大咖福利影院

Sitka wrote:

I am interested in the latest update on lithium battery costs as they are a big part of the cost.

Alternative battery systems are possible, a friend of mine built his solar system using lead/acid batteries and claims it works fine.聽 They do take a larger storage area and have a limited life.

Some states provide for selling excess power back to the grid.聽 I don鈥檛 think PR allows for that.

Selling electricity is known as "net metering" and Puerto Rico does allow that.聽 In short, your solar array is connected to the grid (it's an on-grid system) and when the sun shines and you produce more power than you consume, your meter runs backwards.聽 At night, it runs forward.聽 The utility usually pays wholesale prices for electricity, so you won't get rich if you overproduce, so your array should match your needs.聽 And with a pure on-grid system, when the grid goes down, so too does your solar generation.聽 This is the least expensive type of system, but only makes sense where the grid is reliable.聽 You could put such a system together and then buy a generator for emergency use.

The system you seem to be considering is on-grid with battery backup.聽 This is a bit less efficient and significantly more expensive than on-grid, but solves the problem of an unreliable grid.聽 Regarding batteries, banks of lead-acid are pretty common for on-grid with battery backup, but they produce toxic gases, so must be in a ventilated space outside of the living space.聽 They have the advantages of being relatively cheap and readily available.聽 There are other considerations when selecting batteries for your battery bank, including depth of discharge and the number of cycles it can handle.

Oh, I meant to add that your quote for a system struck me as high, but I have no idea what your monthly electric use is, and you did say that the quote was for the best components available.聽 Cost of a solar power system will depend on a host of factors including the amount of power (in KWH) produced, whether it is on-grid, on-grid with backup, or off-grid, and the type and number of batteries you need if it is one of the latter.聽 I've seen complete "kits" capable of producing 4.5 KWH for about $9000 if memory serves.

OK, one more edit.聽 A quick article on the average cost of a 4.5KWH solar array can be found聽 .

Sitka wrote:

I am interested in the latest update on lithium battery costs as they are a big part of the cost.

Alternative battery systems are possible, a friend of mine built his solar system using lead/acid batteries and claims it works fine.聽 They do take a larger storage area and have a limited life.

Some states provide for selling excess power back to the grid.聽 I don鈥檛 think PR allows for that.

Seems lead acid batteries are very popular in PR, most of the installations I seen use them.

PR does buy electricity from People, but that means you need a connection to AEE and they charge you a monthly fee for that, they rotate your electric counter backward to give you credit but the credit is minimal. They also have to come and inspect your installation, and change your meter, these two takes months to occur, mean time you cannot be connected to AEE and to the solar panels, it is one or the other until certified. I heard of people waiting 6 months.