Cost and efficiency of solar in Massachusetts/New Hampshire

I have a 3,800+ sq. ft. home in MA and am considering going solar. I used about 1200 KWH in September for electricity. I am looking for a ball park cost for installation. Also, how much electricity can my system generate? The rear roof of my house is on a southern exposure. I am also interested in using solar for hot water.
Also, in my perusal of this group, I see that there is currently a shortage of solar materials. How long would I have to wait to get a system installed?

a few data points for you:
my home, 3000 sq ft, southern california
3 Kw system. $12,000 net after incentives. 18 panels. one inverter.
getting 15 Kw-hrs per day now with clouds & short days. got 20 Kw-hr days in the summer. i installed te system july 7th, days were already heading shorter then. i missed peak summer output.
we get supposedly 6.5 hours of reliable sun per day on a yearly basis. i doubt you'll get that kind of reliable sun. even sunny days under 6 inches of snow cuts your production down... i'm sure others here might help direct you to sites that indicate reliable sun for your area. you might need extra panels to get solar electric credits for cloudy days.
i grew up around philadelphia & i swear every 5 days it would rain for 7. and seattle gets the bad press! i learned phila uses their own designatiopn of "sunny" v "partly sunny" days in weather reports.
my contractor bought the panels from sharp electronics. they got panels in a day or two after the order. the small guys might have trouble if they don't order panels in higher volumes or if they order sporadically.
see ya
steve

"Robert La Ferla" wrote in message

I have a 3,800+ sq. ft. home in MA and am considering going solar. I used about 1200 KWH in September for electricity. I am looking for a ball park cost for installation. Also, how much electricity can my system generate? The rear roof of my house is on a southern exposure. I am also interested in using solar for hot water.
Also, in my perusal of this group, I see that there is currently a shortage of solar materials. How long would I have to wait to get a system installed?

To get an estimate go to http://www.ebike.net/solar/index.php?page=rightforme . The amount of solar power available depends on the roof shape and area that is favorably located, (and your bank account). South and rectangular is good. As to how long a wait, the only answer is to contact local installers. Click on "find a solar pro" in the location I copied, and you should be okay. I just put my $1000 down on a system a week ago, and I don't expect it to be put in until after the first of the year here in S. F. Bay area. I don't know if the delay is at all due to panel availability, but the installer is pretty busy, so I think that's the main reason.
My system will use Sharp NE170U1 panels that put out 170 watts from 14.4 sq-ft of panel area. I'll put 36 panels on my 580 sq-ft south-facing garage roof to generate about 6 KW, and at my location averaging 5.4 hours of sunshine/day, the system should generate about 33.5 KWh/day, which at $0.14/KWh, should replace $140/month of electricity that would have been pulled from the grid. This is somewhat more than my needs at present, but I eventually expect to charge my Prius overnight (about 8-9 KWh for 30 mile range before firing up the gas engine) when plug-in modifications become available - - maybe in a couple of years.
Solar water heating is a separate system, of course, and not all solar power guys do water, so you might have to shop around.
Good luck
Chuck

Robert La Ferla wrote:

I have a 3,800+ sq. ft. home in MA and am considering going solar. I used about 1200 KWH in September for electricity. I am looking for a ball park cost for installation. Also, how much electricity can my system generate? The rear roof of my house is on a southern exposure. I am also interested in using solar for hot water.
Also, in my perusal of this group, I see that there is currently a shortage of solar materials. How long would I have to wait to get a system installed?

your system can generate as much power as you are willing to pay for. A 1200 kWh / month system might cost in the ballpark of $80k before rebates.
-- Steve Spence Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html

wrote in message

Chuck Olson wrote: My system will use Sharp NE170U1 panels that put out 170 watts from 14.4 sq-ft of panel area. I'll put 36 panels on my 580 sq-ft south-facing garage roof to generate about 6 KW,
How much was that? I paid $28000 for 48x(125w@10sf) Kyocera and a Fronius Inverter.

About $30,000 using a couple of Xantrex GT3.0 inverters.

Chuck Olson wrote:

My system will use Sharp NE170U1 panels that put out 170 watts from 14.4 sq-ft of panel area. I'll put 36 panels on my 580 sq-ft south-facing garage roof to generate about 6 KW,

How much was that? I paid $28000 for 48x(125w@10sf) Kyocera and a Fronius Inverter.

Solar water heating is a separate system, of course, and not all solar power guys do water, so you might have to shop around.

I might do the Solar Water myself. I have two parallel rooflines. The electrical is going on the front one, and a pool heater and domestic water heater might go on the second one. I have a propane water heater now, so there is some improvement to be made there, maybe supplementing the solar water heater with an electric flash heater.
I was thinking of using an electrical solar panel to power the pool heater pump. It seems like solar water panel would only provide heat at the same time the solar panel could provide power. Seems like a natural. It doesn't make sense to me to run a solar pool heater from the normal pool pump.
-- --- Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

Steve Spence wrote:

your system can generate as much power as you are willing to pay for. A 1200 kWh / month system might cost in the ballpark of $80k before rebates.

If time-of-use billing is available from your utility, and if they are required to buy back any surplus energy you generate ("net metering"), you will not need to generate all 1200 kWh a month in order to erase your electric bill. Under time-of-use net metering, you put back energy during peak summer hours when the price is higher, and use energy at night and in winter when it's lower.
At least that's how it works in California. Don't know about Mass.