solar panels

We recently had a 16 panel 2.74 kWh solar electric system installed on our south facing roof.

According to our pre-installation assessment, it's supposed to generate an average of about 40% of our power.

The system has been running since March 6, and I can't wait to see how it affects our electric bills!


The rack and panel installation took all day:



We're planning to add 1-2 more panels to the empty space on the upper right hand side of the roof for solar hot water. That would likely generate about 50% of our hot water.

We chose the Andalay Sytem from California based Akeena Solar because the panels sit closer to the roof and are more attractive than most other systems.

Once the panels were installed, the electricians installed an inverter and DC/AC disconnects, and connected the system our existing electrical panel.

This is the Sunny Boy solar inverter box, which is in our basement, that's me ceremoniously turning on the system ;)

The inverter box toggles through system info telling us how much CO2 we've saved, how much power we've generated, and lots of other geeky green info.



Here's a shot of the AC disconnect (left), which as you can see, is outside next to our electric meter (fascinating!!!)....

Now, the part you really care about...

The cost of the installed system was $21,400. We will receive a federal tax credit of $3,600 and a state rebate of about $9,300, making our out of pocket expense about $8,500.

Since we live in the second most expensive electric market in the country, I call it money well spent!

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