Solar Panels At The Homestead! First Impressions and Cost 💸

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If you're looking for quality solar installers in San Diego, I used westcoastheatcool.com/ - mention you heard about them from me, Kevin Espiritu!
I can't tell you how good it feels to start generating some of my own electricity at the Epic Homestead! In this video, we'll look at some of the initial thoughts on cost, placement, and technology, with a forward look at what might be the case as time rolls on. At the time of recording, I'd only been running solar for 4 days, so the data is pretty sparse!
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - System Overview
1:42 - Solar Panel Placement
3:01 - Meter, Panel, and Enphase Unit
4:20 - Smart Electric Meter
5:29 - Enphase App
7:35 - Solar Economics
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Опубликовано:

11 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 147

@Ermude10 3 года назад

Haha, that intro pop-up from a half hidden place XD

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

I thought I was more hidden LOL

@Ermude10 3 года назад

@@epichomesteading You're a big grown man, Kevin ;)

@dream.fiiend 3 года назад

🤣☠

@MsJay0913 3 года назад

Lol!! I missed it. I rewatched it after reading your comment! 😂

@marydeleon734 3 года назад

Hahaha! Love when he pops out of random places.

@jdsfrisco 3 года назад

I step away from the argument about solar being "green" and focus on the resiliency aspects of having a home based Plan B for energy. And instead of getting a whole house grid tied system I installed segregated off grid mini systems for specific purpose only for the most critical items. For instance, I have four solar panels that run my DC submersible well pump. There's no battery, no charge controller, no inverter, no WiFi connected blah, blah, blah. The sun rises in the morning, the panels send juice down to the pump, and the pump slowly fills a 5,000 gallon surface tank. When the house or garden needs water it's ready to go via gravity. If there's a power failure... I don't even notice. I have a similar system for the giant deep freezer in the garage and another for basics like lights and device charging. This approach is super cheep to install and avoids all the fancy institutional complexity.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Yeah I would totally agree w/ that, it's more about sufficiency than raw sustainability. Your solution sounds fantastic!

@rebeccavalicoff1581 3 года назад

Wow! Good ideas! Thanks for sharing!

@annalynn9325 3 года назад

Wow that’s similar to what I was thinking about! Good to hear it’s working for someone in the real world

@Kay-xi9kv 3 года назад

Where did you buy your components? Can you recommend a resource for setting this up? Great info, thx!

@emilystevens7837 Год назад

Johnny - do you have a video of how you did your systems?

@ShirleensCorner 3 года назад

THAT POP UP THOOOO, omg I lol'ed so hard! You got an A+ from me!

@anthonyshea5946 3 года назад

Nice- can't wait for the 6 month and 1 year breakdown. Been looking at it for me, but oregon isn't exactly solar heavy due to clouds and winter angles.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Yeah OR I bet would be a LOT harder to make the economics work unless there were some really nice incentives.

@olivergarcia2459 3 года назад

I love those solar panels Kevin and Congrats on 1 Million Subscribers in the Epic Gardening channel

@Engwadur 3 года назад

Thank you for explaining the meter, it not something that gets talked about very much. My power panel company uses the same app, it is so useful!

@Pixics 3 года назад

That meter is pretty cool

@joseruiz7575 3 года назад

Greetings from west Texas. We installed our panels last year and love them! Welcome to the solar community.

@darren781 3 года назад

Hey Kevin, I was eagerly waiting for this solar video :) love from India !!

@sickandtwistedandrew 3 года назад

big moves man! congrats brother! enjoy the solar

@Nigel_Tufnel_11 3 года назад

I want to know about your water usage! :-)

@donelladavid7050 3 года назад

Thank you for the info!

@solarbrianyvonne 3 года назад

Great Job on the video! well done!

@matthysloedolff 3 года назад

I absolutely love solar power and renewable energy! As a scientist I love your ability to see all those graphs and data. I wish our system could do that. We have a similar sized system on our roof and I've been monitoring it over the last couple of years. Overall we put way more power back into the grid than what we consume. We also don't try and live conservatively with our power, so that's saying something. I'd love to also have a battery installed at our place. Have you considered this or are they a bit expensive at the moment? Thanks for the update. I found this video very interesting. Well done on installing the solar panels.

@solarbrianyvonne 3 года назад

A proper battery bank can be expensive to run a home for an extended outage ( days ). Our battery system can power our home for 3 days and cost 9k . I will be honest, a battery backup is not for everyone but it is amazing to have if one can afford it.

