P like Photovoltaics

[windeguy]

Is not the customs duty zero for importing solar energy products into the DR?

when we wanted to go for solar power (briefly) we were about quoted half a million pesos for panels and work. did not include new batteries (we have 8 but would have to get rid of them and buy 16 new ones). it was a lot of money.
also, we live side by side with campo de golf: i have balls shot into the garden, house and roof on a daily basis. we would have to invest extra in nets to protect the panels...

Depending upon when you were quoted the prices on the panels have fallen dramatically over the past few years. I am sure that is not taken into account yet for sales on the island which tend to double the price of what they sell for in the US.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think there is any customs duty charged for items like solar panels or charge controllers that are imported into the DR. If so a price of $20,000 RD ($511 US) for the same solar panel that is $248 US in the US is a dramatic overcharge of a customer in the DR.

 

[windeguy]

Quotes to import Solar Panels and Charge Controllers Door to Door

I know donP isn't talking about his total costs to install two Outback Charge controllers and 12 solar panels so here is an exercise in importing those charge controllers and panels if you did it yourself:

Three quotes received for Door to Door shipping prices from Miami for: One panel alone, 12 panels and 2 charge controllers:

The Jinko panels that donP is using are $230.30 US in the US.
- Importing just one solar panel Door to Door shipping is $2,134.40 RD or $54.59 US for a total cost of $284.89 for one panel.

- Importing 12 solar panels Door to Door shipping is $25,520 RD or $652.69 which is $54.39 each for cost per panel of $284.69 (only 20 US cents less per panel for shipping 12 versus 1)

donP mentioned that the Jinko solar panels are about 20,000 RD locally which is $511.50 US or $226.62 US more than you can import one for yourself.

Importing 12 solar panels yourself would save you over $2,700 US (which is the total imported price of 9 more solar panels and change!)


- Importing two Outback FLEXmax80 charge controllers is $10,440 RD or $267 US.
The price for each controller is $589 US plus $133.50 shipping for a total of $722.50 each or $1,445 for two delivered.

- 12 panels at $284.69 each plus 2 charge controllers at $722.50 each is a total of $4,861.28

Additional costs would be the mounting hardware including metal supports and anchor bolts, wiring, initial programming of the charge controllers and labor for installation.

 

[dv8]

windeguy, we did not investigate things further, the quote was asked for out of curiosity, in case we ever wanted to say goodbye to ladronorte. maybe, possibly, in some distant future we will change to solar and then you can be sure we will look for the cheapest option.

 

[windeguy]

windeguy, we did not investigate things further, the quote was asked for out of curiosity, in case we ever wanted to say goodbye to ladronorte. maybe, possibly, in some distant future we will change to solar and then you can be sure we will look for the cheapest option.

One half million pesos is about $12,800 US. Do you recall how many panels and charge controllers were in that system?

 

[dv8]

i don't know. it was a setup for a whole house to run on solar. lemme ask miesposo.

 

[Olly]

DonP ,
Nice set up !
It is interesting to note though that the Solar Controller is only 92% efficient and if you add the energy efficiency of the batteries at 70% then the overall is about 65% efficient in electrical terms. That is for every 100 Watts you put in from the Solar panels you get 65 Watts out and thats not including the efficiency of the power invertor with is about 90%!

Thanks for posting the pictures it gave me the information on the controller efficiency.

Olly and the Team

 

[dv8]

miesposo said the quote was for setting the whole house of solar, apart from water heater. he does not remember the details, only that it was for 5kw.

 

[donP]

I'd do it again.

.... a total of $4,861.28

Of course, I paid more.

However, you will also pay more.
The special aluminium rails (6 m length), the special SS anchors, the special cables, the breaker boxes, fuses, etc. have to be added to the bill.
Mano de obra (and it was very good work) in my case were 3 days.

I opted for an AI deal and have not regretted it. :bunny:


donP

BTW:
On Sunday I had detected that two cable entering the left breaker box* became hot and suspected a high resistance at some bad connection points.
I called the installer who arrived 35 minutes later....on a Sunday.

*)
Four NH0080A fuses still need to be put there, they were not available ex stock.

 

[yapask1]

Interesting - I would be happy if your could pm me the shipping agents you requested information from. Was there an extra charge for crating?

This board had many solar skeptics but it would seem that systems are fully practicable for individual apartments and villas from 2 panels at 230 watt up. Payback periods from 2-5 years. Costs from 2k$ up. If economical fridge/icemaker and economical computer, appliances, lights etc. high sunlight hours mean a lower cost system can be used.

On efficiency calculations : for pool pump, refrigerator during the day, washing machine during the day electricity does not need storing in batteries so battery efficiency does not enter the equation except for occasional cloudy periods. Many refrigerators operate quite well being switched off for the 6 hours up till sunrise; in many households there is little door opening.

It is easy to put a thermometer in the fridge and monitor. Pool pumps can be switched off automatically during cloudy periods. Fans can be switched on when inside temperature exceeds outside temperature and thermal curtains drawn automatically etc.

I suspect that for larger installations a PLC or equivalent controlling circuits may be economical.

PLC,s are from 100 $ or less. They can run directly from 24 volt battery power and have retentive memory; can be programmed from a computer.

yapask1

I know donP isn't talking about his total costs to install two Outback Charge controllers and 12 solar panels so here is an exercise in importing those charge controllers and panels if you did it yourself:

Three quotes received for Door to Door shipping prices from Miami for: One panel alone, 12 panels and 2 charge controllers:

The Jinko panels that donP is using are $230.30 US in the US.
- Importing just one solar panel Door to Door shipping is $2,134.40 RD or $54.59 US for a total cost of $284.89 for one panel.

