Cost to have solar panels installed

[lillianwickram]

I’ve been to Costa Rica a handful of times and am considering retiring early there. I will rent before I buy. The one thing that concerns me in particular is the cost of electricity. I don’t run the air conditioner constantly here in the states but would not like to see a $300-$400 bill in CR if I can avoid it. I’m going to look at the areas of the Nicoya Peninsula, Manuel Antonio and a couple other areas. I’d like to be within 30 minutes of the beach.

Does anyone have any idea the potential range of cost of installing solar panels on say a 2 or 3 bedroom house? I can’t seem to find this anywhere.

Thanks!

[johnr]

[quote=”lillianwickram”]I’ve been to Costa Rica a handful of times and am considering retiring early there. I will rent before I buy. The one thing that concerns me in particular is the cost of electricity. I don’t run the air conditioner constantly here in the states but would not like to see a $300-$400 bill in CR if I can avoid it. I’m going to look at the areas of the Nicoya Peninsula, Manuel Antonio and a couple other areas. I’d like to be within 30 minutes of the beach.

Does anyone have any idea the potential range of cost of installing solar panels on say a 2 or 3 bedroom house? I can’t seem to find this anywhere.

Thanks![/quote]

If you would like I can send you information on a company that does this. They are actually in the Osa but have come up to the NP to do quite a bit of work for me – and they do excellent work. Let me know.

[CHERYLJK]

johnr, I am also interested in solar info. Will be moving to Tambor in December and building a house next year.

[lillianwickram]

Hi John,

Thanks–sure I am interested. I’ve found a handful of places that install solar panels but I’m really trying to get a handle on price range. So far all I can see is in the area of $30K but it’s a number probably far out of context depending on the size of a house, etc. Thanks!

[quote=”johnr”][quote=”lillianwickram”]I’ve been to Costa Rica a handful of times and am considering retiring early there. I will rent before I buy. The one thing that concerns me in particular is the cost of electricity. I don’t run the air conditioner constantly here in the states but would not like to see a $300-$400 bill in CR if I can avoid it. I’m going to look at the areas of the Nicoya Peninsula, Manuel Antonio and a couple other areas. I’d like to be within 30 minutes of the beach.

Does anyone have any idea the potential range of cost of installing solar panels on say a 2 or 3 bedroom house? I can’t seem to find this anywhere.

Thanks![/quote]

If you would like I can send you information on a company that does this. They are actually in the Osa but have come up to the NP to do quite a bit of work for me – and they do excellent work. Let me know.[/quote]

[nking54]

Does anyone have any idea the potential range of cost of installing solar panels on say a 2 or 3 bedroom house? I can’t seem to find this anywhere.

Thanks![/quote]

Hi Lillian,

My husband and I are going to have solar panels installed this Wednesday on the roof of our 2-bedroom/2.5 bath home in San Isidro de Perez Zeledon. We found an excellent company owned by a German gentleman (Pura Sol) also located in Perez Zeledon. The total cost for a 5KW system is close to $11,000 US dollars. If you need further information, just let me know. Regards, Nancy King

[johnr]

Hey gang:

Here is a link to the company web site:

http://www.osawaterworks.com/

Ask for Paul – he’s the owner, bi-lingual. He does solar as well as waste water, potable water and a host of other services. We have used his company on a number of projects and he and his crew do awesome work.

Tell him John from Punta Dakota sent ya – although he may charge more knowing it’s me! Just kidding!

[lillianwickram]

That was exactly the kind of information I was trying to find, Nancy–thanks so much:)

When one has solar installed, are there any monthly costs for it?

Will it provide 100% of electricity needs?

Any typical problems with solar panels?

Good or not good to plug into a grid (not entirely sure the meaning of this but I think it has to do with selling it back to the electric company)? More cost associated with plugging into a grid? Any real benefit to doing so?

I’m planning on paying for a house outright and then want my monthly costs to be minimal.

Thanks everyone!

