Getbig.com: American Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure
Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: Mayday on September 27, 2023, 02:35:44 AM
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Installed my solar light n my house and had day 1 of energy production. Had clouds today and we are in Spring so not particularly great conditions.
Generated 197kwh
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Folks out here say it takes 30 yrs to recoup costs involved with installation, based on any money saved per month in power/electricity.
Not sure how true (or brutal).
Some places install for free though...
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Those people don’t know what they are doing. But also I have a very large home so I have economy of scale as cost is not the panel but the inverter and labour.
I’ll recoup mine in 3yrs 😉
In a nutshell If you walked into my estate you would know who was a Getbigger. Most houses generate 40kwh on a day like today and I am 5x that 😉
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Folks out here say it takes 30 yrs to recoup costs involved with installation, based on any money saved per month in power/electricity.
Not sure how true (or brutal).
Some places install for free though...
I’d be interested if my area had more frequent power outages. I don’t think it generally makes sense financially but it would beat the hell out of having a generator
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It depends where you live and the amount of sun you get and the amount of electricity you use.
Also the financial incentives you get to install the system.
For myself, my electricity usage is quite low ($80/mo average) and my geographic location along with surrounding trees is not optimal so it's not worth it.
A system for my house would be $30k+ after incentives. That's a 31 year payback.
Solar, like wind, is really only cost effective in certain geographic areas, otherwise it is not economically worth it.
Hybrid cars don't even make sense for me as I don't drive enough to recover the additional cost of hybrid car vs. gas only car.
The cost recovery on a hybrid car for me would be around 100,000 miles. Then you figure in the time value of money and it is even farther out.
For example, I have a 2008 car with only 110,000 miles on it. Most of those miles (70,000) were in the first 5 years. I might drive it 3,000 miles a year now.
Most people don't analyze the numbers about these things. It's an emotional decision for them.
The government is pushing this agenda and it makes no sense in many cases.
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I’d be interested if my area had more frequent power outages. I don’t think it generally makes sense financially but it would beat the hell out of having a generator
You'd need battery backup which adds even more cost to the system.
You're probably looking at $50k without incentives.
A whole house generator for emergencies (nat gas or propane) would run you $10k. And you'd only use it maybe once a year.
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You'd need battery backup which adds even more cost to the system.
You're probably looking at $50k without incentives.
A whole house generator for emergencies (nat gas or propane) would run you $10k. And you'd only use it maybe once a year.
I thought all the solar systems had battery systems? Are they really intended to only provide power during sunny conditions? That’s even worse then. As you can tell, I never seriously looked into it ;D
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The 650.00 a month I paid for the last 2 months electric bill (1300.00) is considered "high"?? :D
4 people working from home here, pool running all day, A/C's in summer... Brutal..
Just shut off the pool and A/C's so it will get better...
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I’d be interested if my area had more frequent power outages. I don’t think it generally makes sense financially but it would beat the hell out of having a generator
I have legit insider info on power locally which refuted something mainstream downunder.
Do not fuck about.
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Those people don’t know what they are doing. But also I have a very large home so I have economy of scale as cost is not the panel but the inverter and labour.
I’ll recoup mine in 3yrs 😉
In a nutshell If you walked into my estate you would know who was a Getbigger. Most houses generate 40kwh on a day like today and I am 5x that 😉
Is this Hankins large?5k sf?
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I thought all the solar systems had battery systems? Are they really intended to only provide power during sunny conditions? That’s even worse then. As you can tell, I never seriously looked into it ;D
Just about all solar systems are tied to the grid and use net metering which means you still pay your power company connection fees and the grid usage and the solar power produced offset.
At night you get electricity from your power company.
Some states are reducing the offset you get from your solar because the power companies need the money to stay in business.
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The 650.00 a month I paid for the last 2 months electric bill (1300.00) is considered "high"?? :D
4 people working from home here, pool running all day, A/C's in summer... Brutal..
Just shut off the pool and A/C's so it will get better...
That's a lot.
Do you heat your pool?
