Pole Barn solar lighting?

Yep I'd be running an underground line and a panel out there. Which is precisely what we did to our shop about 90 yards from the house(that draws a ton more power btw) Much cheaper, way less hassle on your end, and you get pleasure of calling the power company and telling them to shove their meter renting fee up their a**.
 
And that's where I'd prefer to have someone come out in person and show them the possible setup and see what we can and can't do economically.
The house is 100% electric, the 500 gallon propane tank is only for the fireplaces so we use that whenever we can to keep the heater from having to run. Usually the winter (November-March) power bill is around the $225 area (house only)

So I've kicked around the idea of running panels off the shed roof or in the yard to supplement both the house and the shed. depending on the price/feasibility.
 
Cloverleaffarm said:
And that's where I'd prefer to have someone come out in person and show them the possible setup and see what we can and can't do economically.
The house is 100% electric, the 500 gallon propane tank is only for the fireplaces so we use that whenever we can to keep the heater from having to run. Usually the winter (November-March) power bill is around the $225 area (house only)

So I've kicked around the idea of running panels off the shed roof or in the yard to supplement both the house and the shed. depending on the price/feasibility.
Click to expand...

Solar in the vast majority of places in the US is a laughable gimmick(currently) without taking advantage of subsidies. You're average payback time is going to land in the 30-40 year range assuming no major issues with the system. Subsidies can alleviate some of that, however that's a whole game in and of itself. If you very seriously want to pursue this option, hire a firm to work everything out for you and give you the numbers, because it can be a bunch more complicated than people make it out to be. My personal suggestion is run a circuit and new panel to your shed. The money you save from meter renting will fairly quickly offset, and your household power bill will increase somewhere between $0.50 and $1.50 depending on your rate. There are easier places to save money than with a solar system.
 
wwentzler said:
Solar in the vast majority of places in the US is a laughable gimmick(currently) without taking advantage of subsidies. You're average payback time is going to land in the 30-40 year range assuming no major issues with the system. Subsidies can alleviate some of that, however that's a whole game in and of itself. If you very seriously want to pursue this option, hire a firm to work everything out for you and give you the numbers, because it can be a bunch more complicated than people make it out to be. My personal suggestion is run a circuit and new panel to your shed. The money you save from meter renting will fairly quickly offset, and your household power bill will increase somewhere between $0.50 and $1.50 depending on your rate. There are easier places to save money than with a solar system.
Click to expand...




I looked into solar about 2 years ago, subsidies on a grid tie system got payback into about 15 years(neglecting what I am talking about next). Michigan had net metering which I feel is one of the best systems. My hang up is instead of investing the $20K in the solar system, just invest the $20K, and only get a 5% return that is $1000 a year.



I would say run the circuit to the shop and be done. We had a similar setup(2 meters). The second meter was even higher cost since we lost the homeowners for the second meter. I put a 200 amp in the house(was a 100) and then ran a 100 amp of the house for the garage. Since we were putting in a geo we needed the 200 amp in the house anyway and it went to our geo incentive.
 
If you know of people who do solar installs/parts for a living, there's ways to cabbage onto older solar panels from upgrades and if you talk nicely, offer them fair money for their "scrap", you could get into some decent panels.
Yeah, they might be a little less efficient, but you can add extras on to make up the difference.

Mark.
 
grew up in the same town/area I live in now. I don't know of anyone that has anything solar. We farm all over the area and In all the back road traveling I've never seen panels or anything like that.
so I'm 99% certain that no one local has it.
But i'll ask around the local bar/tractor/ag input suppliers and see
 
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