Nine Reasons Solar Can Be Less Expensive Than You Might Expect

Even with all the talk of “dollars per Watt” being 100 times less expensive than it was 20 years ago for solar, the stigma that solar is expensive remains. According to solar industry data published by the Solar Energy Industries Association only half a million US homes or businesses have “gone solar.”  Now is the time to rethink that out-dated perception and realize anyone can choose their own shade of green.  A little effort to traverse the learning curve and make a reasonable investment can lead to significant rewards. Here are nine reasons to reconsider solar!

Graph fromeconomist.com

The solar industry has broken away from the one size fits all model, giving individuals and companies a variety of options tailored to fit their needs, from small portable systems to large-scale permanent megaWatt installations, with many choices in between.  

1) The end of year is a great time to take advantage of federal tax credits for home and business. 

In 2006, the Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was enacted to encourage the installment of solar modules on both residential and commercial properties. This 30 percent tax credit expires on December 31, 2016, making today a great time to think about investing in solar and adding a tax credit to your 2014 return. For the sake of round numbers, a $10,000 investment reduces your taxable income by $3000!  If you are taxed at 33% like many Americans, you just DIDN’T pay $1000 in taxes.  Read more on solar investment tax credits and federal tax incentive forms - residential and commercial.

2) And don’t forget state tax incentives… 

There are also a variety of state residential and commercial financial incentives for renewable energy applications and installations. For example, Massachusetts offers a 15% state tax credit for a number of systems including solar water heat and solar space heat.  

3) Many states and localities also give property tax breaks for energy or pollution control equipment.  

In Virginia, 19 different counties exempt or partially exempt solar energy equipment from local property taxes and many other states have similar programs: http://www.dsireusa.org/ and VA DEQ 

4) Solar cooperatives are springing up everywhere  

If you are considering a solar project for your home or business and are not sure where to begin, look for (or start!) a solar cooperative near you. Solar cooperatives have been forming across the county as a way to pool purchasing power and share resources and best practices around financing and installing solar projects. As part of group of homes or businesses, you are more likely to get a bulk discount on solar modules and installation, which could translate into savings of 30% or more on systems.

 Find a cooperative near you:  cleantechnica.com or transformgov.org  or google “Solarize (your city here)”!

5) Low-interest financing through credit unions or local banks is becoming popular.  Some even offer rebate programs.

Solar is an investment that will save you thousands of dollars over time and although systems are more affordable than ever, they do come with upfront costs. Check in with your local bank or credit union to see if they participate in PowerSaver Loans, a program of the U.S. Department of Energy to finance residential energy efficient systems and renewable energy upgrades.

In Colorado, a credit union partnered with local company EnergySmart to provide low-interest financing along with rebates to homes and businesses interested in installing renewable energy systems.

6) Your business may qualify for a federal grant like those offered by the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).  

The REAP program provides “financial assistance to agriculture producers and rural small business for the specific purpose of purchasing, installing and constructing renewable energy systems.”

7) The recent availability of portable and/or expandable systems can offer a lower-cost, “toe-in”, lighter shade of green entry into solar power.  Powerful portables like SUNRNR can be used to lower energy bills by running everyday appliances, business equipment and tools as well as providing backup power in the event of a power outage, all without the expense of a full installation.  One SUNRNR unit offers 5% of an average American household’s energy consumption daily.

This educational article introduces technical specifications and definitions while this one is more general and comparative.  Both are great starting points to determine if a small-scale system would meet your needs.

To recoup your expense and even profit from it, you might want to look into whether your solar generator system company offers “Brand Ambassadorship”, like a sales rep getting a commission for referrals.

8) Use available resources to ask the right questions and get the best possible answers. (AKA The reason it might be MORE expensive than you might think.)

Did you know full residential installations that do not incorporate battery storage or special circuitry can offer NO electricity during an outage even if the sun is shining?

Or that a leased system might make it challenging to sell your house in the future?

Or that you may have to pay a fee to sell your excess grid-tied solar power back to the utility since you are using their grid to do it?

