Want a referral for company to give me an estimate on solar power.

I'm in Chapala Haciendas.

Just like gasoline, LP costs are going up nearly weekly.

I'm looking to see if for my small case, solar power will help for the water heater and gas dryer. I'm looking to find how long it will take for the initial cost of solar to be recovered and I start showing a "profit."

Thanks.

Use a clothesline.

Call Nyah at 331-400-2646. He speaks fluent English if that is a concern.

When we added a solar hot water heater, and virtually eliminated use of our 'de paso' gas heater, it cut our propane usage in half. We still used the propane for cooking, clothes dryer and occasional heating. It took about a year and a half for the solar unit to pay for itself. It was a 140L, 18 dry tube Sharp unit for a pressure system.

Plan up front. I tracked my electricity use for a year to see what the average daily usage was. I also bought a little electric "wood burning stove look" with a thermostat and tracked specifically how much electricity it used over the course of six weeks starting in January. My result was an "average" of 5.5 kwh per day of normal use and a whopping 8.3 kwh per day just for the heater. I use the washer and dryer (to rotate the drum)3 times a week, on demand propane hot water heater, propane dryer, propane stove and a big refrigerator, etc. etc.
I have a small 180 litre propane tank and it is still at 40% after a year. It was suggested that I needed 5 solar panels and I have racked up quite a credit with CFE since last March.
Surprisingly, the little electric heater is much more efficient since I have now replaced all the windows (a LOT) in my house and is using only 1 kwh a day.
The 5 solar panels and installation (including a tracker so I can see daily on the computer what I have produced) cost $4,600 U.S. last March. I'm happy.

ferret wrote:Plan up front. I tracked my electricity use for a year to see what the average daily usage was. I also bought a little electric "wood burning stove look" with a thermostat and tracked specifically how much electricity it used over the course of six weeks starting in January. My result was an "average" of 5.5 kwh per day of normal use and a whopping 8.3 kwh per day just for the heater. I use the washer and dryer (to rotate the drum)3 times a week, on demand propane hot water heater, propane dryer, propane stove and a big refrigerator, etc. etc.
I have a small 180 litre propane tank and it is still at 40% after a year. It was suggested that I needed 5 solar panels and I have racked up quite a credit with CFE since last March.
Surprisingly, the little electric heater is much more efficient since I have now replaced all the windows (a LOT) in my house and is using only 1 kwh a day.
The 5 solar panels and installation (including a tracker so I can see daily on the computer what I have produced) cost $4,600 U.S. last March. I'm happy.

How many sq. ft. is ur house?

It's small, 1000 square feet but has a lot of windows. But I'm not sure why you would want to know that? I still have all the stuff that a regular house uses. 6 ceiling fans, 1 flat screen large TV, 1 microwave, 1 toaster oven, 1 large refrigerator, one washer, one dryer, one laptop, one printer etc. The number of panels depends on YOUR usage not mine.

The heat from the TV, microwave, toaster and refrigerator is enough to heat the living areas of your home. Even the washer and dryer would contribute, but they are probably outside.

ROTFLMAO! Washer and dryer are outside on the front porch. TV is on for about an hour and a half at night. Microwave OR Toaster oven is on for five minutes daily. And the fridge comes on for about two minutes every three hours. Computer is on all day but it doesn't throw out that much heat.
Compared to last year, I would say that the biggest impact has been the replacement of the louvered style windows. Those suckers were really drafty even when there was no wind. Just icy fingers slipping through the cracks and caressing my ankles.

CanuckBob made a great suggestion. He posted;

"Call Nyah at 331-400-2646. He speaks fluent English if that is a concern."

I used him and his crew the last time I updated my 10 year old system. And on an earlier occasion too. He is with Opiere Solar. In earlier years he was with eSun before it went out of business.

Gosh Pete. Were we supposed to actually follow what the OP requested?
I had SmartPV do the installation and the contact person was Bettina Bering 766-1049 or 331-210-7723
The efficiency of panels has come a long way since your initial installation. My panels are Silfab 350W -47 VDC SLG-M350M Monocrystalline with a 25 year warranty and made in Canada. The 350W means that each panel is capable of producing 350 watts PER HOUR in ideal conditions.
Beautiful, clean and fast installation.
Now you have two recommendations Problem Child.

