Any buyers remorse with solar?

[AltTransBikes]

There seems to be fairly high satisfaction going solar for those who have bit the bullet and delved in, perhaps having previous experience with requisite skills in electical things being a huge plus. For myself, there apperas to be a fairly steep learning curve at not inexpensive pricing.

I'm wondering if anyone had mis-steps they'd care to elaborate on or even if there were reasons why the whole idea of going solar turned out to be for less than expected results.

 

[Willy]

When I first got into solar I made the 'mistake' of buying those 'cheap' amorphous solar panels. They DO work, but are actually wayyyyy overpriced for what you get.. and often not very well built. ..Willy.

 

[Van-Tramp]

What Willy said. That has been my only remorse too.

 

[SternWake]

My only remorse with solar is buying the Blue Sky SB2512i model, and not spending 35$ more on the SB2512ix model which has a battery temp sensor and some other features my 'i' model does not.

My Kyocera 130 watt panel was ~750$ shipped in 2007. When people balk at the prices today.........

Also I wish I applied my Unisolar pvl 68 on a cool day, and had an extra set of hands when I did so.

Solar and a compressor fridge have made this lifestyle so much better for me, probably the best single thing for it. No regrets.

 

[Donedirtcheap]

You and I have the same fears about expensive parts. I dont have solar yet but one of the main issue's is having the ability to do regular charges in the high 14 volt range and the ability to equalize near 16 volts. Battery to panel size is also important. If you have too much battery for the panels and you wont get full charges. Like sternwake said, no one ever complains about having been sold to much solar.

I have 2 gp 27 batteries in my truck camper. They work well enough but just like using solar they need a battery charger that can match them so as to get a quick charge. The old converter only goes to 13.5 volts and it will charge them but it takes days.

I'm also trying to avoid mistakes so I have these things in mind and keep trying to learn more.

Know the use per day in amp hours used.
Have enough battery to meet that plus some extra but not so much that the panels cant top them off.
Size the panels to be able to more than recharge in one day. This can vary a great deal.
Possibly run two separate banks so as to have a back up bank for rainy or cloudy periods and get both banks recharged on good days. Again, that would require over sizing the panels or have a battery charger and shore power at the worst times.

I have an inverter collection and dont want a solar collection.

 

[akrvbob]

My only regret was not being able to afford it earlier.

Free electricity for the rest of my life!!!!!

What is there about that not to love!
Bob

 

[Willy]

I've been running abt 184W (120W polycrystalline+64W Unisolar) for the past year and will be adding another 100W monocrystalline in a coupla days. That's more than enuf for even the winters up here in BC. Hoping to get down to Quartzite for January and might leave the 120W up here.

I really like the Unisolar panels, despite being less efficient, since they're well nigh indestructible and very shade tolerant. They also increase in efficiency when it gets hot, unlike the mono/polycrystalline panels.. which decrease. ..Willy.

 

[freenez2]

Adding solar has provided the biggest improvement to quality of life since going into the lifestyle. Refrigeration, led lighting, and unlimited power for other devices has helped make my home comfortable. I couldn't imagine life without it now. I have a Bob Wells to thank for it too. He talked me into the investment while camping together.

 

[SoulRaven]

Well, I go to van rallies occasionally, and also associate with many other people who live in off grid cabins, and the general consensus seems to be that only portable solar powered single items are a good thing, and that the vast majority of solar panel installation, either on cabins or vans or motorhomes are huge failures. Mine certainly was.

I think Solar Bob got it right when he says that if you need to use a generator, EVER!!! then your solar system is a failure. These con artists selling & installing solar systems that tell you that you need to run your generator weekly or every few days to equalize your batteries, are full of it. That is what's charging your system not the solar panels.

Solar Bob has a working solar system to power his off grid 25' travel trailer, that does work mostly. At a cost of over $20k, and constant fidgeting and fussing to keep it going, and replacing expensive parts. He says that if he ever had it to do over again, he would NEVER go solar.

By my own figures, comparing the much lower cost of current solar setups, vs. the cost of my generator, and the cost to run it, those costs even out at roughly 20 years. The biggest difference being that with Solar you have to put out all that money up front, and with my generator, I am paying it in monthly installments of 1 gallon of gas per month, after spending a one time <$100 to build a 12v DC gas generator.

Now, since I've been charging my house battery while driving, I rarely use the generator at all.

One other thing I'd like to mention is who in the heck wants to have to park in the sun during the hot summer to have power?!?! I can see it in the winter, put PLEASE... I want to park in the shade in the summer. I want to be up in the forests, not out in the middle of the desert.

I'm not necessarily against solar if you can get it to work for you, and it fits your lifestyle. Myself, I'm glad to be rid of it all together, and have found much better & more reliable ways to provide my power in my van, at my cabin, and for my motorhome.

Now if you want to talk really intriguing, I just got back from a van rally at Deer Park, and this Swedish fellow was powering his large motorhome with portable micro hydro power. Not much bigger than a milk crate, in a sound proof box. Now THAT was interesting, and he said the total cost was under $200. MAYBE this is the future.

