alt Hacker NewsI would love to have just enough solar to flatten my peak usage on the hottest days of the summer. They naturally coincide with tons of sun. I don't need a huge system to be all solar all the time or even care about credits from the power company. I just don't want a $300 bill in the summer and a $50 bill in the winter. Has anyone designed a good solution for this?
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I have installed 200kw+ worth of rooftop (Florida) and ground mount (NorCal) resi systems (primarily Enphase, but I'm familiar with the operating requirements of other inverters), and am currently riding shotgun for a ~200MW solar PV project in the Midwest. If you share more details (general location, utility, and energy cost schedule [static, seasonal]), I am happy to provide some guidance.
I'd love to have some form of solar work out cost-wise for me here in Seattle -- there just aren't enough sunny days throughout the year to make solar financially make sense, even over a 20-year period. At least from what the solar calculators I've found on the web would have me believe.
We put 7.8kw on our roof on a snowy mountain town in Canada in a tight valley. In 12 months it generated $950 worth of power at $0.13/kwh, and we now have no power bill for our house and all heating and cooling with a heat pump.
We tore out the old natural gas furnace and had the line disconnected, saving us about $2k/year for the heating.
Game changer.
I know this isn't what you're asking about, but my electric company has a budget billing program where they average out your usage and charge you the same amount each month.
I use it mainly so that I can set it up and with my bank's bill pay system and then forget about it for a year. But it's also nice for avoiding those huge bills in the summer.
It might be worth looking into.
Get a direct solar AC minisplit, EG4 makes one that I haven't tried but it's around $1500 not including panels.
It won't ever make excess electricity and you won't be able to run it after dark, but it'll keep you nice and chilly, I bet.
Solar or battery (to load shift for nights and weekend pricing)
HVAC being so much of a load is tricky for smaller battery systems.
My best small step is dehumidifying with battery
In Oregon we have the Community Solar program, which I've heard good things about - rather than building your own rooftop solar, you invest in a solar farm subscription as part of your electric bill, and receive credits for power produced. I haven't signed up for it yet personally but I've heard good reports from some other folks.
https://www.oregoncsp.org/