The renewables industry is just gaining momentum and there are many resources available, such as at Energy.gov, to avoid making mistakes that may cost you money or not fulfill your expectations.   Probably the most difficult part of all of this is first defining your own power needs or wants.

9) Lastly, the Return on Investment(ROI) is so much more than financial.  

Each solar “installation” is unique, as are the applications for that installation.   There is always the average $100/mo electric bill, 20-year payoff spiel, but there is so much more.  For one, because you did not buy 11MW one year from your utility, you saved them the cost and 7.5 tons of CO2 emissions to make it.  If you are using a portable solar generator in place of fossil fuel, the equivalence is 120 gallons of gas not burned per year, ~$400 not spent and 1.1 ton of CO2 not emitted!  (Save one freezer load of food and gain another ~$350 credit.)  If you are avoiding running a new power line to an off grid location, you just saved $15,000 to $50,000 per mile!  There are hundreds of ways to look at it, maybe all are correct.  Check out this fun calculator from the EPA for evaluating one aspect of ROI. 

Blog contributor: Jenna Clark

Portable Solar Generator (PSG) Differences

Accomplishing an Apple-to-Apple Comparison in the Apple-to-Orange World of PSGs

When choosing any piece of equipment, many variables come into play.  When that piece of equipment is a generator or power supply system, the variables may include intended use, size, output power, noise, energy source, and endurance.  Rather than buying a generator then determining what it will run, defining the equipment’s application first (its purpose and how you plan to use it) can be helpful in defining those variables, simplifying the choices, and making the most of your investment.

Wide range of solar products

• Want to run air conditioning or a food truck grill?  Better off with grid or fossil fuel as energy source.
• Want to run an electric water heater or halogen lighting?  Try solar thermal or again, gas or grid.
• Is the goal to run your house?  You’ll need a full residential installation, hopefully with batteries.  Check your monthly utility bill - the average US household consumes over 24kW per day.
• Need “portable” kW or MW arrays?  They make trailer- and container-sized units.
• Want to carry it into the woods?  Don’t plan on powering much.

But if you just want a reasonable amount of power, e.g. to offset grid usage and be available during power outages, to sustainably run your well pump, or to have power where there is none, keep reading.  (And by “reasonable”, I mean capable of running home appliances and tools, even several at once, not just charging a phone or keeping a light on.)  Generators in this arena will be compared below.

If you are new to or unclear on basic electricity concepts, such as W = V x a, and their associated numbers, please see the Electricity Refresher link.  An inverter must be rated for 1800W continuous or greater (120V x 15A = 1800W) to ensure it can power anything a standard household receptacle could power.  A 2013 SolSolutions article, “What to Look For In Solar Generators”, infers that an inverter with a rating larger than battery storage capacity is an injustice to the customer.  I beg to differ.  You do not need to use full inverter output, dumping the entire battery’s stored energy in less than an hour like you would by running an air conditioner, but it means the system is capable if needed.  Realistic examples: A well pump may require 20amps to start, but only 4 amps after and only minutes every hour – but you can’t run it if you can’t start it.  Two 10amp tools could each run 6 min/hour (e.g. air compressor one cycle/hour and 600+ cuts by table saw) for a full day’s work at a construction site.  Those tools could not run simultaneously with a 1500W inverter.  The same is true for say a refrigerator, microwave, fan, and light.

As for storage, the article accurately states “usable watt-hours” as being 2/3 battery capacity since battery life is extended by only using the top 50-66%.  And if the system is designed correctly, batteries can easily handle surge loads without degradation.  Of course, recharging when possible and at the correct rate (about 10% total storage per hour) will do the most toward extending battery life.  In the product examples below, you will notice two models offer solar input of about 5% battery capacity which means you better not use up what you’ve stored or it will take forever to recover via solar.  Another offers charging at almost 20% which is not good for an AGM battery.