[quote=”nking54″]
Does anyone have any idea the potential range of cost of installing solar panels on say a 2 or 3 bedroom house? I can’t seem to find this anywhere.

Thanks![/quote]

Hi Lillian,

My husband and I are going to have solar panels installed this Wednesday on the roof of our 2-bedroom/2.5 bath home in San Isidro de Perez Zeledon. We found an excellent company owned by a German gentleman (Pura Sol) also located in Perez Zeledon. The total cost for a 5KW system is close to $11,000 US dollars. If you need further information, just let me know. Regards, Nancy King[/quote]

[Michlic]

This thread is a few months old but is a popular question so I thought I would respond to possibly help someone with their quest towards solar.

There are many different types of solar power and configurations of each system. It is important to educate yourself on the mechanics of a system to equip you to ask the right questions.

example house:
2,000 sq ft, 3 bedroom, air conditioning, pool.
energy consumption: 700 kw/hr per month
electric cost: $400
Costa Rica has a 3 tier billing:
1-200 kw/hr $0.11/kw/hr
201-300 kw/hr $0.23
301-+ kw/hr $0.33
there are additional taxes, and delivery fees

A solar system that would produce 350kw/hr would take this home off grid and could cost several thousand dollars giving it several years ‘payback’ time.
A solar system that would produce 100kw/hr with reverse meter would most likely lower this home cost to the first tier price.
A solar system with battery pack to store day time energy received would also benefit but increase price.

There is available: solar hot water, solar air conditioners, solar pool pumps, etc. Calculating the cost of these units may suite your requirements more economically. There are also home appliances with high seer ratings which save energy consumption considerably.

It is important to do your due diligence and own calculations before speaking with a solar technician. They may not inform you of other alternatives. They generally look at your existing electric bill and calculate system requirements. Upgrading home appliances could lower energy cost by 60% in some cases and will return a faster ‘payback’ time.

I am a builder in Nicoya peninsula of several homes and have been asked this question several times. I have yet to install a system and can not recommend a company. But I have received prices from $25,000-$120,000 for the same house.

[olsgaard]

Hey!

We are going to build as well.

We are thinking a small house 120m2 and 30m2 pool
As we live in Europe we will only use the house 3-4 weeks a year – in the meantime we hope to rent it out some weeks (10-15 weeks a year)

I think that a grind-system is great. But I can not find out – if the meter will run backwards until it get to 0.
I mean it we don’t use power for 2 months – will the meter run backwards for 2 months??

[caliskatari]

Michlic.. First of all, a $400 electric bill would represent a usage of around 1900KwH’s. Where I live, in Guanacaste on the Nicoya peninsula as well, 700Kwh of electricity is around $140/month.

My bills show 2 levels of charges: which are plus taxes and other charges
0-200 – C61.00 colones per KWH
200+ – c86.00 colones per KWH (25% increase)

So using the 700KWH at a cost of $140/month, depending on where you live and how many hours of sun per day are expected, and your orientation, you can expect between 4 and 8 hours of direct sun light a day. In Guanacaste, you could expect 10 hours during the dry season. But normally there is cloud cover part of the day, so that should be estimated and determined.

If you received 4 hours of direct sun per day, you will want a 7.5KW system. If you can average 8 hours of direct sunlight per day, you could get away with 4KW system. That means the total wattage of the panels needed are 4000w or 7500w. Using 200 watt panels, that means you would need 20 to 36 solar panels in the array depending on how much sun it gets.

If you are connecting to the electrical grid in order to roll back your meter (Grid-tie) there is no need for a battery bank in the design. Over the long term that requires additional maintenance costs, and avoiding that expense is the whole reason to connect into the grid. Instead of the battery bank you will need a Inverter, which changes DC current to AC for use in your home and to sell to the electric company.

The cost of such a system in Costa Rica varies depending on the brands and quality of materials used. There are lots of affordable solar panels being imported from China, which can be of high quality and be a lot cheaper, but some prefer to use panels manufactured in Europe/Germany, or Japanese which tend to me more expensive.

[Author]

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