cool info

[chelidon]

This is a nifty site with some lovely art, and some very practical, very down-to-earth homesteading information. I recommend it as well worth checking out if you're into that kind of thing.

And for anyone contemplating solar PV or heating systems, there's a good summary of the new tax credits here. As I said in an earlier post, almost all of the money in the Republican's new energy bill goes to, no surprise, big oil, coal, etc. -- what little alternative energy funding there is tends to go to things like encouraging new nuclear plants. However, there is, buried in there, something that can benefit homeowners. For two years (2006-2007), there's a 30% tax credit for solar photovoltaic and solar hot water systems, capped at $2000 each. So that means if you spend $6666 on each of two new or existing solar systems (PV and hot water are each seperately eligible for the tax credit), you'll get $2000 credit for each, up to a total of $4000 during each of the two years the credit is in effect.

This may change my plans a bit -- if the Federal government will let me keep $4000 more of my own income in each of the next two years in return for putting in solar systems, it may make sense to look into doing it sooner rather than later. It's like getting a 30% discount of the cost of the systems. And I'll admit, looking at how low the big stream is running this year over the last couple of weeks, I'm thinking something to supplement the microhydro in the sunny summer months for electrical generation may be a good idea after all. Or I could put solar panels on the treehouse I'm going to be building -- wouldn't that be luxury! ;>

Comments

[phryday.livejournal.com]

Thanks for finding/posting that useful info! We (city of austin) can get around $4500/1,000 watts rebate (initial cost is $6-$10k/1,000 watts) and if the feds can supplement a bit more it may start to become worthwhile. Initial costs would not have benefitted us that much but the more we plan to stay in this house...now our other problem is we have 3 trees that provide nice shade to the front and back and I really don't want to cut them down...OTOH I have no clue how big a 1,000 watt system is.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

My pleasure, glad to get the info out and glad someone found it useful!

Wow, yes, that rebate is a good deal. The only downside is that the Federal tax credit kicks in, I believe, after any other rebates, so you'd get 30% of whatever the portion you paid after Austin have you the $4500. Still might be worth it, though, especially if/as electric production costs start to really spike.

For general solar PV info, you might want to check out: http://www.builditsolar.com/ and http://www.otherpower.com/otherpowerfront.shtml

The Otherpower site says:

"The best current deal on new 50 watt solar panels is about $4.25 a watt--$212 for a 50 watt panel, in quantity. Other new panels of about the same size can produce 120 watts, but cost $700--$5.83 per watt. The only difference is size--unless you have limited mounting space (rarely a problem), panels that cost the least dollars per watt are the best deal. You just put up more of them!"

So the 1KW system you describe could cost considerably less than your estimate, but once you add in the costs of batteries, inverter, installation, etc, $6-10K is probably actually on the low side. You can start cheaper by doing a grid-intertie system, which essentially uses the local electric grid instead of your own batteries ("running the meter backwards" during the day), and can save you a good bit of up-front money. The downside is that if the grid is unavailable, you only have as much juice as you can generate at any given moment, i.e., nothing at night, etc. Still, grid-intertie can be a good way to start, and you can add batteries as you can afford to.