Frequently Asked Questions - Penobscot Solar Design

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1. I have a 2500 sq. ft. home. How much will it cost to power it with solar?

The size of the house has nothing to do with the size of the system. System size has everything to do with how much electricity is used in the household on a daily, average basis. Each home, in the case of a stand alone system, should be treated as a custom job. That is, the size and storage capability of the system should be sized to fit the customers projected needs.
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The simple answer, no. You can certainly use some of the electricity created from your PV system to run an energy efficient furnace or space heater, though. Any appliance whose primary function is to create heat (i.e.: any resistive load) is an inefficient use of electricity. You are far better off, BTU per dollar, to create that heat using LP or Natural gas. Appliances that can be easily replaced are electric stoves, electric hot water heaters and electric dryers. Dishwashers can be switched to air dry. Maximizing your energy efficiency in these ways will go a long way toward reducing the overall system costs.
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This is a question all potential customers should ask themselves. We offer our customers high quality, full design, sales, installation and service. This is rare these days. Many companies will be happy to sell you a design or a box of equipment. They might even contract with an electrician to install your components. The problem with this approach is that if you have a technical problem throughout the life of your system, who takes responsibility for it? At Penobscot Solar Design, we take full responsibility for all phases of your system design and construction, before and long after your system has been installed. We are members of IPP (International Power Providers) and ASES (American Solar Energy Society). We regularly attend training sessions offered by various manufacturers and are certified in the application of PV laminates on metal roofing by UniSolar. We are Certified Xantrex (Trace) Dealers, of which there are only about 75 in the country right now (7/1/03) and we are certified Field Service Technicians for Outback Power. We have been sponsors of the National Tour of Solar Homes for the last 6 years. We have been installing solar electric systems for 15 years. We can provide, at our customers request, any number of satisfied customers as references.
Honestly, all our customers are our friends. We intend on keeping it that way!
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Change is not the same as sacrifice. Most PV powered homes these days are indistinguishable, from a user standpoint, from a more "typical" home. We who use solar have taught ourselves and our families not to waste electricity, but this is something we all should be doing anyway, powered by the sun or not.
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5. What other changes can I make to lower the cost (and therefore make my home more energy efficient) of my system?

Lighting requirements and how we use them make a lot of difference to your home energy use. The typical high quality compact fluorescent will create the same amount and quality of light as an incandescent that uses four to five times the electricity. This means you can save 75% on your lighting costs just by switching to compact fluorescents.
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6. I don't like the quality of light of these bulbs. Isn't there something else I might use?

Compact fluorescents come in many forms. They rate these bulbs quality of light in degrees Kelvin. "Warm white" with a yellowish type light, is the most common early form of compact fluorescent. These are rated at 2800 degrees K. For a "soft white" type light, look for bulbs rated at 3000 degrees K. For a "cool white" or more white than yellow light, look for a bulb rated at 5000 degrees K. You can even find "daylight" very white light bulbs rated at 6500 degrees K. Most stores have a display or will be happy to show you the different types. An informed shopper is a happy shopper.
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The short answer is yes. The problem is that more than likely, your old appliances use far more power to do their job than newer, more energy efficient ones. This translates to the customer needing to spend sometimes thousands of dollars more for a PV system because it needs to create much more power to run these inefficient appliances. Talk to us at Penobscot Solar Design. We can help you save money in many different ways when it comes to energy efficiency.
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This is an often asked question . If we bought a car based solely on financial payback we would all be driving the cheapest form of transportation available. Solar electricity is the least expensive, most reliable clean source of energy available. The cost of your grid electricity does not subsidize the air and water pollution it creates. The cost of these things in the long view are immeasurable. A single 75 watt solar panel will prevent 7000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted into our atmosphere over its lifetime. What is the value of independence? One of the things our customers appreciate more than anything else about their alternative electric systems is that feeling of independence they get when grid power goes down and their neighbors homes are all dark. These and many other things contribute to the unforeseen payback we experience off the grid which really is rarely taken into consideration.
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9. If you had to make a statement as to how much an "average" PV system would cost for an energy efficient house, what would you say?

The systems we are currently installing are high quality components, properly installed. The system costs for a fully energy efficient home are running from $25,000 to about $40,000.
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We will occasionally mount panels on customers roofs. The reasons for this can be an esthetic choice by the customer or simply that there is no place to ground mount the panels without shading them. Our preference for ground mounting comes from working in the northern New England snow belt. The time when you most need exposure to the sun is in the winter, when the solar arc is at its lowest and sun hours are at a premium. Any time there is snow on the panels is charging time wasted. If the panels are ground mounted it is much easier to simply get a push broom and sweep them off than it would be to sweep off a comparable, roof mounted array. Also, to install the roof mounted panels, we must perforate the membrane of the roof. We do this with the greatest care, using bituthane, marine grade silicone and roofing caulk. Still, over a period of 10, 12, 15 years the effect of wind, expansion due to temperature extremes and other naturally occurring factors can effect even the best roof mounted installation. Finally, at some point the roofing shingles need to be replaced, which means that your roof mounted system will have to be temporarily disassembled, taken off the roof and then reassembled on the roof when the new roof is installed. This makes for a "no charging" situation for your batteries until all is back to normal, usually an unacceptable situation for our customers.
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