Home Solar Electric Installation in Minnetonka, Minnesota
My 3.35 kw ground mounted solar electric was installed in mid June 2020. The solar installer was TruNorth Solar, of Arden Hills, Minnesota. The big solar electric installer in the Twin Cites was not interested in doing my installation, because the job was too small. According to a 2021 City of Minnetonka document, in 2018 there were only 58 solar powered homes in Minnetonka, out of a total of 24,000 households. There are more homes with swimming pools than solar panels in Minnetonka. It is a tremendous amount of satisfaction for me to look out my living room window to see my solar panels and garden.
My youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekC-KZ1wpNA
Generating electricity, July 4, 2020. I am outstanding in my field.
Rear view. The vertical angle is fixed, once set up. The vertical posts were driven into the ground with a skid steer loader attachment.
Prior to installing solar panels, I was spending around $600 per year on electricity, service charges and taxes. That is less than half the amount used by an average household. Ten 335 watt (peak) panels provide all my electricity needs. Xcel Energy limits the system size to 120% of your past consumption to qualify for their "Solar Rewards" program. The area covered by the panels is about ten feet by seventeen feet. My homeowners insurance did not go up, because I had enough coverage under "accessory structures". For a much larger system, you may need to buy additional homeowners insurance. Winter electric cost (2021) in the Twin Cities area is about $0.12 per kilowatt, which is lower than some of the US, but it makes the solar electric payback time longer. FYI, our annual natural gas usage is about $500, for heating, hot water and drying clothes (for two people) with an addition $150 to cover gas service charges and taxes.
Aug 2022 - Summer electric cost per kwh is now $0.1786 where I live.
Feb 2023 - I got a "Solar Rewards" check from Xcel Energy for $261, for one year's solar production subsidy.
Feb 2024 - I got a "Solar Rewards" check from Xcel Energy for $263, for one year's solar production subsidy.
July 1, 2020 - My first Kilowatt. A mostly sunny day in the summer will produce over 15 kilowatt hours per day, where a overcast day may still produce 5 kilowatt hours. On a day where I don't use air conditioning, my daily electrical use is between 7 and 8 kilowatt hours.
January 2022 - With the sun far from an optimal angle and more tree shading because the sun is lower in the sky, a good day of sunshine may only produce 3.5 kwh at the beginning of January. By the end of January, a sunny day produces about 12 kwh of electricity. My system is only producing about 1/3 of my electrical usage for January.
Aug 23 2023 - A hot, humid, sunny day, with a high in the mid 90's, and a night time low of 79. Air conditioning on throughout the day and night. We used 13 kwh in 24 hours, but the solar panels produced 16 kwh.
Liar, liar, pants on fire. There are a lot of lies, half truths, or misleading information about solar costs and benefits. Sometimes owners will say a system only cost a few thousand dollars, but that is what they paid as down payment, and not including the money they borrowed and the expense of interest. Many solar promoters include inflated future energy costs in their savings estimate, but don't deduct the cost of loan interest or lost investment income. Had I borrowed $12,000 with a ten year, 4% loan, the interest cost would have added $2,500. A recent article in the Star Tribune says the owner paid for his system in energy savings in three years. Not possible! An April 2022 City of Minnetonka publication says "(solar) projects often pay for themselves in 8 - 12 years. " Look at any solar installation, and figure that it cost over $1100 per panel for parts, labor and permits. Just the bare panel is about $250. Each panel produces about $55 of electricity each year (2020). A typical installation will have a payback longer than 20 years without tax credits and financial subsidies. If your panels face east or west, it will take even longer. Tax credits and other incentives might reduce the cost or increase the benefit, but that's all pie in the sky. Think of having solar power as pre-paying your electric bill, for the benefit of the environment. The Xcel Energy Solar Rewards subsidy has been reduced from 7 cents per kilowatt hour down to 4 cents. However, the federal tax credit has increased from 22% to 30%, if you qualify. In March 2022, the Florida legislature submitted a law where people with solar power would get as little as 50% of the retail rate for excess electrical power they produce. I get 100% for now, but there is a small added service charge for having solar power. California has even proposed a more drastic reduction in payments, and an increase in service charges for solar customers.. Look up California NEM 3.0
My first year of solar power:
My only regret is not installing solar power sooner.
Semi-useful information: Sunrise and sunset times website: https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/minneapolis . Note that there is a solar noon and midnight time indicated. The sun is directly south at noon only for a short part of the year, for Minneapolis.
Chances are, if you live on a North/South street, your roof orientation may not be suitable for a solar installation.
My installation is set for about 60 degrees (from vertical), about the same as a 7/12 roof pitch. My panels are rated for a maximum electrical output of 335 watts (per hour) each. That means on a cloudy day, or not at optimum angle, they will produce less electricity. Looking at residential solar pictures online, there are quite a few houses that have panels facing two or three directions. The ones facing east or west will never produce their rated maximum, pushing up the cost per actual kilowatt produced. One article I read is you can expect no more than 80% rated power on east or west facing panels. On east and west facing panels, the sun is much lower in the morning and evening, so you need a steeper pitch, and shading might be more of an issue. IF you have the space and ground level sunlight, ground mounted solar panels may be your best option. Remember, too, that trees do not get shorter unless you cut them down. You can cut down your trees, but not your neighbor's trees. How will nearby trees affect your solar gain ten years from now? If you pay someone to cut down a tree, you may never recover that cost in solar gain.
