I'm in England, waiting for rain to be turned into household power. I've seen the sun in videos and books. Looks really bright and useful.

Common problem with roofing and solar companies, the go out of business to avoid warranty, then start another company different name.

I've only been on a 3 kW solar power off grid system for about 30 months, with a 32 Lithium 275 Wh cells. It's is quite a journey to see it function within my control. I did all the work myself while using a smaller solar system to build it with. The panels are used (8 x 360 Watt) ground mounted SunPower. But the biggest reward is knowing I have total control of my electric power.

I like the idea of solar carport or gazebo for ease of access or ground mount if you are in the county with the space. Also you can go with a small battery and an inexpensive generator for longer duration outage such as hurricane source events etc. Also note that in the USA adding solar increases the value of your house by 4% on average. You are my favorite Da Vinci!

Been on solar for 4 yrs and it still feels great on hot sunny days where my AC is on max and I'm still sending extra power to the grid.

A 10 year review? This is unheard of. Well done!

Finally, a comprehensive review of the pros and cons and overall costs associated with a solar system which kept me from obtaining a system! My biggest fear is hail which we can count on every year here in Calgary! And the harsh winters mixed in! Do the panels over the roof keep the attic a lot cooler due to the shade and under panel air circulation?

Thank you for this. I appreciate that you have broken everything down into smaller bits. Every video I have watched so far has dumped an overwhelming amount of information without really giving an explanation of the system. Until now I have been left feeling stupid and frustrated. While I will have to watch it again before purchasing a system this video has given me that aha(!) moment to what to do for my situation. Meaning a cabin in the woods soon to be my off grid full-time living space.

Got my panels for 21 years now. They are well above 80% still. Had to replace 1 converter I reused from my very first solar installation 23 years ago. 300 € of maintenance in 21 years. I am going to double the capacity and add a Batterie next year. Never cleaned the panels. It’s so cool!

Had mine here in Australia for 11 years and it paid for itself inside 2 years. Since then, I have never had a power bill. It was installed by an electrician friend of mine who was scrupulously honest, thankfully......The rates the power companies buy the generated power from me helped of course.....great video, thanks for sharing.

I'm in Brasil (yes with a "S") and I have 8x 340Wp panels and 8x 220Ah batteries. I agree with every single word you said in this video. In my case, The energy my panels produce is more reliable than the energy company. I'm not 100% off grid, but I have most of my house on solar and that part is 24/7 on solar. My energy bill fell 75% off. I intend to keep the house 100% off grid and use the grid only for emergency purposes.

I'm finding this a year later, but this is a great video, thank you! Considering solar for our home now, and your calculators are especially appreciated (as I'm sure their logic still generally applies). Thanks again!

Oh my goodness! I study electrical engineering and i find your content the best yet seen ever from thousands. PLease continue what you do, please!!

In depth, clearly communicated info on a subject that can be pretty confusing. Having a 10 year experience to evaluate separates you from a lot of other reviews or opinions on solar. Well done. I liked and subscribed based off of this video.

Two Bit. This was one of the most informative presentations I have ever seen. Thanks for that boat load of info. Really really informative

For anyone confused about why panels stop working when the grid goes down - imagine being an electircal worker happy you've turned off the grid area and about to start working on the lines while some person up the road a bit is buay pumping electricity into your line from the other direction. It makes a lot of sense to cut it off but still a major downside to getting solar to offset power outages.

I wish you another 10 happy peaceful years to come! Regards from Athens Greece...thank you...

This is actually one of the best solar videos I’ve ever seen, good job!

Here I am at the end of September, 2022. I'm now in the process of contracting to get a system installed on my roof, and I'm doing last-minute worrying that I've forgotten some aspect. I saw my previous post and your response. Big shot of joy for me.. With more information under my belt, I can comprehend more details on this video. Thank you again. Charley

Thank you so much for this feedback. This is my first time seeing your channel and you hit on ALL my areas of concern.

Another great advantage in hot climates is they shade the roof and make cooling the house more efficient just by their presence

I've had mine in the UK for 10 years too. Paid for themselves in 6 years, then invested in a Powerwall 2, another great investment which together cost £20k. They contribute 68% toward our total power consumption, which now includes our two electric cars, so no more petrol, or diesel fuel costs either. Best investment ever.

