Any Solar Wizards here?

[Redmt]

I'm thinking about supplementing our grid power, PGE, with solar. It won't be a complete replacement and I don't want a battery bank. I also don't want to fool with the county and their permits bullshit. I'm looking for a little information on how it all works and what pieces and parts to start scrounging.

 

[BigHornRam]

I think you will have an impossible time connecting to grid power and not take out permits, expecially in Cali.

This outfit has some good information about solar depending on your needs, wants, and budget.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoHd6hGDqS06g0umrn4XO0Wk9JyZcTfMa&si=d6rT1RVXH320Tcdx

 

[Redmt]

Thanks for the YouTube link.

 

[more_cowbell]

Occasionally on his show Bill Maher would complain how difficult it was to get solar installed at his home in California. I think it took or was taking over three years.

He made a good point that California wants you to go green and use less of the traditionally generated power, but then makes you jump through so many bureaucratic hoops it starts to defeat the purpose.

 

[Redmt]

This has nothing to do with any part of the government or public utilities. It would be a completely stand alone, privately paid for system purchased from an independent supplier.

 

[gouch]

Most companies now are installing systems that bank power with the power company or stand-alone systems with a battery bank. I don't know how a system separate from the power grid would work. You would probably have to have a switch to change from solar to the grid and back. No matter what, the county is going to want a permit and I doubt anyone would install it without a permit.

 

[Redmt]

Most companies now are installing systems that bank power with the power company or stand-alone systems with a battery bank. I don't know how a system separate from the power grid would work. You would probably have to have a switch to change from solar to the grid and back. No matter what, the county is going to want a permit and I doubt anyone would install it without a permit.

I'm looking for components only. I'm just not sure what they are exactly. I know I need panels, inverter, and some sort of magic box that automatically transfers from grid to solar.

 

[kwyeewyk]

As others mentioned, your choices are stand alone off grid which requires a battery bank, or grid tied system; where I live the PUD will pay you if you are grid tied and generate more than you use. I believe the magic box is the grid tie, which would require permit. Otherwise not sure what you're meaning.

 

[BigHornRam]

This has nothing to do with any part of the government or public utilities. It would be a completely stand alone, privately paid for system purchased from an independent supplier.

You will need a battery bank for a stand alone system. They are expensive.

 

[jryoung]

With incentives/credits it may be worth it to run the numbers through a qualified installer and permitted.

The main components are
Panels
Racking (ground/roof)
Inverter (string/micro)
Subpanel/ATS

 

[Redmt]

Thanks for all the information from you guys.

 

[D4570]

Here is a thought I had, for a stand-alone system not hooked to the grid in any way...
Do panels Not a huge array, make a small wind turbine on top of your garage.
Then a 5,000, 10,000-gallon tank buried in your backyard.
Have the system run 24/7/365 and do nothing but heat the water.
When there is little wind or sun as long as it's turning it makes SOME power no need to match the grid.
Then use a heat pump to heat and cool your house and or shop.

I would have pursued the idea but, my heat/cool bill is very inexpensive.
My natural gas bill for heat and hot water runs under $600 a year I would never get to a payoff point.
I would need a permit for the tank.

 

[Redmt]

Let's set the permit thing aside. We are very remote. Most if not everyone up here doesn't bother with the county because we get zero from them. No sheriff, no fire , no garbage pickup, no library, no road maintenance, nothing, zilch, zip , nada. They will come in and cause problems for no reason. They were supposed to give expedited permits to those that lost everything to the SCU fire 3 years ago. Those people have still not been "allowed" to rebuild. We don't fool with them and they pretty much leave us alone. That also prevents legit contractors from doing anything up here even if the wanted to. Several contractors I have spoken to for various things refuse to work in the county at all.

 

[Addicting]

Let's set the permit thing aside. We are very remote. Most if not everyone up here doesn't bother with the county because we get zero from them. No sheriff, no fire , no garbage pickup, no library, no road maintenance, nothing, zilch, zip , nada. They will come in and cause problems for no reason. They were supposed to give expedited permits to those that lost everything to the SCU fire 3 years ago. Those people have still not been "allowed" to rebuild. We don't fool with them and they pretty much leave us alone. That also prevents legit contractors from doing anything up here even if the wanted to. Several contractors I have spoken to for various things refuse to work in the county at all.

So someone here is supposed to show you how to potentially charge a down dead line with your unpermitted solar array. They’re by opening themselves up to the liability you’re careless about. One injured or dead first responder and the wrongful death lawsuits will fly thru the courts faster than the speeding ticket they got to file it.