- Importing 12 solar panels Door to Door shipping is $25,520 RD or $652.69 which is $54.39 each for cost per panel of $284.69 (only 20 US cents less per panel for shipping 12 versus 1)

donP mentioned that the Jinko solar panels are about 20,000 RD locally which is $511.50 US or $226.62 US more than you can import one for yourself. Importing 12 solar panels yourself would save you over $2,700 US (which is the total imported price of 9 more solar panels and change!)


- Importing two Outback FLEXmax80 charge controllers is $10,440 RD or $267 US.
The price for each controller is $589 US plus $133.50 shipping for a total of $722.50 each or $1,445 for two delivered.

- 12 panels at $284.69 each plus 2 charge controllers at $722.50 each is a total of $4,861.28

Additional costs would be the mounting hardware including metal supports and anchor bolts, wiring, initial programming of the charge controllers and labor for installation.

 

[zoomzx11]

gorgeous installation, congrats, its really beautiful. Take that Edenorte!!!!!

 

[windeguy]

Of course, I paid more.

However, you will also pay more.
The special aluminium rails (6 m length), the special SS anchors, the special cables, the breaker boxes, fuses, etc. have to be added to the bill.
Mano de obra (and it was very good work) in my case were 3 days.

I opted for an AI deal and have not regretted it. :bunny:


donP

Of course, I did indicate that the mounting hardware, wiring, initial setup and labor were not included in the price I provided since they were just the solar panels and the charge controllers which SHOULD be the bulk of the cost involved. I am sure you paid a considerable amount for that, but we shall never know what that was.

As for the yet again banned yapask1's question, the quote I received was from Encargopaq to take the items delivered to their loading dock in Florida, ship them in their weekly container to the DR, and then deliver them to my door. I did not anticipate the need for any additional re-packing charges because the panels would be shipped via a trucking company and already be packaged for protection.

 

[donP]

Solar Update

Please keep updates coming.

For the last 19 days:
Total kWh harvested: 188.7 kWh
Thus average: 9.93 kWh/d
Best day: 13.4 kWh
Worst day: 7.0 kWh

Batteries:
I have never seen them happier. :bunny:
In the morning - after supplying power for lighting, fridge, computers, TV sets, etc.- they usually still have 75% of their capacity (= 24.8 V).

Generator:
Only run once for half an hour to lubricate engine, then used to vaccuum pool with 3/4HP pump.

Savings / Advantages:
About 400 RD$/day in diesel fuel
less engine wear (= engine life)
less engine oil (fewer changes)
longer battery life (= fewer deep cycles)


donP

 

[Ringo]

EXCELLANT donP.

I installed 24 new batteries last week.
Of those we had 16 batteries that were close to DEAD. The other bank of 8 was between 25 and 50%. So I was loosing a lot of amps going into the dead one.

GMC Platinum made by Exide Corp. U.S.A. 245 Ah. Good price thanks to Prof. H.B. Jr. that is in Solar and power systems.

It took FOREVER to get them charged up. 5 days with some heavy duty charging to get them equalized and up to full power.
This morning we still had 48.7 volts in the 48 volt system batteries so I was very happy being able to run ALL our 110 VAC. Our solar had brought the charge up to 50.2 volts by 9:15 this morning.

We now have our Edenorte timer set to except the robbers; 240 Volts only for 4 hours; from 6:30 AM to 10:30 AM to run the pools and water the lawns.

NO generator thou it is our automatic back up IF the batteries get to low.

Thanks donP regarding the pool pump. I replaced an aging 1.5 hp with a 3/4 hp yesterday. I can not tell the difference in our 20K gallon pool but look for the savings on the Edenorte bill. I'm looking at switching that pump onto our solar 110 system.

I'll post in my tread our end of month results after I get our next elec. bill.

 

[nas]

Exceptional; very well done!

 

[JohnnyBoy]

Im happy this is working out for you guys. It is too soon but it would be awesome to see a cost benefit analysis to show how long it will take to recoup your initial investment. At eleven thousand DP savings per month (based on the 400 dp savings per day) seem to be sooner than the eight years in the USA\

 

[donP]

No bank pays that interest rate.

... how long it will take to recoup your initial investment.(...) seem to be sooner than the eight years in the USA

Well, in my case the investment will pay for itself in less than 3 years.
I used to generate all of my electricity with a diesel 'planta' of 16 kW and was never hooked up to the grid. So, my power costs were even higher than that of the local 'luz y fuerza' rate of LT.

Another good thing is that with the panels I save approx. 300 $/ month (in fuel) which is a very good interest rate on the investment.

donP

 

[JohnnyBoy]

That is awesome. Kudos to you.

 

[Ringo]

I'll post this but have NO confirmation but it IS from a good source.

We all know about how much the electric generators and distributors owe. Much more then figures from a few months ago and Who REALLY knows what the real numbers are? The generators and distributors bills just keeps going up with no way to pay. So:

Expect an 18% increase in the next few month.

Expect rotating power cuts/black outs for those that don't have them now and if you do, expect deeper ones.

Expect fuel prices for everything to increase.

AGAIN, this is from a good source but only one.

 

[donP]

Best Source

I'll post this but have NO confirmation but it IS from a good source.
Expect rotating power cuts/black outs for those that don't have them now and if you do, expect deeper ones.
AGAIN, this is from a good source but only one.

Hmm, PICHARDO comes to mind...

donP

 

[Ringo]

Hmm, PICHARDO comes to mind...

donP

ROFL...... Ya. Like HE and I are on the same page, think alike and all is good.

My source really LIVES AND WORKS in the Dominican Republic!

Very funny donP.

Gotta love our solar.