We typically use between 6-7 KW throughout the day and even more if we have to run the air conditioner to cool the house. On dry days in the spring, summer and fall, we use the evaporative cooler (swamp cooler), which uses much less electricity than the AC. We use evaporative coolers in the greenhouse and grow room. The biggest users of power are the grow lights, about 2400 watts, between 9 AM and 5 PM and more to soon be added. So, there is not enough power being generated to sell to Edison; and in order to do so would require jumping through more hoops than I wish to.

As I've indicated in a previous post, the whole system is 6KW based, including the Diesel generator as final back-up. It is a 48 Volt DC (more like 52V) based system with 10 KWH of AGM batteries. And, yes, we did this ourselves so we could learn and hopefully save some money.

Obviously, we have outgrown our 6KW design and have to cut back on usage if Edison has a hiccup, which happens from time to time. The batteries carry us over during short power outages, say up to 10 minutes, but then the generator fires up and cuts in automatically. The solar is set to support the utility in a mode called "grid support", which uses the solar power first and makes up any extra needed from the utility. The solar and batteries also support the generator in a mode called "generator support" which adds to the generator power when it is overloaded by surges.

The Panels were right at a dollar a watt purchased in October of 2011, picked up in Phoenix, AZ on December 30th, 2011 on the way back from installing three AP systems in a Tucson, AZ schools, as we had the U Haul truck coming back empty so it saved us some shipping.

Unfortunately, we were vacillating for several months on whether to move to Arizona. After deciding not to make the move we realized that to build a solar support structure in our back yard would be rather expensive. Last fall we decided to expand the grow room and extend the new roof to accommodate the panels. Budget constraints required us to go slow and are just now getting the panels up and soon to be completely wired.

One big shock was when we recently went to purchase the mounting hardware, as it cost us $2880. That, we feel, was a rip-off but didn't know how else to do it due to our lack of experience putting up solar panels. It slowed us down, once again.

So, here are the costs so far not including labor and building materials for the room extension:

6KW of Panels: $6000
Mounting Hardware: $2880
MPPT Charge Controlers: (2) $1000
6KW Inverter/Charger: $3500
Ancillary Equipment: $400
10KWH AGM Batteries: $2000
6KW Diesel Generator: $1800 (including Shipment from Canada)
Hardware total: $17,580

Sense of accomplishment: Priceless

Oliver