Trees versus solar panels

[Denise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Denise]

I've never posted in the Hot Tub, I hope this is appropriate.

I just read in the local paper that some homeowner's were sued because their redwood trees cast shade on the neighbor's giant solar panels (installed after the trees were planted). Apparently there is some obscure, never used CA law that says that if the trees grow (duh) and obscure the sun a certain percent, then the solar panels win. Interesting article.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8063034?nclick_check=1

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I've never posted in the Hot Tub, I hope this is appropriate.

I just read in the local paper that some homeowner's were sued because their redwood trees cast shade on the neighbor's giant solar panels (installed after the trees were planted). Apparently there is some obscure, never used CA law that says that if the trees grow (duh) and obscure the sun a certain percent, then the solar panels win. Interesting article.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8063034?nclick_check=1

you have been a member here for over 2 years and your only posting in the hot tub now for the first time. What took you so long. Glad you could join us.


BTW I agree that the solar panels come first. Same problem happens with TV Signals but that does not take presidents.

[Elan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Elan]

I don't know if it's a law here, but I remember reading something awhile back in our subdivision documents about "solar access". I don't really think it was targeted at solar panel issues as much as just trying to prohibit one neighbor from blocking sunshine into another neighbor's yard/house. It was/is a little concerning to me as I've planted a full row of evergreens on my property to obscure the view of my back neighbor's house. The trees are mostly still under 20' tall, but they are due west of my back neighbor, so they must provide the neighbors plenty of shade in the late summer afternoons.

[Denise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Denise]

you have been a member here for over 2 years and your only posting in the hot tub now for the first time. What took you so long. Glad you could join us.


BTW I agree that the solar panels come first. Same problem happens with TV Signals but that does not take presidents.

Thanks, Frank . I'm usually busy with my kids and haven't had a good hot tub soak in years. I hope I can hang around a bit more!

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

We considered getting solar panels but the company we talked to about it advised us that our house wasn't a great candidate for two reasons: not much unbroken roof space, and a less-than-clear southern exposure. The southern exposure was (and is) partially blocked by trees.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

While in Europe mostly in Austria and Germany. I was shocked to see how many homes have solar panels. This is the future we should be conserving more.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

This company made a great case for it. But our roof is kind of a little piece, a little piece, a little piece--very few good spots for south-facing panels.

Another option I recently saw in a magazine is solar panels that are dedicated to heating water only. You need fewer, smaller panels, so you don't need as much roof area.

[Elan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Elan]

While in Europe mostly in Austria and Germany. I was shocked to see how many homes have solar panels. This is the future we should be conserving more.

Germany leads the solar revolution, primarily due to this legislation:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was not fear of power outages, high gas prices or tripled power bills, but economic incentives that jump-started the solar revolution in Germany.

Last year in April, the Social-Democratic/Green German government introduced the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) to boost the planned switch to renewable energy sources. Producers of renewable energy get 43 cents for each kWh (kilowatt per hour) of solar power generated and 7 cents per kWh of wind energy generated.

Since June, even producers of biomass energy -- usually "waste products" from farms like grass and wood -- are allowed to sell up to 9 cents per kWh of generated energy.

"The beauty of this law is that costs of these incentives are not tied to any budget, but distributed and added to regular power prices," explained Uwe Hartmann, vice president of DGS, the German section of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).

"Consumers feel such an increase of maybe a tenth of a cent at most as white noise, but it really helped to start the boom," added Hartmann.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Germany leads the solar revolution, primarily due to this legislation:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was not fear of power outages, high gas prices or tripled power bills, but economic incentives that jump-started the solar revolution in Germany.

Last year in April, the Social-Democratic/Green German government introduced the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) to boost the planned switch to renewable energy sources. Producers of renewable energy get 43 cents for each kWh (kilowatt per hour) of solar power generated and 7 cents per kWh of wind energy generated.

Since June, even producers of biomass energy -- usually "waste products" from farms like grass and wood -- are allowed to sell up to 9 cents per kWh of generated energy.

"The beauty of this law is that costs of these incentives are not tied to any budget, but distributed and added to regular power prices," explained Uwe Hartmann, vice president of DGS, the German section of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).

"Consumers feel such an increase of maybe a tenth of a cent at most as white noise, but it really helped to start the boom," added Hartmann.

Now I know why I saw so many homes with Solar panels up. At first I had thought that there was no electricity in the smaller areas.

[Elan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Elan]

I wasn't aware of it either, until I saw a PBS program a couple months ago. There was one multi-generation German farmer who had converted a sizable portion of his acreage into a large solar farm. IIRC, he was going to have his solar investment paid off in 5-10 years. I wish we could get something similar going in the US.......

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

We had similar issues.....not enough continuous roof space that was southern facing. We got a quote from one of the solar companies that does the road show in Costco. We also found out that because our panels would not get full exposure we were not elgible for some of the government rebates and tax credits.

We considered getting solar panels but the company we talked to about it advised us that our house wasn't a great candidate for two reasons: not much unbroken roof space, and a less-than-clear southern exposure. The southern exposure was (and is) partially blocked by trees.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

My DH would love to do something to make our house more "green." Unfortunately it's old and drafty and I worry that the more we tighten it up, the more likely it is we'll all be killed by mold spores, CO poisoning, and whatever else it's harboring.

[Denise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Denise]

We have the wrong exposure, too, and it is very expensive to install these panels on our tile roof.

I will say that I would be extremely upset if someone asked me to cut down our redwood trees (12 years old). We are low on a hill, so aren't blocking anyone's sun anyhow, but still, we love our trees. I guess I should be glad to have neighbors with a super noisy car instead !

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Just wondering , What is the cost to put Solar panels up. I had heard years ago that it cost to much to make it feasible but now with the electric prices where it is it may pay to put them in.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I can't remember, but it wasn't staggering. It was in the thousands, but not so many that it was painful.

There are significant rebate incentives to do it, and in our case, with the incentives, the whole thing probably would have paid for itself in about...three years? IF it worked well, which unfortunately it didn't seem like it would, plus it would have been pretty glunky-looking on our particular roof--the panels would kind of have been hanging on here and there.

They probably have info on the website of your local utility. Con Ed for you? PSE&G sent us a list of suppliers, then a couple of them came out to do estimates.