Solar panels to generate electricity

[jollyroger]

Hi
Id like to get some ideas of the cost of solar panels to purchase.

I realise this would vary depending on a persons specific electricity needs, so i will put forward an example of a possible home usage scenario. If someone has a similiar situation as the one below could you give me some idea of set up prices and what id need to buy etc

2 people living in the home
2 ceiling fans on at a time
Fridge large/with freezer
Lights computer television washing machine

Thanks

 

[william webster]

Costs vary.... but about $300US each

Battery bank.... another matter

I have 16 panels and 8 large batteries
Similar usage to you

I 'top up' with my generator morning and night

Lots of people here to offer help

 

[Seamonkey]

Hi
Id like to get some ideas of the cost of solar panels to purchase.

I realise this would vary depending on a persons specific electricity needs, so i will put forward an example of a possible home usage scenario. If someone has a similiar situation as the one below could you give me some idea of set up prices and what id need to buy etc

2 people living in the home
2 ceiling fans on at a time
Fridge large/with freezer
Lights computer television washing machine

Thanks

I have near the exact living arrangements as you are describing, but my washing machine isn't part of my circuit. I have 4 deep cell batteries with an invertor and 4 solar panels that equal 1 KW. I only use this system as my backup. With full sun I have no issues keeping up the demand, the fridge being the biggest consumer of all that I am running. If you are going solar only, you will need a much bigger set up. My batteries, invertor, panels, the controller and installation was near RD$90000.00

 

[william webster]

I am totally solar.... and Yes... a washing machine plus a pump fr my water pressure

The fridge and pump are the biggest users

 

[LindseyKaufman]

I have 20 panels and 24 batteries. Fans. Large frig. Freezer. 2 large air conditioners. Casita with small frig. Barbecue with small frig. washer. dryer. dishwasher. lights throughout my property all night long. Water pump.

Initially, I was only solar. Eventually, when Jamao because 24 hour luz, I connected to street power. Since batteries are so expensive, to give them a longer life, I now have a system whereby I am solar. When the batteries drop to 60%, street power kicks in. When they are at 100%, automatically, we revert to solar.

My pool pump is also solar, but on a separate system.

I love my system. It is seamless. And I never worry about when or if the electricity will run out. I never know when we are on street power or solar power unless, I go look. And I rarely do.

 

[DR Solar]

We are 100% solar. We don't say that with having to slip on some street or using our generator a couple of times a day.
So much info about solar. You really should not depend on DR1 for advice.

 

[Tom F.]

I have 20 panels and 24 batteries. Fans. Large frig. Freezer. 2 large air conditioners. Casita with small frig. Barbecue with small frig. washer. dryer. dishwasher. lights throughout my property all night long. Water pump.

Initially, I was only solar. Eventually, when Jamao because 24 hour luz, I connected to street power. Since batteries are so expensive, to give them a longer life, I now have a system whereby I am solar. When the batteries drop to 60%, street power kicks in. When they are at 100%, automatically, we revert to solar.

My pool pump is also solar, but on a separate system.

I love my system. It is seamless. And I never worry about when or if the electricity will run out. I never know when we are on street power or solar power unless, I go look. And I rarely do.

Does your meter stop running when the solar kicks in or do you pay the same every month?

 

[Tom F.]

Hi
Id like to get some ideas of the cost of solar panels to purchase.

I realise this would vary depending on a persons specific electricity needs, so i will put forward an example of a possible home usage scenario. If someone has a similiar situation as the one below could you give me some idea of set up prices and what id need to buy etc

2 people living in the home
2 ceiling fans on at a time
Fridge large/with freezer
Lights computer television washing machine

Thanks

My guess, between $10,000 - $15,000 US installed and with a proper inverter. The fringe/freezer will probably take up to $5,000 of the system. Not sure what kind of washer you use but everything else would fit within a $10,000 system.

 

[DR Solar]

Does your meter stop running when the solar kicks in or do you pay the same every month?

Good question. Our system cuts off street power so we run only on solar system. We don't have an Edenorte bill.

 

[DR Solar]

My guess, between $10,000 - $15,000 US installed and with a proper inverter. The fringe/freezer will probably take up to $5,000 of the system. Not sure what kind of washer you use but everything else would fit within a $10,000 system.

