Solar: Off or partially off the grid?

Golucid

Golucid

Taking a break
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Messages
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Solar has become a fiscally feasible alternative. Got solar?


If yes, are you managing a few of the upper tiers or are you entirely off the grid with battery backups for your nighttime use?


Did you purchase or lease?


I am considering purchasing... but, my gut says, wait just a little bit longer. What are your thoughts?
 
Golucid said:
Solar has become a fiscally feasible alternative. Got solar?


If you have, are you managing a few of the upper tiers or are you entirely off the grid with battery backups for your nighttime use?


Did you purchase or lease?


I am considering purchasing... but, my gut says, wait just a little bit longer. What are your thoughts?
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It is cheaper to be on the grid. Less hassle to be on the grid. No muss no fuss that said I do have a back up Generator with a 1,500 gallon Propane tank buried in the back yard.

I lived with out power for years as a kid no thanks a well a bucket out door bathroom . I even leave my audio gear on 24/7 love my power bill. Just try carrying water from a well enough to do laundry for a week . Hook me up to the GRID forever grid, grid forever. IMO
 
Garth said:
It is cheaper to be on the grid. Less hassle to be on the grid. No muss no fuss that said I do have a back up Generator with a 1,500 gallon Propane tank buried in the back yard. IMO
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Absolutely! My 6.5kw grid-tied system works well, without needing to invest another $5k+ in batteries with a limited life. Batteries (at least today's) would be an expensive PIA! My 8Kw diesel generator back-up for when the grid goes down is way cheaper. It was purchased 20 years ago used, and will last many more years.

With CA's tiered pricing, my grid tied solar system means I am not buying the most expensive power, as high as $0.50/kwh. Instead, in the winter/night time I buy the cheapest power, $0.8-12/kwh. My solar credits from when the sun shines, more than makes up!
 
if u wait for the right time, u will wait forever

i have 10w of pv connected to 20kwh of lithium batteries. Works a treat. Expensive? Yes..... Bought outright to answer ur question.

one huge positive side affect is the cleanliness of the power feeding your stereo - really big improvement

just go for it
 
MtnHam said:
Wind power works where the wind blows strong enough (15mph+) often enough. Most people don't live (or want to live) in such places. That's why you see large commercial wind generators concentrated in windy places. Not likely to be practical for a homeowner.
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I don't have a wind turbine and have little experience with them. However here is link that show some facts to help plan wind power solutions.

http://www.nrel.gov/gis/wind.html



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've had a Solar City solar system since 2009, which generates about 11Mwh annually, saving about $3800 a year. That comes off the highest two tiers of our electric bill, between 30 and 40 cents/khw. When we're gone in the summer, there is enough energy generation to produce a month or two of negative charges. We own the system. We have a special electric vehicle time of use plan, so we pay 10 cents/hour from 11PM to 7AM which is when we charge our Tesla. So it costs us about 3 cents/mile for energy for the car, compared with 20 cents/mile for our other similar sized car. What I think makes the most economic sense is that we generate power when the demand and cost is highest and use power when the demand and cost is lowest. That should also make the most sense for the power company, since they reduce peak demand - a crucial part of their business model.

As far as wind power, I always wonder if the noise from the wind turbines would disturb listening on your system. There are a lot of wind turbines in the Altamont pass, about 30 miles from us and everytime we drive by that area we can hear the sound of the spinning turbines.

Larry
 
Larry, good post.


I wonder if there is a market for Audiophile Alternative Energy- PS Audio has be marketing their "Power Regeneration", why not make a Full Solar Battery powered audio system that promises pure power. It would be an easy target once we understood the varying levels of system power consumption.
 
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