Review for Big Dog Solar Energy

01/11/2024
Russ B. Pocatello, ID

Big Dog Solar First Three Months

Feedback to Big Dog Solar: A bit of background, Big Dog Solar recommended a 4,000 watt system for our home based on their computer modeling of our usage for the previous 10 months of service (my wife and I have only lived in this home that long). So upon their recommendation we had ten 400 watt solar panels installed on our home in September of 2023 and started generating power on the 21st. We were lucky in the fact that the positioning of the solar panels were on the south side (back yard) of the home and got potentially direct sunlight for the majority of the day. Just a side note: their installation crew was top notch and got the job completed in less than a day with zero problems. The purpose of us installing solar panels is to give us independence from the power company and if our solar panels generate excess power and we can use that excess as credits for future short solar generations’ days/month because of inclement weather (clouds and snow). Because we had the solar installed late in the summer we did not generated any excess power because of a some cloudy days toward the end of month of September and had to pay the power company for 37 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power that we used from the grid. This carried on for the month of October (we paid the power company for 71 kWh); the month of November (we paid the power company for 128 kWh) and for December (we paid the power company for 278 kWh). For this feedback this is far as we will go with the data. We have not generated any excess power yet due to the fact that in winter there are so many days that are cloudy that the panels cannot generate enough power, no matter how many panels you have installed. The bottom line is that late spring and summer and early fall is when the solar panels will give out their maximum power and at that time we are anticipating that we will be getting excess power in our account to pay for the lack of sufficient generated power in the winter. I have created a spreadsheet that lists: 1) How much power is being generated on a daily basis from our ten panels. 2) The kWh that we are being charged from the grid (hopefully after spring comes that will always be 0). 3) The excess kWh our panels are generating (we should we get excess in the spring and summer and early fall and they should accumulate). 4) The average generated solar kWh/day that we are generating. 5) The average kWh/day that we use from the grid (hopefully by spring/summer that will also go to 0 and remain there). Is the spreadsheet overkill, probably, but it answers one big question? Do we have enough solar panels to do the job so we don’t have to get power from the grid? For this discussion I am only going to use the last quarter of 2023 kWh power amounts that I had to purchase from the gird. So from October through December I had to purchase 477 kWh’s of power. That means in the last quarter of 2024 if I use approximate the same amount as the last quarter 2023 I would need to make at least that 477 kWh’s excess power during spring, summer and fall (and that is not even considering the 1st quarter of 2024). Also, do I need perhaps 10 percent more panels than we have to insure that we have excess credit with the power company? If we have another bad winter like 2022-23 or a very cloudy summer then maybe a couple of extra panels would be nice. But again, if you have lots of excess credit saved up you would not need the extra panels. To get that answer will take a winter and a summer of using real data. My recommendation: For me I do not like to be dependent upon the power company. Their price will always being going up. Yes, there is a cost for installation but Big Dog has an answer to that and it will involve tax credits from the Federal and State governments. They have other incentives and ways to reduce your initial cost and you would have to ask and deal with them. So for me, I think it was a good deal. Big Dog Solar is a great company to work with. They will tell you honestly, up front, your options and let you decide. One thing that is great about Big Dog Solar is that they will NOT over sell you on what you need to get the power you need. This will save you money! That’s it for now. If Big Dog Solar want me to generate another feedback in spring and then again in summer, I could do that.