[Greenbuilding] PV was Re: Small hot water tank

[Antonioli Dan]

Leslie, 

I don’t know if anyone has suggest using an E-Max hot water heater. I have a five gallon 120 volt unit and it’s a peak performer, well insulated, and has an anti-freeze "vacation” mode to boot. 

As for inverters and the future of batteries I suggest you do extensive homework on this and be prepared to non-stop changes in the market. A seasoned solar installer, solar educator, and electrical engineer I occasionally work with was at Tesla’s big presentation last year on the “new” batteries they plan on unrolling and apparently Tesla wasn’t ready to release technical details about the battery. She concluded that Tesla was a good PR firm, and I agree….and one day I’d love to be driving a solar charged Tesla. 

You might also look into what the future of your utility might offer. There’s definitely a backlash against renewables in some state due to the rapidly expanding solar/renewable industry, and here in California we won a narrow victory to extend Net Metering when the California Utility Commission voted on it…it only only one by one vote! So you’re dealing with rapid advances in technology, a lot of hype, solar companies that are only in it for the money, and politics. You probably know all this but that’s my two cents worth. 

Dan


On Aug 4, 2016, at 10:07 PM, Leslie Moyer <unschooler at lrec.org> wrote:

> I emailed last week about a small hot water tank. The end goal is decreasing winter (especially) energy use because we are planning to get a photovoltaic system installed this fall. Because we have a geothermal system, our winter energy use exceeds our summer usage. We are doing several things to bring that down--I'm confident we can get within striking distance of our target. However--I have a new concern. And would appreciate any other general advice. I'm way out of my depth on this topic!
> 
> We have two estimates from localish companies--very close in price. We want a grid-tied system with the ability to go off grid when lithium battery technology improves. (Our utility--rural coop--offers NO option to purchase ANY of our power from renewable sources & our state is not friendly to renewable energy--no rebates, utilities do not buy any excess energy you produce & your balance is re-set to zero each month--no carry-over.) 
> 
> Both companies use Solar Edge brand inverters because (among other reasons) they are the only inverters that are already compatible with Tesla batteries. However, this made news today: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-04/tesla-s-grand-plans-for-solarcity-burn-a-key-israeli-solar-tech-firm 
> 
> So now I'm worried that we're going to get this system & Tesla is going to re-engineer things so that we will end up having to replace parts of it in a few years when batteries become available. I know Tesla isn't the only company working on lithium battery technology, so am I ridiculous to worry? One of the company reps had this to say when I asked about it:
> 
> "Fortunately SolarEdge technology is very good, available, and already compatible with the power wall. Musk and his team have a lot of ground to make up if they are going to surpass the established players in the market. The good news is that without a doubt those batteries are coming and as soon as we can get our hands on one, you will be ready."
> 
> Honestly, for ease and simplification reasons, I would probably use Solar City as an installer if they were working in my area. They're not. 
> 
> On a similar topic, one of these companies sources its panels based on the fact that their 25-year warranty is backed by an insurance policy that covers you in the event they go out of business. This seems smart, no?  I've read other environmental concerns, such as panels being produced in a country that uses clean energy to produce them. Does anyone have suggestions about this?  The 2companies we have talked with are treating the panels very much like commodities & choosing based on price (& some quality standard), though I think will source pretty much whatever we want. Both of the companies we are talking to seem good, but neither has been in business a very long time, making things like warranties important to us. 
> 
> Any advice?  
> 
> Leslie / NE Oklahoma
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