Solar panel discussion

Does anyone power or supplement power to their indoor grow with solar panels? How much did the set up cost you after installation and how much do the panels save you on your monthly bill?

Good topic

INF Flux said:

Good topic

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I recently talked to someone who is not a grower who bought some for his house. He told me the set up cost him close to 10k but lowered his monthly bill from over $400 to less than $60. I live in an area with intense sun 75% of the year.

Iriemedicine said:

I recently talked to someone who is not a grower who bought some for his house. He told me the set up cost him close to 10k but lowered his monthly bill from over $400 to less than $60. I live in an area with intense sun 75% of the year.

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I'm considering a Tesla roof, payments are supposed to be about the same as your electric bill was. but want to dip my toes in the water with enough watts to power my aquaponics and greenhouse fans and pumps. Just starting to learn.

Iriemedicine said:

I recently talked to someone who is not a grower who bought some for his house. He told me the set up cost him close to 10k but lowered his monthly bill from over $400 to less than $60. I live in an area with intense sun 75% of the year.

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He's lying.

The only way he cut his power bill that much is if he ran his HVAC and refrigerator off his solar. No way in hell he has that kind of system for a paltry 10 grand. Hell, for 10 grand you'd be lucky to run just your refrigerator for 5 hours per day.

A system like that would only run your basic house lighting and MAYBE your TV which would cut your bill by MAYBE 15 to 20% tops.

TacoMac said:

He's lying.

The only way he cut his power bill that much is if he ran his HVAC and refrigerator off his solar. No way in hell he has that kind of system for a paltry 10 grand. Hell, for 10 grand you'd be lucky to run just your refrigerator for 5 hours per day.

A system like that would only run your basic house lighting and MAYBE your TV which would cut your bill by MAYBE 15 to 20% tops.

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I’ve been to his house and have seen his panels. I don’t know about what their capacity is but I can’t see why he would lie about that? Hes a licensed electrician and he did all the electrical in my grow room for a great price, I don’t know why he would just make up statements like that if it was blatantly false? What do you do for a living?

TacoMac said:

He's lying.

The only way he cut his power bill that much is if he ran his HVAC and refrigerator off his solar. No way in hell he has that kind of system for a paltry 10 grand. Hell, for 10 grand you'd be lucky to run just your refrigerator for 5 hours per day.

A system like that would only run your basic house lighting and MAYBE your TV which would cut your bill by MAYBE 15 to 20% tops.

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I don't understand why you're talking about expenses without considering the amount of power installed... 10 grand could be a horrible or an amazing deal depending on the system really...

How much does a 3kW solar system cost in 2018?
As of January 2018, the average cost of solar in the U.S. is $3.14 per watt ($9,420 for a 3 kilowatt solar system). That means that the total cost for a 3,000 watt (3kW) solar system would be $6,594 after the 30% Federal ITC discount (not factoring in any additional state rebates or incentives).

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And that system would run your refrigerator for about 3 hours before it was completely dead and need another 7 hours to recharge.

That is NOT going to save you 85% on your power bill as claimed. That, at best, would save you around 7 or 8%.

Thank you for proving my point.

TacoMac said:

And that system would run your refrigerator for about 3 hours before it was completely dead and need another 7 hours to recharge.

That is NOT going to save you 85% on your power bill as claimed. That, at best, would save you around 7 or 8%.

Thank you for proving my point.

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3 hours?
Recharge? What? Are you trowing a Tesla Powerwall into the mix or something? lol
7%-8%?

Dude you're a retard.

I have a 6.5 KW system that constantly generates between 700 to 1100 KWH a month, no maintenance, no nothing, just taking the sun up there.
I don't know how your electricity is charged where you live, but i know my math pretty well. And that's anywhere between $100 to $160 a month at 15c per kwh.

The OP's friend claim that he got his bill lowered by over 300 dollars sure sounds exagerated for 10 grand, but is not impossible...

