Renewables are increasingly big business in the US, and Virginia is a coveted market because of its growing pool of renewable energy sources. Dominion Energy of Virginia expects solar sales to increase significantly as the utility reduces emissions and adapts its portfolio to meet the new clean energy mandates in Virginia.
Given the high government incentives, solar energy in Virginia can be a pretty sweet investment. If you install a photovoltaic system by 2020, the state tax credit will be up to $1,000 per kilowatt-hour (kW) of solar power, and the state solar tax credit will be available for solar systems that cost less than $20,000.
A study by the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) calculated the cost of solar and onshore wind power in Virginia over the next 20 years, comparing these costs to the energy efficiency of electricity generated by onshore solar or wind power. The study compared the LCOE of four Dominion biomass plants with that of a new solar / wind plant, based on data from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Add in the potential for additional system integration costs, and you get an additional $1,000 per kilowatt-hour (kW) of solar energy cost savings in Virginia.
The average daily short wave solar energy per square meter of ground (orange line) in the USA (red lines) and the United States (blue lines).
The sun's energy lights up the world and is used for many purposes, but government and industry statistics track the profound impact it has on our world. To find the average hours of sunshine per day in Hampton, we looked at the solar irradiation map provided by our team here at Blue Pacific Solar. The black lines are from bottom to top, the red lines from top to bottom and the blue lines from left to right.
If you simply want to connect to the grid with a solar system, you should be able to start planning and help you choose the right combination of solar panels, inverters and inverter efficiency. We took the watts needed for production and divided them by the number of hours of sunshine per day and the average daily kWh consumption of the selected solar panels. Then we divided this number by our inverse efficiency, which is usually 94%. Choosing the best solar system for your home or business in Hampton, Virginia, is as simple as calculating the average consumption of your daily KWh consumption and dividing that value by your number of available hours of sunshine. Divide the total amount of sunlight available to you and your selected solar panels by these.
To explain this further, the equivalent of 1 kW of solar panels is 91% of what you pay monthly for your electricity bill. To cover these costs, a 5kW solar system would cost about $1,000 per kWh, or $5,500 per year. That's the equivalent of $91 a month in electricity bills, the difference between your monthly bill and the cost of your solar system.
The following figure shows the estimated payback and break period for a 5kW solar system. If you want to install your home's solar panels on your roof, you need to decide which solar cell size is best for you. The choice of solar panel will strongly influence the size of your solar system and the price of the kit itself. All these factors may affect your price, but they are not the only factors.
The additional solar energy generated but not usable at home will be credited to your supplier's next bill at the cost rate avoided. Normally, the money you spend to pay for your current energy consumption is the same you save when you get your Hopewell solar system. Because Virginia has no net meters, manufacturers like LG do not offer their own solar discounts. The full consumption credit for net meters is forgotten due to the amount of electricity sent back to the grid by the solar panels.
You can try out your state's solar subsidy on the DSIRE.org page here or request a quote by clicking above.
Still, it helps that Virginia is forcing utilities to make at least some of the loans when the electricity is back on line. Net Measurement requires the utility to monitor how much energy a solar system produces and actually uses to ensure that it gets credit for any surpluses. Solar energy is diffuse, which means that solar energy that falls over a large area can be collected without making a significant contribution to energy use.
Campers must use a whole sunny day, which usually equals about 6 hours of useful sunlight. The installation of a solar system can take up to 2 hours or less depending on the size of the panels. On cloudy days, only a minimal amount of solar energy can be harvested, and availability varies from time to time, depending on when it is available after sunset or not. Daily availability is far higher during the winter months, but only for a few hours in summer.