Who’s Using Solar Power To Run Their Aquariums? Paying $.30/kWh in lower NY.

[ReefEco]

I have about 13kw system producing about 16,000kwH per year for my 900g. I'm in California, so it was a must due to the cost of eletricity. I have 33 panels between my house and a shed, all on Enphase microconverters. I still pay several hundred per month for about 3 months in the winter, but can't imagine running my reef without. Go for it if you can!

 

[betareef]

I have a small solar panel system that was on the house when I bought it. It actually does not make economic sense here, to install solar. My little bit of solar power helps offset the cost of running aircon, pool pumps etc.

I would not have purchased the system myself. When you do the sums, you are better off investing the money and using the profits to pay for grid electricity. ROI on buying a solar panel system and inverter is too low. Part of the reason is low rates for feed in to the grid, and inability to use the electricity you generate during the day when it is being generated. Therefore a battery would change the equation, but the cost (and safety) of batteries needs to come way down for that to be worthwhile as well.

 

[ReeferLou]

I have an off grid system with 500W of panel and 16KWHr of LiFePo prismatic batteries and a 2500W AIMS inverter. It is also a backup for power outages which do happen more than I'd like. I built the battery system myself and have it wired up with the auto transfer in the inverter so it can run on grid power and charge batteries when my rates are low. I have dynamic electricity pricing so 12cents off peak and 25 cents on peak. These have increase almost 10% in the last 2 years and will continue to do so it seems. If you can do the installation yourself you can make it cost effective and expand as needed. Basically build your own "powerwall" I make about 2KWHr per day now but may expand in future. I also run a few other loads on the system (refrigerator and furnace). Connecting to the grid will be a lot more challenging and require permits and this would include the net meetering to get credits for extra electricity.

 

[Johnd651]

Second system I've installed, located in CNY by Utica. 11.73 kwp.

 

[Conor_K]

I’ve been in the residential solar business for 15 years.
Happy to answer any questions/make recomendations.
In general, your tank is drawing very little power if you’re using modern day leds, dc pumps, etc…
Wouldn’t take much to offet this draw.
More than likely you’ll end up offsetting more than just the the tank draw, even with a small PV System.

 

[Conor_K]

Second system I've installed, located in CNY by Utica. 11.73 kwp.

Are you doing your own installs or contract work for others?

 

[Johnd651]

Are you doing your own installs or contract work for others?

I designed this one and had an installer install it. Redid the inside panel, added an external 8 spot pass through, and buried utilities at the same time. This is a 450 ft run to the meter, with an additional 50A sub panel at the panels.

 

[Reeferbadness]

I have 2 x 200 g tanks ( plus an electric car) here in San Diego. We have a ton of solar panels ( can’t remember how many) plus 2 Tesla power walls ( about 14 kwt each ). I run a solar surplus April - August and it about evens out in the winter months with less sun. The power walls help distribute power from excess solar plus I’m covered if ww have a power outage for about 12 hours. Would not want to pay or rely on the grid for the tanks

 

[PapaFishRocks]

I’ve been in the residential solar business for 15 years.
Happy to answer any questions/make recomendations.
In general, your tank is drawing very little power if you’re using modern day leds, dc pumps, etc…
Wouldn’t take much to offet this draw.
More than likely you’ll end up offsetting more than just the the tank draw, even with a small PV System.

I know there are a bazillion variables. But just ballpark…..What’s the typical ROI on a small system like you mentioned?

 

[Jimbo327]

In socal, summer on peak is $0.75 per kWh. Plus projected 7% rate increase in each of the next 3 years. Yeah...LOL.

 

[jvbear]



Price of electricity in lower New York has just gone up to $.30/kHw. Cost of running my aquarium keeps rising. Thinking about getting solar panels to lower my electricity costs but realize there is a large upfront outlay.

Wondering which Reefers have decided to get solar panels to provide electricity for their homes and how’s it working out for them?

I am in Texas and have solar panels on my house with a Tesla backup battery that acts as a surge protector for my entire house in addition to storing power. I also have all my heaters and pumps plugged into backup batteries as an extra precaution.