Other options, characteristics, specifications, preferences, cautions to consider in the planning stages:

• What are your portability requirements or weight limitations?  Hand-carried, wheeled unit, use from pickup truck, semi-permanent location, …?  Greater storage = greater weight.  (Lithium-Ion is lighter, but 3-4 times the cost.)
•  Do you want energy generation options other than solar, such as wind, kinetic (bicycle), water, grid, …?
•  If solar, distance desired between unit and panels (some are combined/inseparable).  Cabled panels are often preferred since where the sun is shining may not be the same place as where power is required.  Seems silly to ask, but you would be surprised at the answers … If planning for solar, do you have good, direct sunshine?
•  What is the voltage of the equipment to be powered? (110V/60Hz, 220V/50Hz, 240V/60Hz, or 12VDC)
•  Is 12VDC output also available and at what amp limit?
•  Modified sine wave inverters are most common, least expensive, and work perfectly for most equipment.
•  Preference in country of manufacture - Chinese or American?
•  Electricity should always be treated with respect.  A plug and play system in a steel enclosure providing no access to the “pointy end” (potentially dangerous parts like battery, wiring) is safer compared to a kit, a non-steel/plastic enclosure, or a batteries-sold-separately unit.
•  The magic “sustainable” number (how many Watts you may use daily) is 75% of useable storage, based on reasonable sunshine daily.

As an engineer, I am reticent to mix units, but I am going to blend apples and oranges into an oran-apple smoothie by ADDING an inverter rating factor, sustainable storage capacity, solar input, bonus points, and even gasoline, all in some semblance of “Watts”, to rate each standard system vs cost.  Think of it as a point system for specifications and investment.  Data is taken from current product websites.  And here is a similar, interesting comparison table, although the data is over a year old.  Please also note, there are dozens of other similar products that could be in this comparison, but they would likely follow these trends.

Various Portable Generator Models and Basic Specifications

(least to most expensive, left to right)

	Wagan Power Cube, $1099	MySolar Backup, $1797	GoalZero Yeti1250, $1800	Xantrex/ MSB PowerHub, $3997	JASPak300, $4299	SUNRNR, $4350	Honda3000, $2330 + 600 gallons gas = $4580	Sol-Solutions SolMan, $4995
Inverter*,  W cont (surge~2x)	1500	1800	1200	1440	1100	3500	2800	1500
Battery Storage, Whr	660	720	1200	2400	1800	2940	**	3600
Useable Storage = 2/3 total (calculated)	440	480	800	1600	1200	2000	**	2400
Sustainable Storage Available = 3/4 useable (calculated)	330	360	600	1200	900	1500	1500**	1800
Solar Input, W	80	90	60	300	300	280	**	140
Bonus Points: High-load inverter? Other than solar? Expandable system? Pure sine or 240V option? Made in USA?	-- -- -- -- --	-- -- -- -- 200	-- -- -- 200 --	-- -- -- -- --	-- -- 200 200 200	200* 200 200 200 200	200* <-200> -- -- --	-- -- -- 200 200
Total “Watts”	410	650	860	1500	1800	2780	1500**	2340
Total “Watts” divided by Cost	0.37	0.36	0.48	0.38	0.42	0.64	0.33**	0.47

Grey = not included in total Green = higher total “Watts”-to-cost ratio; best value proposition, at least if the specifications meet your bottom line needs in the first place.  (A 1200W inverter most likely cannot power an 1100W microwave, much less run anything else at the same time.) Yellow = see * and ** notes to right Red = not so much.

*  I would like to have used these inverter output numbers since one stands out, but in the spirit of apples and oranges, I decided to deny full credit inverter capability points and just give bonus points for being able to run two 10-amp appliances/tools simultaneously (inverter >2400W).  **  A comparable gas generator was included for fair comparison to Traditional Territory.  With no gas, thus no power output, its Total Watts/Cost is 0.  Let’s call the following a cran-apple comparison to allow the Honda to compete.  Six hundred gallons of gas at $3.75/gal makes its cost roughly equal to the three highest-price models and able to output 1500W daily for almost five years.