Note that this is a "grid tied" system - when the grid goes down, my panels shut down. This is a safety feature for electrical workers, and my solar panels may not be producing enough power for my home, at any given time. A solar system with battery backup gets very expensive, and still may not be enough help in the winter months.
Whether you have solar power or not, I recommend installing a whole house surge protector on your electrical panel. It could save your home electronics, appliances or solar electronics in an electrical storm. Eaton is a good brand, but the cost of surge protector and circuit breaker will be over $100, if installed by yourself.
Energy conservation should be your first priority, but most people would rather spend more money on more panels than limit their lifestyle by conserving energy. Only a small percentage of homes are suitable for solar power, but everyone can and should practice energy conservation. We replaced a working 40 year old 5 cu ft chest freezer with a new 10 cu ft freezer which uses less than half as much electricity as the smaller freezer did! If you don't have solar power, energy conservation will save you money. With solar power net metering , I am paid for excess electricity produced, and energy conservation pays me money!
My ten panel solar electric system cost is $11.6K and saves me $550 per year in electrical charges. Tax credits reduced my cost to about $8.6K, however, I had to take a big withdrawal from my IRA to take advantage of the tax credit. FYI: The Xcel Energy stock I bought in 2009, has increased in value 268%, and pays dividends of almost 10% (compared to the purchase price). If you don't have solar power, I thank you for your financial support.
Xcel Energy service charges - Though I pay close to $150 per year to Xcel Energy in service charges, they deserve it. They provide electricity to me at night, in the winter, and cloudy days, and buy back my excess energy at retail price on good solar days. There are government mandated subsidies they pay to me, too. What really bothers me is the taxes I pay, even when I am producing surplus electricity. The only sure things in life are death and taxes. The alternative, going off grid, requires a lot of money spent on batteries and equipment, including a backup power source.
The initial cost for ground mounted solar is probably higher than roof mounted solar panels, but:
1. Nobody's putting holes in my roof.
2. You can optimize the vertical and horizontal angle for maximum electrical output with ground mounted solar. With roof top panels, there are a lot of compromises that need to be made, and your panels may never produce their rated output. A system that is not optimized will take a longer time to pay for itself.
3. Snow can be cleaned off ground mounted solar panels easier in the winter. With roof top solar, the panels might be too high up or too shallow of a slope to clean snow off. The manufacturer of my solar panels recommends gently using a push broom to clean off snow.
4. Any repairs or maintenance is easier with ground mounted solar. There are micro inverters/DC optimizers and wiring under the panels.
5. Ground mounted solar panels stay cooler than roof mounted panels, which is more efficient. According to Will Prowse, a solar DIYer, high temperature can reduce the output by 10% in a given day.
6. With roof top solar, if the shingles need replacing after solar is installed, you must pay to have the panels removed and reinstalled. If the new roof leaks, the roofer and the solar company will each blame the other, with the homeowner stuck in the middle. Also, prior to a solar installation, if your shingles have less than half their useful life left, it might be a good idea to replace your shingles. A ground mounted system may be cheaper in the long run.
7. Your roof may get a lot of sun, but vents and chimneys may get in the way. Anything can be changed, if you are willing to spend the money. You can rotate your house, too, if you have the money.
8. Something I read recently: (for 2020) Under the state’s new building code, solar companies cannot place panels within 18 inches (?) of the edge of roof or peak. They also must create pathways of that same width between arrays to provide access for firefighters and emergency personnel. Several other regulations in the new code could also curtail the amount of space available for panels.
The benefits of roof mounted solar are that shading may be less of an issue, and it won't take up yard space.
May 11, 2022 - A storm blows a tree down on my roof. If I had roof mounted solar, I would have a far worse problem to deal with than I do now. FYI, with most homeowners insurance, the wind and hail deductible is 1% of your insured home value, NOT the usual $500 or $1000 deductible. Tall trees can be a nuisance for homeowners, solar installations and gardeners.
Feb. 2023 - Hartford Insurance increased my Homeowners Insurance rates nearly 50%, so I switched to State Farm. I got insurance for my home, two cars, and a $2M umbrella policy for less than Hartford's home policy, and State Farm has the $1K wind and hail deductible, not the 1%.
From the news, published in Feb 2021: According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 26% of Minnesota’s electricity from Minnesota power plants came from nuclear in 2020. That was followed by coal (25%), wind (21%), natural gas (20%), solar (3%), biomass (2%) and hydro (2%). The percentage of wind and coal go up slightly, while the percentages of gas and nuclear drop slightly when the power from other states is added.
If you have an electric car, but not solar power, you are really burning coal and natural gas, and creating nuclear waste when you drive somewhere.
If you would like to look at my system in person, or talk to me, contact me at: deweyhassig@gmail.com
Brooklyn Park, MN- a city government truly committed to solar power.
(2020) The local childcare center kids come over to pick vegetables, berries and fruits in my gardens. It is a huge gardening motivation for me to have the kids come over to pick vegetables to take home. This promotes gardening and the environment with them, their parents and the childcare staff. (2022) A new company has taken over the place, and they are just a child storage facility. A home-school group meets at the church behind me, but not in the summer.