Another Leaf Goes Solar, In "Sunny" Seattle!

We did it! After what feels like a lifetime of deliberation, we are now a solar home. Driving on solar electrons is a dream come true!

We went with West Seattle Natural Energy, they were awesome! Our roof was a little tricky, low pitch torch down with a layer of insulation on top with exposed ceilings (little room for error). In just a few years since our last estimate the cost practically fell in half so we really went for it and had a 9.8 kW install (10 kW is the max for the WA state sales tax exemption), a total of 40, 240 watt Solar World panels, made in Beaverton Oregon with Enphase micro inverters. the cost with new electrical panel upgrade, roofing and all came to $4 a Watt. We are getting 15 cents a kW from the utility which should average about $2K a year. We could have gotten up to 53 cents a KW back but would have had to go with WA made panels and inverters which would have cost much more up front. We decided to go with the less expensive panels, and get a larger array, figuring that in the long run we will make out better, considering the rebate here ends in 2020. We will have almost no utility bill on top of the rebates. It was pretty amazing to plug the Leaf in for a charge on a sunny day and still have the meter go backwards! Based on preliminary calculations our monthly average in savings and rebates should be more than the monthly loan payment, which blows my mind. For anyone in this area, I would highly recommend Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union's Energy Smart loan program. we filled it out on line and got approved the next day, without having to do a home equity loan.

The timing for solar in WA state is great right now. Prices are at an all time low right now, and are expected to rise soon. The tariff on Chinese imports went into effect on Sept 1st, it's expected that now the US manufacturers are going to raise their prices. The sales tax exemption for solar in WA state ends in June of 2013. These two factors, along with a low install bid we couldn't refuse, caused us to pull the trigger finally. It's always a gamble, but at this point it really doesn't matter how much better the price gets, it's low enough to be worthwhile.

Awesomeness!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

With $40000 dolars you could buy a litle property with a creek on it, build a little "run of the creek" dam, have a $400 10Kw generator installed there and it will produce a lot more electricity than the solar panels. Well, that is my plan (dream) . I just hate to look at all this water going down hill for free.

Good gob! Better than me dreaming. Do you have a link to the Enphase so I can see the "sunny" Seatle production? (PM me) We should have slightly more sunshine here and I have a good part of the roof pointing south.

My current experience (although with a battery backed up system, which has ~ 83-86% efficiency. Its all WA made, so I get the full 53 c per kWH) is that I get a little less than 1000 kWH per kW peak power installed per year (for a system on a south facing roof with no shade, so the perfect spot). We produced somewhere between 3800 kWH average for the past 2 years and maybe will hit 4000 kWH for this year (which was so far exceptionally sunny).

I think the rule of thumb - 1000 kWH per kW installed - roughly holds, which should give a good estimate (+/- 10%) of what to expect for Seattle.

it will be interesting to see how it adds up. we are encumbered by trees to the east on the lot. we did break down and had a douglas fir removed that opened up 20% on the array. directly to the south we have a very large tree, fortunately it only shades in the winter months. it is interesting to be faced with opposing values, we love trees, and we love sun!

klapauzius said:

My current experience (although with a battery backed up system, which has ~ 83-86% efficiency. Its all WA made, so I get the full 53 c per kWH) is that I get a little less than 1000 kWH per kW peak power installed per year (for a system on a south facing roof with no shade, so the perfect spot). We produced somewhere between 3800 kWH average for the past 2 years and maybe will hit 4000 kWH for this year (which was so far exceptionally sunny).

I think the rule of thumb - 1000 kWH per kW installed - roughly holds, which should give a good estimate (+/- 10%) of what to expect for Seattle.

Click to expand...

interesting, I'm not a big fan of mass hydro, but I do like micro hydro! I'll try and see if I can post a link to my production, it is of course going to look pretty pathetic for the next several months.

camasleaf said:

With $40000 dolars you could buy a litle property with a creek on it, build a little "run of the creek" dam, have a $400 10Kw generator installed there and it will produce a lot more electricity than the solar panels. Well, that is my plan (dream) . I just hate to look at all this water going down hill for free.

Good gob! Better than me dreaming. Do you have a link to the Enphase so I can see the "sunny" Seatle production? (PM me) We should have slightly more sunshine here and I have a good part of the roof pointing south.

Click to expand...

GaslessInSeattle said:

interesting, I'm not a big fan of mass hydro, but I do like micro hydro! I'll try and see if I can post a link to my production, it is of course going to look pretty pathetic for the next several months.

Click to expand...

Well, for November thru February I would not expect too much....Based on our 4 kW system, I have seen 100-150 kWH in November, 90-110 for December, 90-100 in January, 150-180 in February and 250 -280 in March. Multiply those numbers by ~2.5 (or 9.8/4.08 to be precise) and you can get an idea what to expect. The micro inverters are probably at higher efficiency, so that might add another 5-10 %.

i'm dubious if we'll even see that. like I said, there is a wide tree to our south that casts an ever bigger shadow as the sun drops for the winter. the good news is that in the summer we get lots of exposure. i'll keep you all posted. so far we are at 414 kW this month.

klapauzius said:

GaslessInSeattle said:

interesting, I'm not a big fan of mass hydro, but I do like micro hydro! I'll try and see if I can post a link to my production, it is of course going to look pretty pathetic for the next several months.

Click to expand...

Well, for November thru February I would not expect too much....Based on our 4 kW system, I have seen 100-150 kWH in November, 90-110 for December, 90-100 in January, 150-180 in February and 250 -280 in March. Multiply those numbers by ~2.5 (or 9.8/4.08 to be precise) and you can get an idea what to expect. The micro inverters are probably at higher efficiency, so that might add another 5-10 %.

Click to expand...

Congrats on going solar and powering up the Leaf Alternative Energy!