Lowe’s wants to turn solar installation into a weekend project

reply to post by DaddyBare


Great story about your nick name.

I remember when my wife announced that it was time. It was a mixture of excitement and fear of the unknown.

It's been great.

reply to post by pavil


If I was going to go to all the trouble of taking the tax credit I'd go the solar roofing panel route...In fact I might if I can get the loan for it... were building a place up in Kansas, on hold till warmer weather returns but I like the idea of a solar panel roof... would go well as the addition were doing is a cordwood construction back east they call it a stackwall

When my father dies (he 86 with alzheimer's) I plan to sell both of his houses and buy a motor home and travel.
I plan to cover the roof with panels and replace the inside lights with LED lights a small 24 volt fridge and any thing else i can run with low power.

The thing that i don't like is homeowners can get incentives and rebates but some one that is a snow bird and lives full time in a motor home can get no incentives and rebates i install panels.

I plan to install my own panels and the rest of the system and on a motor home i can without any legal problems. no that i would have any as i worked for years as a industrial electrician.

This will allow me to stop and park any where on public land or walmart parking lots as i travel and not need to hook up to power or pay a campground to stay over night.

If you want good low price panels check the prices from first solar inc.
www.treehugger.com...

[edit on 16-12-2009 by ANNED]

reply to post by Wildbob77


Yeah was kind of young and foolish at the start of my fatherhood...
of course by the time my fourth was born it was more like.
"You go ahead... I'll be along after the game is over. Oh can you get me a beer on the way out"?

to all the irate ladies who just read that I was kidding

reply to post by ANNED


I hope none of you plans come true, and your father lives much longer than you expected.
This is by far the worst message I have read on this forum, ever.

Read before you post.

reply to post by DaddyBare


I'm glad I asked! That's a beautiful story I gotta admit, I was a tweak concerned..... Just goes to show you how our perceptions and concerns can differ so greatly from reality. You have my permission to call me SI-i-Mahel (Lakota - Foot in Mouth).


reply to post by OpTiMuS_PrImE


I hear ya, Optimus....... it's a risk, and moreso here without any incentives, other than we don't have to pay duty on alternative energies. You might be overestimating your costs for running things though..... I'm installing a 1200W PV system. I will be able to run two computers, two TVs, a 24VDC fridge (8.0 cu. ft.) a 24VDC freezer (5.0 cu. ft.), several LED lights, washing machine, and a very efficient (4.2 amp at peak) a/c unit [edit to add: and two ceiling fans, plus a bunch of tiny devices, including our 12V water pressure pump, and two small 2 amp circulating pumps that we use to circulate hot water from solar collectors in our house and at the hot tub.]

I recognize you might've been being a tad flippant (and I like that about you!) however recognize that a 200 watt panel, with all the related toys, will run more than a 200 watt device; what you're really dealing with is watt/hours or amp/hours -- depending upon the average sunlight in your area.

That, to me, was the most difficult part of this process -- the figuring out of our load, and what sized system would deal with it. I have a backup propane generator for prolonged cloudy days....... cheap lil' 3500W Korean thang, but it ran like a trooper last year when hurricane Paloma knocked out our power and internet/phone for 4 months.



[edit on 16/12/09 by argentus]

reply to post by argentus


thats a lot of stuff but that estimate was from the website based on where i lived i just used the $8.00 a watt figure from there my pc is 1,000 watts custom built hehe got a lot of stuff in it plus 2xGTX280 video cards in SLI

did have tri-SLI but got rid of the board and other video card

[edit on 16-12-2009 by OpTiMuS_PrImE]

reply to post by OpTiMuS_PrImE


WoW!!! It must be HUGE! Most PCs use less than 250 watts; it must look like THIS!!

