Comments on: I am considering a solar panels. How can I tell if my area gets enough solar energy a year to be worthwhile?

By: roderick_young

roderick_young — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:03:59 +0000

At your latitude, photovoltaic will probably be iffy, but it's worth checking the nrel site that the other person posted. By the way, aren't you close to that cheap source of Hydro, Niagara Falls? There's a good chance of solar hot water being a good deal for you, though. Yes, it can heat in the winter, and yes, some systems can tolerate a hard freeze. You'd need to check with a local installer to get an opinion.
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By: Dave S.

Dave S. — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:34:59 +0000

First my question is: What type of Solar? Thermal? PV? You will need a southern exposure. Then you need to figure out the rate of insolation. This is how much sun (in hours per day)on average per year for your area.This will help you to determine if it is a good idea or not.Check out this site:http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/serve.cgi It looks to me like you are in the 3-4 range. That's not bad.
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By: scott h

scott h — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:44:59 +0000

If you are looking for the cheapest electrical power available solar panels are not going to be what you want.

Roughly solar panels will supply electrical power costing about 3-10 times more than what you can purchase from your local electrical company when averaged over the 20-25 year life of any solar panels.

Go look at how much you spend for your electricity in a single year. Then go look at how many solar panels you can purchase for this amount of cash (In my case I spend about $1000 each year for power).

This means that economic "sense" must be tempered with some other desire for the solar panels.
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By: whsgreenmom

whsgreenmom — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:16:59 +0000

There is more to it than just zip code. I recommend having a contractor come out and give you a quote. Even if you do it yourself later you will get lots of valuable information. If the panels will be shaded at any point they will not generate during that time. My contractor had a nifty gadget that can tell where the shade will fall from various items during the year. We had to work around my chimney and a neighbors tree to maximize production. The shade angles change during the year as the sun is lower in the winter and higher in the summer. A contractor should also be able to tell you about all the local and state rebates and fed. tax incentives. You can get a fed. tax credit for 30% of the total installed costs.
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By: Mark Mignet

Mark Mignet — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:48:59 +0000

Many websites to look for. Just that, not every method they give to generate solar electricity work equally well (in other words, how much solar power you receive and how much energy that translates to depends upon your efficiency of power generation).

The best one that I know of, if you want to use home made solar panel, is the following (bookmark the page – makes it easy to find):

http://www.cwglive.com/favorites/earth4energy.php
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By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:17:59 +0000

I run my home on solar panels… I used the information in the website below…
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http://solarwindenergy.tk

By: kcguy6935

kcguy6935 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:51:59 +0000

Here are some sites to help you I think the last one is the best.
References :
http://www.bigfrogmountain.com/sunhoursperday.cfm
http://www.solarpanelsplus.com/solar-panels/large-insolation-map.html
http://www.pvwatts.org/