Today marks the 1000th day of operation for the 2.53kw solar array on our roof. Since we’ve installed it,
- 8.9 MWh of energy has been produced (almost 9kWh/day on average)
- 6 tons of CO2 have been avoided
- $1,100 in electricity costs have been avoided ($850 if I don’t count the optional fee for wind power I’ve subscribed to for years)
- 70% of our electrical consumption has been covered
- No maintenance has been required (other than optional snow removal)
- My inverter manufacturer (Enphase) has gone public
- My panel manufacturer (Siliken) has gone bankrupt. (But warranties remain intact, in theory)
- Utility rebates from Xcel have dropped from $2.25/watt to $1.50 since we installed.
We’ve recently embarked on a plan to renovate the house, and may end up with a new flat roof on the back. If so, I hope we can have space and budget to add another 1kW or so.
Minnesota has also continued to move forward on solar energy, with Ikea briefly holding the state record with a 1.1MW array on its roof, later eclipsed by a 2MW utility-scale system in Slayton, MN. My utility, Xcel Energy wanted to eliminate the solar rebate altogether, but it was extended at a lower rate of $1.50/watt for now – appropriate, I feel, so that the solar industry has some planning runway, but rebates drop along with system costs. There has also been some discussion of a 10% solar standard for Minnesota. Solar Works in Minnesota!
Congrats! I guess we must be approaching 1,000 days as well, as our system went online in late June 2010. Keep on catching those rays and converting them to clean, locally produced, and used, electricity :-)
Hay Y’all, take your Northern snowy weather back, 20 degrees below normal and very little sun :-( . Up for 817 days here @ 6.85MWh Should have a Zero Electric Bill this year (but not zeroing out in power used, yet)
Here’s my install: http://tackyted.com/solar/
Also a map of solar in our area:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=216695957945448267658.0004b8b2f50ea8604f167
If your in this area and need a hand or info on solar, give me a call (contact info on tackyted.com
Eric, been keeping an eye on your Mini-Split. Might go that way on the old section of the house after I do some more sealing of leaks.
Thanks for the great info you post. Ted
P.S. “flat roof ” in your climate ???
Yeah, I was a little concerned, but they assure me it’ll be fine. It’s not that unusual I guess. (and not perfectly flat…)
I hope to eventually have separate monitoring for the mini-split circuit, my electric use has been creeping up and I imagine it’s to blame, but it’d be nice to know for sure.