SOLAR PANELS

@roddiesho I’m seeing solar panels on many commercial buildings and some houses in Ilhéus. My landlady and another apartment building owner have told me that solar panels are not a good investment for their small buildings.

Solar panels seem like a good investment to me, but it depends on your particular situation and location and electric company. And the everchanging political landscape.

    Just out of curiosity, does anyone else have Solar Panels?  How have they been Working? It is always 84 degrees and very sunny in our village in Northeastern Brazil. We just installed them on the roof of my house to save on electricity.
Roddie in Retirement-@roddiesho

Roddie, 

Please let us know how the solar panels offset the cost of air conditioning.

Oh, and do you use evaporative coolers there?

@alan279 Not sure what "evaporate coolers are" I did buy her an air-conditioned for the glassed-in part of her home. Anyway, my wife has an app on her mobile phone that is keeping track. So far it seems to be going well. Our old electricity bill, which I had to pay, was R$1,000 a month. We have 3 houses, so I am sure it adds up. I will report once we have it for about a month.

My fear now is there is a tree in the way and it has to be twice as tall as my house. My wife says we need to cut it down, but I am so afraid of it hitting my dream house on the way down.

Roddie in Retirement

I think you made a great call doing that Roddie !!

It's rare to see solar here in Rio,  or up in the Serra region. The further NE I travel though, it's everywhere it seems.

In Canada (comments for comparison sake) it just doesn't work though FWIW. The 80,000 sq ft flat roof of the 250 unit condo I owned a unit in was perfect, but, our board solicited bids, and after much investigation we conducted outside of the solar industry, we determined that it was "not economically viable" due to our climate and other issues, specifically the average 10 year replacement cycle in our region for the panels. Amongst other costs. Too bad for us IMHO......

I just put up 18 panels for 1.25kw a month. They're  coming to connect it all to the grid here within 2 weeks. I will let you know how it all turns out as I ha e a 700 bill every month but haven't  used the air conds yet.

@roddiesho, the member @fred2brazil has posted his new building construction efforts on this site. This includes installation of solar panels.  I believe that fred2brazil is located in Buzios - a stone throw from you @gasparzinho.....

I have invested in solar / battery in the US where 1Kwh is around $.28 non peak and $0.58 for peak usage.  My break even point is 17 years assuming that the price does not increase.

What is the cost of 1 Kwh where you are?  This may be the issue with investing in solar panel - the ROI period...

@Pablo888 I’m paying R$1,18/kWh.

@roddiesho Wikipedia on evaporative cooling: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler. They work well in dry climates. They are common in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

    @Pablo888 I’m paying R$1,18/kWh.
   

    -@alan279

Wow.  That's around $0.26 - which is off peak rate here in California. 

If this is a flat rate, then it does not really make sense to invest in solar as you will probably never recover the cost of the solar.  It's the peak period (afternoon to late evening) energy consumption that makes up for the bulk of energy usage.

    @roddiesho Wikipedia on evaporative cooling: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler. They work well in dry climates. They are common in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.
   

    -@alan279

Have you looked into solar water heaters?  Makes no sense to use electricity to get hot water when there is a lot of heat out there?

@roddiesho

Evaporative coolers ”aka SWAMP COOLERS” are used in very dry climates. Think,  Arizona, west Texas,  south east California.  Google swamp coolers for more info.

I‘m in Goiania, we are finishing up the interior on a new constructuon home. We have 4 air conditioners and a pool, two refrigerators,  washing machine,  electric oven.

Anyway I decided to install solar now. The house we are renting now is much smaller, has one a/c unit, one fridge and a washer and it averages about R$300 per month. So I’m guessing this new place will be running about R$1k per month or more 

Having 16 panels installed that are estImated to produce 1.15kWh per month. The installation has been approved by the local power authority. I beleive this will be beneficial.

Hey Kevin,

For comparison sake only, what did it roughly cost to do your solar install ?

I realise things are priced different in Goiania than Rio, etc, and coming from Canada where solar is government subsidized, it's inflated in price as a result. Care to share ?

I didn’t go with the “low price leader”.  I chose a company that has been in business for several years and is installing top grade components. For panels, inverters and installation I am paying R$20,000.

FWIW, the cost in Canada is 4 to 6 times as much as you are paying. Thx for the follow up.

@Gasparzinho 777 I need to go to Vegas on my next trip to the USA, since my luck is so good. Yes, quite understand, but here in my little village, it is a steady 84 degrees and very sunny year-round.

I did not know, but apparently 3 of my wife's brothers who live in the village also have Solar Panels.

Roddie in Retirement

    I didn’t go with the “low price leader”.  I chose a company that has been in business for several years and is installing top grade components. For panels, inverters and installation I am paying R$20,000.
   

    -@kevinmiller1957

I have installed a Tesla solar + battery pack combo.  The Tesla system adds the panels in series rather than use micro-inverters and for a 16 panel - 8kW system, the panels and installation (not including the battery pack) was around $32K.

It's definitely cheaper in Brazil.  How long is the expected panel life?

@Gasparzinho 777

I know, I’m from California. To install solar is astronomical, and to choose one of the lease plans has several implications. So I never considered it there.

@Pablo888

I chose Jinko panels which are supposed to have a useful life of 25 years