Iriemedicine said:

I’ve been to his house and have seen his panels. I don’t know about what their capacity is but I can’t see why he would lie about that? Hes a licensed electrician and he did all the electrical in my grow room for a great price, I don’t know why he would just make up statements like that if it was blatantly false? What do you do for a living?

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So an electricians ten grand and Joe average's ten grand are not equivalent. He knows where to source parts cheaply, does all the work, cuts corners where it's not important and goes all out where it is. How much is labor costs for average people?
It's possible that both sides are right, and failing to consider a variable, diy savings and knowledge.

Maybe I should have specified that the roughly 10k estimate of cost for his solar panels was for equipment only, he installed it all himself so no labor costs attached. I also believe I mentioned I live in a high desert climate where there is intense sun 75% of the year plus. Just trying to have a discussion here as I am not very familiar with solar panels. Not trying to have any negativity or toxicity in this thread, just good info and discussion. Hopefully this could be a reference for some growers who are trying to be more eco friendly? @TacoMac take your trolling elsewhere my dude.

Fact: it is mathematically impossible to save 85% on your power bill with the system you keep presenting. It doesn't matter if it cost 10,000 or 5,000.

That system will only run @50 amps and doing so kills it in 3 to 4 hours maximum with a turnaround of 6 to 8 hours. In other words, you get one use per day and about 1/3 use per evening.

In order to cut your power from 400 to 60 dollars, you would need at least 7 of those systems.

TacoMac said:

Fact: it is mathematically impossible to save 85% on your power bill with the system you keep presenting. It doesn't matter if it cost 10,000 or 5,000.

That system will only run @50 amps and doing so kills it in 3 to 4 hours maximum with a turnaround of 6 to 8 hours. In other words, you get one use per day and about 1/3 use per evening.

In order to cut your power from 400 to 60 dollars, you would need at least 7 of those systems.

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Am I missing where details of any system have been presented? Do you work in the fracked gas industry? why so negative?

If solar panels are as expensive and inefficient as you say @TacoMac , it makes me wonder why so many homes here already have them and why many more are adding them? My neighbor across the street lined almost an entire side of the roof of their two story house with panels this last spring.

And that's all fine and dandy, but that's a far cry from the small system you presented as cutting a power bill from 400 dollars per month down to 80.

You keep changing your story and moving the goal post.

Solar is simply nowhere near efficient enough to be counted on for heavy appliances. The vast majority of power people use is in air conditioning and refrigeration, which solar simply can not run without MASSIVE amounts of panels and battery banks.

That's why solar is supplemental. You store power to use it later.

It is a good thing and every little bit helps. But the pure fiction and completely bogus claims you're making do more harm than good.

You're like those guys that buy a 100 dollar LED grow light that claims it's 600 watts when it's really only 125 watts but claim it's every bit as good as a 600 watt HPS.

TacoMac said:

And that's all fine and dandy, but that's a far cry from the small system you presented as cutting a power bill from 400 dollars per month down to 80.

You keep changing your story and moving the goal post.

Solar is simply nowhere near efficient enough to be counted on for heavy appliances. The vast majority of power people use is in air conditioning and refrigeration, which solar simply can not run without MASSIVE amounts of panels and battery banks.

That's why solar is supplemental. You store power to use it later.

It is a good thing and every little bit helps. But the pure fiction and completely bogus claims you're making do more harm than good.

You're like those guys that buy a 100 dollar LED grow light that claims it's 600 watts when it's really only 125 watts but claim it's every bit as good as a 600 watt HPS.

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I'll just repeat myself since you failed to answer
Am I missing where details of any system have been presented? Do you work in the fracked gas industry? why so negative?
You sound like one of those guys who got burned on a blurple a few years back and still thinks LED can't compete with HPS. Gavita disagrees with that.

TacoMac said:

And that's all fine and dandy, but that's a far cry from the small system you presented as cutting a power bill from 400 dollars per month down to 80.

