So I am thinking of going solar on our (potential) future house. Does anyone

[GreenPartyVoter]

know if the new energy bill is likely to have incentives for that? (Should we wait to build because of it, or is it possible to build now in such a way that we could more easily accommodate the panels down the road?)

[NYC_SKP]

1. Your state has some incentives, here you go:

Not sure about any Federal Money coming, but you can contact your state Public Utility Commission.

Some different state-sponsored incentives are listed here:

http://www.efficiencymaine.com/renewable-energy/solar

:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Thanks! I was just on a similar site checking into energy star rebates as well.

:hi:

[SheilaT]

2. I suppose you could research on line.

Several months ago I had a fascinating conversation with someone in my state (New Mexico) about some program to provide tax credits or incentives of some sort for people to put solar panels on their homes. But there was some kind of a clause that had the utility company actually owning the solar panels. It seemed that in the end, the homeowners didn't really own the rights to the solar energy being beamed down on their homes.

So you might want to see who actually benefits in the long run from having solar panels.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. That is one thing that kind of bums me about the way it seems to work in my state. We would have

to be grid-tied, which means when the grid goes down we wouldn't have power. (At least, that's the way I understood it to be.)

[murray hill farm]

5. I recently met some folks who...

found a used system via ebay. The people who were selling were upgrading their solar system.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. That's cool. Hadn't thought of that. :^)

[Ready4Change]

7. Not how I understand it.

If you are buying your own system I doubt you HAVE to be connected to the grid.

Now, if you were going with one of those plans where a company installs panels on your roof for 'free,' and you pay them to use the power from the panels? I don't know the specifics, but I could see them requiring a grid tie. Otherwise, how are they going to track your usage, and how are they going to make use of any excess generation?

In either case, if the grid goes down, you will have power during sunlit hours. In dark hours you won't have power unless you also have installed a battery backup system. I don't know if the 'solar service' companies do battery backups at all.

[Statistical]

10. You can have grid tie system and still have battery backup.

It is called a hybrid system (also simply called grid-tie with battery backup).

You simply need a slightly more expensive inverter that can handle both.



Here is just one example:
http://www.xantrex.com/xw/index.html

However if you keep track of how often power outages occurs it may simply make more sense to buy a grid-tie system with natural gas generator. Batteries for off grid and hybrid systems are expensive and need to be periodically replaced. It can add considerably to overall system cost. Also sizing the array for backup or offgrid power is more complex and often requires a larger array.

[kristopher]

8. You may want to look at this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x245297

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20003421-54.html

I'd be inclined to wait a couple of years and design around the idea that solar will be added at a later date. Contact a local solar installer and discuss what preparations you need to include in the build and to ensure the orientation of roof area.

[Kolesar]

9. Sheathe the south face of the house with thin-film photovoltaic siding/panels

Select windows for the south face that have a high solar gain (solar heat gain coefficient, SHGC). "High" would be 0.5 or higher. I think you can find 0.6. They are hard to find. Marvin Windows of Minnesota sources them. I started a thread here at DU/EE forum about this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=242716