Rebates can vary from state to state so it’s important to locate your state to see what is available to you. It doesn’t matter when you install your alternative energy system because these rebates are filed on your tax returns.  The state and federal will take out any outstanding taxes that you owe and then will rebate the difference back to you.

The solar tax credits from the federal government will rebate 30% of your system with no cap, as of today.  The state rebates are the one that will vary in how much they will rebate to you depending upon where you live. Finance Companies can finance 100% of your solar powered system according to your credit. Why not take advantage of the financial incentives that are available?

Everyone has excuses for not going solar.  Here are some common ones:

• Better technology is coming soon so maybe it would be better if I wait a while.

• It is too expensive. But the cost of solar is falling and the amount of rebates or tax incentives are increasing.

• I don’t want it on my roof.  It doesn’t have to be installed on your roof.  It can also be a ground mounted system and be placed on the ground next to your home.

How big a system should you have? That depends upon your needs.  Your local solar installer could better help you answer that. There are codes and ordinances in place listed in the National Electric Code to ensure that homeowners will be safe and their system safety installed by a licensed electrical contractor.

After some of these rebates, your solar system could pay for itself in 3 to 5 years. So if you are looking for a home improvement project to do or if you are ready to build a new home, look no further than a solar powered system.

There has been a solar installer advertising that he could lease a solar system to a homeowner for $45 a month for 6 years.  When you agree to that lease, you as a homeowner, will not own the system.

When the solar company installs your system as a lease, that company would then apply to receive tax incentives which are 50% up to $25,000 from the state of Louisiana and 30% from the federal government. So, the installer owns that system. The installer may receive $19,200 for a $24,000 system from these tax incentives, depending upon what size he installed.

After 6 years, the solar installer will take off the system.  Of course, the homeowner will see their electric bills rise and want to purchase back that leased system.  Then the solar installer would make another large amount of money once again from the same homeowner depending what he charges at that time to sell it to them.

The installer may de-rate the system after 6 years, but he could still sell it to you for $10,000 or more.  It would still be guaranteed for another 19 years. If you don’t want it they will pull it off your house and sell or lease it to someone else.

Do you realize what happened?  Let’s look at this example closer.

The solar installer made money twice.  The first time it was off the government – state and federal level – where he probably received close to $19,200.  That would be $12,000 from the state and $7,200 from the federal government.  The second time was when the homeowner purchased the system after the 6 year leasing period for $10,000 or more.  Don’t forget that the solar installer was leasing it for $45 a month for 6 years. That’s another $3,240.  In this example, the solar installer made $22,440 for a $24,000 system.

Let me point out another secret here. If this system is a 4 KW system, that would not run your entire house on solar power including your central air conditioning. The homeowner would still have to pay your local power company. You would be paying your local power company along with the lease to the solar installer. Depending upon the size of the system, you may not be eliminating your electric bill.  You would be paying $45 a month just to rent (or lease) his modules on your roof.

How does that benefit you?  It doesn’t.  You are still paying the power company.  You are still paying the leasing company.  If this particular lease system is a 4 KW, it may only reduce your electric bill by $40, maybe.  So instead of knocking $40 off your bill, you pay the leasing company $45 a month.

These leasing companies are defrauding homeowners in Louisiana by not telling homeowners the whole picture.  The installer is getting the money that you should have gotten if you would have purchased the system.  If you would have purchased the system instead of the solar installer, you would have gotten that $19,200 incentive.  If you did, you would have a balance of $4800 which could be paid off over 4 or 5 years and you as a homeowners would own the system.

Don’t miss this main point!  The problem is that you could have owned your own system. These leasing programs are taking advantage of a homeowner (or customer) and being dishonest in the way it is presented.  The homeowner (or customer) is losing.  Yes, you don’t have to put out the initial money. But somebody is taking your credits of almost $19,200 from you.  Yes, it’s great to get a solar system on your house but what good is it doing you if you are paying $45 a month and you are getting a credit of $40 a month or less?

On a 4000 watt system, you may not get much more than that.  See for yourself.  Go online and click on your state at PW Watts which was created by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and is required to file for your tax incentives.  It tells you the performance data or what reduction you will receive on your electric bill.  Solar will help you achieve energy independence from your local power company and save you money. As a bonus to our environment, solar will help reduce our fossil fuel dependency and reduce air pollution.

