Nevada Energy, on of the largest utility companies in the state is now offering a great renewable energy incentive to homeowners who want to make a slight modification to how they heat up their water.

Solar Hot Water Details:

For Nevada Energy customers who want to purchase a solar hot water heater, NV Energy will cover 50% of the cost of the heater up to $1500.  This is a massive incentive, and since heating up water is becoming more and more expensive, it is something that everyone should jump on right away.  This particular incentive is limited in the amount of incentives.  There is scheduled just 200 or 300 incentives which will be handed out on a first come first served basis for the new few months.  There is only one condition regarding this incentive, and that is for the homeowner to surrender the renewable energy credits directly to the utility company.  That is not a big deal because the homeowners don’t want to hassle with trying to sell the REC’s anyways.

Costs to Installer Solar Hot Water Heaters:

The typical costs out the door to install a new solar hot water heater is roughly $2,250.  This is assuming you are using a licensed and bonded electrician who has experience with installing these types of systems.  If you are going for the cheapest equipment and cheapest labor, yes, you will be able to find something for much less, but it just isn’t worth it.  Also, please do not try to install a system like this on your own unless you are certified and have experience.  It is actually very dangerous and many people who attempt this burn themselves badly.

As part of the service, most installers of solar hot water systems in Nevada will process all of the required paperwork as part of the service.  This makes the whole process of securing your rebate much easier.

One of the first questions that you will ask is: how many kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity will my solar system produce where I live? That’s a great question, and one which everyone should ask themselves when you buy a solar system.

Las Vegas Solar Cells

There are several ways to figure this out. This post will explain the easiest way to determine the electric production for a solar system.

-The size of the solar system that we will evaluate is going to be for a 2.0 kw PV solar system. That is equal to a 2000 watt solar system because there are 1000 watts in a kw.
-The location that we will use to come up with an average sunlight hour number is Las Vegas Nevada. The average number of sunlight hours there is approximately 6.4 hours per day.
-We will use an energy loss amount of approximately 15% when the current goes from DC to AC

So, here is the equation:
2000 wattsDC X 6.4 hours/day = 12,800 watt hoursDC/day = 12.8 kwh/day on average in DC

Next, we will factor in the energy loss of 15%:
12.8kwh X .15= 1.92kwh of lost energy in the conversion to Alternating Current

Next we will figure out how much AC current is left to use:
12.8kwhDC-1.92kwh(lost)= 10.88kwh AC produced per day

Next, we will figure out how many kilo watt hours are produced each month on average:
10.88kwhAC/day X 30(days in the average month) = 326 kwhAC produced on average per month

Next, we will figure out how many kilo watt hours are produced on average per year:
326 kwh AC per month X 12(moths in the year) = 3,912 kwh per year

SO, in Las Vegas, Nevada, you could expect a 2.0 kwh solar system to produce approximately 3,912 kilo watt hours of electricity per year.

One of the assumptions is that there would be no shade hitting the solar panels as that would adversely affect the electricity production.

When you are buying a solar system in Las Vegas, be sure to ask the solar professional to explain the expected sunlight hours to you.  This is quite possibly the most important bit of data you need to know before writting any checks.