What is your thermostat for A/C and heat set at?
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The 650.00 a month I paid for the last 2 months electric bill (1300.00) is considered "high"?? :D
4 people working from home here, pool running all day, A/C's in summer... Brutal..
Just shut off the pool and A/C's so it will get better...
That’s almost as much as I pay for a year of electricity :o
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Solar panels in the UK are pointless
And dont sign up with an energy company for them to pay you for electric, they drain your fucking batteries overnight and pay you 4p a KW and then charge you 23p a kw the next day
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Solar panels in the UK are pointless
And dont sign up with an energy company for them to pay you for electric, they drain your fucking batteries overnight and pay you 4p a KW and then charge you 23p a kw the next day
That's the way it is going to be in the States too.
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It depends where you live and the amount of sun you get and the amount of electricity you use.
Also the financial incentives you get to install the system.
For myself, my electricity usage is quite low ($80/mo average) and my geographic location along with surrounding trees is not optimal so it's not worth it.
A system for my house would be $30k+ after incentives. That's a 31 year payback.
Solar, like wind, is really only cost effective in certain geographic areas, otherwise it is not economically worth it.
Hybrid cars don't even make sense for me as I don't drive enough to recover the additional cost of hybrid car vs. gas only car.
The cost recovery on a hybrid car for me would be around 100,000 miles. Then you figure in the time value of money and it is even farther out.
For example, I have a 2008 car with only 110,000 miles on it. Most of those miles (70,000) were in the first 5 years. I might drive it 3,000 miles a year now.
Most people don't analyze the numbers about these things. It's an emotional decision for them.
The government is pushing this agenda and it makes no sense in many cases.
Well said
Spot on.
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The 650.00 a month I paid for the last 2 months electric bill (1300.00) is considered "high"?? :D
4 people working from home here, pool running all day, A/C's in summer... Brutal..
Just shut off the pool and A/C's so it will get better...
That’s pretty high. Where do you live? I’m averaging $250 spread out through the year with a pool, a larger house, two A/C units that aren’t very efficient and in South FL. Also, my roof is a dark painted metal and hot as hell
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That’s pretty high. Where do you live? I’m averaging $250 spread out through the year with a pool, a larger house, two A/C units that aren’t very efficient and in South FL. Also, my roof is a dark painted metal and hot as hell
Get some reflective acrylic roof sealant and roll that stuff on your roof post haste. Makes a huge difference in terms of interior temperature and is inexpensive, like $100 for a 5gal bucket or so
Some say white is better, some prefer silver but anything is better than black :-X
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Folks out here say it takes 30 yrs to recoup costs involved with installation, based on any money saved per month in power/electricity.
Not sure how true (or brutal).
Some places install for free though...
Depends with inflation as it is, that might be more like 10 years now.
Key with solar is it isn't about the savings, it's that it's a better way to actually invest your money than leaving it up to the market morons, or you purchasing something stupid. It's more a taking control of your domain than a logical investment.
But yeah my parents got killed by the batteries, crap isn't worth it if you can't rely on them.
It's more like getting a personal horse because you have the grasslands to feed it. Instead of a car where you're continually buying gas/new cars.
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That’s pretty high. Where do you live? I’m averaging $250 spread out through the year with a pool, a larger house, two A/C units that aren’t very efficient and in South FL. Also, my roof is a dark painted metal and hot as hell
NH
Again, its mainly from 4 adults, working from home, tons of PC's, A/C's, pool filter, etc...
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That's the way it is going to be in the States too.
they should install them on every house and then you get cheaper bills and the grid benefits.
They didnt want to pay for panels themselves so they convinced people to buy them
There was a company in the UK putting up free panels if you signed up to the buy back, thing was the company got the revenue from the buy back for installing the panels for free
At the time it was 50p a KW
He closed the company after the energy went crying to the government to restrict the buy back to 4p
They are a fucking scam.
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Those people don’t know what they are doing. But also I have a very large home so I have economy of scale as cost is not the panel but the inverter and labour.
