Is solar cells a good idea?

[AlfHuy]

and if the buffalos show a sign of fatigue, here is a back-up plan to keep them going.

[Crossy]

Just now, AlfHuy said:

that's a jungle.

 

Actually I'm glad that we are not the only ones whose garden contains assorted dead and dying plants along with miscellaneous step ladders and the like.

 

I also smile that the photo of the solar panels was taken in the peeing rain ???? 

[AlfHuy]

or talking with someone with limited brainpower. Just in case.

Edited September 24, 2020 by AlfHuy

[Crossy]

2 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

and if the buffalos show a sign of fatigue, here is a back-up plan to keep them going.

 

Wasn't that announced by Elon Musk at the Tesla "battery day"?

 

[AlfHuy]

Praying that your investment is paying off.

[AlfHuy]

He got so fed up that he always ran out of battery whilst chatting on Thaifriendly, he finally invested in a bed solar power station.

[Crossy]

@Misab seriously, if you do decide to install panels and go "official" your experience with "My Solar Roof" would be much appreciated. I don't think we have any members who have actually gone the whole hog.

 

We do have a number of members who have "approved" installations and have then been shafted by PEA and had  no-reverse meters fitted.

 

[Youlike]

There are small airconditioners on 12V these days which can run directly from solar panels....for a small room they should be able to keep it cool all day long.

[BritManToo]

24 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Actually I'm glad that we are not the only ones whose garden contains assorted dead and dying plants along with miscellaneous step ladders and the like.

 

I also smile that the photo of the solar panels was taken in the peeing rain ???? 

The guy was supposed to come round this morning and cut everything (300bht), but didn't turn up.

The step-ladder has been carefully positioned so he doesn't strim through the dangling wires.

We also have to hide the rabbit indoors.

Edited September 24, 2020 by BritManToo

[AlfHuy]

What's this?

I saw a few girls on Soi Cowboy showing them around.

Works wherever and whenever you go.

[AlfHuy]

Just now, BritManToo said:

The guy was supposed to come round this morning and cut everything (300bht), but didn't turn up.

The step-ladder has been carefully positioned so he doesn't strim through the dangling wires.

He came and went straight into Emergency Care.

Suspected heart attack.

[AlfHuy]

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

The guy was supposed to come round this morning and cut everything (300bht), but didn't turn up.

The step-ladder has been carefully positioned so he doesn't strim through the dangling wires.

We also have to hide the rabbit indoors.

Gardener is coming. Quickly hiding.

[Grumpy one]

On 9/23/2020 at 7:33 AM, tonray said:

curiousity killed the expat....can explain ?

A feral relative on the wife's side works

[Dazinoz]

14 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

Praying that your investment is paying off.

This photo shows the lack of knowledge possessed by some installers, even professional.

 

Depending on how this solar array is wired, series, series/parallel, individual micro inverters, the shading from the chimney stack could severely affect the output. Not that this many panels would be all in series but if they were the output from all of them would be affected by the shading.

 

Proved all this stuff back in Oz where i had 18 panels arranged with 2 parallel paths of each having 9 panels in series. I had my wife watching the output on the inverter while I was on the roof and I moved that some of my shadow went over only one panel and she called out how much the output had dropped. Cant remember exact figure but was significant.

 

Not sure on costs now but in my opinion individual micro inverters would be the way to go as that way if a panel is shaded, dirty or output down due to problem then that panel won't affect others.

 

Was well worth it in Oz. Our power was around 24 cents unit and I was an early user of solar and got paid 44 cents feed in tarriff. 3 years before I left I did not pay a cent for power and when I left I got over $800 cash back from the power people.

 

 

[sandyf]

On 9/23/2020 at 8:09 AM, Crossy said:

Less than 15k Baht (4 panels and a baby inverter) and you're generating useful power.

 

At 4 units a day @ 4.5 Baht that makes payback about 2.5 years.

 

Quite. "Useful power" is of course in the eye of the beholder. I was about 2500 baht, including the fan, to put a bit of power in the garden.

Panel frame and brackets were knocked up from surplus material. 

[NCC1701A]

16 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

He got so fed up that he always ran out of battery whilst chatting on Thaifriendly, he finally invested in a bed solar power station.

thanks for the suggestion.

[LukKrueng]

My bills in the last 10 months amounted to 1818 units / 6235 baht (un explanable pick during June- July).

I don't have air cons. Most of the usage is for lights and ceiling fans. I guess the hungriest appliance is the oven, but it's not like I bake everyday for hours...

A medium size fridge, 6000w water heater, notebook, table top with TV a screen, water pump. That's more or less the list of regularly electric equipment used. There is the odd usage of power tools. 

So for me most of the usage is during the evenings, must have batteries as well which of course makes the system more expensive. AFAIK batteries don't last much longer than 5 years, and i don't know how long the panels are good for in best conditions. 

I think that by the time I break even I'll probably have to spend again on renewing parts of the system. 

Another con is putting a large sum of money upfront vs paying the monthly bill...

[alant]

Interesting topic.

I am considering solar as a power cut back up for say 3 hours max every now and again, lights tv etc and if possible 3 aircon units.

The frequency of battery change is my main concern.

Advice welcome and appreciated.

[AlfHuy]

16 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

My bills in the last 10 months amounted to 1818 units / 6235 baht (un explanable pick during June- July).

I don't have air cons. Most of the usage is for lights and ceiling fans. I guess the hungriest appliance is the oven, but it's not like I bake everyday for hours...

A medium size fridge, 6000w water heater, notebook, table top with TV a screen, water pump. That's more or less the list of regularly electric equipment used. There is the odd usage of power tools. 