You keep changing your story and moving the goal post.

Solar is simply nowhere near efficient enough to be counted on for heavy appliances. The vast majority of power people use is in air conditioning and refrigeration, which solar simply can not run without MASSIVE amounts of panels and battery banks.

That's why solar is supplemental. You store power to use it later.

It is a good thing and every little bit helps. But the pure fiction and completely bogus claims you're making do more harm than good.

You're like those guys that buy a 100 dollar LED grow light that claims it's 600 watts when it's really only 125 watts but claim it's every bit as good as a 600 watt HPS.

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I’m not changing anything about my story. The electrician who did my room invited me over to his house and he has solar panels, I asked him how much they cost him and how much he saves on electricity. He told me close to 10k cost (which could be alittle more Idk, this is what he said), he self installed the panels, was paying close to $400 per month before and the panels lowered his bill close to $60. Again I live in an area that is EXTREMELY sunny 75% of the time. High desert with very intense sunlight. There are state grants available to offset the cost of said panels. Maybe that is included in the $10k he quoted, I don’t know? Even if what he told me was incorrect, you should check your attitude. You’re a grown ass dude trolling a weed growing forum , super sad. Thanks anyone else who is contributing to the discussion.

TacoMac said:

And that's all fine and dandy, but that's a far cry from the small system you presented as cutting a power bill from 400 dollars per month down to 80.

You keep changing your story and moving the goal post.

Solar is simply nowhere near efficient enough to be counted on for heavy appliances. The vast majority of power people use is in air conditioning and refrigeration, which solar simply can not run without MASSIVE amounts of panels and battery banks.

That's why solar is supplemental. You store power to use it later.

It is a good thing and every little bit helps. But the pure fiction and completely bogus claims you're making do more harm than good.

You're like those guys that buy a 100 dollar LED grow light that claims it's 600 watts when it's really only 125 watts but claim it's every bit as good as a 600 watt HPS.

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I know my electric company runs dual with solar. Basically you are giving them the lower you generate and they take it off your bill.

And with federal and state rebates the system could've costed more like 20k and the guy only paid 10k

INF Flux said:

Good topic

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If it was doable and legit for all areas...we would be on it

INF Flux said:

Am I missing where details of any system have been presented?

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Stop being a fucking dumbass. It's posted in bold text in post #7:

How much does a 3kW solar system cost in 2018?
As of January 2018, the average cost of solar in the U.S. is $3.14 per watt ($9,420 for a 3 kilowatt solar system). That means that the total cost for a 3,000 watt (3kW) solar system would be $6,594 after the 30% Federal ITC discount (not factoring in any additional state rebates or incentives).

INF Flux said:

why so negative?

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I'm not being negative, you dumb fuck. I'm stating FACT. You're living in a fucking dream world where you can put solar panels on your roof and drive a room full of fucking 1000 watt HPS lights all day long without paying a power bill.

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE.

Iriemedicine said:

I’m not changing anything about my story. The electrician who did my room invited me over to his house and he has solar panels, I asked him how much they cost him and how much he saves on electricity. He told me close to 10k cost (which could be alittle more Idk, this is what he said), he self installed the panels, was paying close to $400 per month before and the panels lowered his bill close to $60. Again I live in an area that is EXTREMELY sunny 75% of the time. High desert with very intense sunlight. There are state grants available to offset the cost of said panels. Maybe that is included in the $10k he quoted, I don’t know? Even if what he told me was incorrect, you should check your attitude. You’re a grown ass dude trolling a weed growing forum , super sad. Thanks anyone else who is contributing to the discussion.

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And he is LYING because he wants to sell you solar panels.

Tell you what, go all in. Buy all the shit. When you get it all installed and your bill goes from 400 only down to about 360 and you start asking him all kinds of fucking questions about why it's not working as advertised after you shelled out thousands of dollars, let us know what he says.