BajaNomad

Solar in Baja for Dummies

pauldavidmena - 3-24-2015 at 04:22 PM

Living in the cold, dark north, having solar panels seems impractical, so instead we've been keeping various sheiks and sultans fat and wealthy. As Baja enjoys far more sunny days than New England, it seems not just possible but perhaps preferable to go solar. It also seems that the technology has improved, and that maintenance has become somewhat less of an issue.

So... is there a good source for Solar purchasing, installation and maintenance specific to the regulations of Mexico, particularly BCS? I've seen a good deal of info posted to this forum over the years, but rather than ask fundamental questions, I thought I'd at least familiarize myself with the basic pros and cons, etc.

monoloco - 3-24-2015 at 05:22 PM

Grid-tied or off grid?

pauldavidmena - 3-24-2015 at 05:36 PM

Quote: Originally posted by monoloco  
Grid-tied or off grid?


I like the flexibility of grid-tied, but depending upon where I ultimately hang my sombrero, off-grid might be good to know as well.

monoloco - 3-24-2015 at 06:01 PM

Grid tied systems are fairly straight forward with little maintenance, install and forget about it. For off-grid, I highly recommend learning all you can and installing the system yourself so you have an intimate knowledge of how everything works, because you will want to be able to maintain the system yourself. We love our off-grid system, especially after a hurricane when the power is out for 3 weeks. Here's a good resource for information:

http://forum.solar-electric.com/forum

BajaBlanca - 3-24-2015 at 06:22 PM

I agree with monoloco - you'd learn a lot by installing it yourself. Which wasn't our case at first when we bought our home, but Les has improved the system over the last 2 years. We are completely off grid -come by anytime and ask away!

bajaguy - 3-24-2015 at 06:55 PM

http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Power-Your-Home-Dummies/dp/04705...

http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Power-For-Dummies-Woofenden/dp/04...

[Edited on 3-25-2015 by bajaguy]

pauldavidmena - 3-24-2015 at 06:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy  
http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Power-Your-Home-Dummies/dp/04705...


Somehow I knew there would be a website with my name on it.

willardguy - 3-24-2015 at 07:55 PM

yup, take your advice from the northern Arizona folks and don't listen to any nomads!;)

Fernweh - 3-25-2015 at 08:03 AM

Our grid-tied solar system showed a net power production after the first 30 days of 398 kwh. Will have a nice credit when the AC season starts.

SFandH - 3-25-2015 at 10:18 AM

Fernweh, great stuff. Glad to read about it. I noticed on your meter there is the word "bidireccional" with an X preceding it. Does that mean the meter is capable of keeping track of the power you solar system produces and CFE applies credit for the power to your account?

Fernweh - 3-25-2015 at 11:07 AM

Quote: Originally posted by SFandH  
Fernweh, great stuff. Glad to read about it. I noticed on your meter there is the word "bidireccional" with an X preceding it. Does that mean the meter is capable of keeping track of the power you solar system produces and CFE applies credit for the power to your account?


Yes, I believe so. This meter got installed after CFE had "inspected" the solar system, and made sure, it doesn't produce power when the grid goes down.
Even I had already an bi-directional meter before, they changed that one out with a new one (programming change, I was told).
I have not received the new CFE bill yet, to see any credit posted on my account. It's all still new and exciting.....
BTW CFE asked for an additional (private) meter to be installed, inline between the solar array and the existing electrical load center. This is a non-reset-able meter, in case of a dispute.

4x4abc - 3-25-2015 at 08:28 PM

do some basic calculations before you invest in solar
in the winter the first 400 kWh are about 400 pesos (60 days)
above that about 3 pesos per kWh
during the summer the first 1700 kWh are about 1700 pesos (60 days)
above that about 3 pesos per kWh

with the above base line rate (3 pesos/kWh plus tax) your break even point is around 4 years
the low rate is not worth eliminating with solar

CortezBlue - 3-26-2015 at 07:31 AM

Question???

