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How much solar system setup for running power a home might costs ? I am from India and their are too many power cuts , so i have decided to setup solar system instead of buy a generetor or invertor , and can any one tell me which company in India supply Solar system setup for home

I don’t know about companies in India, but what you might do is look around for someone who has a system, then ask where they got it. If you have trouble finding anyone with a system, maybe it’s not a very good deal.

If the home is in a less-developed area, and all you would be powering is a light, and a radio or TV at night, then you might get by with the kind of system they use in some parts of Africa. It has a 40 or 80-watt panel, and basically a car battery. The appliances run right off the battery, and no charger or other devices are used. This sort of system costs $200-300 when implemented by a nonprofit organization - I don’t know what the cost if you were to try to set it up, yourself.

On the other hand, it sounds like you’re already connected to a power grid, and maybe already have a heavy appetite for energy in your house. A solar system with batteries tends to cost about $15 a watt in the USA, when hundreds or thousands of watts are involved. A system for a modest off-grid cabin will cost anywhere from $5000 to $30000, depending on the size.

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I also want to stay off the electric grid . It would cost an additional ten thousand dollars to be hooked into it and I want to be independant from utilities. Would solar panels and batteries power lights and T.V , computer , washer dryer ect.

TV, lights and small appliances, yes. Washer, maybe. Dryer, not likely unless it's gas - consider a clothesline. Electric range or oven, no. Hot tub, no unless it's converted to a gas heater.

The raw panels are about $3-8 per watt. So for 6Kw figure about $18k for the panels. The charger/inverter and batteries, figure $2-3k more. Figure about $30k including the installation.

You might also consider a generator. The off-grid houses I've seen tend to have them, even if they have batteries too. Add $3k for that.

Do you have a creek? Consider small-scale hydro too.

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It is hard to find a concise breakdown of the cons of Solar. Every article I come across seems to be a sales pitch. My husband is enamored with it, but I have serious reservations. What is the cost to install on the average house?
Is the whole sell-back thing really what it's cracked up to be?
What about maintenance cost?
I live in PA; would I have power available ANY time I need it?
Any other info you have is also appreciated.

The reference is one of the best solar estimators around. The only argument against it is cost. Government incentives help reduce that cost. It's a standard economic analysis. You make a capital investment now to gain an income stream over the life of the system. Several governments have required electric utilities to buy your excess generating capacity from you. Both are real and widely used.

Solar water heating is much less popular and glamorous, but pays back even sooner, even without incentives. There's no excuse for not including it in a new home. It's nearly always worth retrofitting to an existing home. I've been doing that for almost 30 years.

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Roof gets sun 6am to 8pm in the summer and about 7am to 6pm in the winter. FULL SUN!!!!!

This is the same information that I gave another individual, as to the cost of 100% solar. (see below)

Where you live are there incentives for installing solar, is there a net exchange with the utility company? Use these incentives.

If your budget is limited, you can install panels in phases. 25%, 10%, whatever you can safely budget and then expand from there. Also, whatever you decide will be your final kilowatts for the system, ensure you buy the other components up front, that will handle that kW, so that, you do not have to have to upgrade them later. These are items such as converter, inverters, cables, etc…
Warning, if you install a system in phases, ensure you buy compatible panels, I stay with the same brand and ratings. Same with batteries. Let's just say it keeps life simpler.

Batteries are another item that can be bought in phases.

As far as geothermal goes, I am installing a geoexchange system in my home to cover all heating and cooling needs. And yes, I'll have to save a good chunk of change to do this.
I do not feel that it would be a good idea to install this system in phases or to buy cheap.

You'll may already know this but here is a calculation from Gaiam's Real Goods catalog.

Find your daily utility usage by dividing the kilowatt-hours (kWh) used on an average month’s utility bill by 30. Divide that number by 5 (the average number of peak sun hours in the United States), and multiply that number by 1.43 to account for system losses. This is the size of the solar system, in kilowatts, that you will need. Multiply that number by $9000.00 ($9/watt installed) for a good ballpark idea of the gross installed cost.
Please note, the closer you are to the Equator the higher the average peak sun hours and the further away you are the lower. I live in Minnesota, the average peak sun hours there is 4.5.

Please note, this is an estimate. It may be high or low.

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What is a good web site to check out for solar power for a home. I'm thinking about having solar power added to my water heater and to my furnace to cut down on gas usage. Maybe eventually to my lighting circuits. I want to have an idea of what the costs are and what the savings will be.

Good luck getting off the grid.

http://www.homepower.com/

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how much was it to instal? does it provide for all your power needs? do the solar panels wear out and need to be replaced?

I have a 6 kilowatt system on my house. It provides all my power, except the gas water heater. However, I am a special case. I live alone near San Francisco. I heat only one room, except when I have friends over. I get an average of about 20 kWh per day. The system cost about $50 K after rebate, but it was higher than it should have been.

Read all you can, including on the Internet and by searching for solar panels in the green search box above.

You may come back to me on Yahoo e-mail if you have specific questions.

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Is is really cost effective to buy home solar power system?

depending on the size of the house and the amount of sun you get. solar units are more efficient and cost less than they did 10 years ago. some units will generate enough power that you will actually have excess that some power companies will allow you to sell back into the grid.

if your municipality allows this i would not worry about battery storage. just use the solar when you can, sell power back during the day when your usage is lowest, and be energy aware at night when you use the most.

with the cost of today's systems you could have the whole thing paid for in 4-5 years and start seeing a return. a good system should last at least 20.

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I was up late one night and saw this informercial on a product to convert your whole house to solar power. I forgot the website or company name. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

There are numerous websites online that teach you how to ocnvert to solar. However, I would tend to take an infomerical with a grain of salt. There are hundreds of horror storys from infomerical purchases.

Your best bet would be to search "Home Solar Conversion Kit" on yahoo or google.

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I’m doing research for our home. I’m wondering how long the solar panels last and if there is any maintenance. The dealers I’ve spoken to seem to offer a 25 year warranty and say there is no maintenance needed. What about roof repair or replacement with the panels in place? The dealers say that the roof can be accessed under the panels for repair and that they will increase the lifespan of the roof. Any info to share?

I am a solar tech, so believe me when i say do not put pv panels on your roof because your investment will not be returned unless you have 40,000 sq ft of roof space to sell back your power to the grid. the installation costs of pv is, at a conservative rate, beyond $30,000.

Here is what you need to do. First, is your roof facing south? is in clear of trees? is it new construction or existing? If your facing south your in business. some states won't allow tax benefits if your not facing south. You need to install a solar THERMAL system on your house. Depending on your sq. footage, it will determine how many panels you need. say you have 2,000 sq ft, and you want domestic hot water only, you only need 2 panels and a 108 gallon hotwater heater. if you install a solar heat exchanger in your hvac duct (recommended) you need a third panel. The payback for solar thermal (including tax benefit) is roughly 3 years. There is so much info i can tell you, but i don't want to take up a ton of space on this post. The warranty is correct, the lifespan of the roof increases because you are shading the roof with the panels, so there is truth to that. but if your only putting 2 or 3 panels on the roof, its a small factor.

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A lot if you have a really really really big home. Solar panels start at $10,000.

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