This is the most helpful video I’ve watched on this topic. What a wealth of information. It’s making me rethink initial phase and final phase costing/recovery as well as power failure, generator and battery bank decisions. You have opened a new window for me. Thanks. Will check out any other vids you’ve done on this topic.

I found that by delaying the charging of my DC coupled battery until noon in summer, my output increased by 12%. I also found that my 41 panels rated at 13.25 kW could actually produce 15 kW of power. This 15 kW limit was made up of 5 kW going straight from the panel's DC output to my DC coupled battery battery and 10 kW flowing through my 10 kW inverter to my EV, house and the grid.

“What would you keep for 25 years”? The only thing I've kept that long is a wife; she came with no warranty, no trade in provision, a very messy separation clause, high maintenance probability, and, I was warned by the manufacturer that she would be a handful even in the best of times. 30 years later………..wwweeellll……….

Here in Australia we have two factors in favour of solar, the first is we get a lot of sun (perhaps the only advantage of being on the driest inhabited continent) and secondly we have much cheaper solar systems. I recently added a 6.6kw system to the already existing 5kw system and added two Tesla Powerwalls. The system powers my house, charges my Tesla and exports about 150% of power I use even though the system is throttled by my energy supplier to 5kw of export. It takes a couple of really low production days for us to draw from the grid - happens about once a month on average…

Bro, I am very thankful that I found your channel. The info is straight forward and shared in earnest. I will definitely share links to your videos in my circle.😎

Great content. On the cleaning. I had the solar folks when they were on the roof install a PVC piping syste wit sprinklers aimed at the panels. I simply turn on the water for about 15 minutes when the panels are dirty, actually dusty and they are clean, the whole system there ran 500 dollars with the parts and labor. My break-even point was 3.7 years. Our panels are on 3 side, to the East (yep, morning sun, no trees) South, the bulk of the panels and finally West for late afternoon. My payback was faster because of credits back to grid and - - we live in the desert with an average of 286 days of sunshine.

If your power company has peak billing, I want to point out that you can also install a battery -- no solar panels, just a battery -- and program the battery controller to charge it in the middle of the night and use it in the evenings, to reduce your peak power consumption. The savings per month is smaller, but the initial cost is also smaller.

Thanks for some really good, in-depth info... I'm in the research stage of building a home on wheels, and you answered a number of questions that I've had. More importantly a number of questions that I hadn't even considered yet... Much Thanks!

I love this channel! You do such a great job with explaining things, and you are such an easy guy to listen to and very comprehensive coverage on every subject. This comes at a opportune time for me because I am going to see the fellows Hot Springs operation that runs 100% on solar And he’s going to show me around through what he’s done in creating his system and maintaining it. I’ve always been interested in solar and installed a system on our house about two years ago, which has worked out very well but you filled in a lot of gray areas in my knowledge. I will be able to have a better comprehension of what his system entails. Excellent job with everything you do. I wish I had found your channel years sooner, but better late than never keep up the great work.

One of the most cogent and informative explanations of a solar system I’ve ever heard and I’ve been following solar since I was a kid in the 70s!!!

I’ve always thought it’s ridiculous that a company can sell a long warranty and just go bankrupt like that.

This is the first video of yours that I have watched. I have followed solar for years myself. You have taught me something. I look forward to having the time & money to invest into solar myself, following your model. You also have a passion for it that shows thru to me. Thank you for starting this channel. Looking foreward to more.

About 9-10 years ago I designed and built the last home I'll ever build for my wife and myself. As we were more than 1,000' from any electrical source and more than a mile off of any paved road, it was cheaper to design the house for solar and install it than it was to run power that 1,000' and then still have a massive Khalifoniastan PG&E bill each month afterwards. So I built a 4KW system with an on the ground rack (no shadows, precise angles for best performance and easy to clean regularly) next to a 10'x10' battery/inverter shed using lead acid batteries, two separate banks of them at 48v. It also housed a generator/inverter about 60' from the house. Other than monthly maintenance (checking battery water levels and cleaning panels) it worked quite well, allowing us power when winter storms came up and shut everyone else down. Now, like so many who could no longer stomach the insanity which has become my native state, I live in Idaho where electricity so far is running about .086 cents a KWH instead of over .50 cents. It's NOT the cost of electrical generation which has gone up in Khaliforniastan, it's the politicians robbing yet one more piggy bank there while failing simultaneously to upgrade and produce more electrical infrastructure...