I was wondering what you installed to create your juice?

I am looking at 4x250 with a grid-tie setup.

Tanks
Quote: Originally posted by Fernweh  
Our grid-tied solar system showed a net power production after the first 30 days of 398 kwh. Will have a nice credit when the AC season starts.

monoloco - 3-26-2015 at 07:35 AM

Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc  
do some basic calculations before you invest in solar
in the winter the first 400 kWh are about 400 pesos (60 days)
above that about 3 pesos per kWh
during the summer the first 1700 kWh are about 1700 pesos (60 days)
above that about 3 pesos per kWh

with the above base line rate (3 pesos/kWh plus tax) your break even point is around 4 years
the low rate is not worth eliminating with solar
It's not always about money, some may want to reduce the use of carbon based fuels.

Fernweh - 3-26-2015 at 07:49 AM

I have installed Solarworld, 6 x 275W and 5 x 270W panels, as a grid-tied system with M-125 Enphase micro inverters.
The array is not perfectly aligned, about 18deg off South, and the support rack was sized to the roof/location limitation. I did not want the system to protrude over the building walls. The last picture shows the required (CFE) private meter.


Support rack with the Enphase cable/inverters installed


Finished solar array installation


120/240V Private Meter

Fernweh - 3-26-2015 at 08:06 AM

And to keep your project lists growing:

Hot Water Solar!

I use two older 4'x8' water solar panels on the roof, connected to a 50Gal LP water heater. A tiny 12V pump, powered by a small solar panel, installed at the water heater, keeps the hot water circulating from the panels into the water heater/tank.
The water heater does not have a gas line/supply connected to it - pure solar heat.

SFandH - 3-26-2015 at 08:14 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Fernweh  

I have not received the new CFE bill yet, to see any credit posted on my account. It's all still new and exciting.....


It would be interesting to me and probably others if after you get a CFE bill you post the details about the amount of energy your system produced and the cost savings.

Thanks for all the info.

4x4abc - 3-26-2015 at 08:31 AM

to translate 6 x 275W and 5 x 270W panels into real world numbers, it produces about 14 kWh per day at the moment (24 degree N) - and costs roughly $0.25 per kWh over 4 years.
It would cost you $0.06 per kWh if you had to buy the same amount of energy from CFE.

However, since it will cost you $0.23/kWh once you consume more than 6,300 kWh per year from CFE (and with AC in the house, you'll easily pass that number), the solar system reduces or eliminates the expensive kWh from CFE

4x4abc - 3-26-2015 at 10:12 AM

here is one of my recent bills
my solar system produces about 11 kWh a day (11 panels)
without the solar input my bill would have been $2,225 Pesos higher (60 days)

each additional kWh per day would be an investment of around $US 500 (one solar panel, inverter, etc. - self installation)
that would translate into a CFE saving of $202 Pesos per 60 days (peak rate)

Fernweh - 4-12-2015 at 11:27 AM

I have finally received my first CFE bill, with the solar system active.

The solar system produced (per CFE) 711 kWh, from Feb 19th to Apr 7th, as it shows on the new bi-directional meter.

I still had consumed 133kWh on the old meter, before it was changed out, Feb 4th to Feb 19th.

The bill shows a "Cargo Minimo" of 50kWh, which is being charged at $0.809Mex.

However these 50kWh and the 133kWh are being deducted from my power credit of 711 kWh.
I now have a 528 kWh credit towards the next bill........

BTW I am able to pay the charges online, with my Banamex ATM card (from the US or Mex)



Fernweh - 8-8-2015 at 01:57 PM

Today the outside temp is 41.7C and 35% in Centenario, BCS.

I need to run my AC more often and much longer, if I want to use up my compounding CFE credit.....




[Edited on 8-8-2015 by Fernweh]



[Edited on 8-8-2015 by Fernweh]

[Edited on 8-8-2015 by Fernweh]