Okay, if so, let's say you're an average ATS member, and perhaps you're on the computer for six hours out of the day. That's a lot, and it's not my job nor desire to recommend a hobby. j/k

IF your PC draws 1000 gigantic watts, and your area gets an average of six hours of peak sun per day, you'd need at least a 200W array to run it for an hour (200W X 6 hrs. = 1200 w/hours). OR, you could get a 1000W array and run it for six hours. OR better still, get a NORMAL PC

It's possible that if you ran it off a UPS, that the computer would draw primarily off it (assuming you leave your PC on all the time) and end up with a lower overall energy usage.

I'm on the computer a cumulative two hours per day -- sometimes more, often less. I'd think about getting a killowatt meter and measuring exactly what your pc/monitor/giant speakers/transmodular discombobulator actually use. You might be surprised.

Getting into solar power, or any alternative energy is primarily about squeezing down your usage, and sometimes sacrificing, then tweaking the system so you get the most bang for your buck (or whatever monetary unit you use.) I can relate to wanting to use what you like........ If I had to use a dinky amp when I crank up my Stratocaster and scare away the wild roosters, I'd rather not use it at all. Still, I would consider a one-hour jam session as opposed to the three hours I usually do.

good bantering witcha

reply to post by argentus


yeah i dont figure im drawing as much now i would estimate around 650 to 750 watts and mines stays on better half of the day lmao

mines in a full tower case it looks like this

www.newegg.com...

On the subject though im kind of interested in seeing what comes out of Steorn's magnetic technology when they release it to the engineers

reply to post by OpTiMuS_PrImE


WOW! What a monster you own! Well, cool. We all have our posessions that we really love. Mine is a Peavey 5150. No coincendence, I suppose, that 5150 is (or was) a police code for "mental case".

...........and it gives me pause that I might well have to crank out less watts than this formerly quiet neighborhood is used to. that's something that I will have to deal with as it presents itself, just as you'd have to make choices if you chose to go solar.

I think it's great that Lowe's is offering this simple system. You know why? It's how we got started. Our first solar system was a dinky 5W PV battery trickle charger. From there, a 60W PV array that we've used to cycle our homemade solar collectors and then ultimately this 1200W PV array, which will run most of our house. A few more panels and batteries? We're off-grid -- the ultimate payoff.

It's all about choices, within context of the stuff that is available to us. I think (if I should live so long) I'll look back at this time 30 years from now and think that what I have now was so very simple and crude. I hope we don't EMP ourselves backward. If we don't, the possibilities should continue along geometrically, as they have in the past. The advancement we can't imagine should be common in 15 years.

I think Lowe's is making a good political/economic decision, and hopefully it will pull others into the solar world as it has us.

I don't think solar power will really catch on for a while. The pool I have uses about $65 to $75 a month to run. If I wanted to change just the pool over to run on solar power not including anyrhing with the house or even a pool heater just a simple filtration system pump. The cost of the solar panels would run $5000 to $6000 dollars just for the panels.

reply to post by JBA2848


Well....... maybe. Your heater uses a collossal amount of power, as all heaters do. If you wanted to use a solar collector, after your intial cost (hard to guess, unless you were willing to make it yourself) it would be cheap to just circulate the water through the collector.

To run your pump would likely be quite a bit, but I'd guess your figures are a tad high. Pumps have an intial high kick-in, but after that, not so much. That would be handled by your inverter and admittedly inverters cost a lot. You could also possibly switch over to a 12 or 24V pump which might be more efficient.

Just for S&G, maybe you could list the parameters of your existing pump, your pool size, and the temperature that you currently heat the pool to. I'd be willing to work a few figures for you. Understand, I am NO solar expert -- I'm just finding my own way here, but there are some truths and understanding I've absorbed along the way. Up to you, no pressure..... but perhaps together we could perform an experiment that might be somewhat along the lines of this thread and also entertaining to those who happened to drop in here.

uh, oh. I fear I've become............ *gasp* a solar shill

www.fpl.com...

