OH 'sunny' enough for domestic solar?

 I live in Columbus OH. Originally from sunny Boulder, CO. I have a
great job here and OH is not so bad as folk in Boulder believe. The sun
actually does shine here, yesterday, ALL DAY, it was beautiful.

Consulting the US insolation map, however, one would question if the
investment were wise, central OH having ~56% the W / day compared to
central CO.
see http://projectsol.aps.com/images/common/insolation_map.gif

I understand at least, one's break-even point is further offset by cost
of additional panels to reach some kW target.

I'd like your opinions, as I'm now getting quotes for domestic solar,
and it ain't cheap.

Should I just spend the money elsewhere?

Please don't recommend I move back to Boulder. The cost of living here
is great!

JBox

  Oh yeah, you like it now. Just wait until this August when it's like150
degrees and 100 % humidity and the inside of your fridge is 90 degrees.

Seriously, there's a couple of ways to go:

Hire someone and pay a lot
Do it yourself and pay less and learn a lot.

What I see a lot (judging by the questions I get) are people that start
out by powering just a few thing, say a small fridge and a laptop or a
television or maybe a whole room "to see what it's like". I did that
and most people I know that use solar started like that.

The plus side of hiring a professional installer is that
A. you won't have to lift a finger (just write the check).
B. all the pretty panels will be exactly alike.
C. pretty much needed for a grid tied system.

The plus side of doing it yourself is that
A. When (not if, when) something goes amiss, you know exactly what's
going on.
B. The joy of learning and doing it yourself (I see your OSU email, Go
Blue).
C. Cost savings; mix n match panels, find the best deals.
D. Plan on "off the grid".

Have fun and as always, don't hook it up like me.

Max
http://www.northernmichigansolar.com

 You might want to consider solar thermal home heating. I understand it =
can
get pretty cold there in the winter. I think solar thermal has a better =
payback than
PV, but that is just my opinion.

 box.11@osu.edu wrote:

I understand that in the Spring, temperature and humidity are
interchangeable numbers, 80 or 90 of each.


A reasonable quote for on-grid would include examination of last year's
utility bills, which you can't provide.  The previous occupants bills, or
some general guidelines would have to suffice.

The true pricing of on-grid solar varies a lot from community to community,
heavily influenced by local rebates, and tax considerations.

http://www.dsireusa.org/   lists rebates and incentives by state.
At a glance, OH is not as inviting as CA.

http://www.findsolar.com  might be helpful in locating local dealers.
(That seems to be broken this morning.)

http://www.builditsolar.com  is a good starting point in general.


--
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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA  GPS: 38.8,-122.5

 PV can be done ANYWHERE including Ohio.  It just takes more or less solar
panels to produce the same amount of power, depending on your location.  I
guarantee there are people living off the grid and with intertie systems in
your area.  If you are doing it for pure economic reasons, it is probably
not the cheapest way to get power to your house.  But for about the cost of
a car, you can offset most of your power needs with a solar energy system
that will last as long as three cars.

gary

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