One spec that stands out in the table above is that the gas generator is the only comparable system to even approach SUNRNR’s inverter output capability.  There is a reason for that … it is tricky to ask a lead acid AGM battery to give up that amount of power, at least safely.  SUNRNR solved that issue in its proprietary design and its proven and patented system.  Also note the bonus points for accepting alternative renewable energy sources such as a wind turbine.  (The Honda lost points for being carbon-based.)

Here is the comparison in a visual format:

Knowing your requirements and expectations is the key to investing in the right portable solar generator for your home or business. Once you have identified your applications, take the time to compare product specifications and value to help you choose the most appropriate PSG for your needs.

Comments welcome.  Also, I’d be very interested in seeing a Consumer Reports analysis of PSG products.  Please let them know if you are interested, too.

3 Small Personal Changes, Immediate Positive Impact on EPA's 30% Carbon Pollution Reduction by 2030 Proposal

photo credit: epa.gov

Whether talking about food, water, electricity, consumer goods, or anything else, it is never a bad idea to understand where things come from, why they cost what they do, their availability, their unintended consequences, and their future impacts.  Americans, for the most part, have been blessed with exceptional access to these and other "commodities", even sometimes taking them for granted or becoming disgruntled if temporarily unavailable. Gratefully, public awareness of these concepts of cause-and-effect, need-or-want, and "what-if?" and the related reasons for making these choices seems to be on the rise.

Examples (and possible motivators):
- concerted efforts to buy locally-grown food (mistreatment of animals, growth hormones, local economy, reduced transportation),
- choosing American-made over price (quality differences, anti-overseas sweatshops, support US manufacturing),
- recycling (awareness of waste, pollution, consumption),
- increased self-reliance, self-responsibility (numerous reasons!)

These choices and changes usually take thought and effort.  Once I decided to stop supporting the use of plastic grocery bags, aka "New Jersey tumbleweeds" (petroleum-product, landfill burden, animal hazard), until it became habit I can't tell you how many times I'd get just inside the grocery store before realizing I had to go back to my car for my reusable bags.  If each of us could change a few tiny things like this ... even just three in the next month, we'd cumulatively make great changes.  And each future change becomes easier.  We make these changes for our own personal beliefs or reasons, but the results can have global ramifications.

It would be great if our utility companies would support us all with the next small change.  If they would give each household a P3 Kill-A-Watt-EZ Energy Usage Meter (or offer at reduced rate), American families could have fun with increasing their knowledge of energy in general and consumption/conservation in particular.  Such a neat little inexpensive device with so much potential impact - see what it takes to make a pot of coffee, how big an inverter is needed to run your microwave, how much stored power your fridge would require during power outage, or how you could do laundry purely by solar.

Let's apply the source/cost awareness above to energy and the EPA's proposed ruling last month seeking a 30% reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions by 2030 from existing power plants based on emission levels from 2005.  Yes, 30% is a large number, possibly inflated to leave room for compromise, but no matter where you stand on global warming, you most likely agree that pollution in any form and consumption of finite resources is not a good thing for mankind.  If we could each cut our electricity consumption by 5-10% through decreased consumption, increased efficiency, usage awareness, or conservation, we would be handing these power plants a 5-10% head-start or more on this requirement.

One place to learn about other easy changes you can make to make a difference is at energy.gov's energysaver website.  Another way, and with immediate impact, is to consider supplemental renewables like portable solar generators.  PSGs come in various sizes, but any comparable to SUNRNR specifications can sustainably provide at least 5% of an average American home's energy usage (given some sun and/or wind:)  They have the added benefit of being available for power outages or for use at non-grid locations.  PSG uses are similar to those of gas generators.  Both provide power independent of the grid, which is beneficial to this power plant proposal, but one still pollutes, robbing Peter to pay Paul using lumps of coal.  And no one in their right mind would want to run a gas generator continuously and sustainably like they could a PSG, to do their part toward requiring less electricity from power plants.