Installing Photovoltaic Solar Power at Home


This vid shows the various steps in planning and having a company install photovoltaic solar electric power in my rear yard in San Diego; definitely more cha…

25 thoughts on “Installing Photovoltaic Solar Power at Home”

  1. Very thorough video, I deal in solar power and solar water heating. Solar water heating for a complete system is very reasonably priced and over looked a lot. Check? out ABOUTSOLARCELLS.COMXA.COM

  2. ????
    Thanks, I love solar energy, I’ve built 3 panels… very cheap. I have posted? the guide if anybody interested..
    Easy and useful! Good lcuk!

  3. You can trim them all the way down to the stumps and they’ll still grow shoots. I keep them at about 6 – 10ft height (bushes) – I get more privacy and there’s less danger of falling branches. Eucalyptus trees are often brittle and regularly lose branches -? a neighbor had a large branch break, split another tree in two and crush her roof – if it’d happened at night, she’d be dead.

  5. Tree trimming is different from cutting? them down. They’re still there, just shorter and not causing shade. Also, in S. California, we have huge fire problems, so we’re encouraged to trim trees down and reduce the fuel load.

  8. I? needed to install a Solar Power Systems. I have found this video really helpful….
    But Commercial Solar panels are expensive !
    It takes 10 years to cover up the investment
    Here is how you can do it yourself at only 10% of the price
    Go to Google and search for…
    “Top DIY Solar Panels”
    Click the first result (Skip the Advertisement)

  11. how long will it take to get a return on the 25k dollars outlay,thats a lot of money.i take it the company that did the install worked this out for you as well….love the idea of solar energy for homes,why dont they by law make? new build houses have panels fitted and new housing estates have one large wind turbine by law.

  15. Free Energy is real and its here! The Oil companies are doing everything they can to stop this

    information. If you want a Free energy magnet motor? , get the blueprints at LT-MAGNET-MOTORdotCOM , Join the

    revolution!

  18. I did not? know about the passive solar vs. water heating solar restrictions, though it seems dumb to me without similar laws for sprinklers…

  19. Sharp and SMA ,? what a great combo, does not get better than that ! you were also lucky the inspector did not know about or choose to enforce the pool codes, solar hot water panels are not actually allowed to be closer than 10 feet to the pv modules. Great ground rack, roof can’t leak and the workers were safer.

  20. You’re welcome. Unfortunately, I have a wood shake roof, so lots of contaminants that would deposit on the glass. Also, you’d need a pump and plumbing to get the water to/from the? panels. I also looked into an Aluminum heat sink behind each panel ducted into the ground (cooler), but that’d be cost prohibitive, too.

    For a roof mount, there is a new system (separate) that cools the panels and uses the heat saved for water heating & A/C. Goes from 20% up to 50% efficiency.

  21. I agree but with a 1000sqft of roof to the down spouts and a 1 inch rain is 600 gals saved. Then the water that went to the panels could be directed? back to the tanks. A cool panel will be 9% better for more energy. Even so I liked your system. Thanks for sharing with us.

  22. Rain? What’s that? Seriously,? though, I’ve thought about drip feeding ever since I proved I could get an extra 400W during the summer using my hose to cool the panels mid day. Right now, it’s cost prohibitive for me, though it might work for others: in San Diego we have expensive water, rationing and only 10″ rain / yr (on a good year – it’s been a drought for the past 5 years). Thanks for the idea though & your comments on the vid.

  23. If you save your rain water you can make a drip system for the panels to? lower the temps. It works great and cost nothing. And it helps keep the panels cleaner. Thank for a great vid.

  24. The AC rating is different from the DC rating. My system is rated at 4 kW DC, 3.7 kW AC (losses and conversion efficiencies). The actual kW depends on time of year; lower panel temperature = higher the efficiency.

    Re: doing it myself, aside from the physical work, there are a lot of local regulations. I recommend you get a good company with many years experience. Avoid new? companies & “great deals” – a 20 yr warranty only counts if the company’s in business..

  25. At the time the total cost was ~$33K, I got about $7500 back in state rebates and another ~$4K in tax credits. Very different now in C:

    – The CSI rebate is roughly 1/2 what it was
    – The IRS tax credit is higher (I think it’s 30% and not capped at $3K as it was in 2008
    – Cost per watt for the panels are lower cost, too.

    My cost was higher as I had to do a ground – rather than roof -? installation.

    I hope this helps.

Comments are closed.