I am a proponent of off grid solar for at least part of your home, specifically for emergency usage. I was reading over at M.D. Creekmore and came across his article on Do It Yourself Off The Grid Solar Power System.
His basic design is the same one I use for a small emergency system at my home. Over time, probably decades, I plan to install more solar panel and battery systems to eventually get most of my house on off grid solar. At least that is the plan. But as the saying goes the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
One of the problems I have encountered with people wanting to go to a pure off grid electrical living is the want the same toys and appliances and lights they had with a full electric grid hook ups. They get disappointed when they have to cut back on usage and "MAINTAIN" the solar system and batteries. I have lived with a two 80watt solar panels and 4 battery system. I used a couple of lights and a propane powered refer and freezer. I used a 12v car stereo for music and playing cassettes and I used a small 12v television when I used to watch broadcast TV, now, I can do with out all together with TV. It is a life style change and it all depends on what floats your boat and your mileage may very... It worked for me cuz' I fond out I don't need much material things to make me satisfied and happy. Yes, you can buy huge systems and be happy with all your toys and modern labor saving devices and appliances, it is only money and much more time spent chasing the dream. I now live in an apartment due to some health issues that are finally resolving themselves and I hate it. I am looking to move back into the semi-hermit style of living in a small cabin back away from civilization.
ReplyDeleteYou are absoulutely correct on the lifestyle thing. As I add panels and batteries I will also have to reduce electrical consumption. What batteries did you use? I have several 6 volt golf cart batteries in lead acid, but I am thinking of getting something more maintenance free. About 30 miles from here is some relatively cheap foothill land I would dearly love to look into purchasing and then live on it in a tent or trailer or something. But not at the moment unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI used Group 27 style RV batteries and was looking at going to golf cart batteries or the expensive AGM batteries which at the times was about 350 bucks a battery... I was looking at the forklift battery pack which is 24 volt which my charge controller at the time could handle that and then transformer divide the 24v to dual 12v to process by the inverter. This was back in the early 90's, so the technologies and materials have gotten better and lower cost per se...
DeleteI have thought about the forklift battery, and figure if they can run a forklift for 8 hours they could run my house for that long.
DeleteI didn't put a huge load on my system. The refer used 12 volts to run the refer controller and the fan, much like a RV refrigerator, but used propane as the refrigerant I had some small area LED lights in the kitchen and living room and bathroom, then I used small task lights at my desk and recliner to read and by my bed. I used kerosene lamps a lot for more lighting. I had a 8000watt generator to use when I used the clothes washer and if I had to use a dryer I used a propane fired dryer with again using my generator. If spring or summer and early fall I used the best solar dryer for my clothes, a clothes line...
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