Solar energy - panels

Dominique......When you say you just bought a traditional house,do you mean one of those small prefab Tico homes ? You need to ask yourself,is it worth retro fitting the home for something,that if it fails,no one is going to come right away to fix it.If there is solar company in Samara with a track record, then maybe.To get someone from San Jose,you are asking for trouble.Save the money and update the plumbing instead,so you can flush toilet paper.

Dominque... thanks for asking your question. I've been thinking about SPs too.

Hi Edwinmora,
Thank you for your reply!
My property manager has someone in the area who was trained in the US for solar panels.
What I'm really interested in are feedbacks from people using solar panels, not what I should do or not. I'll have everything checked (plumbing, electricity, etc anyway) and have it fixed prior to moving in.
Kind regards,
Dominique

Dominique........I was just going by the use of terms used,"traditional" for describing your home.Which is the small cinder block home,with the flimsy zinc roof.

Dominique,

I'd love to know who your US tech is for the panels.  We have solar for some of our home, non-traditional- and it has not been a prosperous experience but when it works, its lovely.  Don't notice the difference in the electric bill.

Hi,
I'll meet him in October but I have his info: Electricista Sandro. 8730 5678. My property manager told me he speaks English well and recommended him as he was traineras in the US.

You may wish to speak with Jim Ryan in Liberia. They also do water treatment. He did some testing for us and the town, a few years ago.

A friend & neighbour invested in some solar panels but the last I heard was that ICE wouldn't buy any electricity extra from them...

I bought a solar system from a Swiss company  located in San Jose (or Cartago I think).  I did not buy the back up battery system with it so I'm still on the grid with ICE.  And, no, they won't buy my extra electricity - they still get to use it of course since I'm on their system, but nothing for me other than a very much reduced monthly bill.  However, when ICE electric goes out, so does my solar system and I end up using my generator.  I am happy with my purchase and it has probably already paid me back in savings from what I paid to have the thing installed.  I would advise however, if you do buy, get the back up battery system, it will be worth it in the long run.  I'd still connect to the grid, but I'd have a switch so I could switch off ICE and just use my batteries so I wouldn't have to listen to the noise of a generator.

Someone I know just installed solar here in San Ramon area, in his newly constructed home. As I recall he said it cost around $4k, but that's totally off grid, with batteries and installation. Much cheaper than it used to be.
I could ask for a phone number if you want.
Supposedly it's enough to run all their lights, refrigerator and washing machine, everything.
If he were to add, say , air conditioning or a dehumidifier (very heavy usage) then I don't know if it would be enough. As I understand it he is close to maximum with the above described appliances. Pretty sure it would not run an a.c. system at that price.

Yes, thank you ! It could be usefull to have the phone number in order to compare.

Dominique Schreiber wrote:

Yes, thank you ! It could be usefull to have the phone number in order to compare.

I will see if I can get it for you. May take a few days. We'll see. If I get it I will send you a Private Message via this forum. Can't give phone #'s in this part of the forum.

Thank you very much 🙏

Check your pm for info.
I don't think it is disallowed to give a name of the solar company, if it is, Mod, then forgive me and delete this part:
On Facebook look for Energia-Solar-MYR.
Disclaimer: I am not recommending them, it's just a company a friend used and so far is happy with (he just installed the solar system very recently).