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The steps toSolar Powered Independence
If you are thinking about Solar Electricity, but nervous about the cost, you are not alone. A Photovoltaic (PV) Solar system can be very costly if it is to provide all the power you use now, in a casual manner, in a typical (not that green) home. If you have already converted all your light fixtures to fluorescent or LED bulbs, wrapped your hot water heater, and installed a setback thermostat, you are ready for the next step. But the next step is not PV, not yet. Your heating and cooling demands are the next thing you need to address, as you step up the staircase to Solar Independence. Get a small ladder and look up in your attic. You will see boards going across with rolls of insulation tucked between them. This was the accepted level of insulation for home builders, but is marginal for keeping heat in. To truly keep your heat dollars from leaking up and out, you need a foot or two of blown insulator lying above the conventional layer you have now. The next step up the staircase to Solar Independence is your windows and sliding doors. Stock windows are not very efficient, even if they were recently replaced. Our Low E Window section will explain why. If you have an electric hot water heater, it won't fly on a PV system, you would have to spend 10 times the cost of a Domestic Solar Hot Water System on additional PV panels, and even then, you may be denied some of your tax credits causing additional expense. If you have gas heated water, you still qualify for more money if you convert it. The final step is your air conditioner. If you have a refrigerated system, your roof and wallet won't be big enough to run it on PV. What you will need is a Master Cool system, which is an advanced form of Swamp cooler that outperforms the others yet still has the low energy draw of a swamp cooler. NOW, you are ready for PV!The first steps now are easy. In order to qualify for your state rebate, you will need to locate your last 12 power bills and make copies of them. If you do not have them, you can call and request copies of your bills, or go to the Edison Website here: https://www.sce.com/sma/auth/Register.aspx .Once you create a login with SCE click on "view account", then on "Usage History". Print out enough of this page to get your last 12 bills.Next, you need to do a Energy Efficiency Audit, it sounds hard but it can be done in about 15 minutes online at this link: https://websafe.kemainc.com/scescg/gatewaysce.aspPrint this out and fax both to 661-945-8145, or mail to ACS 42622 7th Street East, Lancaster, Ca. 93535. Upon receiving this, we will contact you for an appointment.
Three common types of systems are as follows.
A basic grid-tie system, as shown in Figure 1, consists of Solar Panels and a grid-tie inverter. Solar Panels take the Sun's energy and turn it into DC electricity. The inverter turns the DC electricity generated by the solar cells into utility grade AC power. This system will feed power back to Edison during the day when your system outputs more then you are using, and you borrow that power back at night. This is called "Net-Metering". A properly sized system should hold your power bill fairly close to zero, though a smaller system could offset your highest costs of 3rd tier energy, greatly reducing your bill. This will not provide you with backup power in a power outage, however it is the most common type of system being installed today.
To enjoy the benefits of green power production and protect your family from blackouts, you can choose a grid-tie system with batteries and a generator, as shown in Figure 2. When utility power fails, this power system will automatically provide power to run your home. Systems like this tend to be very costly, and add service issues due to the need for many batteries and a generator. You will not see many of these around, and many energy companies will not offer these installations. We do not offer these at this time, however this may change at a future date.
A basic off-grid system consists of a renewable energy source, which generates DC power, a battery bank that stores the DC power, and an inverter. The off-grid system pictured here is much like the system above except without the utility connection. A utility connection can be made at a later date should it become available. These systems are much more expensive because it requires a larger system to meet your peak energy needs. We do not offer these at this time, however this may change at a future date.
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