 

[rvwandering]

No remorse at all. We had two 85 watt Kyocera panels installed on our RV about 19 years ago. When we got a new RV we switched them over and added another panel. They just keep on supplying free power - hardly even have to think about them. One of the most important things is to size your wire correctly.

 

[TucsonAZ]

My cost run down is as follows:

6 - 230w SolarWorld panels = $952.20 (not a single regret about them)
1 - MidNite Classic 150 = $450 shipped on eBay (no regrets about this choice)
1 - Cotek 24v Sine Wave inverter = $220 shipped from ABC Electrical (no regrets)
12 - CBI QY 15a DC breakers = $45 shipped via eBay (no regrets)
4 - 12v AGM UPS system pulls = $200 off craigslist (very happy with them)
2 - Combiner/junction boxes for breakers and such = $60 (happy with them)
3 - 50ft MC4 cables = $60 (they were too long but whatever I just have some spare wire)

Plus $300 on misc mounting brackets, bolts, rivets, wiring, connectors, fittings, nuts, washers and so on.

Total = $2,287.20

In 600 hours I have used 20kwh total and never run my batteries below 85% and never had them not fully charged by 1pm even on a cloudy day in Seattle while raining with panels flat mounted and slightly tilted away from the sun. That works out to $2.42 in grid power which at my current usage would take me roughly 600,000 hours or 68.5 years to get my money back.

Do I regret going so over the top? Well, I planned to transfer the system to a house at some point so I actually bought 8 panels total allowing me to add a couple more down the line when I have more roof space. I planned to do a 400W system total but reached this point of already needing some of the stuff to the point that the price breaks just made more sense to go bigger. For example:

1) A 30amp PWM cc with a battery monitor was going to be $320 but the Classic 150 did a better job for $130 more.
2) I would have chosen the same sized battery bank even if my system were half the size.
3) The inverter was less then half the next best price I could find on the same one and less than an 800w Samlex, I knew I could resell it for the same amount.
4) 6 of the Renogy 100w panels was going to run me $700 shipped so $252.20 got me 780 more watts.

Mostly I regret the time spent being worried about it all, stressing, over researching, almost to a neurotic degree. I should have gone with an MPPT, grid tie (24v) panels, 24v battery bank and just jumped in. Or stuck with 400w or less in panels, PWM, 12v bank and kept it under $1,000 but like I said, I was planning for anything including running the tools needed to build a house, in the shade and always being able to refill my bank, even in the worst of conditions.

Sorry for the long post, In part this was for me to also see what I did and what I would have made adjustments to.

 

[christine]

TucsonAZ, where did you find such great deals on solar panels?

To answer the original question, no, I have no buyers remorse with any of the solar equipment I purchased. I did have to redo some wiring, and I did end up wasting some money on extra cable and extra lugs, but I definitely do not regret any of my purchases. That said, I did not cheap out on anything. It's hard to regret having purchased an MPPT charge controller, or a Trimetric battery monitor.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

I've put 600 into it, INCLUDING batteries. Well worth it to not have to worry about charging as much (at all if there is some sun for more than 1day out of 10.....)
Fridge, freezer, lights, computer...all open to me when i want em.

 

[Zil]

"Now if you want to talk really intriguing, I just got back from a van rally at Deer Park, and this Swedish fellow was powering his large motorhome with portable micro hydro power. Not much bigger than a milk crate, in a sound proof box. Now THAT was interesting, and he said the total cost was under $200. MAYBE this is the future."
Hydro power? Where did he keep the water fall?
My only regret was buying cheap low efficiency panels.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Maybe he refers to a hydrogen cell system? If its 200 that'd be impressive tho lol

 

[freenez2]

Reminds me of the Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor from Back to the Future III. ;-)

 

[TucsonAZ]

TucsonAZ, where did you find such great deals on solar panels?

I called all the local solar installers and asked if they had any left over stock from projects they could sell me directly. I needed 24v panels and knew shipping would kill me if I didn't buy local. Eventually they put me in touch with their supply house which in fact had like 14 old panels floating arounf from before 250 (and now 300) watt panels were the standard. They were happy to sell them to me at $0.69 a watt.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Never a regret....and I don't even have what you might call a "state of the art" system.
I used solar on my ranch in S. Az years ago....when it was really expensive and was never unhappy with the investment for the 14 200W panels and the rack of D8 batteries.

Since, I've used solar on 2 RVs and 3 vans.
I wouldn't be without the free power I harvest from the sun.

 

[SoulRaven]

"Now if you want to talk really intriguing, I just got back from a van rally at Deer Park, and this Swedish fellow was powering his large motorhome with portable micro hydro power. Not much bigger than a milk crate, in a sound proof box. Now THAT was interesting, and he said the total cost was under $200. MAYBE this is the future."

Hydro power? Where did he keep the water fall?

He was using what looked to be perhaps a bilge pump, definitely commercially made, not home built, pumping the water onto a propeller, which was connected to a generator. It was running at 2500-3000 RPM and putting out 35-50 amps. He said the pump only used 8 amps.

He's the only person I've ever seen who could run 2 rooftop air conditioners all day without shore power and without running a gas generator.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

id love to know more about that...