I’ll recoup mine in 3yrs 😉
In a nutshell If you walked into my estate you would know who was a Getbigger. Most houses generate 40kwh on a day like today and I am 5x that 😉
What's your real cost for having it installed without spin? If you are leasing how much is the monthly payment for how many years? Everytime I ask the question I get some incredible bs answer because they were duped and won't admit it. One guy said his electric bill is down to $30 a month but never mentions the money he is paying for the panels. It also makes the house difficult to sell if you have a lease or are financing the solar panels because they have to assume the loan or the lease. The promise of removing the panels for free when you need a new roof is questionable. Try to get them to honor that commitment. Lastly solar panels only last about 20 years if you are lucky.
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Is this Hankins large?5k sf?
Sorry I’m not sure exactly what you mean by Hankins? Is 5k SF meaning 5,000sq ft?
The house we built is just under 6,000sq ft.
What's your real cost for having it installed without spin? If you are leasing how much is the monthly payment for how many years? Everytime I ask the question I get some incredible bs answer because they were duped and won't admit it. One guy said his electric bill is down to $30 a month but never mentions the money he is paying for the panels. It also makes the house difficult to sell if you have a lease or are financing the solar panels because they have to assume the loan or the lease. The promise of removing the panels for free when you need a new roof is questionable. Try to get them to honor that commitment. Lastly solar panels only last about 20 years if you are lucky.
40kw system. USD13k. Owned outright.
My energy bill is USD4k/yr and that’s before my pool with a massive heat pump goes in next month 😱
I’m looking at around USD6k/yr energy bill once the pool goes in and I know we have some large energy prices on the way which will double this in the near future.
While A class panels look better and will get +5%-10% higher output per panel, the cost is 4.5x cheaper panels which makes no sense to me as the odds of failure are still the same.
I’ve had a cheapo solar panel on my Ute (pickup) for 3yrs running my fridge. Been in hail, Aussie scorching sun, monsoon rain, hasn’t skipped a beat.
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Sorry I’m not sure exactly what you mean by Hankins? Is 5k SF meaning 5,000sq ft?
The house we built is just under 6,000sq ft.
40kw system. USD13k. Owned outright.
My energy bill is USD4k/yr and that’s before my pool with a massive heat pump goes in next month 😱
I’m looking at around USD6k/yr energy bill once the pool goes in and I know we have some large energy prices on the way which will double this in the near future.
While A class panels look better and will get +5%-10% higher output per panel, the cost is 4.5x cheaper panels which makes no sense to me as the odds of failure are still the same.
I’ve had a cheapo solar panel on my Ute (pickup) for 3yrs running my fridge. Been in hail, Aussie scorching sun, monsoon rain, hasn’t skipped a beat.
How many panels is that for the house?
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What's your real cost for having it installed without spin? If you are leasing how much is the monthly payment for how many years? Everytime I ask the question I get some incredible bs answer because they were duped and won't admit it. One guy said his electric bill is down to $30 a month but never mentions the money he is paying for the panels. It also makes the house difficult to sell if you have a lease or are financing the solar panels because they have to assume the loan or the lease. The promise of removing the panels for free when you need a new roof is questionable. Try to get them to honor that commitment. Lastly solar panels only last about 20 years if you are lucky.
The promise of removing the panels for free is a joke as most of these solar install companies will be long gone by then.
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How many panels is that for the house?
90
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90
What brand? Did you get a complete system? 13k is definitely a good deal since my generator alone without install was that amount.
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90
That is a lot of panels.
Utility companies in the USA usually limit the number of panels you can get installed based on your usage.
They won't let you install too many as they don't want to net meter so much power back to you.
Assuming these are approx. 200watt panels that is a incredible number.
90 200watt panels installed for $13k is incredibly cheap.
An average house has 30-40 panels (200 watt).
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It’s a 40kw system, 90 x 450w panels. Most houses in Oz run 13kw, maybe 20kw if they have a large enough house.
