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msimerson / 330-NE-193rd-St

House: 330 NE 193rd St
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Roof needs solar panels #13

Closed msimerson closed 8 years ago

msimerson commented 8 years ago

reasons to do soon

  1. WA state sustainable production incentives expire in 2020
  2. 30% federal tax credit starts shrinking in 2019
  3. WA state sales tax exemption

    todo

    • [x] get quotes from installers
    • Sunergy: 9.90 kW for $30,424
    • NW Wind & Solar: 9.86 kW for $33,341
    • Puget Sound Solar: 8.1 kW for $32,762
    • [x] choose installer
    • [x] schedule installation
    • [x] panel installation
    • [x] permitting, ~7 days
    • [x] Fill out SCL interconnection agreement
    • [x] interconnection approval, ~7 days
    • [x] install panels on roof (starting May 19th).
    • [x] electrical inspection (May 24)
    • [x] install new production and digital net meters, ~7-10 days (expected May 31, actual June 8)
    • [x] get "made in WA" confirmation, 30 days (June 6)
    • [x] receive 30% Federal tax credit (#70)

      options

    • [x] put panels on East/West facing garage roof
    • roof is nearly new
    • put panels on South facing house roof
    • depends on #18 (replace roofing)

      See also

    • Roofing
    • building code requirements at mybuildingpermit.com
    • related to #15 (electrical system)
msimerson commented 8 years ago

Annual Solar Production for 98155 (modeled with PVWatts)

Azimuth Tilt Annual kWh
180 20 10675
180 35 10917
180 40 10875
270 5 9536
270 10 9539
270 20 9433
270 30 9199
msimerson commented 8 years ago

Payback Tracking

Year Expenses Rebates Incentive(1) Net Metering Net Cost
2016 $33,341 $10,002 (#69) $688 $664 $21,888
2017 $3,633 $1,088 $17,004
2018 $3,778 $1,360 $11,661
2019 $3,815 $1,439 $6,192
2020 $3,500 $1,517 $948
2021 $1,517 $-859
2022 $1,621 -$2,736
..... ....... ..........
2030 $1,500 $2,066 -$14,187
..... ....... ..........
2046 $3,869 -$68,104
Totals $34,841 $15,414 $67,416
  1. The 2030 expense is an expected inverter replacement.
  2. WA state renewable energy production incentive.
  3. WSU Renewable Energy System Incentive Program
  4. Senate Bill 5939

Notes

msimerson commented 8 years ago

View from the South:

330_south

msimerson commented 8 years ago

install completed

img_1168 img_1169 img_1170 img_1171

msimerson commented 8 years ago

energy meter

energy meter

The green line is solar production, the green area is solar delivered to the grid. The huge red spikes in the evening is the Nissan Leaf arriving home and getting plugged in.

The graph is showing three typical grey May days. Soon, the grey will clear and the production line will rise to the systems peak capacity. Then our production will greatly exceed our consumption for at least the rest of the summer.

msimerson commented 8 years ago

cloudy -vs- sunny

Enquiring minds keep asking, "Solar in Seattle?" In this image are 5 cloudy (ranging from mostly-to-entirely) May days followed by one day of full sun and a mostly sunny day with late afternoon haze.

partly cloudy vs mostly sunny

The takeaway is that on cloudy days, a 10kW system can can produce more electricity than our house and car uses. On a sunny day, it produces considerably more.

msimerson commented 8 years ago

solar panels

Itek was acquired by Silfab Solar in 2019.

inverter

msimerson commented 7 years ago

Mid-2017 Update.

With a full year of electric production and consumption measured, and rate updates for 2017 and 2018 known, I have updated my estimates. The Net Metering benefit has substantially increased due to:

  1. Seattle City Light electric rates are higher in Shoreline than Seattle.
  2. The 2017 and 2018 rate increases are 5.6% (estimated at 4%)
  3. An added RSA surcharge of 1.5% on electric bills
  4. The coldest winter in 32 years
  5. More electricity use than I predicted.
    • I was still adding insulation to the house deep into the heating season.
    • I guesstimated the kWh it would require to heat a 1955 house with heat pumps.
    • I installed a fast (level 2) charger for our Leaf. We were able to use it more, offsetting gasoline with electricity.
  6. The increased usage is all at the higher 0.14¢ price tier.

Reasons 1-4 weren't known during my initial estimates. Reasons 5 and 6 were planned but their scale was unknown. I knew I'd be removing all natural gas appliances (furnace, water heater, fireplace) but I hadn't yet decided whether to install tankless electric or a heat pump water heater. I hadn't chosen the heat pumps for house heat yet so I didn't know their HSPF. I also didn't know how much more we'd be able to use the Leaf.

The net result is that I now estimate a 100% return on the solar array in the 6th year instead of the 8th year. Instead of a lifetime gain of ~$40,000 I now expect a profit in excess of $50,000.

Notes

msimerson commented 6 years ago

2018-01-01 Update: Net Zero Mission Accomplished

msimerson commented 6 years ago

I just received my 2018 production incentive payment notice. When the check arrives (before Dec. 15th), we'll have recovered 2/3 of the cost of the array before the end of the 3rd calendar year. I now project recouping 100% of the array cost at the end of the 5th year.

msimerson commented 5 years ago

Updated SCL rate increases. The projected increases for future years is 4% per year. The actual increases as approved by the City Council are:

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Average
5.8% 5.4% 3.6% 3.9% 4.0% 4.2% 4.5%

With future rate increases averaging more than 4% per year, the payback period will be sooner, sometime in the 5th year.

msimerson commented 5 years ago

My inverter died on Aug 5th. On Aug 14th I noticed. The breaker had tripped and when I flipped it back on, the inverter would arc and pop and trip it again. I called Northwest Wind & Solar and the next day they came and swapped it out.