You can use blocking diodes to isolate shading panels ..I installed ally own system....and all my panels are ground level to deal with snow in winter..also use wind turbines for winter backup.. .which I use ..great vid ..!

I did start experiencing with solar panels in 2010. Bought 2 small panels, soldered together, bought the cheapest charger and a small 12V battery for RV. Was pretty happy when in the next morning I saw a green light on my charger :) was experiencing wiring my bath and living room with 12V light bulbs, charging my phone and tablet with solar energy. But it became very handy when ib 2012 we were hit with Sandy hurricane and our neighborhood was left with no electricity for a full 2 days. I remember when I was getting home when it was already dark and turning on my lights in living room I did hear how people taking a walk outside (what else to do when there is no electricity in your house) were whispering "how does he have electricity at home?" :) that was the best moment. I was able to keep electricity for couple hours and for 1 charge of my phone. Since I had a small set up it couldn't last long so I had to go to sleep early hoping for a sunny day next day to fully recharge my battery.

I am saying this as someone who has been working on microgrid systems, your information is very accurate.

I realize that this video is a year old but I love it! I noticed you mentioned LG but they are now also out of the solar panel in regards to being a manufacturer. But they may honor their warranty. I loved LG phones but their not into cell phones anymore. Their appliances and television technology are still going strong! Again, you have given me an excellent starting point as the technology is changing so rapidly. Oh, I'm 69 but I sandblasted and painted railroad bridges over the Missouri River with no safety equipment (not recommending that!), etc. So I've always pushed myself and I'm fortunate enough to be an excellent shape. But not everyone is, through no fault of their own. Oh...you can also piggyback lithium batteries. But you have Telsa which is excellent if installed by Telsa (current waiting time is 9 months). You spent $10,000 10 years ago. Just a good whole house generator can cost that much!!! Haven't touch on rebates, tax incentives, excess electricity purchased by your electricity provider (varies by state), and the list goes on and on as they keep changing every thing!! Love your ending comments about battery storage. My only negative is that I was going to subscribe but you charge $1.99. I've never seen that before.

So I don’t own my home, however, I do own my semi truck. My truck is a “super-sleeper” so I have a full fridge, two burner stove, ac unit, and many accessories. It has a diesel generator that runs everything when the truck is off but it consumes a lot of fuel. So I just bought an 18 watt 7 amp solar panel that I’m installing this weekend. It’ll hopefully negate the need to run my generator and so excited to find out! Love this channel! Keep it up!

Been in my new construction house almost 3 years. Just wished I knew if my employer will stop doing layoffs 2-3 times every year. If I knew I wasn’t going to have to move again for a long time, then solar would make more sense.

I tried drone quote. What I learned is that they will give you 3 solar setups to pick from depending on price. Those systems are from different brands of solar panels ofc. They funnel all customers to one particular and exclusive preferred lender. Best thing to do is research terms of lenders in this business.

One of the most clearest and honest plus data based appraisals I have even come across via UKposts. Thank you...

I appreciatte any one who shares knowledge. thank you.

I feel like this is the video which will make your channel blow up. The content is up there ; keep this up and you got it 💪🏻

This is exactly what I needed to know. Thank you for being so data oriented. We appreciate it. It's truly breath-taking to hear what you have to say. Subscribed and eager to learn more! We are cyclists and nerds for things like these. We own Jackery batteries (and will continue to buy). We are also about to buy pedalcell (this is a system that likely only bicycle tourists know about, where you cycle and the device uses magnetic tech to feed power to small battery banks like battery banks that help recharge your cellphones, etc.). Since we cycle a lot (we bike commute), this works for recharging small devices (and acts as a secondary way to charging small batteries besides the panels). Also just want to put it out there that if we fall down from installing our own solar panels and die, we are gonna sue. lol .... hahaahha.. sorry! Couldn't resist. Nah, we ain't likely ever gonna be climbing to the roof anytime soon (we are older folks), those little Jackery batteries and remote panels will do. All I can say is, your channel is so informative we are lucky to have found you. Thank you.