My first 10 panels were only slightly smaller than the newer panels available today but were also much less efficient. Each panel was rated at 170 watts. (Again that was in 2008) I knew that was ordering too few panels but had not moved into the house yet so I bought an inverter that allowed me to install more panels. After having lived in the newly rebuilt house for a year I realized I needed many more panels so maxing out my inverter I installed 12 more panels which by then were more efficient and were rated at 180 watts. I had determined that I needed even more panels but my inverter limited me the 12.

So I finally broke down and bought a second inverter and six 240 watts panels, which I knew were about two panels too many, but better too many than too few.

Why do I need so many panels? My biggest use, I guess are the pumps that move the water up the hill to my upper aljibe and the pump needed to irrigate my 3/4 acre patch of property and the pool pump. And with two too many panels I can actually run my electric heater upon occasion. I know, that is wasteful :)

The original post asked what was the payback period for an investment in a photo voltaic system. And I can not answer that, because the prices for the equipment are much lower today and with the electrical rates as high as they are when you are in DAC, it can't be that many years.

I sure enjoy paying only $46 pesos every two months because I have perhaps 2 too many panels :)

As you say, the efficiency of panels has increased dramatically in 10 years and there are even panels that produce more than mine now. I also love my 46 peso bills and banking those kwh for the season that I will most need them.
Pumps of any kind whether from an aljibe or for a pool are enormous suckers of electricity. I, fortunately, chose a house with a tinaco and use my aljibe only as a source of emergency water. I do have a small 1/3 HP igoto pump between the tinaco and the house. It gives me all the pressure I need.
Everybody's use of electricity varies and it's always wise to conserve it wherever possible.

Ditto on Nyah... They originally installed our system as E Sun but have serviced us with their new company. Excellent service!!!

I’ve gotten a quote on solar but I’m hesitant because my roof only gets 6 hours of sun per day. That’s terrific for the warm season, of course. Is there any point in solar electric with so much shade, or should I just suck up the rate increase? I use 10 kw per day.

Do you have a casita? If so, you can put in an additional meter and split your usage between the two. Each meter would be below the DAC rate.

My question is about the DAC rate too. At an average of 10 kwh a day you are either in DAC or very close to it.

ferret wrote:My question is about the DAC rate too. At an average of 10 kwh a day you are either in DAC or very close to it.

The guy who gave me my solar estimate (NOT SURE IF THIS IS TRUE! He’s a salesman!) said that Dec. 15 the DAC rate is going to 300 kw usage over 2 months, that would be only 5 kw per day if true.

Does anybody know? I’ve not read any news articles that say this.

I haven't read that anywhere. Who gave you your solar estimate? And what are the details of the quote?

ferret wrote:I haven't read that anywhere. Who gave you your solar estimate? And what are the details of the quote?

It’s a Matt Neighbor of Energía Ecosmart but I’m waiting on details. I asked for both electric and water quotes but received only water.

If they change it to 300 KWH then a lot of people will need to upgrade their existing solar systems since in many cases they just build a system to keep you under 500 KWH. Ask Matt if he can provide any documentation or point you to a website on this pending change?

And that's another question to ask: If you are putting in X number of panels, how many more panels COULD you add if necessary in the future.

Don't you think that if the DAC KWH level was being changed last Saturday that it would have made headlines in the Mexico City News or the Guadalajara Reporter?

I found the CFE tariff page, it doesn’t agree with what the salesman is saying.

https://app.cfe.mx/Aplicaciones/CCFE/Tarifas/Tarifas/Tarifas_casa.asp?Tarifa=DAC

This is what is currently listed on the CFE website. It looks like it is still 250 KWH per month (500 KWH/2 months) They don't list a 2019 tarrif yet.

The high consumption limit is defined for each location depending on the rate at which is rated:

Rate 1: 250 (two hundred fifty)kWh/month.
Rate 1A: 300 (three hundred)kWh/month.
Rate 1B: 400 (four hundred)kWh/month.
1 c rate. 850 (eight hundred and fifty)kWh/month.
Rate 1 d: 1,000 (one thousand)kWh/month.
1E price: 2,000 (two thousand) kWh/month.
Rate 1F: 2,500 (two thousand five hundred)kWh/month.

Can you give a link to that page please Bob.