Leasing a solar powered system is a bad idea.  I would rather have the tax incentives and money in my pocket rather than in a solar installers leasing program.  What do you think?

A surge protector can also be called a surge suppressor.  It is a device that protects electrical devices from voltage spikes. Basically, it protects your appliances.  Wikipedia describes it as “a surge protector attempts to limit the voltage supplied to an electric device by either blocking or by shorting to ground any unwanted voltages above a safe threshold.”

Surge Protectors and Lightning Arresters

There are surge protectors available for photovoltaic or PV systems and there are surge protectors available for your home.

I have lighting surge protector on my solar powered system located on the disconnect box.  There are lightning arresters and surge protectors.  I think a lightning arrester is much more important than a surge protector for solar.  Lightning is a big problem with photovoltaic. Lightning arresters protect your appliances. They are a way of protecting lightning strikes and a way of protecting surges.  Sometimes surges are caused by lightning strikes.

Lightning can hit in different places. It can hit your modules directly or it can strike close to your inverter.  Lightning can also strike the low voltage conductors. These lightning strikes are probably not covered unless you have insurance from your homeowners’ policy for you solar system.

How Many Surge Protectors Do You Need?

That would depend upon the distance between the solar panels and the inverters.  If it’s less than 30 feet, then you need one surge protector.  If it’s greater than 30 feet, you would need 2 surge protectors.  On my solar powered system, I have a surge protector in my panel and I have 2 lightning arresters, one on each array which is the best place to put them.  If lightning happens to strike the array and get in the voltage, I have them isolated.

Let me get a little technical here. I have the neutral isolated.  I don’t have it grounded or bonded at all.  I don’t like it bonded.  Bonding means that the lightning will follow the bonding by giving it a path.  I want the lightning to go to earth ground not to go into the unit itself.  Within a high voltage DC, a lot of people bond the negative. Within the electrical field, you have to bond the neutral at the source but when installing solar you don’t have to bond it.  That bonding is the main cause of electrical failure today caused by lightning strikes. It gives it an easy path to travel.

Whether or not you have solar, you should have a surge protector at your main panel. It is best to have an electrician install it.

What homeowners Need To Protect From Lighting Strikes

I think it’s a good thing to have surge protection strips called surge protectors.  Not only can you have problems with surges but you can also have problems with brown outs which is equipment not getting enough voltage.  When a brown out occurs, you can lose electronics like popcorn.  The opposite can also occur. You can lose appliances if you have too much voltage.  Too much voltage or too little voltage can be a problem either way.

Surge protectors are necessary in a home to prevent high and low spikes. How are you protecting your home and your valuables?

You can have a grid tied system without the batteries.  You can still cut your electric bill.  Depending upon where you live, you don’t need a battery backup system.  It is better to use the power company as a battery.  During the day when you are producing power and you are not at home (or not using it), it’s going back to your power grid.  Then at night when you come home from work and start cooking and using lights, you are buying it back from them.  Why not take advantage of that?  That’s like money in your pocket.  They are the battery.  I am using them, the power company, as my battery in the evening hours.  The idea is you want to break even.  You want to be producing, over a 24 hour period, the same amount as what you are using.

If you decide to install a battery backup for your solar powered system, you do need a certain type of battery.  Batteries can have different amp hour ratings.  Some batteries have a 20 amp hour rating.  I saw a battery the other day that was rated for a 100 amp hour.   This battery for 100 amp hours was selling for $300 for 1 battery.  It’s a good battery with a 5 year warranty.

How many hours does it take to drain 100 amps? That would be 5 hours at a 20 amp draw but you can’t drain it completely so that would actually be 4 hours.  Let’s also say I can’t charge that battery because today was a cloudy and overcast day.

How many batteries do you think that system will need to charge?  Let’s figure it out.  How many hours are there in 3 days?  That’s 24 hours times 3 days equals 72 hours.  Divide that 72 hours by 4 hours a day equals 13.  So you need 13 batteries at $300 apiece.  That’s $3900.  Would you pay almost $4000 for batteries? What if you were without sun for 3 days and needed to generate power?  After 3 days of autonomy or without sun, you would be dead or without any power unless you had a standby generator to help. You‘ve got to have power coming from someplace. If I generate power from my generator it’s going to cost me more money than the grid.  The grid is cheaper than a standby generator.
In emergency situations, some people like having a battery backup system.

