July 12th, 2010 | 
Author: June 2010 was a hot and sunny month. Both solar power production and air conditioning usage was up. We just received our electric bill from KU, and discovered the average temperature in June 2009 was 74 degrees, and in June 2010, 77 degrees. There were many 90 degree plus days. The electric bill also told us that we lowered our electric consumption from 46.1 kwh per day to 34.1 kwh. That means in spite of the hot weather, we reduced our daily consumption of grid power by 26% year to year.
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It was sunny and cloudy in May, we used more utility power in May due to the rain. The rain that caused the flooding in Nashville also came our way. We turned on the breaker to the hot water heater for about a week, and it has been off since mid May. So far June is looking Hot Hot Hot! We had disconnected the 390 watt monitoring system for a few weeks while we connected to the county sewer system. Our batteries and inverter were in the path of the new plumbing. We are back to normal, you can view the 390 watt data live.
April in Richmond KY was very sunny. We were able to go 29 out of 30 days on 100% solar powered hot water. A period of several rainy days required us to turn on the electric to the water heater for 24 hours. We turned it back off, but I’m guessing we will need to heat some water tonight, since it has rained for three days. We are having some flooding, but nothing like what they are having in Nashville!
Tags: We did receive all the tax credits that we were eligible for, so I can’t complain. I still think that Kentucky should have asked for submission of proof in the first place. This would have sped up the process. I’ll blog about solar hot water this weekend, but the preview is: All but one day in April was 100% solar powered.
Today I turned off the breaker to the water heater backup element. We now use 100% solar powered hot water, even the pumps are on a PV system. If it clouds up for a few days, I might consider turning the element back on, but for now, I’m interested in seeing how long we can last on pure solar provided hot water. We have looked at the numbers, and it looks like there is real payback potential for solar DHW. With the MACED loan program and government tax credits, our real out of pocket costs are pushed back several years. Solar production and electricity savings will nearly keep up with out of pocket costs after we have exhausted funds from tax incentives to pay the loan. The conclusion of our analyses is that solar hot water is no more expensive than normal electric hot water (worst case numbers), and there is a potential to save money over electric in the long run as long as maintenance expenses are not beyond routine maintenance. I have looked into the maintenance schedule, and all of the routine maintenance is within my capabilities.
Well it’s tax time, and the State of Kentucky disallowed all of our tax incentives. It appears we are to jump through hoops before we get our money returned to us. I guess it’s difficult times for the state, but this was quite a shocker. If you are expecting a big tax return to help you pay off your solar install, don’t hold your breath.
Here’s the situation. We submitted for the tax credit for three doors and the solar hot water. We received in the mail an “adjustment” that removed all tax credits from our Kentucky return, along with a request to submit more information. I’m sorry, but if the state had asked for this information in the first place, I wouldn’t complain. Instead, they have extended my refund time frame by who knows how long, and without reason. On the up side, we found a mistake. We claimed that our patio door was about $338, but it turns out it was $700, and I found another $50 for material to install the door. This is worth over $100 on our federal return. I might let them keep that for a bit, it will be nice to “discover” this mistake during an audit.
Today we produced 2.5 kWh with the 390 watt system and a tank of 120 degree water. The days are getting longer and warmer, hopefully we have put an end to winter! Somebody randomly stopped by the house last weekend to ask about solar, of course we were folding clothes and not fully dressed when this happened. I guess I need to print up some KollarSolar.com cards to leave at the door!
We are having a couple of sunny days in a row, and the solar systems are producing. The shortest days in December are about 9 1/2 hours long, and now we are seeing 11 hours of daylight. Yesterday we produced 2.2 KWh of electricity and a tank of hot water. Today’s weather forecast predicts rain, but so far we are seeing some sun. We didn’t see nearly as many sunny days as I had hoped for this winter, but we were still able to harvest the sun when it was available. Hopefully the solar hot water system kicks into high gear in the next couple of weeks, I’m ready for endless solar provided hot water! March 1st is an 11 hour and 20 minute day, let the sun shine!
We have had many cloudy days and some sun in January. Today is a good solar day, we are making electricity and hot water as good as we could expect for a cold January day. One really neat thing about solar is that it’s nearly install and forget. I guess that’s why this post is so late. We are nearing tax time, and we are excited about the tax incentives for solar! Hopefully we will get a fat income tax refund this year. We would like to hear about your solar power or energy saving projects, regardless of their scale.
The sun is bright for the second day, and we are producing electricity and hot water with its power. Right now we are running one desktop computer, two laptops, and two air filters with the power. Since it’s cold in the house, I also have the mattress pads on as a dump load on the 130 watt PV system. The water is hot, and we will get at least two hot showers from solar power today. The shortest day of the year consisted of 9 hours and 33 minutes of light. By the end of January we will have about 45 minutes more light than we did on Christmas day.