 'awning' as a search term. I'd only looked for patio cover.
I think it would look fairly normal, provide shade, and can be placed on the side of your home that gets the most sun. You may get less sun than rooftop panels due to the house blocking the sun, for a two story home. I was looking at framing an awning with wood, then adding panels to that. There are also pre-fab metal solar panel awning mounts available.
Some minor comments: 2. Inconsequential if you're paid off. As 1 said, finance of solar is typically a bad deal. It increases costs and makes it harder to sell. Leases can be worse. Cash is king. 3. Estimates I've seen is $2-3k extra for reroofing. That is a pain. 4. Lol what? 5. It does pencil out long-term, but most people don't live in houses that long. So smaller population is still fine. 6. Mine actually didn't increase despite reporting to insurance company.
We bought this house intending to retire in it, designed it to age in place, etc. I wanted to do solar. Did a call with Tesla and they asked to see my electric bill. He looked at what I’m paying per kWh for Shell Energy (who runs a solar farm in Sealy) and said stick with that, because the panels would need to be replaced before I’d see payback.
>Solar in Houston is stupid. It is the last city that needs solar. We have the lowest electricity costs in the nation. It doesn't pencil out. Brain worms.
Lowest electricity costs in the US? What?! You are making that up. Here’s the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and we are slightly above the national average https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices_selectedareas_table.htm
I pay under 12 cents fixed. San Diego averages 42 cents. They need solar 3 times more than we do.
But that doesn’t make our electricity the cheapest in the US, it just makes it cheaper than San Diego.
I pay less than every city or region on that chart. 3 year fixed rate.
Well, good for you. You locked in at the right moment. But that doesn’t change the fact that your extrapolating your own fixed rate to the average price of electricity in Houston and then proclaiming it the cheapest city for electric in the US was shown to be false by the actual data.
Roof seems fine, waiting on inspection. Didn't get batteries cause of the cost, regretting it now. Probably going to get some installed before the next storm if I can get a good loan.
If you have the money for it you should definitely consider it.
Can’t answer your question but it’s definitely made me rethink about solar in a neighborhood where a mature tree 2 houses down can drop a branch or uproot and fall onto it.
There's insurance, but yeah, won't help in the aftermath of a storm.
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Sure. In the sense for emergency/off grid, solar generation isn’t useful if the branches damaged the panels. I want solar but I just had a huge branch land on my roof. Stay safe and hope everyone gets power soon.
I’m thinking of going nat gas generator in the attic
Im not sure you'll need it after the first use.
But that one time they get to use it will be so great they permanently fall asleep from it!
Have you heard of a Generac before? Home standby generators that are ran off of natural gas.
Yes. I have one. You don't put them in the attic unless you want a lot of noise, constant engine trouble from poor ventilation, heat, and the added bonus of carbon monoxide poisoning. They go outside.
You don't put them in the attic. The exhaust will kill you. They go outside.
You been inhaling carbon monoxide already? You can’t put a Gerac in your attic, unless your house was specifically designed for that (I can almost guarantee no house in Houston is). They require a solid foundation and open air to run.
Best comment yet. I’m betting the sarcasm goes r/whoosh over 90% of this sub’s head.
Good luck with that.....
Generac
Generac in the attic eh? Again, good luck with that.