That's a VERY HIGH... not close guess.

 

[Tom F.]

That's a VERY HIGH... not close guess.

No it is not. I worked in the DR managing a solar business in Sosua in the late 90's. The price of panels has gone down a bit since then because most are manufactured in China. The typical electrical needs for a house that some Dominicans, and a US or European expat would want or expect, would minimal cost $10,000 with some conservation. We used to sell a $600 system which consisted of one 50 watt panel, a small Dominican car battery, a control box and five DC lights and a connector for use of black and white 12 inch TV or a radio. Most families could only get 4-5 hrs of tv use on this system. If someone wanted a small color television it needed another panel or two, two deep cycle batteries, and a small inverter. This brought this system up to the $1,500 - $2,000 range. Some expats had the $10,000 system installed on nicer homes in the area. I. also visited the home of the person who used to manage Sea Horse Ranch and built an amazing home near Cabrera on top of the ridge. I don't remember her name, but I think her system was in the $20,000 range.

 

[DR Solar]

No it is not. I worked in the DR managing a solar business in Sosua in the late 90's. The price of panels has gone down a bit since then because most are manufactured in China. The typical electrical needs for a house that some Dominicans, and a US or European expat would want or expect, would minimal cost $10,000 with some conservation. We used to sell a $600 system which consisted of one 50 watt panel, a small Dominican car battery, a control box and five DC lights and a connector for use of black and white 12 inch TV or a radio. Most families could only get 4-5 hrs of tv use on this system. If someone wanted a small color television it needed another panel or two, two deep cycle batteries, and a small inverter. This brought this system up to the $1,500 - $2,000 range. Some expats had the $10,000 system installed on nicer homes in the area. I. also visited the home of the person who used to manage Sea Horse Ranch and built an amazing home near Cabrera on top of the ridge. I don't remember her name, but I think her system was in the $20,000 range.

Yawn. Don't want to pick a fight. Been solar for 20 years. Upgrades every couple of years. Just did another one. Many know me.

YA.... huge place.

Your estimates and given prices are... outrageous.

 

[Tom F.]

Yawn. Don't want to pick a fight. Been solar for 20 years. Upgrades every couple of years. Just did another one. Many know me.

YA.... huge place.

Your estimates and given prices are... outrageous.

Take a nap if your tired. I don't pick fights but just stating facts based on my own personal experience working in the industry. Give us the specifications of the system you would install based on what was asked in the original post. When I was in Peace Corps in the late eighties, I could of lived off a a small system off the grid.

Do you know Richard Hansen, that was my old boss. Raquel bought out Soluz and now has Solar Wave in Sosua. Are you familiar with them?

 

[Tom F.]

Take a nap if your tired. I don't pick fights but just stating facts based on my own personal experience working in the industry. Give us the specifications of the system you would install based on what was asked in the original post. When I was in Peace Corps in the late eighties, I could of lived off a a small system off the grid.

Do you know Richard Hansen, that was my old boss. Raquel bought out Soluz and now has Solar Wave in Sosua. Are you familiar with them?

My name is Tom Forbes and am called Tomas in the DR.

 

[LindseyKaufman]

Does your meter stop running when the solar kicks in or do you pay the same every month?

Meter stops running

 

[Tom F.]

Let's just crunch the numbers.

Panels - 10 - 100 w panel for a 100 w system. I see larger watt panels are the norm in the market today. and we were paying $3 a watt and selling around $5. I think today, now I see them more like $1.50 to $2 a watt so I would image they are around $3 a watt in the DR today. These are quality panels and not the amorphous materials which have a shorter lifespan. The one we use had a 10 year guarentee and I measured the output of panels 20 years after installation and were still producing electricity at the original rating.

$3000 for the panels

mounting stucture using materials from Aldom, Dominican aluminum in Santiago.

$500

Atleast 12 deep cycle batteries which - Trojan 225 amp hr at around $100 each in the DR

$1,200

Inverter size depends but probably looking at 4000-6000 watts depending on frig and washer sizes

$1,500 - $2,000 for high quality. There are people making inverters in the DR for probably half of that.

Connectors and wires

$300

This is DIY at about $6,500 to $7,000

Installation

$1,000- $1,500 for trained qualified electrictions.

Profit from. the company you are purchasing system.