Heres a estament calculator from FPL for pools. There cost is off slightly I beleive the cost should be 14 cents a kwh. I run my pool now 5 hours a day to save money but its recomended to be ran 8 hours a day. And its a 1.5 hp motor on the main pool I also have a seperate 1 hp motor for spa that doesn't get used very much. But when I came up with the cost for panels I never included a pool heater or the second 1 hp motor. Just the 220 volt 1.5 hp motor 8 hours a day. Plus it needs the larger pool pump due to foutain style lion heads. Smaller 3/4 hp motors do not build up the proper psi on the water lines. So shrinking the motor is out. But a plus would be running the pool as a seperate system not tied to regular house electric would save on connection cost I beleive.

reply to post by JBA2848


The manufacture of the solar sheets is quite cheap. There is increased interest and competition.
Europe has used Chinese manufactures extensively on large projects. If folks could co-op some how and buy in quality they could save a bundle.
I have tried to buy direct. No luck as yet.
There is solar paint which could come on the market soon.
I worked with engineers back in the 70's and have been interested since then. We have to find ways around the middle men and the politicians.
I appreciate you all for being interested in economy and a cleaner quality of the air we breath. I do have a concern about the gasses from charging and discharging batteries though.
Wind and passive solar are really green and clean.
Great info and avatar stories.

reply to post by Donny 4 million


solar.china-direct-buy.com...

Operating Temperature -40 to 85

Hopefully that temperature is Celsius and not Fahrenheit. Florida can get into 110 degrees Fahrenheit easily on a hot summer day. And im not sure what to make of the pricing

Price: USD $ 1.93 / Wp (USD $ 1.93)
Min. Order: 10 Wp

reply to post by argentus

I'm on the computer a cumulative two hours per day -- sometimes more, often less. I'd think about getting a killowatt meter and measuring exactly what your pc/monitor/giant speakers/transmodular discombobulator actually use. You might be surprised.

Actually, that's a lie. I'm not sure it was unintentional.

You're probably right. More like 4-6 hours. Do you think I was sort of sideways puttin' one on OptimusPrime, in order to defend Solar, since, after all, I just sunk a forkload of cash and time into it?

Very possible. The question is, what do you think?

Sorry 'bout that Optimus. You underlying point is spot on the money. Solar is not by any means always cost-effective. It's still a gamble. Plus, it's somewhat needy of attention.

We'll see.

reply to post by DaddyBare


The game plan is to drive the costs of energy so high we have to switch. The lie is that anyone will have the money to buy the new technology while paying half their income just to stay warm and the other half to pay for the food when the farms all go belly up.

Still, good for Lowes. That is the sort of thing the government should be doing instead of Limo's, Hookers and Private Jets in Copenhagen. What do they care anyway. They have all the money and own all the companies that will get all the rest of the money or their on the payroll with research grants.

Only the free market can fix things. Always been that way, always will be that way.

There was an article here a few months ago about all the people who bought windmill generators in the valley (Mat-Su Area) and then the power company refused to let them hook them up. The power company of course owned by the government. When will people wake up? I guess they worked it out but not without the media exposing them first.

reply to post by OpTiMuS_PrImE


Photography, CG or Gaming? Must be CG because thats way beyond a gaming machine. It is similar to what I run for CG work.

The power supply is a smart move. Extends the life and runs cooler. Does not mean you actually need it. In fact you are saving energy by using it.

reply to post by Blaine91555


no cg never messed with it, i gamed online for over 8 years went way overboard

Originally posted by JBA2848
reply to post by Donny 4 million

 

solar.china-direct-buy.com...

Operating Temperature -40 to 85

Hopefully that temperature is Celsius and not Fahrenheit. Florida can get into 110 degrees Fahrenheit easily on a hot summer day. And im not sure what to make of the pricing

Price: USD $ 1.93 / Wp (USD $ 1.93)
Min. Order: 10 Wp

I dont get it either, this cannot be the price of the whole panel Here's the website from where the guy posted

genggaosheng.diytrade.com...