So for me most of the usage is during the evenings, must have batteries as well which of course makes the system more expensive. AFAIK batteries don't last much longer than 5 years, and i don't know how long the panels are good for in best conditions. 

I think that by the time I break even I'll probably have to spend again on renewing parts of the system. 

Another con is putting a large sum of money upfront vs paying the monthly bill...

Probably a few neighbours enjoying free energy.

[colinneil]

18 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

My bills in the last 10 months amounted to 1818 units / 6235 baht (un explanable pick during June- July).

I don't have air cons. Most of the usage is for lights and ceiling fans. I guess the hungriest appliance is the oven, but it's not like I bake everyday for hours...

A medium size fridge, 6000w water heater, notebook, table top with TV a screen, water pump. That's more or less the list of regularly electric equipment used. There is the odd usage of power tools. 

So for me most of the usage is during the evenings, must have batteries as well which of course makes the system more expensive. AFAIK batteries don't last much longer than 5 years, and i don't know how long the panels are good for in best conditions. 

I think that by the time I break even I'll probably have to spend again on renewing parts of the system. 

Another con is putting a large sum of money upfront vs paying the monthly bill...

Your bill is over 6.000 baht, holy s++t !!

We do not use air con, except when it gets over 38 degrees, yet our bill this month was 546 baht.

We have fans/ lights/ cctv/ rice mill/ shredder for napier grass, used daily, i bake bread every second day, use air fryer, microwave, turbo oven, electric gate.

Our night time security lights are all solar, since fitting them our bills have come down a couple of hundred baht per month.

 

[AlfHuy]

2 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Your bill is over 6.000 baht, holy s++t !!

We do not use air con, except when it gets over 38 degrees, yet our bill this month was 546 baht.

We have fans/ lights/ cctv/ rice mill/ shredder for napier grass, used daily, i bake bread every second day, use air fryer, microwave, turbo oven, electric gate.

Our night time security lights are all solar, since fitting them our bills have come down a couple of hundred baht per month.

 

546, that is mega cheap.

I am on around 1700 a month in a small condo.

Aircon in bedroom on all night.

[Pilotman]

4 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

546, that is mega cheap.

I am on around 1700 a month in a small condo.

Aircon in bedroom on all night.

I live in a 200 sq m house and with a pool, my lecky bill is never more than 2,000 Baht per month.  I have air con on at night for 8 hours each day. 1,700 for a small condo sounds a tad expensive? 

[colinneil]

Just now, AlfHuy said:

546, that is mega cheap.

I am on around 1700 a month in a small condo.

Aircon in bedroom on all night.

I am a very careful with electric usage, after we got married i used to follow my wife around switching lights off.

My wife soon learned, she got tired of hearing me say, switch that bloody light off.

If you are careful, never leave lights on when not in the room,same with other things, only switch on when using, your bills will come down dramatically.

When i am shredding napier grass, before i switch on, i have a pile of grass leaning on my chair ready, shredder is only on for 1/2 minutes, if my wife is shredding the motor is running while she goes over for 1 stem at a time, i dont allow her to shred if i am there.

Air con is the biggest user of electric, as i said in my other post we only use it when it is almost 40 degrees.

[bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Your bill is over 6.000 baht, holy s++t !!

We do not use air con, except when it gets over 38 degrees, yet our bill this month was 546 baht.

We have fans/ lights/ cctv/ rice mill/ shredder for napier grass, used daily, i bake bread every second day, use air fryer, microwave, turbo oven, electric gate.

Our night time security lights are all solar, since fitting them our bills have come down a couple of hundred baht per month.

Am I subsidising your electric bill?
 

Our average bill is 1,500 Baht around 400Kw. Mind you, we use A/C sometimes (and only at night set at 30C), hot water jug for tea on 24 hours a day. Washing machine used everyday, etc.

[Grusa]

18 hours ago, Pilotman said:

My motto is, if you can't get someone to do it for you, don't do it. Edit, apart from sex of course, I do make a bit of an effort there. 

Mine is, if you want a job done properly, do it yourself.

 

Another, money spent on good tools is better than money wasted on poor labour.

[LukKrueng]

30 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

Probably a few neighbours enjoying free energy.

No neighbours around

[bluesofa]

7 minutes ago, colinneil said:

I am a very careful with electric usage, after we got married i used to follow my wife around switching lights off.

My wife soon learned, she got tired of hearing me say, switch that bloody light off.

{snipped}

'switch that bloody light off'   Were you an ARP warden during the Second World War?

[LukKrueng]

21 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Your bill is over 6.000 baht, holy s++t !!

We do not use air con, except when it gets over 38 degrees, yet our bill this month was 546 baht.

We have fans/ lights/ cctv/ rice mill/ shredder for napier grass, used daily, i bake bread every second day, use air fryer, microwave, turbo oven, electric gate.

Our night time security lights are all solar, since fitting them our bills have come down a couple of hundred baht per month.

 

My bills in the last 10 months amounted to 1818 units / 6235 baht 

 

It's not even fine print. Read again

 

[colinneil]

6 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

My bills in the last 10 months amounted to 1818 units / 6235 baht 

 

It's not even fine print. Read again

 

Only thing is you are very wasteful with your electric.

How many people in your home?

How BIG is your home?

[Seeall]

On 9/22/2020 at 11:01 PM, Matzzon said:

Sure it´s a good Idea, but probably not as good as you seem to believe it is. You also have to calculate with broken cells and repair cost as well as a few changes during the years.

and new tech all the time...