You are the best, I really respect your videos as you provide no nonsense info.

Thank you for sharing your experience & learned knowledge. I have an educated understanding & am pleased that you have made such a comprehensive video, concerning what is a “whole picture”; for those who are considering solar power. This can & will help many people to make a more educated choice- & be able to make the most of any such infrastructure decision.

There's been things I've been meaning to research and I think you touched on them all. I hate videos that make claims without showing why they recommend it. You took the time to explain it all. Much appreciated.

Great video. Cool seeing a long term perspective.

Thank you Two bit Da Vinci - love the name Love your presentations,simple to follow & very educational keep up this high quality you are on a winner thank you☝️ so much

As an offgridder for more than 30 years, I can say that solar panels are the modern world's miracle. I do anything that needs energy from lighting, water pumping, milking, cleaning to irrigating a 5 hectare of land. I've invested a good deal on panels and their contraptions to meet the energy need, and the investments I've made have paid off generously. Now, I meet 80 % of my total energy need from the solar systems. The only area I can't use solar is heating my home in winter.

Your enthusiasm is absolutely contagious

EXCELLENT!! Thanks so much for this organized, clear, complete, and honest explanation and appraisal of home solar systems. Very helpful.

Thanks for all your information based on actual usage. I glad you also put the information about what is happening with the Grid operation during the day on how Solar power overwhelms the system mid day.

I love your video, thanks a lot for all the useful details on the various options as well as your ROI calculations! This is exactly what I need right now, very early in my journey to a solar-powered retirement home in sunny Thailand! 🙂

I'm impressed. In the 80's we installed solar hot water heaters with a 30 year warrantee, and i "believed". The company went out of business, in 5 years. I hated driving by and looking at one I helped install. I could see it decomposing. The frame used plastic, or something that degraded in the sun. ouch. They basically had to be removed in 7 years.

Again a great video I live in a more cloudy, wet climate (Ireland), for me a battery is essential for all of the reasons that you mention plus: When sun is interrupted by clouds, solar production goes down so the battery can take over and supply thus minimizing need for grid At times of low usage or load from within the house - that battery can charge thus minimizing excess solar from escaping to grid In winter time, Batteries can be charged at night with night rate electricity and used during peak periods As you say - South facing panes are most efficient - but without batteries - much of the solar will escape to grid

Thank you for this down to earth video, very informative and structured.

Priceless information right here, thank you so much!

This video was very good and addresses the most important aspects of solar. Thank you. After hearing of the unrest in the cities and rolling blackouts in certain regions of the U.S. I decided to get solar as a backup. I live in Delaware and have solar panels, with optimizers on each panel, and a battery backup with a transfer switch. My system was activated in April of 2021. If the grid goes down a transfer switch isolates the SolarEdge panels and LG battery from the grid and feeds my house through the battery. Thus far, I haven't had any issues with the system and my wife loves the fact that we haven't been charged for electricity for months. The hardest part of getting the install was convincing my wife to get the install. Note, however; I researched the perspective installers before committing to a reputable local company. I didn't want to be at the mercy of a company based in far away Las Vegas, or elsewhere. I am very pleased with the company that did my install but I had heard some horror stories of people that used lesser companies.

Great review! Awesome you got it already in 2011. Love the battery!

I'm In South Africa 🇿🇦 and had no choice but to go off grid few weeks ago. Loving the setup so far. Currently running 9x545w Canadian panels which in future will double up to another 9 taking me to 18 panels of 10kw in total. My inverter is a 10kw and I'm running 10kw on batteries which I will take to 20kw in the next few months. I'm running a 4 phase so solar during the day battery at night and if I have to topup it will look for eskom but if they offline for loadshedding then it will switch to my generator but only to charge up the batteries but so far it hasn't been needed. Will see how it performs in winter and will spec it accordingly. I went the full Kodak route except for the Canadian 545w panels.

We're scheduled to get panels fitted next week, really reassured by your assessment-cheers buddy!!