Bottom line, grid tie is much cheaper than having batteries.  If you really want to get away from the power company completely, then you need to get super-efficient with your house where you use little power.  Today, I saw my power usage as 3 amps, but we generated 15 to 18 amps a day.  So we are producing more than what we are using. That’s what you need to do. You need to decide if you need to install a battery backup system or use your power company as backup.  Who should you use as a backup system?

“Coal Ash is more radioactive than nuclear.” That article goes on to say that “other products of coal power, like emissions of acid rain–producing sulfur dioxide and smog-forming nitrous oxide, pose greater health risks than radiation.” I want to avoid all of it if possible. That’s why I decided to go solar.

Nuclear waste gives off radiation which causes health problems.  “The planet’s water cycle is the main way radiation gets spread about the environment.” Solar has no waste.  You can start by making your house efficient.  Start by not leaving the back door open or the refrigerator open.  Be aware of your energy usage.

You can start with simple things.  Start by checking your windows, doors, your seals.  Check your insulation.  Check your existing home first.  Some people use excuses. For instance, “Oh, I had a brother in law that just moved in with me and he uses the washing machine 25 hours a day.”  Ask your guests to cut back or limit their washing machine usage to twice a week.  Use cold water when washing whenever possible.  It’s easier on the environment and the more hot water you use, the higher your gas or electric bill will be, costing you money.

There are a lot of things that you can do to reduce your electric bill especially when you know what it is.  Do you know what you’re producing? In the systems that are installed today, you can have a program on your computer or a digital read-out that you can place on your refrigerator that tells you exactly what you are consuming.  You can have a device that tells you what your appliances are consuming.  There are plug-ins for different appliances that talk and relate back to this measuring unit.

There are also Smart Meters available if homeowners would like to know exactly where you spend your most energy usage. But you don’t need a smart meter.  You can use other devices that will make you aware of your usage and see where your power consumption is.
The most common areas of main usage are in heating/cooling and water heating.  Some homeowners spend 30% for water heater, and up to 50% for heating and cooling.  That could be 80% right there for your main power source.  The rest of the usage is probably lights and small appliances. Homeowners think they can turn off their lights and they will save a lot on their electric bill. But they won’t.  If you turn off a light bulb but yet still have your electric heater running, you will reduce your electric bill but not by very much.

By renting electricity, you are supporting the power companies that deposit nuclear waste or coal as waste in our environment. We need to reduce our dependency upon foreign oil, too.  What are you waiting for?  Go solar!

For example, I man called me concerning a solar powered system. He has a solar system of 4000 watts and his bill is not going down as he expected.  The company that installed the system should have advised him that 4000 watts may reduce his bill but other factors must play into that equation such as your usage.  There are government websites that describe how much you are going to get as a reduction on your bill.  Some tell how much you are going to make a day.  It’s not particularly accurate but it’s close.

On my solar system, I have 5800 watts.  It’s only supposed to save me $750.00 a year.  According to those estimating sites, that’s close.  If I would save $100 a month, that’s $1200 a year.  That’s OK but it could be better.  I’m not sure it is exact.  My goal is to generate more.  But whatever you contribute towards a system is not a bad thing.  It’s just not going to take 100% of your bill.  People get angry when I tell them this.  They say they heard from another person that they were going to get a big reduction in bill.  That’s not always true. They were misled by a salesman. If you are using 2 million watts a month and paying over $350 (or more) a month on a bill, then maybe one third to one half of that will be reduced, depending upon the array.

Read your electric bill!!  The utility company will state your ‘usage’ over a number of days on there.  They put ‘fuel adjustment costs’ on there.  They put the ‘rebuild the infrastructure after a storm/hurricane’ on there. You may not realize that but you will probably still be charged for infrastructure repairs.  Just like your cell phone gets charged for things like ‘regulatory cost recovery charge’ or a ‘universal service charge’ as well as taxes and usage. I’m sure there is a minimum for use.  The government does not want these companies to fail.  It’s law that the power companies have to make a profit. Isn’t it better to put money in your pocket instead of their pockets? Even if it’s a little:  a little is better than none.  No matter what I gain, I want to keep my money and not support the utility companies.

Go Solar!

