PV Gap

Erica Said:

Do you need to pay for electricity if you have solar panels?

We Answered:

Solar Panels are generally placed on a south facing roof that is slightly angled to get the most light.

If you live in certain areas, the power company allows you to put power back onto the grid. This means that when the sun is shining and your solar panels are getting more than enough power to run everything electric in your household, you can actually reverse your meter reading. You become your own power company for your neighborhood so to speak. At night you will most likely need to pull from the grid again, but that should be offset by your daily solar panel production. Often times electric companies will average this out for the year and some people actually get a check in the mail at the end of it based upon their support the the system.

You generally will want to purchase enough solar panels to contirbute that average monthly Kilowatt Hours for your household needs. If you have gas appliances currently they will still need to have a supply of gas. You can replace those appliances, but that is often costly and unnessesary. There are options for people to purchase water heaters that run entirely on solar power as well but again that generally takes another purchase.

Other options if your area does not allow putting power back onto the grid there are storage systems that store up the excess power and give it back when you need it but those can also be very costly.

For example in Southern California I recently requested a quote for my home of approx. 2800 square feet and they quoted me $48,000 for the grid system which after State, Federal and other rebates would cost me around $25,000. Now understand that this varies based upon your appliances gas and electric, their energy efficiency and even your homes quality of insulation.

There are more and more solar companies out there and technology is always changing so keep an eye out. Also, contact your local power company to see what they offer and who can install or fix the system if it breaks. You should also, find out how old some of the current systems are that are attached to a property as maintenance can sometime be costly.

Hope this helps!

Eric Said:

IS anyone using Solar Panels to generate electricity?

We Answered:

Solar is making a big come back right now esp in commercial businesses. IT depends on where you located as to whether or not it would be a good option for you. PV cells are sensitive and have to be set up perfectly to run in optimum condition. A small shadow over the smallest part of the panel will knock out the entire panels usage. Hopefully you can call a licensed electrician in your area who has some expertise in the field. If you're in San Joaquin County, email me I can help. steele_luv@yahoo.com

Brenda Said:

The Space staion has solar panels for electricity why don't we all have them?

We Answered:

Those solar panels are the most efficient in the world (at about 30% efficiency), but they also cost millions of dollars. Yeah, if I had an extra million I might buy enough to power my house.

PS. they are made by Emcore, right here in Albuquerque.

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