People think I’m crazy but I planned for redundancy, cloudy days and also future car and battery charging
Today it rained and was cloudy almost all day. It made 120kwh. I can still run aircon, pool, heat pump and charge a Tesla.
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What brand? Did you get a complete system? 13k is definitely a good deal since my generator alone without install was that amount.
Geezus man. My honda diesel was $50 at a machinery auction and it's a tank. My 3 phase Lincoln was $700 and you'd power 10 houses. A box of candles is like $5 and your girl will think it's romantic.
I hate the power company but solar is just really fucking ugly. I don't want a house that looks like a sun farm.
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Installed my solar light n my house and had day 1 of energy production. Had clouds today and we are in Spring so not particularly great conditions.
Generated 197kwh
That's not bad! 197 kwh in 24 hours? That comes to around 8,202.3 watts of continuous power. If you get that in 30 days it will be a whopping 5,910 kwh! What's the maintenance for that? Where are the solar panels? On the roof? Square footage? DO you have a way to backup the power to battery cells, like a Tesla Wall?
For reference, when Ethereum was still POW I mined up to 1 ETH per week with about 5,500-6,000 watts of continuous power. The rest of the house drew around 1,000-1,200 watts for the refrigerator and all other stuff. This is of course without AC running. Power usage peaked at around 4,800 - 5,000 KWH per month. Later on, the ETH yields dropped as the difficulty increased.
Maybe you should put a Bitcoin miner or two to work so you can DCA BTC? Or will your AC use up all the solar power?
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Depends with inflation as it is, that might be more like 10 years now.
Key with solar is it isn't about the savings, it's that it's a better way to actually invest your money than leaving it up to the market morons, or you purchasing something stupid. It's more a taking control of your domain than a logical investment.
But yeah my parents got killed by the batteries, crap isn't worth it if you can't rely on them.
It's more like getting a personal horse because you have the grasslands to feed it. Instead of a car where you're continually buying gas/new cars.
How long will the solar panels last?
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Solar panels in the UK are pointless
And dont sign up with an energy company for them to pay you for electric, they drain your fucking batteries overnight and pay you 4p a KW and then charge you 23p a kw the next day
What's needed is small decentralized fusion reactors. Would be great to have a 4x4x4 fusion reactor cube (or smaller) in the backyard that powers your house. It's still a pipe dream. But would be great if that became a reality. No more power outages because of windstorms etc. Each home has its own mini power station...
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How long will the solar panels last?
Usually warrantied for 18 or so years.
The efficiency gradually degrades over time but they still produce for more years.
An asphalt shingle roof will wear out 15-20 years which is where most panels are installed.
Now, will you disassemble the panels, put a new roof on and re-install 20 year old panels? Unlikely.
Payback on solar is usually (at best) around 10-20 years. Do you see any issues here?
By the time payback happens you have to replace the panels.
If you have room, it's best to install panels on free standing racks, not on the roof.
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What's needed is small decentralized fusion reactors. Would be great to have a 4x4x4 fusion reactor cube (or smaller) in the backyard that powers your house. It's still a pipe dream. But would be great if that became a reality. No more power outages because of windstorms etc. Each home has its own mini power station...
That will never happen.
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That will never happen.
They also said we would never fly. Never say never. Maybe not a reactor for each house. Perhaps one reactor for a small town. Though I like the idea of decentralized everything, so there is no single point of failure.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-scientists-repeat-fusion-power-breakthrough-ft-2023-08-06/
US scientists repeat fusion ignition breakthrough for 2nd time
Aug 6 (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the second time since December, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said on Sunday.
Scientists at the California-based lab repeated the fusion ignition breakthrough in an experiment in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) on July 30 that produced a higher energy yield than in December, a Lawrence Livermore spokesperson said.
Final results are still being analyzed, the spokesperson added.
Lawrence Livermore achieved a net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers on Dec. 5, 2022. The scientists focused a laser on a target of fuel to fuse two light atoms into a denser one, releasing the energy.
Compact Fusion
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/compact-fusion.html
How Compact Fusion Works
Nuclear fusion is the process by which the sun works. Our concept will mimic that process within a compact magnetic container and release energy in a controlled fashion to produce power we can use.