I'm in the UK and have had my solar PV panels for 10 years too - June 2011. One of the best investments I have ever made, utility bills down and making money from the excess electricity that I sell back to the grid. I have just had a BACS payment of £400 from the Grid for my last quarters electricity supplied to them.

I have lived off grid with Solar since 1992. Never going back

I'm in Plymouth UK. Solar Edge 5.04kwh. Best bit of kit I have is a unit that compares what's being used against generating. All additional power is sent to water heating, none to the grid. I go 3 months in the summer with enough hot water for 5 of us. Home a lot so also do washing, tumble drying etc during the day.

Fantastic information, learned a lot, getting my roof measured next week. My roof faces southeast and largest area is facing northwest so not ideal. Not sold on battery yet and will wait for them to get better and more affordable. Thank you!

Great video! You explain things very well about solar. I work in electrical engineering and have been debating on panels and battery. Your vid helped me with a few things I had questions on. Thank you !

Very well presented video,Although I'm completely offgrid in my Airstream I enjoy watching informative videos on solar. For me solar is a lifesaver. And it saves me from having to use gas and propane on a daily basis,so now with those prices going up I plan on saving even more and if,when the power grid goes down I'll be fine

Great video-- virtually a public service piece for people interested in solar. I live in the "high South" and have had a grid-tied system that consists of 16 panels and an inverter (all made by SunPower), along with a passive hot water system, since 2008 and agree with everything you say and recommend. Prior to installing this system I replaced our AC/furnace with a high-efficiency system that cut my total energy bill in half, but the solar cut it in half again. Over 15 years my panels have lost about 8% efficiency, but today about a third my total energy bill is related to fees. It's very low, but I also do other energy-saving things like hanging up clothes and keeping indoor temperatures "tolerable." Many thanks!

This video makes me really appreciate the communication style of a good engineer. Direct, precise, concise, with real and useful information and no rambling, wild speculation. Its a longish video but there's no fluff; there really is that much information.

Great video. I went solar (off grid) 5 years back, 1.8 kW Panasonic panels, 9 kWh battery, 3.5 kva inverter and a MorningStar MPPT charge controller. I exactly understand what you meant by the joy of monitoring energy production. MorningStar controller connects to the local network and that is how I was able to write few python scripts to pull data and store in mySql running in a raspberry pi. Some php code to draw fancy graphs. Even today I am tweaking graph algorithms, adding more data infographics to my dashboard. The electricity bill has gone down by 80%. But the actual fun of the whole system is to look at the dashboard and feel great that I am harvesting energy that would have gone waste otherwise.

Best yet explanation. You might say that the silicon solar cells generate voltages that forward bias its internal cells diode. This limits each internal cells output to about 0.5 volts. The solar cells reverse voltage is usually more than 30 volts when shaded, this subtracts from the strings output. adding a power silicon diode across each string reduces the shaded strings loss to about 1 volt.

Awesome video. There are certain videos from certain channels I watch and re-watch while taking notes. This is one of those videos. Thank you for your time and data!!

What a fantastically informative video! I'm installing solar now on my home in Yucatán, Mexico so I've been educating myself on what I should know.

Great video. My biggest cost after 8 years was replacing my asphalt shingle roof. We had to remove 39 panels, and reinstall them. Cost in Canada was $7000. Ouch. Now we put a metal roof on, this should last long after I am gone. On average I generate 12 Mwt a year. I am happy.

I have some solar power plant design experience myself, so one quick tip to prevent shading you can install the panels in landscape and wire the panels in two rows. In that way only one set of panels will be in shade at the initial time of shading

Ngl I can listen to you teach anything. Voice and levels are perfect. Keep up the good work

18:07 depending on your inverter. My hybrid inverter charging my battery and run my entire home electrical needs plus ACs and during brown outs. It’s not supply to the grid but use grid to charge up battery when the sun is down and mid nite approaching