@p_l12 3 года назад

I love solar, we had our system now for about a year and half. Had some hiccups at first, but they came and fix everything and its been running great. Next is to get some batteries for storing energy when the sun goes down, as you know heat here in Texas is as bad as in California and we love to run our AC 😆!! Glad you made that decision to go solar and got your system.

@williamreeder3660 3 года назад

Thanks for another great informative video .

@COLDPLAY5MUSIC564 3 года назад

Looking forward for that one month update, love the numbers!

@Pixics 3 года назад

I'm interested to know how much energy those panels end up producing.

@PixiePrincessBrat 3 года назад

Urban mini-stead goals!

@littletechgirl2 3 года назад

Thanks so much for the thorough info. I have been considering it. I will have to see what rebates we have in my area.

@HydroHavenGrow 3 года назад

Excellent. I have a bit of solar system envy. Congrats, that is a sweet setup.

@eb6359 3 года назад

Solar is great. Inverters are a must.

@karissa9111 3 года назад

I had the same system installed in October up here in Wisconsin. 16 panels. getting about 8kwh per day on a good day right now. looking forward to the spring/summer daylight hours!

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

NICE!

@StarAshley55 3 года назад

This absolutely makes me want to get solar for my forever home. Where I'm at not it's not really feasible but I am curious with the averages across different states

@rhondamurff9101 3 года назад

Love those 16.00$ energy relay bills from ComEd!! Solar is so worth it! Love the Federal/ State rebates which reduced the bill to half😉

@darragh5054 3 года назад

Your so lucky to have such sunny weather in January it's better than where I live in summer

@yeabuddy6070 3 года назад

Very nice👌

@stephenluna7932 3 года назад

really enjoying your homestead vids. My future dream post schooling. What I'd like to know: logistics to repairing the panels if they get damaged and if they can withstand pea sized hail or larger, if panels can be expanded onto other structures built later on like a shed or barn.

@barbara-pigeonbray4579 3 года назад

Amazing !

@MrZesty-zu4xj 3 года назад

Looks like you're not alone with solar in your neighborhood. You can see your neighbors from the roof

@Wolf-E-Romeo 3 года назад

It would be cool to have that break down of the 1 month, 6 month, 1 year receiving and usage data. I like looking at graphs though. Also, could you just imagin if everyone had solar? We might need to take some energy from the grid so it couldn't be obsolete, BUT we wouldnt need as much so there would be less usage. To be somewhat self sustaining would be awesome. I would like to know more about the solar panels data for future videos. But it would be interesting to see all the tax data stuff too. It would maybe help me understand if something is happening in my state thats simular.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Will def do the updates!

@Off-Grid 3 года назад

We love our solar! Off-grid has been great.

@garyshaw3575 3 года назад

This is great I am getting my solar system this coming month just had the expert inspection of my roof they are saying I will produce 15.8 kw from my roof space so I am excited to follow your example. I am getting 42 panels they said.

@BrazenSpirituality 3 года назад

Awesome to see your solar system. When will you do an update on the numbers and all that jazz?

@rockyusa2012 3 года назад

Cool ☀️

@RebuiltRuins777 3 года назад

That system will pay for itself ovef time not only in comfort but in electric bills! We just had solar put up in October, and it's nice to have a $10 a month electrical bill! SDGE will still figure out ways to charge you in fees, but its way less than what normal bills used to be. I enjoy the enphase app, but I find that their website is a little better to use. I have it as a shortcut on my phones desktop. Would reccomend trying it out and seeing which one you like better.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Yup I will use the desktop program for sure!

@thersgarden3144 3 года назад

Great earth friendly

@StephanieJoRountree 3 года назад

Way cool!

@TamarLitvot 3 года назад

I heard (and checked it out) that the 26% federal rebate, due to be reduced this year, has been extended, apparently for 2 more years! We’re just beginning to look into this for the house we’re moving into - downsizing from a family house in a heavily wooded neighborhood to a smaller house that has a fair amount of roof exposure to the sun. But since we’re in the suburbs of D.C., we won’t get anywhere near as much sun as you do. I was hoping to get a battery system also, but everything we’re doing to our new-to-us home is costing more than we expected, so we’ll probably just do a grid-based system.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Oh wow, guess I didn't need to rush after all :P - Battery to me is a waste if you have net metering, at least until tech cost comes down

@hubertinas3438 3 года назад

good luck bro..

