Anyone work in the solar industry? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2020, 02:13:54 am
content: Just wondering how many solar people are here. I've been in the industry since 2010, working for various solar installers, currently in the Washington, DC region.

author: DougSpindler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 02:07:42 am
content: I live in California. Not in the solar industry, but do have 20 solar panels on my home. Would love to hear your take on the solar industry since you have been in it for many years. In California the vast majority of the people selling solar are totally scamming people and tax payers. The lies the solar “experts” here tell people about the cost savings are complete lies. The solar industry here is just filled with people trying to make a fast buck. Can’t tell you have many solar companies have gone bankrupt here pre-covid. And the telemarking call just don’t stop. They are just as bad if not worse then the credit card scammers. And not sure why, but the latest wave of solar “experts” are calling from New York. And then clearly know nothing about solar.Here are some actual data points on how Californians are getting screwed. We use 12,000 KWhrs per year. I have had “certified solar experts” from 20 companies tell me to off set 100% of my power bill I would need anywhere between 25 and 60 solar panels. Total cost would range from between $24,000 and $65,000. And some told me I needed 1 to 4 Powerwalls at an additional cost from between $12,000 to $75,000.For the 20 panel system I spend $16,000 and this is before the all of the tax credits and rebates. And even with 20 panels I grossly over produced. This past year I just gave the power company $1,000 of electricity for free. That’s almost half of my yearly power bill before solar.See how people here in California are getting screwed by the solar industry? I suspect in a two years many will be bankrupt.And now with California having so many people with solar the power companies are dropping prices for electricity. This is really screwing people who have solar.How is it where you are? What’s you take on the solar industry?

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 03:03:55 am
content: Quote from: DougSpindler on November 18, 2020, 02:07:42 amGrab a few Bitcoin miners to use up the excess? Or a few used servers mining Monero or whatever is the most profitable to mine with CPUs nowadays?QuoteThe next big rise will be software for home energy management. I expect lots of cloud based solutions, most of which do not work as well as claimed, but also some open source projects based around the Raspberry Pi.

author: DougSpindler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 03:21:49 am
content: Yup. And just wait to see all of the hacks and attackers. Just announced was Tesla’s PowerWall can be hacked with Google.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 03:52:34 am
content: Hence why I'm strongly for open source - freedom from the cloud and allow anyone to review the code to improve security.