Looking for solar and Wind Power kits that are under $12,000.?
My engineering class is looking for wind and solar kits for residential system in Washington state. Our budget is $12,000. We need a whole kit. And it should generate at least 1000 watts.
A typical home needs about a 2000 or 3000 Watt (2 or 3 kW) Solar Power unit. To power your toaster , it will take 1000 Watts. To power your hair dryer, it takes maybe 1500 to 1800 Watts. A Microwave might be from 800 to 1500 Watts. If you opt for a 1000 Watt system, you may have to walk around with wet hair, and cold sandwiches.
The prices for a complete 2 or 3 kW unit runs about $20,000 to $30,000 installed. Or about $10 per Watt (or about $10,000 per 1000 Watt or 1 kW). With the utility company rebates/ buydowns/ incentives, you may get the cost down to $8 to $9/ Watt. So, you may be able to do install a 1000 Watt system for $12,000, but not sure — it could be close.
The main reasons being:
1) The solar unit will work well for 6 or 8 hours a day — but when the sun goes down, your power is zero. So to make it effective, you have to have battery banks. It would require several batteries at about $100 each to store the power during the day, so you will have power at night. Absolutely needed for a stand-alone system if you need power at night. These batteries have an expected lifetime of maybe 5 years or less. They will need replaced in 5 years.
2) The solar unit will provide 12 Volt DC power. Your house uses 120 Volts to run your microwave and toaster and TV. Therefore — you will need an expensive electronic piece called an inverter. It converts 12 Volt DC power to 120 Volt AC power. This adds to your budget, and it is expensive. And it is electronic — it will fail at some point. Sometimes it lasts 5 , 6, or 8 years — then needs replaced — at considerable cost.
Your thoughts on “wind power” are even more gloomy. Similar issues as with solar. It works when the wind blows at least 7 mph. If the wind is not strong enough, you get no power. And think about it — a warm summer day is not too hot when the wind is blowing. But the very “hot” summer days — it is “very hot” because there is no wind blowing. Hot days have little or no wind blowing or else they would be just a “warm day”. Hot day means — no fan or no A/C.
The $12,000 budget could maybe install a 1 kW solar unit, but you would have to give up a hair dryer and microwave, electric oven, electric clothes dryer. Unless you are into a candle light dinner with cold sandwiches, a more realistic solution will cost about $20,000 to $30,000 for a 2 or 3 kW solar unit, with battery backup.
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