Solar Panels

[sandman67]

Hi guys

does anyone have a solar panel set up on their house, and if so how good is it?

Is it possible to have a solar powered electricity supply sufficient to run a four bedroom house on, including a water pump and pool pump setup, on a domestic sized roof?

If so, what is the cost of the setup?

Just want to get some ideas as to costs and efficiency....when I build a place Id like it to have a solar setup for power needs and its own water "well"

I suppose a small windmill is the other option given its usually always breezy here

no im not a hippy...just sick of the power outages and dealing with incompetent brain dead utility twats

[PeteC]

My neighbor has one on his roof 2.5 x 2.5 meters and all it's capable of is supplying hot water to the upstairs bathrooms. The water tank is actually part of the panel and is attached horizontally to it up on the roof.

To do all that you want SM, you may be talking about a lot of panels and a very big roof. Pete

[PeteC]

I just googled 'solar home' and there's a month's worth of reading on there. That may be a good start to determine what you need to generate X. Pete

[loverboy44]

Ask www.solarenergyasia.com.
David has his company in Kao Takiab.

[hhfarang]

Ask www.solarenergyasia.com.
David has his company in Kao Takiab.

Good luck with that. I sent them an email about a year ago inquiring about solar yard lighting and never got an answer.

[norm]

Had solar hot water and collected the water off the roof into 10,000 gallon tank. That was in Australia. Worked very well and could shower with hot water all day at no cost.

That was about 13 years ago and the solar cost $2,000 for 300L system at that time. Only one valve replaced in 10 years for maint. Was very happy with it.

Looked into solar electricity, but at that time the lifespan of the solar panel was around 5 years and that made it impractical cost wise. Hopefully they have a better lifespan now.

Being self sufficient is a great way to go and very satisfying.

[sandman67]

ive done a bit of reading and theres three or four sites in Thailand that offer it.

seems panel tech has come on a lot recently and they now guarantee em for 25yrs. They are also about 25% more efficient than the previous phase of panels.

If one whole side of the roof is black panels I wouldnt care....the house I want to build is a somewhat unusual design anyway.

A wind turbine is also an option - I like windmills

In the UK a whole house hybrid solution comes in at about 9K or 10K starter price....I was just wondering if anyone here has the same sort of setup...not seen any about.

Hot water is not really a biggie....Id just use an electric shower and a kitchen induction heater thing....

In a country like this, with the shitty local utility services, it seems daft to waste the sunshine and breeze.

Thanks for the tips tho guys

[STEVE G]

I thought about doing it for our house up in Issan purely because the supply used to be so unreliable.
The problem is when you start working out the cost, it’s prohibitive considering how cheap domestic electricity is, and the fact that you can buy a small generator for a fraction of the cost.
In Europe a 200W panel costs about a thousand euros, so you would need about 20,000 euros to generate any reasonable amount of electricity, although I have considered installing a very limited system just to run a few flourescent light tubes for lighting.
Also since I first had the idea the supply has improved in reliabilty to the point where it isn’t really so much of a problem.
I would love to do it just for idealogical reasons, but to be honest you would have to be very wealthy to consider it.
Another big problem is that unless you happen to have a use for electricity during the day, you have to buy a bloody great battery that is expensive and doesn’t last all that long.

[bluezephyr]

If you want to know about Solar and Lithium battery banks, Have a word with Barry