This is a dumb thread.

 

[Redmt]

So someone here is supposed to show you how to potentially charge a down dead line with your unpermitted solar array. They’re by opening themselves up to the liability you’re careless about. One injured or dead first responder and the wrongful death lawsuits will fly thru the courts faster than the speeding ticket they got to file it.

This is a dumb thread.

Thank you for your input. A couple notes about your comment. I never asked anyone to show me, the permit process is nothing more than a money grab, the inspectors know nothing about what they are inspecting and we have no first responders.

 

[Addicting]

Thank you for your input. A couple notes about your comment. I never asked anyone to show me, the permit process is nothing more than a money grab, the inspectors know nothing about what they are inspecting and we have no first responders.

I promised earlier this year I wouldn’t call anyone an Idiot. So I am going to go with arrogance in this case.

So when you call 911 nothing will ever happen? When a forest fire breaks out no one will know or care to try and put it out. No one maintains the electricity grid that somehow magically got ran to your house from some mysterious location. No road ever gets graded, that wash out on the way to town will never get fixed.

Do you not get charged an electric bill? Sure you do, otherwise you wouldn’t want solar to off set it. Every electric company ever has a maintenance crew and tree trimming contractors working non stop.

All of those folks are effected when you mess with the grid. For you to be all damn that GUBMENT on this is plain stupid.

 

[Redmt]

I promised earlier this year I wouldn’t call anyone an Idiot. So I am going to go with arrogance in this case.

So when you call 911 nothing will ever happen? When a forest fire breaks out no one will know or care to try and put it out. No one maintains the electricity grid that somehow magically got ran to your house from some mysterious location. No road ever gets graded, that wash out on the way to town will never get fixed.

Do you not get charged an electric bill? Sure you do, otherwise you wouldn’t want solar to off set it. Every electric company ever has a maintenance crew and tree trimming contractors working non stop.

All of those folks are effected when you mess with the grid. For you to be all damn that GUBMENT on this is plain stupid.

Let's not call it stupid, arrogant or anyone an idiot. Let's call it misinformed. You are correct on many of your points. When you call 911, nobody does show up. When our last major fire broke out it was 3 days before any significant response. It ended up being the 3rd largest fire in CA history. You are also correct that nobody maintains the electric grid. It is 55 years old, and fails regularly. The outages last 1-2 days if the weather is good. Longer if there's any bad weather on the forecast. You are also correct that they don't repair any road damage. It took 2 months to open the road after this year's storms and some are still barely passable with no repairs being made yet. Maintenance crews? Not up here, everything is reactionary, nothing ever for prevention. Most of your concerns are real but not in this case.

 

[Addicting]

The unpermitted install of a solar system attached to the grid is not a threat to anyone if it takes them extra time to respond.


The liability you leave your family with after you pass is insignificant because you’re gone.

 

[Redmt]

I do appreciate your input and the time it took to write it. Really. We are not complaining about the service we don't get that most of you take for granted. This is the way of life we chose. One bitch is that we do pay taxes for all the services that you do, except we don't get them. We don't even have a school anymore. We pay for it but don't have it.

 

[trackerbacker]

You ever hear the richard Branson quote?

"You know the fastest way to become a millionaire? Start with a billion and launch an airline company"

that applies to "how do i use (insert green tech) to save money"

Add up all your loads or take a look at your kw's you use a month and figure out your daily use, consider what you'd need to buy PANEL WISE ONLY to do that kw for a day.

Then consider the efficiencies in play. That'll reduce that number. Batteries. ATS. Inverter. Thosell increase the cost.

Then mounting, do you have land or mounting on your roof? If roof, consider roof replacement before install. If land, consider how much you're okay looking at and wasting.

This is before oxidation, clouds, rain, snow, ice, cleaning etc.

Thank you for your input. A couple notes about your comment. I never asked anyone to show me,

See below:

I'm looking for a little information on how it all works and what pieces and parts to start scrounging.

the permit process is nothing more than a money grab,

as much as it is, it also prevents liabilty against others ineptitudes. Most who dont do permits, cant swing legit work.

the inspectors know nothing about what they are inspecting

Well... this is birds of a feather

and we have no first responders.

There are. See above. You're low density, generally means low response.

If you're looking to be up when others are down, get a GOOD generator and an ATS, you're flavor of fuel. Call an electrician, do it right. Be done, move on.

Your convenience isn't worth the risk of backfeeding and killing someone.