I thought I would share some lessons learned from doing my own solar install. Date of install end of Dec 2021. 1. If you pay a company to do your solar install, I seriously doubt it would ever pay for itself over 20-25-30 years. I also doubt your electric bill will be zero in the summer months as most solar companies flat out lie. Being inform, you can have them put their expectations on legal papers for your future safety. 2. If you do your own solar one can expect a 4-7 year return on investment. You will have to get educated on permits with your local city and power company. If I can do it anyone can. 3. Power Company Billing was my biggest surprise from this entire venture. Rocky Mountain is NOT solar friendly to the average home owner. The excess power sent to the grid for storage comes at a great cost. I discovered after a few months of billing that We pay RMP .077 cents per KWH. When you generate excess solar power, the excess goes to the RMP grid but RMP only credits you .04 cents per KWH. So, in others words grid storage is not free or cheap. RMP skims nearly 50% off the top. WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN: 1. When you have your solar designed and drawings engineered you have to figure in 1/3-1/2 larger system to make up for the RMP skim ratio. I was lucky and added 30% more panels then necessary because I wanted an electric water heater. So far my last 3 utility bills have been $13 the minimum fee RPM charges and that includes free hot water. Jan-Mar our bill was $45-$60 due to winter clouds with a typical electric bill of $100-ish in the winter and $375 in Summer RMP resets the homeowner grid storage to Zero March to March. Of course, RMP keeps the excess storage when the clock is reset. We lost $15 storage credit. Yep RMP keeps your excess after Mar billing is closed out and you start your grid battery storage at zero. This feature does not encourage being "green", It flat out encourages running ones AC to 68 degrees in July and August and push less out to the grid. So during the day your system pushed out excess power to the gird at .04 cents and at night you buy your power back at .077 cents. Yah get the KY jelly ready. 2) Another big disappointment is RMP in Utah takes ALL the homeowner carbon credit rebates. Most states let the solar owner sell the Carbon Credit which can add up to $100-$300 per month passive income. If Utah is serious about encouraging Solar for Homeowners the laws need to be changed. Only serious pressure on our elected officials will we make strides in Solar. Conclusion: Overall I am happy with my solar only because we did all the labor ourselves. We expect near zero ($13) per month electric bills from here on out. Beware that many States like Florida have increased the $13 minimum to $30 now.... so that must be our near-term future for residential solar. This year the homeowner will still be eligible for a 26% IRS rebate and up to $1200 Utah rebate. The crazy part of the Utah Credit: You have to pay $30-$35 ish bucks to set up a Utah Rebate account in order to claim your solar rebate. Another shocker! The 26% Federal IRS rebate for DIY is only for cost of materials. Your Labor is not deductible. One can however hire out parts of the job like mounting the rails and running electrical inside the attic. You will need receipts for the rebates. Pros: We find that it is more cost effective if we run our home ac at 68-70 degrees during the day and raise it up to 73-75 at night. The heavy use during the day results in less RPM skimming off grid storage but just enough to run the ac at night and draw from our grid storage. Not very "Green" in my mind but it is what it is. Con's: One has to be aware to not have too much excess "Banked" on the grid when March comes a knocking. You lose all excess. So in others words crank up the electric heaters, electric blankets, leave all the lights on and dry ones hair more often. Excess storage is not a tax deductible loss but should be! So in other words you have to manage your usage. Does not require much time but it is another thing to do. About 10-15 minutes a month. Bottom Line: Would I do it again? Absolutely YES. I would not hire it out but if one uses their own elbow grease and fill in with some contracted work it is well worth it. Yesterday was 92 degrees and my total draw from the grid was zero. I actually pushed 40kwh to the grid. What is 40kwh? enough to run 40 100w light bulbs for 1 hour or 4 ton HVAC system for 6-8hrs

Well done video. Living in San Diego is perfect for this application. However where I live in northeast Ohio where electricity is $0.10/kWh, and 70% clouds I don’t see a payback in 8-3/4 years but more like 20+ years. That is an eternity. Love your show. Keep up the informative videos.

Ricky, I just found your channel and subscribed. Great video for the first timer. I'm a pretty fair electrician, so I understand all the nerdy info and appreciate the time and effort you put into advising the public. I'm building a DIY off-grid (hopefully) ICF home in the Tehachapi Mountains. Plans all approved and I'm just now completing the first phases of the foundation. With the cost of materials going crazy the past couple of years I wonder if I'll be able to complete the home without a bank loan. And banks want you to be grid-tied due to their bean-counters ability to insure against loss and potential re-sale of the property. I wish I knew more about banks who might fund off-grid homes but I guess I'll deal with that when I come to that bridge. ANY HELP APPRECIATED. Currently working with Iron Edison to build out my solar plans when the time comes. I've already purchased a 10kwh LiFePO4 battery from them. How do these batteries compare to the Tesla Powerwall? Again, any help appreciated, and looking forward to viewing your other video's.

thanks for posting, these are all great points and have helped me in my decision making for string vs. micro inverter, and installer selection.