There is a difference between security lights and lights for beauty. Ambiance lighting is just for effects. It’s so that people will say that your lighting is pretty.

I have my photocells on motion sensors.  They only come on if there is motion within that area like something passing within that area.  So motion detectors within your lights are better.  You can walk completely around my house and all the lights will come on as you pass each one.  I like that.  And, you are not using up electricity all night long so the motion sensors become energy efficient.

I like motion sensors because you don’t have to have a light on 24 hours a day.  The light is only used when someone passes in front of it.  In fact, I can go outside and work in an area and it will stay on for 5 minutes.  I can make a motion and it will come back on.  You can set the motion sensors to come on at different intervals.  You can set them for 1 minute, 5 minutes or 10 minutes.  They are most commonly used on the exterior of your house on the flood lights.  They can also be used on commercial applications such as street lights.  Street lights are photo sensed.

I remember looking at property in a subdivision that wouldn’t let you place exterior lights whatsoever on your house.  They said it interfered with the residents star watching.  But I believe you should have exterior lights for security purposes.  Exterior lighting is really important.  You don’t have to install a photocell light which will run from dusk to dawn.  You can go with a motion sensor light and be energy efficient.

Did you know that most lights with sensors can be turned on as a regular light?  All you need to do is turn them off and turn them back on quickly, and they will stay on.  They will stay on until you turn the switch off.  Then they will reset again as a motion sensor light.  That’s the neat part:  you can use them as regular lights.

If you have company coming to your house and you want flood lights continuously on, you flip the switch.  You turn it off and then turn it back on quickly and the motion part will be off.  You will be by-passing it.  And once you turn it off again, it will reset and go back to motion. But if you don’t have company, what is the use of lighting up the neighborhood?  Burglars like lights because they can see where your house is. Most burglars will not expect a light if they come close to your house and a lights comes on, they don’t know if someone inside the house flipped a switch or if it came on automatically.  And if you are inside your home and see an exterior light come on, you know someone or something moved within the range of a flood light.  It would alert you that something is lurking within the area of your photocell.

Become energy efficient and install motion sensors on your exterior lighting. What lighting effects do you use for security?

Wednesday, I produced 27,000 watts on this stationary track. But, I want it to be more than that.  My goal is (at least) 30,000 to 35,000 watts a day.  I will produce that with a tracking system. With the loss of what’s happening on your panels, you are not going to produce what you think.

Thursday I produced 21 KW on a mostly sunny day.  That goes to prove that a stationary or fixed system does not give you exactly what it says.  In other words, I have a 5.8 KW system.  If I produce 5800 watts with 5 hours of peak sunlight, that would be 29 KW per day, minimum.  I should have produced more. To date, the max I have produced is 27 KW.  It goes to show you that a system doesn’t always produce that maximum wattage you should get.

Some solar systems that are installed are installed using a higher wattage so you can produce exactly what you say you can.  The inverter can produce, per hour, 5000 watts. It’s not supposed to produce any more than 5000 watts, 25000 watts a day.  But it can produce more because you can get more hours of sunlight by tracking instead of a fixed system. This system will be a tracking unit and will produce more in the future.

Lacombe LA solar installation is now complete!     Go Solar!!!!  Goodbye electric bill!!!!!

Some people believe they can use a 15 KW generator with a 5 ton air conditioner.  Your entire load has got to be calculated.  I’m not saying that a licensed electrician is the best person to calculate but a trained personal that is trained in installing and has a background in electrical and installing generators have a little bit more knowledge. In other words, once he installed generators, he would find out some problems that were occurring with certain generators or certain installations.  The installer will generally get an idea of the capabilities of those generators and the manufacturers.  They claim to be true to the capabilities of what they can handle.  But a lot of manufacturers tend to overstate the capability of their generator.

What a company claims and what is actually true is two different things. By company, I mean the manufacturer of the specific generator. Almost every single one of them are overstating of what they can and cannot do. I haven’t found one case in my time that I haven’t had to size the generator more than the load that it said it could handle and for the instance it was supposed to handle. In some cases, it turns out that we have to (somewhat) oversize the generator.  Now I’ve seen the other end of this – unqualified installers were installing 60 KW generators for housing where they only needed a 20 KW, or 22 kw.

