Solar Panels For Homes

How much money can you make retrofitting your house?

If you were to install a solar panel and rainwater collecting cistern on your roof and some helical wind turbines and a geothermal heating pump, how much money could you make doing that? Could you actually collect government subsidies? Are they annual or monthly? And how much money annually or monthly could you make if you did all that?

Generally you won’t make any money at all from water saving and/or storing. At the end of the day the main benefit from the water point of view is that you can keep your garden (hopefully a productive veggie/fruit garden!) alive and growing.

Heating/cooling and electricity is another matter. But it depends where you live. Some parts of the world (such as Germany) have what’s called a “feed in tariff” where you do get paid for energy that goes back into the grid. There’s LOTS of variables though, such as whether the tariff is gross (all your produced energy) or net (just your surplus energy).

If the tariff in your area (if you have one at all!) is gross and you want to do it for purely financial returns, then you’re best off simply putting as much money into the most suitable equipment as possible (usually solar, but if you’ve got about 10 metres per second (or more) wind speed then wind might be better.

If the tariff is net (as most are), then you can help it by actually spending MORE on making retrofitting your house to be as efficient as possible before putting any renewable energy equipment up. It’s cheaper to save energy than to create it in this scenario.

As far as numbers go, it costs (VERY roughly) about US$9,000 per kilowatt for solar, and generally more for wind. Each kilowatt produces about 5kw/h per day (depending on where you are!). So if you spend lets say $27,000 on a 3kw system you’ll be producing about 5,500 kw/h per year. If you get a 75c tariff (pretty average) that’s about $4,000 per year. From a purely financial point of view that’s about a 15% return on investment! Be nice to be be able to get that year in year out.

When it comes to the net tariff scenario, things change dramatically. Your ‘earnings’ are in fact mainly savings, because that 5,500 kw/h will probably be totally swallowed up by your own consumption. And the important point is, you don’t pay as much for power as you get paid by a tarrif. So if you’re paying 20c per kw/h then your $27,000 system doesn’t pay but saves you $800. Yep much less. That’s where it’s more important (and cost effective) to reduce your consumption so you get as much tariff as possible. (Actually it’s more complex than that, as a lot of net tariffs measure power in real time which means you can often still get paid a tariff even if don’t produce as much as you use)

So from a money point of view, yes you can make money, but it’s mainly in electricity generation, and it’s best if you happen to be in a location that has gross feed in tariffs!

There’s a much bigger picture to this though (of course), and that is, ANY retrofitting – water, heating, cooling, energy creating – is great for the environment and we should all do it. Making money from it is really icing on the cake.

Solar Electric Installation – Tile Roof

Sunforce 39810 80-Watt High-Efficiency Polycrystalline Solar Panel with Sharp Module $499.95 The Sunforce 39810 80-Watt High-Efficiency Polycrystalline Solar Panel Module will give you several more reasons to love the sun. It provides the power you need, while helping you save money and protect the environment. This panel is ideal for homes, cabins, remote power, back-up power, and 12-Volt battery charging. This panel comes with compatible wiring, accessories and a voltage tester to help ...

Sunforce 37126 260W Crystalline Solar Kit $898.64 The Sunforce 260-Watt Monocrystalline Solar Kit comes complete with two 130-Watt solar panels, 30 A digital charger contoller, 200W inverter, wiring, brackets, screws, and a voltage tester. The solar panels have aluminum frames for extended outdoor use. The bypass diode minimizes the power drop caused by shade. This kit is ideal for RVs, homes, boats, back-up and remote power use, 12 volt battery ...

Energy Del Sol FPM-68 Flex Solar Power Mat Recreational Vehicle and Marine Kit $554.09 Flex Power Mat or FPM-68 RV Kit was developed for the application of harnessing the Sun’s Solar Energy in remote locations allowing you to power your RV, Boat, Trailer and other applications. The FPM-68 RV Kit includes a 12Volt 10Amp Digital Charge Controller, 20 feet of Red and Black 10AWG Wire, and all MC3 connectors so you just need to hook it up to your batteries or your inverter. Energy ...

Grape Solar GS-5060-KIT Residential 5,060 Watt Grid-Tied Solar Power System Kit $15,998.73 This Grape Solar 5,060 Watt Kit generates 462kWh to 924kWh of electricity per month for use in your residence. The kit consists of Grape Solar CS-P-230-DJ 230W Poly-Si modules, a PVP4800 Inverter and a roof-top racking system for mounting the modules. This system is easy to install, and the ideal size for future expansion. You have the option to generate a portion of your electricity consumption o...

Solar Powered 15 LED Security Light and Motion Detector 2013 $30.00 The Security Sensor LED Light is a solar powered convenience light with a built-in motion sensor. It is ideal for backyard security and walkway lighting as it turns on whenever movement is detected. With a removable solar panel on a 16 foot cord, it can also be used for lighting garden sheds, outhouses or interior rooms. Since it is solar powered, it is easy for anyone to install. Specifications...

Sunheater Solar Pool Panel $209.99 Do you consider turning off your swimming pool's gas heating system every time your fuel bill arrives? You'll never have to settle for a shockingly cold pool or through-the-roof fuel bills again with the Solar Pool Heating System, an affordable, easy-to-i...

Ventamatic VX2515SOLARGABLE Solar Gable Attic Ventilator with 12.6-Watt 18-Volt DC Motor and 12.6-Watt Panel $234.93 This Ventamatic Solar-Powered Ventilating Fan with Panel allows you to harness the energy of the sun to keep your attic cool and well-ventilated. Multi-crystal solar panel is installed on your roof to convert the natural energy provided by the sun. The solar panel converts the sunlight into energy, that energy is then sent to a DC motor that is factory installed in a gable-mounted ventilating fan....