We are 1 year into having solar panels, and it has been fully worth it. We live in New England, and have only east/west facing panels, but we got a beefy system before Tesla insisted on selling their batteries (so we do not have batteries at present, would consider for a future project). Anyway, in our first year we had essentially service fee bills ($5-$15) from the months of March through September, and that is before our state payment. We produced 14.2 mWh for the year (and weren't hooked into the grid until late Jan 2021). Even with 3-4 months of low solar capture (the winter) it's been worth doing and I think will pay for itself in about 3-4 more years. We run a small farm so we use basically 2x the amount a regular home would. We'd wanted to for years. So glad we did finally. ETA we have also been in our house almost 15 years with no immediate plans to move. Financially we couldn't have done it earlier, but it's a nice plus for the RE market if we do have to participate in it sometime.

I had 2 panels on my summer cabin used on weekends with heavy demand installed in 1995 sun wasn't the best here in BC but worked OK my issue was the batteries I replaced them about every 6 yrs (deep cell) about 1500 dollars a piece I had 4 of them .The whole experience was great l learned a lot I also had to top it up with a honda generator to really crank up the batteries. Managing the system seeing usage/discharge on the inverter was interesting Very fancy for an in the woods cabin I ran lights TV loud stereo. It beats candles flashlights

Excellent presentation. Thank you for this! I’m a noob to solar and this is so helpful. 😊

Make your own setup and you will do good. I love my panels and the rain takes care of them. I have 800w and runs a fan, stereo system, fan in the bedroom, heat lamp and uv lights for the turtle tank, bass guitar amp, 12v led lamps for the night hours. Use buck converters and you can run most anything on your panels during the day hours. Don't hook them to the grid, use small appliances on them that you would normally use on the grid.

The one big plus of micrometers not mentioned is the ability to have different panels - makers in the same system so you don't care if have to replace failed panels with a better one in the future.

Best video I've seen. Thank you so much

This video is great! I just bought a house in the Uinta mountains of Utah, and I’ll be replacing the roof and adding solar next summer. You gave me a lot to think about here. One of my biggest challenges is that I’m at the foot of a ridge to the south of me. So I don’t get a lot of sun on the roof during the winter months. I’m looking into whether it would make the most sense to put the panels on the roof or to mount some on posts on the north side of the yard which gets sun during the winter months. Thanks for all the info!

I'm in Arizona and I have south and east and west pannels. I use 40 240 watt pannels and even on cloudy days I typically get 50 to 100 watts, so a constant trickle charge. I run 150 volts through the pannels. Works great.

Excellent video. You covered it all. One thing, when the group of solar cells are connected in series, one cell goes open, that line is open. Have you encountered this situation in your system?

14:50 yes man. By the way, here in Brazil, 90% at South hemisphere we use to place the solar panels at the North side for the exactly reason to maximize the generation through the year. Specifically here in southern region of Brazil, below the Capricorn tropic where the sun never "switch sides".

Thank you for all you do!

Excellent video! Very clear explanation of the systems and your experience with solar. Far more knowledgable than the sales people I've had trying to sell me a system!

Good advice from an engineer. Next step, get a bigger battery and feed the grid at the high price time

I have had my 5kw system with 3 kw battery here in oz for 4 yrs now. Best home improvement by far One thing not talked about so much is alignment of panels to sun We ended up going 40% easterly facing and around 10% north 50% westerly Very unusual though this gives power when your house needs it in the morning and afternoons when you have high demand, still enough to fill your batteries

Thanks for the info. Love your enthusiasm!

That's a really good video, with actually useful and readable data. One of the interesting things with home applied solar energy is exactly the possibility of plotting how much you're capturing and spending. Honestly, household energy is the best, most sensible application for solar energy