I want to power my new home I am building on solar power alone what will the cost be roughly?
Image by Dept of Energy Solar Decathlon
Zoe Galan of the Universidad de Puerto Rico sets up a temperature sensor inside her team?s solar-powered home for an objective contest during the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Friday, Oct. 09, 2009. (Photo by Stefano Paltera/US Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon)
Question by fourtwenty: I want to power my new home I am building on solar power alone what will the cost be roughly?
I also want to stay off the electric grid . It would cost an additional ten thousand dollars to be hooked into it and I want to be independant from utilities. Would solar panels and batteries power lights and T.V , computer , washer dryer ect.
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
3 Responses to I want to power my new home I am building on solar power alone what will the cost be roughly?
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TV, lights and small appliances, yes. Washer, maybe. Dryer, not likely unless it’s gas – consider a clothesline. Electric range or oven, no. Hot tub, no unless it’s converted to a gas heater.
The raw panels are about $ 3-8 per watt. So for 6Kw figure about $ 18k for the panels. The charger/inverter and batteries, figure $ 2-3k more. Figure about $ 30k including the installation.
You might also consider a generator. The off-grid houses I’ve seen tend to have them, even if they have batteries too. Add $ 3k for that.
Do you have a creek? Consider small-scale hydro too.
more slack
August 24, 2012 at 11:52 am
There are lots systems available out there, and the price range is huuuuuge.
I built one solar panel for my house just to see how well it would work and now I am powering a couple of lamps and a TV from it.
Seems to me like you could build enough of these to power your whole house.
It cost me about 200 bucks to build and took most of a Saturday.
Here are the plans I used:
http://energyfromhome.com/link.html
Rebtl
August 24, 2012 at 12:20 pm
I had a similar issue and found a great guide to help. You can actually make your own solar power system and do it for a very affordable price. I made my solar system for just under $ 300.00 but it all depends on how much you really want to power. For this price you can conceivably power all of your household appliances. I highly recommend this guide to check out. http://www.EasyHomeSolarPower.com
Jonny 5
August 24, 2012 at 12:43 pm