@kellyj5610 3 года назад

I have a smaller 5 panel system and went from 200+ electric bills to 25-. Late summer I usually hit the magic negative and get a credit.

@ToysMum 3 года назад

Any battery plans, Kevin? Even more data for you!

@MrZesty-zu4xj 3 года назад

Do you have a battery back up? I must of missed you talking about it. We're getting solar at the farm and phew boy is there a couple different options ranging from 10k - 80k

@luanllluan 3 года назад

So, seven years here from now you'll be paying just about 1/10 of what you pay now?! that's amazing, houses are long-term investments and I can see for sure that this would be amazing

@JamieBainbridge 3 года назад

I've got 6.6kW of panels going into a 5kW inverter. I generate 30-40kWh on a hot day, 20-30kWh on a cloudy day, or 10kWh on a very rainy day. It doesn't rain much here. I only use 10kWh in the day and 5kWh at night. Feeding back into the power grid at 14c/kWh I have had negative power bills for a year. So there's at least one benefit to living in hot Brisbane :P

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Wow, really nice production!

@74rocka 3 года назад

Hi Kevin, can you do the 1 mth & 3 mth updates? Thanks.

@1MzSyd1 3 года назад

Are we almost at 6months? I want to do solar so bad. However last time we looked it was not a savings. Due to cost of panels and install it would be just as much as current bill for a loan repayment. I would love to see a real person follow up. ((Real person = you Kevin lol))

@ilenastarbreeze4978 3 года назад

hey have you thought about also adding in a wind turbine? you could DIY yourslef one from just a motor or alternator, i dont know what kind of wind you get but even a small one on your roof connected in with your solar could help pay the solar back quicker

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Pretty sure the neighbors wouldn't be down!

@ilenastarbreeze4978 3 года назад

@@epichomesteading if its a really small one i dont think it would make that much noise, not like a hydro plant :D i assume thats what you mean

@Toni-rt7xv 3 года назад

Epic

@nathitappan 3 года назад

Non solar related question: where did you have your epic urban homestead metal garden sign made?

@juliewilliamsnewzealand818 3 года назад

this was very interesting :) but what i need to know is.....where did you get those plant labels and poles that were behind you in the trial garden olease?

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Amazon!

@juliewilliamsnewzealand818 3 года назад

@@epichomesteading Thankyou Kevin :) Just ordered and are on their way YIPPEE!!!

@rodney73991 3 года назад

not right know but get book liberty on solar homestead self make projects. like solar dehydrate or solar stove. actually make even more money solor panels as not use eletristy run stove or and dehydrator. I been dehydrate in car very good widows up. so had old slide door ripped parents house double pan for insulation pulled apart know have two peaces glasses. take 2x4 make box with support middle. paint grill heat paint. glue glasses silicone glue. be glasses box legs. put stuff alluvium tray in glasses box maybe slight slant so water go side. think worry dehydrate vehicles any more. it might get hot cook meat in glasses box. maybe double cooker not sure yet.

@ecologytoday 3 года назад

In a couple of years, I hope to have a confluence of enough saved cash and government incentives to have a small cottage system that is off grid for my small home. I am willing to make reasonable concessions to keep the cost low. I may even add on the system as money allows. The grid-tied systems are unnecessarily expensive and complicated in my region. We have enough power outages that backup power is a good idea. For many reasons, including a full expanse of south facing roof, I would prefer to go solar.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Hoping you achieve this Jay

@kellybblanchard 3 года назад

is it easy to get on your roof to wash the panels? even with rain, the schmutz residue will impact!

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Super easy

@mikecotino8492 3 года назад

Can u show us where you placed the batteries and how to maintain them?

@ringailetervydiene5942 3 года назад

600 kWh costs around $180? Wow! People in San Francisco really need to get solar like yesterday. We live in zone 4 and have a heat pump. In november we used 1064 kWh which cost us around $105. We get 1690 hours of sun a year according to our local solar company, and still people put up solar panels on their roofs.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Jealous of your energy prices hahaha

@iamkellyah 3 года назад

I have Tesla panels (formerly Solar City) and you'd think given that it's Tesla they'd have a good app, but it is practically useless. Wish I had what you have!

@Wolf-E-Romeo 3 года назад

I feel stupid for saying this but... I never though palm trees got THAT tall. Like i knew they were a tall tree, but i kind of thought they were shorter than what is behind you... But im from the midwest and never have visited the coast. Lol. Cool you were upgraded. Just had to pause to say that.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

These are Queen palms, one of the taller varieties!