A reactor small enough to fit on a truck could provide enough power for a small city of up to 100,000 people.
Building on more than 60 years of fusion research, the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works approach to compact fusion is a high beta concept. This concept uses a high fraction of the magnetic field pressure, or all of its potential, so we can make our devices 10 times smaller than previous concepts. That means we can replace a device that must be housed in a large building with one that can fit on the back of a truck.
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-compact-fusion-reactor-barely-3-feet-across-has-hit-a-huge-milestone
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https://www.wired.com/story/deepmind-ai-nuclear-fusion/
DeepMind Has Trained an AI to Control Nuclear Fusion
The Google-backed firm taught a reinforcement learning algorithm to control the fiery plasma inside a tokamak nuclear fusion reactor.
(https://media.wired.com/photos/620cf87dd88b0a9fa5094bd1/master/w_1920,c_limit/Science_TCV-purple-plasma-visible-light-cam.jpg)
THE INSIDE OF a tokamak—the doughnut-shaped vessel designed to contain a nuclear fusion reaction—presents a special kind of chaos. Hydrogen atoms are smashed together at unfathomably high temperatures, creating a whirling, roiling plasma that’s hotter than the surface of the sun. Finding smart ways to control and confine that plasma will be key to unlocking the potential of nuclear fusion, which has been mooted as the clean energy source of the future for decades. At this point, the science underlying fusion seems sound, so what remains is an engineering challenge. “We need to be able to heat this matter up and hold it together for long enough for us to take energy out of it,” says Ambrogio Fasoli, director of the Swiss Plasma Center at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
That’s where DeepMind comes in. The artificial intelligence firm, backed by Google parent company Alphabet, has previously turned its hand to video games and protein folding, and has been working on a joint research project with the Swiss Plasma Center to develop an AI for controlling a nuclear fusion reaction.
In stars, which are also powered by fusion, the sheer gravitational mass is enough to pull hydrogen atoms together and overcome their opposing charges. On Earth, scientists instead use powerful magnetic coils to confine the nuclear fusion reaction, nudging it into the desired position and shaping it like a potter manipulating clay on a wheel. The coils have to be carefully controlled to prevent the plasma from touching the sides of the vessel: this can damage the walls and slow down the fusion reaction. (There’s little risk of an explosion as the fusion reaction cannot survive without magnetic confinement).
But every time researchers want to change the configuration of the plasma and try out different shapes that may yield more power or a cleaner plasma, it necessitates a huge amount of engineering and design work. Conventional systems are computer-controlled and based on models and careful simulations, but they are, Fasoli says, “complex and not always necessarily optimized.”
DeepMind has developed an AI that can control the plasma autonomously. A paper published in the journal Nature describes how researchers from the two groups taught a deep reinforcement learning system to control the 19 magnetic coils inside TCV, the variable-configuration tokamak at the Swiss Plasma Center, which is used to carry out research that will inform the design of bigger fusion reactors in the future. “AI, and specifically reinforcement learning, is particularly well suited to the complex problems presented by controlling plasma in a tokamak,” says Martin Riedmiller, control team lead at DeepMind.
The neural network—a type of AI setup designed to mimic the architecture of the human brain—was initially trained in a simulation. It started by observing how changing the settings on each of the 19 coils affected the shape of the plasma inside the vessel. Then it was given different shapes to try to re-create in the plasma. These included a D-shaped cross section close to what will be used inside ITER (formerly the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), the large-scale experimental tokamak under construction in France, and a snowflake configuration that could help dissipate the intense heat of the reaction more evenly around the vessel.
More at link...
https://www.wired.com/story/deepmind-ai-nuclear-fusion/
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Tokamak Nuclear Fusion Reactor
(https://scitechdaily.com/images/ITER-Fusion-Reactor.gif)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CaES-UEWYAAJ20E.jpg)
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It depends where you live and the amount of sun you get and the amount of electricity you use.
Also the financial incentives you get to install the system.
