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Solar Power for domestic Use
Rank: Elder Joined: 7/26/2007 Posts: 6,514
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newfarer wrote:KulaRaha wrote:I installed a 300 litre solar water heater in my house 5 years ago. Cost me 120k back then (I hear prices have dropped). My power bill dropped by 45% in month one, and has remained the same within 10% of that through power price hikes and dips. I have recently added 2 instant showers as I have a large family and many guests. No effect on monthly bills.
A friend built his home in 2007 and installed a full house solar system from Australia. Cost him 1M. His power bill is 200 bob monthly and his home is bigger than mine. Your friend must have already recovered his 1million investment by now. Just dispelling the myth that payback is 25 years. At our local power prices, its much much shorter. I am now looking for a similar system and understand the best come either from Australia or Texas. Business opportunities are like buses,there's always another one coming
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Rank: Elder Joined: 2/16/2007 Posts: 2,114
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@kularaha, How do those things look like on the roof,ie both the one you have currently and the Australian one?I find them to be an eyesore at least in an an urban setup..
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Rank: Veteran Joined: 8/30/2007 Posts: 1,558 Location: Nairobi
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300litres. Would be for how many people roughly?
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Rank: New-farer Joined: 2/22/2015 Posts: 61
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KulaRaha wrote:I installed a 300 litre solar water heater in my house 5 years ago. Cost me 120k back then (I hear prices have dropped). My power bill dropped by 45% in month one, and has remained the same within 10% of that through power price hikes and dips. I have recently added 2 instant showers as I have a large family and many guests. No effect on monthly bills.
A friend built his home in 2007 and installed a full house solar system from Australia. Cost him 1M. His power bill is 200 bob monthly and his home is bigger than mine. Interesting information. A few questions: 1) Is the water heating purely by solar or it's boosted by electricity? 2) What's the average water temperature achieved during 'peak/offpeak' sunshine seasons? Only Fools Have No Plan B
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Rank: Elder Joined: 12/25/2014 Posts: 2,300 Location: kenya
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lekamu wrote:KulaRaha wrote:I installed a 300 litre solar water heater in my house 5 years ago. Cost me 120k back then (I hear prices have dropped). My power bill dropped by 45% in month one, and has remained the same within 10% of that through power price hikes and dips. I have recently added 2 instant showers as I have a large family and many guests. No effect on monthly bills.
A friend built his home in 2007 and installed a full house solar system from Australia. Cost him 1M. His power bill is 200 bob monthly and his home is bigger than mine. Interesting information. A few questions: 1) Is the water heating purely by solar or it's boosted by electricity? 2) What's the average water temperature achieved during 'peak/offpeak' sunshine seasons? Also wanted to find out the guy who used 1 m from Australia ,how many watts can his solar support . Can it support fridge ,tv,oven ,bulbs and all that just depending entirely on solar or there is a back up from main grid . Reason is for 200 a month is a little bit confusing because I'm sure the solar works only during the day but at night to run all those appliances can't make you have a bill of only 200.please explain further
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Rank: Elder Joined: 2/26/2012 Posts: 15,980
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enyands wrote:lekamu wrote:KulaRaha wrote:I installed a 300 litre solar water heater in my house 5 years ago. Cost me 120k back then (I hear prices have dropped). My power bill dropped by 45% in month one, and has remained the same within 10% of that through power price hikes and dips. I have recently added 2 instant showers as I have a large family and many guests. No effect on monthly bills.
A friend built his home in 2007 and installed a full house solar system from Australia. Cost him 1M. His power bill is 200 bob monthly and his home is bigger than mine. Interesting information. A few questions: 1) Is the water heating purely by solar or it's boosted by electricity? 2) What's the average water temperature achieved during 'peak/offpeak' sunshine seasons? Also wanted to find out the guy who used 1 m from Australia ,how many watts can his solar support . Can it support fridge ,tv,oven ,bulbs and all that just depending entirely on solar or there is a back up from main grid . Reason is for 200 a month is a little bit confusing because I'm sure the solar works only during the day but at night to run all those appliances can't make you have a bill of only 200.please explain further 200 a month must be the miscellaneous KPLC charges. I hve not yet come across a "cheaper" solar power installation that runs a TV, radio, fridge, and heat water, occasionally heat a room esp if you are a mountaineer or run a cooling system if you are at the coast or lakeside. "There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore .
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/26/2007 Posts: 6,514
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Chaka wrote:@kularaha, How do those things look like on the roof,ie both the one you have currently and the Australian one?I find them to be an eyesore at least in an an urban setup.. Mine looks ok, the tank is relatively ugly but the solar tubes are fine. It is on my roof. For the Aussie one, he has put an array of panels in the garden behind his house, so is not intrusive. Business opportunities are like buses,there's always another one coming
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/26/2007 Posts: 6,514
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Horton wrote:300litres. Would be for how many people roughly? For me, the 300lts manage two showers quite well, total of 3 adults. But 2 are women, so you know they take longer... Business opportunities are like buses,there's always another one coming
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/26/2007 Posts: 6,514
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lekamu wrote:KulaRaha wrote:I installed a 300 litre solar water heater in my house 5 years ago. Cost me 120k back then (I hear prices have dropped). My power bill dropped by 45% in month one, and has remained the same within 10% of that through power price hikes and dips. I have recently added 2 instant showers as I have a large family and many guests. No effect on monthly bills.