@OkNoBigDeal 3 года назад

Palm trees can grow so tall that they have several biomes on just a single tree!!! From snails, reptiles, insects, amphibians, birds, and various plants, all can occupy or utilize different parts of a palm and never see or interact with each other. They are like their own ecosystem.

@Wolf-E-Romeo 3 года назад

@@OkNoBigDeal that's crazy! But that makes sense i suppose. Knowing how birds, squirrels, and other animals inhabit our forests

@norcaljennifer 3 года назад

I live in Northern California; do I understand correctly, if my roof needs improvement to install solar panels, there is a rebate on the cost of the roof repair/replace?

@matthewbrown4895 3 года назад

There was a rebate that was for 2020. Depending on the company, there might be a deal where they fix your roof and give you solar. There might also be more rebates in the future, so keep an ear out.

@bllplayer87 3 года назад

26% rebate extended to 2021!

@Pixics 3 года назад

Very cool

@tammibolender3785 3 года назад

I would love to go solar, but I am not sure I would get much of a return on my investment in Iowa, I would need to look into how snow would affect it, and since the Dericho that hit us Aug 10 I am terrified of adding anything to my home or yard that could come loose and become a projectile.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

I wonder if geothermal would work for you!

@tammibolender3785 3 года назад

@@epichomesteading I should look into that.

@alexandria9286 3 года назад

Hey Tammi, fellow Iowan here. My neighbors and church both have solar panels on their roof and love them! They haven’t had any issues with snow as far as I know and the energy savings have been significant. The college I go to (also in the Midwest) invested in geothermal and it has resulted in significant savings in terms of heating and cooling costs. I’m not familiar with the ins and outs of residential geothermal systems, but I’ve seen a couple going in and I’m excited by their potential for midwestern homes! Best of luck figuring out the best solution for you!

@christinaaubin8508 3 года назад

Check out Daerik RU-vid channel, they’re in Colorado and have a big solar system.

@solangecolarossi 3 года назад

how efficiant are the panels in cloudy days?

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

So far looks like -4 kwH

@iamactuallyover18 3 года назад

That intro hahaha

@Pixics 3 года назад

he looked burnt when he popped out

@catnipaddict88 3 года назад

I’m dying to get solar here in Ft Lauderdale FL but the electric company is terrible down here. They only let you get enough panels to cover your usage, they will literally make sure you get less than what you need so that you don’t go over. Regardless, once we look into making a second floor to the house then I’m getting the panels!

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Wow that's lame!

@catnipaddict88 3 года назад

@@epichomesteading super duper lame lol

@TamarLitvot 3 года назад

IIRC, Florida passed laws to hamper people who wanted to install solar, making it more costly. It’s possible that what you’re experiencing is because of those laws. I remember this because the news anchor (maybe Rachel Maddow?) talked about the irony of having that law in “The Sunshine State!”

@catnipaddict88 3 года назад

@@TamarLitvot well my brother who lives in central Florida has solar panels and he’s able to sell his energy production back to Duke Energy. The issue in south Florida is that we only have one energy provider option, FPL and they own everything

@catnipaddict88 3 года назад

@@TamarLitvot why you said is possible too, but mostly is FPL LOL

@christinahutchison3967 3 года назад

I know this may be hard to answer but how far north are solar panels actually feasible to use

@vulk86 3 года назад

So expensive. An equal installation in Belgium costs around 6k.

@trepadot8283 3 года назад

Somebody please help me understand the west facing panels. I had the loose understanding that solar panels are always facing south (in the northern hemisphere at least).

@samreijers909 3 года назад

It depends on the situation. If you have an obstruction to the south then a east/west orientation might be more desirable. Also west is very interesting as it will move production later in the day which helps because that is the time energy usage is very high.

@matthewbrown4895 3 года назад

Hey! Solar installer here. South facing is preferred because it optimizes the total production that you can have. If a panel is facing E or W, then the production is cut into morning or evenings. But, the biggest reason why we would deviate from S facing is because of customers/cosmetics. It looked like his house did not have a perfect S facing wall, so maybe that was the reason for turning more W. Obstructions also change plans. It is very situational.

@fromz9191 3 года назад

When do the batteries come?

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Haven't ordere dthem yet!