For myself, my electricity usage is quite low ($80/mo average) and my geographic location along with surrounding trees is not optimal so it's not worth it.
A system for my house would be $30k+ after incentives. That's a 31 year payback.
Solar, like wind, is really only cost effective in certain geographic areas, otherwise it is not economically worth it.
Hybrid cars don't even make sense for me as I don't drive enough to recover the additional cost of hybrid car vs. gas only car.
The cost recovery on a hybrid car for me would be around 100,000 miles. Then you figure in the time value of money and it is even farther out.
For example, I have a 2008 car with only 110,000 miles on it. Most of those miles (70,000) were in the first 5 years. I might drive it 3,000 miles a year now.
Most people don't analyze the numbers about these things. It's an emotional decision for them.
The government is pushing this agenda and it makes no sense in many cases.
This is true when I lived in Maui we got sun all year round and lots of it made the solar worth it also depends on your roof size and even which direction the sun hits your roof at what time of day. Some places like Maui they will actually pay you monthly for extra energy you generate some places don't so it kind of depends.
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The 650.00 a month I paid for the last 2 months electric bill (1300.00) is considered "high"?? :D
4 people working from home here, pool running all day, A/C's in summer... Brutal..
Just shut off the pool and A/C's so it will get better...
Yep anywhere from 500-750 a month depending on time of year and how much we use the hvac
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That's not bad! 197 kwh in 24 hours? That comes to around 8,202.3 watts of continuous power. If you get that in 30 days it will be a whopping 5,910 kwh! What's the maintenance for that? Where are the solar panels? On the roof? Square footage? DO you have a way to backup the power to battery cells, like a Tesla Wall?
For reference, when Ethereum was still POW I mined up to 1 ETH per week with about 5,500-6,000 watts of continuous power. The rest of the house drew around 1,000-1,200 watts for the refrigerator and all other stuff. This is of course without AC running. Power usage peaked at around 4,800 - 5,000 KWH per month. Later on, the ETH yields dropped as the difficulty increased.
Maybe you should put a Bitcoin miner or two to work so you can DCA BTC? Or will your AC use up all the solar power?
Max power generated in a day so far is 218kwh. That’s between 6am and 6pm but We are 1 month into Spring so Summer Soltice will get it higher as we get longer daylight hours.
Panels are on the roof. My place is 6,000sq ft in American language.
I didn’t install a battery array as I had not yet seen the data. Now I have it, base load from sundown to power fridges and the like when we sleep is 6kwh. A Teslawall here is 12k which is around a 14yr payback. That doesn’t cover TVs and lights at night.
We have tariffs paid to us by the energy company for feeding in energy. There is about 8yrs left of those. My system is large enough that even if the Tarif dropped 80% I still have no energy bill. In 8yrs we hopefully have some better mass produced batteries.
Can I PM you re the mining? What you say makes a lot Of sense.
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Max power generated in a day so far is 218kwh. That’s between 6am and 6pm but We are 1 month into Spring so Summer Soltice will get it higher as we get longer daylight hours.
Panels are on the roof. My place is 6,000sq ft in American language.
I didn’t install a battery array as I had not yet seen the data. Now I have it, base load from sundown to power fridges and the like when we sleep is 6kwh. A Teslawall here is 12k which is around a 14yr payback. That doesn’t cover TVs and lights at night.
We have tariffs paid to us by the energy company for feeding in energy. There is about 8yrs left of those. My system is large enough that even if the Tarif dropped 80% I still have no energy bill. In 8yrs we hopefully have some better mass produced batteries.
Can I PM you re the mining? What you say makes a lot Of sense.
Sure you can PM me. I only mined with GPUs though. Bitcoin requires ASIC miners. To be honest I would have been better off just buying Ethereum at $80 than spending tens of thousands of dollars on mining equipment and electricity. It did help to heat the house though and I like tinkering with computers. But from a financial point of view, it was not the best route. Mining makes sense in a bull market when you can acquire the crypto for less than it is being sold on the exchanges.