 

[jvbear]



There are so many variables involved in solar - panel type/efficiency, location, direction, exposure, snow cover, ect.

I have a 25kw system on my property that was installed in 2020 for about 40k after all the then tax credits. Some days it will produce 150kw in a day some days near 0 kw. So far the app says it has produced 83.3 MWh of electricity over its lifetime. So at a rate of .30/kw it has produce just under $25K in electricity in about 4 years. But we only pay .12 per KW here.

My apex says my system is costing me about $67 month @ .12 per kw

I got $10,000 back on my federal income taxes when I installed my solar panels. I then got $7,500 back for the Tesla power wall I added.

 

[CrimsonTide]

In my state of Alabama even if I had panels they won't give me credit for extra power generated and you still have to pay a minimum fee every month to have the privilege of them allowing you to have solar.

It's a monopoly. I would love to put panels on my house. The previous owner took out all the trees in my yard and on the front and back of my house is two horse pastures that belong to my neighbors. I have zero intrusion except if there's clouds.

Really hate my state sometimes.

 

[Johnd651]

I was so tired last night.

I put the system in Fall 2018, sized at 115% of average usage in the two years before that. We did it with about 50% of it being covered via tax credits. Our utility does credits, so we build credits during the summer and then consume them during the winter. Adding a third person to the household in 2019, plus going to supplementary electric heat, electric oven, upgrading sump/pool/well pumps, etc we are now running about 10 months on solar, and 2 months buying from the grid. Our rate at the time of install (after rebates) was $0.121/kwh assuming 10 years (full warranty coverage of all components and the system), or $0.048/kwh assuming 25 year useful life of the panel. We were paying about $0.08 at time of install, and are already up past $0.11. We did not do it to save money up front, but instead over the long run, knowing that the utilities are always going up. In that amount we did bury our utilities and size up to 300A, upgrade the main panel, add an exterior panel, trench 450ft out into the field, add a subpanel at the panels, and bury additional empty conduit for future expansion.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So when you produce excess solar electricity, do you get credits for future grid electricity use?

The barn has its own meter, but when there is any excess it gets credited to the main house. When the main house has an excess credit, it gets carried to the next month. Winter in the main house uses up those credits that are mostly generated in spring and summer.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

In my state of Alabama even if I had panels they won't give me credit for extra power generated and you still have to pay a minimum fee every month to have the privilege of them allowing you to have solar.

It's a monopoly. I would love to put panels on my house. The previous owner took out all the trees in my yard and on the front and back of my house is two horse pastures that belong to my neighbors. I have zero intrusion except if there's clouds.

Really hate my state sometimes.

IMO, a minimum for the ability to have power at night or to have power when the panels do not keep up seems appropriate to me. Otherwise, non solar users are paying for your back up power capability.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here’s what the panels on our barn look like:

 

[PeterC99]

Here’s what the panels on our barn look like:

Great picture!

 

[PeterC99]

I have 2 x 200 g tanks ( plus an electric car) here in San Diego. We have a ton of solar panels ( can’t remember how many) plus 2 Tesla power walls ( about 14 kwt each ). I run a solar surplus April - August and it about evens out in the winter months with less sun. The power walls help distribute power from excess solar plus I’m covered if ww have a power outage for about 12 hours. Would not want to pay or rely on the grid for the tanks

Wow! You produced 48kWh in one day?

 

[Troylee]

15 cents a kilowatt here in Vegas but going up steadily.. right now is the best time in Vegas to bank credits as the panels are the most efficient around 75° and produce the most.. once the summer comes it kills all my credits and I still get a $500 power bill but for now I pay $13 a month. What sucks is I didn’t get the batteries so my surplus of power I’m building right now is bought back from my electric company for 75 cents on the dollar Of course sold back to me at full price.. ugh… my tank costs about $70 a month in electricity to run according to my apex. My tank is over 300gallons wet. I have 28 panels and a 12.5kw system.