The takes it up to atleast $10,000.

If I buy amorphous panels or prices have gone down further than I was aware of, a Dominican Inverter and go cheap on the batteries, not sure what the price would be.

The system would produce around 6000 watt hours a day with 1000 watts of panels with approximately 6 hrs a day of good sunlight. This varies somewhat during the winter and summer months and extended cloudy days can impact production but that is why you over design the system by having a bigger battery.

Battery bank will hold 2700 amp hrs (doing math in my head) and we liked to only use 50% on a daily basis and preferably less. Batteries last longer. You could design the system with 6 deep cycles and bring the cost down considerably but usage and storage capacity would be much lower.

Let's make sure where using the information to come to different conclusions.

 

[USA DOC]

We are 100% solar. We don't say that with having to slip on some street or using our generator a couple of times a day.
So much info about solar. You really should not depend on DR1 for advice.

not depend on DR1 for advise?.......and why not.

 

[gicamuci]

5.1kW, 12 × 250W + 4 x 275W + 3 x 330W (these three panels are driving the pool pump MPPT controller or charging batteries on cloudy days) solar panels , FM80 MPPT CC, WavePower 6kW pure sine inverter, 16 x Trojan 105Plus in 8s2p strings 450Ah @ 48V battery bank.
8Kw Champion LPG gen for emergencies only.
All the above was close to US $10,000 two and a half years ago. It also includes the solar pool pump.
Our house is similar to yours.
We used to be off-grid all the time, but lately batteries are losing capacity, so now we use the solar feature on our inverter (same as Lindsay said).
At the end of a sunny day the log on the FM89 says it produced aprox. 24Kw.

 

[Tom F.]

Let's just crunch the numbers.

Panels - 10 - 100 w panel for a 100 w system. I see larger watt panels are the norm in the market today. and we were paying $3 a watt and selling around $5. I think today, now I see them more like $1.50 to $2 a watt so I would image they are around $3 a watt in the DR today. These are quality panels and not the amorphous materials which have a shorter lifespan. The one we use had a 10 year guarentee and I measured the output of panels 20 years after installation and were still producing electricity at the original rating.

$3000 for the panels

mounting stucture using materials from Aldom, Dominican aluminum in Santiago.

$500

Atleast 12 deep cycle batteries which - Trojan 225 amp hr at around $100 each in the DR

$1,200

Inverter size depends but probably looking at 4000-6000 watts depending on frig and washer sizes

$1,500 - $2,000 for high quality. There are people making inverters in the DR for probably half of that.

Connectors and wires

$300

This is DIY at about $6,500 to $7,000

Installation

$1,000- $1,500 for trained qualified electrictions.

Profit from. the company you are purchasing system.

The takes it up to atleast $10,000.

If I buy amorphous panels or prices have gone down further than I was aware of, a Dominican Inverter and go cheap on the batteries, not sure what the price would be.

The system would produce around 6000 watt hours a day with 1000 watts of panels with approximately 6 hrs a day of good sunlight. This varies somewhat during the winter and summer months and extended cloudy days can impact production but that is why you over design the system by having a bigger battery.

Battery bank will hold 2700 amp hrs (doing math in my head) and we liked to only use 50% on a daily basis and preferably less. Batteries last longer. You could design the system with 6 deep cycles and bring the cost down considerably but usage and storage capacity would be much lower.

Let's make sure where using the information to come to different conclusions.

The first line should equal 1000 w system not 100.

 

[Tom F.]

5.1kW, 12 × 250W + 4 x 275W + 3 x 330W (these three panels are driving the pool pump MPPT controller or charging batteries on cloudy days) solar panels , FM80 MPPT CC, WavePower 6kW pure sine inverter, 16 x Trojan 105Plus in 8s2p strings 450Ah @ 48V battery bank.
8Kw Champion LPG gen for emergencies only.
All the above was close to US $10,000 two and a half years ago. It also includes the solar pool pump.
Our house is similar to yours.
We used to be off-grid all the time, but lately batteries are losing capacity, so now we use the solar feature on our inverter (same as Lindsay said).
At the end of a sunny day the log on the FM89 says it produced aprox. 24Kw.

That is a significant system. Who installed it? Prices and technology have changed since I was involved more than 20 years ago. What is the price per watt on the panels these days?