A friend built his home in 2007 and installed a full house solar system from Australia. Cost him 1M. His power bill is 200 bob monthly and his home is bigger than mine. Interesting information. A few questions: 1) Is the water heating purely by solar or it's boosted by electricity? 2) What's the average water temperature achieved during 'peak/offpeak' sunshine seasons? I use the pure solar option, but there is a switch to turn on the heater built-in for those cloudy days. For peak sunshine, it goes to 70C, and offpeak hovers around 40s, so rarely do I have to turn the electric heater on. Business opportunities are like buses,there's always another one coming
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/26/2007 Posts: 6,514
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enyands wrote:lekamu wrote:KulaRaha wrote:I installed a 300 litre solar water heater in my house 5 years ago. Cost me 120k back then (I hear prices have dropped). My power bill dropped by 45% in month one, and has remained the same within 10% of that through power price hikes and dips. I have recently added 2 instant showers as I have a large family and many guests. No effect on monthly bills.
A friend built his home in 2007 and installed a full house solar system from Australia. Cost him 1M. His power bill is 200 bob monthly and his home is bigger than mine. Interesting information. A few questions: 1) Is the water heating purely by solar or it's boosted by electricity? 2) What's the average water temperature achieved during 'peak/offpeak' sunshine seasons? Also wanted to find out the guy who used 1 m from Australia ,how many watts can his solar support . Can it support fridge ,tv,oven ,bulbs and all that just depending entirely on solar or there is a back up from main grid . Reason is for 200 a month is a little bit confusing because I'm sure the solar works only during the day but at night to run all those appliances can't make you have a bill of only 200.please explain further His whole house runs on solar. The way it works is the panels charge an inverter that then gives you power during night hours. I will ask him what the 200/= bill is for. Business opportunities are like buses,there's always another one coming
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/26/2007 Posts: 6,514
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As an observation, I visited Australia in 2014 and in Brisbane another friend, a recent immigrant from Kenya, had installed the full house system. His panels sat on his roof, as in fully covered the house! He sells back power to the grid as his solar system produces more than he can consume. It was a 4 bedroom house, single storey with 4 family members: 2 adults and 2 kids. Both adults work, so minimal consumption during the day. Imagine getting a credit note every month from the power company! Business opportunities are like buses,there's always another one coming
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Rank: Member Joined: 9/9/2015 Posts: 233
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Solar in Kenya is a prestige thing. Its economic sense is absolute hogwash "Buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own."
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Rank: Elder Joined: 9/29/2006 Posts: 2,570
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The Great wrote:Solar in Kenya is a prestige thing. Its economic sense is absolute hogwash Why is it uneconomical? The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it's conformity.
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Rank: Elder Joined: 12/25/2014 Posts: 2,300 Location: kenya
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jerry wrote:The Great wrote:Solar in Kenya is a prestige thing. Its economic sense is absolute hogwash Why is it uneconomical? The government has to come with incentives for encourage green energy like buy back from home owners . Saw it in youtube that some places in North America when you have excess electricity from solar of your house ,the electric meter starts to reverse backwards meaning that you are contributing electricity back to the main grid . Example if your house gets electricity from two sources 200kw from main grid and you also generate 300kw excess from your solar, your electric meter will move backwards 300kw zeroing the 200kw you received from government and they will send you a check for purchasing 100kw from you . Isn't that nice . This can be a campaign tool for election next year whoever wants it
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Rank: Elder Joined: 5/1/2010 Posts: 3,024 Location: Hapa
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enyands wrote:jerry wrote:The Great wrote:Solar in Kenya is a prestige thing. Its economic sense is absolute hogwash Why is it uneconomical? The government has to come with incentives for encourage green energy like buy back from home owners . Saw it in youtube that some places in North America when you have excess electricity from solar of your house ,the electric meter starts to reverse backwards meaning that you are contributing electricity back to the main grid . Example if your house gets electricity from two sources 200kw from main grid and you also generate 300kw excess from your solar, your electric meter will move backwards 300kw zeroing the 200kw you received from government and they will send you a check for purchasing 100kw from you . Isn't that nice . This can be a campaign tool for election next year whoever wants it Strathmore Uni is already this with KPLC. I think it will take some time before KPLC gets into such agreements with home owners/individuals... Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. - Muhammad Ali🐝
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Rank: Elder Joined: 7/11/2012 Posts: 5,222
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butterflyke wrote:enyands wrote:jerry wrote:The Great wrote:Solar in Kenya is a prestige thing. Its economic sense is absolute hogwash Why is it uneconomical? The government has to come with incentives for encourage green energy like buy back from home owners . Saw it in youtube that some places in North America when you have excess electricity from solar of your house ,the electric meter starts to reverse backwards meaning that you are contributing electricity back to the main grid . Example if your house gets electricity from two sources 200kw from main grid and you also generate 300kw excess from your solar, your electric meter will move backwards 300kw zeroing the 200kw you received from government and they will send you a check for purchasing 100kw from you . Isn't that nice . This can be a campaign tool for election next year whoever wants it Strathmore Uni is already this with KPLC. I think it will take some time before KPLC gets into such agreements with home owners/individuals... Germany and some European countries do this. I bet its only a matter of time before Chinese come up with(copy ) cheaper solar alternatives, then solar will be common place. If Strathmore can do it, so can any other Kenyan
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Rank: Member Joined: 5/17/2008 Posts: 488
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I understand that hydrid panels (generate both thermal and electricity ) are more efficient. How come they aren't as popular?
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