@deblebel4233 3 года назад

What is the life expectancy of the panels and can any part of them be recycled? Or would they be garbage? Thanks for sharing.

@solarbrianyvonne 3 года назад

Hi Deb. Some of our panels have been running for over 25 years and still going strong.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

20+ years minimum as far as I know, recycling I don't know the answer to yet

@matthewbrown4895 3 года назад

Warranty is typically 25 years. Production does tend to decline, but typically it is not super noticeable save fore a few circumstances. As far as recycling them, I guess it depends on what you mean by recycle. We usually just send ours back to the company, but I guess you could try to break them down and recycle the bare metals. That seems like doing to much imo.

@poletooke4691 3 года назад

Price needs to come down to like $2,000 for a full system for people to really do this. : /

@rkrzyston 3 года назад

Are you inland enough to miss the June gloom?

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

Nope!

@gracereeves7803 3 года назад

June gloom? Heck, here in Santa Cruz County it comes mid May & doesn't leave until after Labor Day. So much for any Summer! 😭

@WildNVolatile 2 года назад

Now that it's been a year, could you give an update?

@cableguy209 3 года назад

Research the great reset folks

@trishdavi7049 3 года назад

wow! 4.7 kw...enough to run everything...& can u sell some back to the electric company?

@trishdavi7049 3 года назад

Yay& sorry i commented too soon. Is there any battery bank set up to tap into when or if you get greenhouse set up complete with intake and exhaust fans maybe automatic misting or mechanical shade cloth for cooling and bloom forcing.

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

No battery bank...yet!

@trishdavi7049 3 года назад

@@epichomesteading other than recycling deep cycle automotive batteries for my solar off grid im waiting for the new better batteries...like tesla. Are you too?

@trishdavi7049 3 года назад

@@epichomesteading you are living my dream with your solar array! and your gardens are much neater than mine. Nice clothes too Kevin complimentary colors, neat and not wrinkly far from slobby b t w

@normaruiz9148 Год назад

For work l need information

@sbradymira 3 года назад

13plus grand for 4kw?!? Damn man. Wish I knew you where looking at solar. I’ve learned so much from your channel I would have loved to help you out with this.

@Pixics 3 года назад

Too bad the solar panels doesn't just feed into a battery so you will have energy when the grid goes down

@solarbrianyvonne 3 года назад

@quengafarm 3 года назад

I am a number cruncher and I save $500 to $600 a year with solar. I've yet to meet someone who isn't saving money. I still don't understand why people don't get solar in areas like ours. They have a $400k house and a $50k car, but won't spend $20k on a solar system that saves them money.

@Pixics 3 года назад

I guess it's not really a priority for them. I was interested in Solar, but I wanted to put it into a battery instead of feeding it back into the grid.

@quengafarm 3 года назад

@@Pixics Actually, if you're grid tied and have net metering, a battery is a waste of money. I build up a lot of credits in the winter and by March I can have around 400 to 600 kwh in credits. Guess how many batteries I would need to store that much energy? It would cost more than my house! Batteries only make sense off grid, or in homes that don't have solar and instead store power during cheaper periods. Big misconception for grid tied. So if you have net metering, send it back to the grid and get your credits!

@epichomesteading 3 года назад

I couldn't agree more, I want an asset or an expense-reducing expense, not a liability like a new car. OK i want a new car...but AFTER

@quengafarm 3 года назад

@@epichomesteading I 100% would rather get a new car, too, but priorities!! I had a buddy who gave me the same arguments for several years, but once he got solar and saw the difference in his Summer bills... #itoldyouso Love watching you grow the homestead!

@joepa6106 3 месяца назад

Our larger family house and our high electricity usage we would have to they said ... put panels all over the roof and a good part of the yard just to get a 50 % reduction at 100,000 cost ... determined it was just too expensive.... but if the price comes down 50% sometime maybe that quote was 5 years ago

@JohnWick-xz9tc 2 года назад

no need for music when talking

@joepa6106 3 месяца назад

Also if you have a shingle roof ... you want to have a new or newer roof ... because if they need to replace the roof you need to take down all the solar panels 1st ... another thing to consider

@joepa6106 3 месяца назад

My dad told me solar only works for smaller homes or people that don't use much electricity... if you use alot of electricity your not producing enough to make it cost effective.. we could pay our electric bill for 10 years for what we would need to invest into solar just to get a 50 % reduction ( save about 500 per month )

@joepa6106 3 месяца назад

Central Pennsylvania