Just because the generator companies say that you can run a 5 ton air conditioner using a 12 KW may not be true.  You have to test the house.  You have to check the load of the house. You can’t just turn on everything and say that is your load.  You can’t put an amp meter on it and say that this is the maximum power you are using.  It is not true.  Surge capacity on air conditioners and other motor equipment will have an effect on your generator power.

People who are interested in a generator should consult a professional.  It is not only to make him money or save you money.  It is to save you headaches in the long run.  Where you have a professionally installed generator, you have a generator installed according to the size and power that is necessary.  You have the personal that can back up that generator if you have a problem.

If people only look as far as their nose, they are only seeing as far as when they have a problem. If you have a problem with the generator, what do you do?  Well, you have to call the manufacturer.  They will tell you to call a local dealer for your problem. If he is a licensed master, he is subject to the installation that was installed incorrectly.

• First, if he is a licensed master electrician, he already knows what is necessary to perform an installation and whether that installation is correct and according to code.
• Second, he has to be a factory trained rep that he knows that generator.  He knows how it performs on the house.
• Third, he has to come out to make sure it is not a hazard to the person or people who live in the house.  I have seen many generators that were installed under a carport.  It is illegal to do that because of carbon monoxide buildup that can occur under these carports. People are continually saying that is OK.  It’s OK until somebody dies.

Is there any difference between natural gas and propane?  Yes, there is a difference.  The BTU of heat of propane burns hotter.  The fuel burns hotter than it does in natural gas.  In natural gas, the fuel burns less or not as hot. Therefore when it doesn’t burn as hot it doesn’t give you that level of horsepower that you need in the engine.

An 18 KW in natural gas is the same as a 20 KW in propane.  Actually, natural gas is less powerful then a propane. Propane is more powerful.  If you have a 20 KW in propane, it will stay 20KW.  In natural gas, it drops to 18 KW.  It drops 2 KW. Some manufacturers have allowed for that drop but not much.  They are not saying anything about it.  They won’t talk about it.  They are not letting it known to the public or through their dealers or manufacturers.  They just say that it is capable or the same.  It is not the same.  The fuel burns differently.  Propane burns hotter than natural gas so therefore it gives the engine less horsepower so therefore it’s got less KW.

Some engines perform differently. Diesel performs differently from gasoline.  Gasoline burns hotter than diesel. But you have higher performance engines in gasoline than you do in diesels. But in diesels you have a lot more torque engines. You have high compression torque engines. But you have to because the only thing that can burn more diesel is ignition sources or high compression diesel engines.

The fuel you use to run a generator can have an impact on how efficient it runs for your needs. Hire a professional before ordering and installing a generator.

Back in 1910, “the New York Times reported on Dr. Snelling’s work with liquefied gas and that “…a steel bottle will carry enough [gas] to light an ordinary home for three weeks.” But do you want to light your home or do you want to live in comfort of central air and heating and have hot water for showering? The size of your home standby generator depends upon your needs and wants.

Natural gas is made up of several gases including propane, and mostly consists of methane.  Is one more energy efficient than the other?  “Which packs more power, natural gas or propane?”  The propane companies will tell you it is propane. There are comparison charts available if you would like to figure a little.  Some more complicated than others.  Many generator companies has designed formulas for their installers to use.  I have found that these may not be fully correct.  If I use their formulas, I would have underestimated which unit a homeowner would need.

I sold a 20 kW generator to a homeowner.  When I delivered the unit to the homeowner, his wife almost refused the generator. On the box, it stated that the unit was 18 KW.  She said she paid for a 20 KW.  I tried to explain that the unit she purchased was an 18 KW in natural gas or a 20 KW in propane.  It is the same unit just different fuels.  Does that affect your household and how it would run your house?  No, the unit was sized according to their needs. Is there a price difference?  Depends upon the manufacturer.  Some standby generators can be converted easily by the homeowner or installer.  Other units must come from the factory using a particular fuel.

There are conversion kits that will convert a generator from natural gas to propane or the other way around. But these kits are mostly for portable generators and not used for standby generators.  Remember, standby generators are permanently installed with an automatic transfer switch. They need a factory trained installer who is an electrician.  A factory trained dealer who is an electrician can trouble shoot a problem without blowing the board and costing you more money.

Next week in part II of this article I will tell you if there is a difference between natural gas and propane in relation to generator use.

Post your comment below.  I want to know what fuel you use and who calculated the size of your standby generator.