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A deep dive into the realities of solar

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Easy-X
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Joined: 08 Mar 2019
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PostPosted: 17:11 - 18 Feb 2023    Post subject: A deep dive into the realities of solar Reply with quote
This is more of an off grid thing. The guy is 100% "fuck the WEF" and yet pretty eco friendly (his car's a Tesla.) Interesting seeing the nitty-gritty problems.

https://youtu.be/f1ZyZNRYezA
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Islander
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PostPosted: 20:40 - 18 Feb 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Clickbait title is instantly offputting but I might watch it later.

I self installed a small solar array in my field last year for several reasons. Increasing energy costs. likelihood of faster payback because of that and to offset some working from home costs.

I was also curious to see how they performed at this latitude. The answer is surprisingly well during the summer, not so well in the winter although a small wind turbine would probably balance that out. The next step will be to install some batteries and maybe some additional panels.

Mine are grid tied so can't be used to bridge power cuts (I could, but I'd need to install an automatic changeover and some sort of small generator to feed the inverters a working supply) I went for microinverters (one per panel) rather than an edge inverter. That meant I could get away with a lower CSA armoured cable as it's AC that comes from the panel string rather than DC. It cost me a shade over 2K. Excess power gets diverted to the immersion to produce hot water rather than being fed back to the grid.
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 23:48 - 18 Feb 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
No wind where this guy lives so pure solar + diesel backup. He skates over the details but living off-grid seems to mean balancing your own personal grid, i.e. should I charge batteries, the Tesla, power the washing machine etc.
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Islander
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PostPosted: 16:12 - 19 Feb 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Easy-X wrote:
No wind where this guy lives so pure solar + diesel backup. He skates over the details but living off-grid seems to mean balancing your own personal grid, i.e. should I charge batteries, the Tesla, power the washing machine etc.


I can't imagine there isn't any wind but yes, unless you're lucky enough to be able to install something like a hydro plant, you're at the mercy of the weather as far as microgeneration goes and will have to balance your own power use according to conditions. Most of the off grid solar users I've seen have large battery banks and usually a fairly decent generator (in the region of 6-8 kWh) as a backup to supply power when there's no sun and keep the batteries charged. Of course if you're properly off grid you'd be using solar water heating as well as PV and probably dependent on a wood burning furnace for general heating.

I'd love nothing more than being able to take my house off grid but I suspect it would be more trouble than it's worth although I do have an old well site in the front garden that could probably be re-drilled, plus a septic tank. We don't have gas here (unless you buy bottled propane) so that's not an issue. Just electricity microgeneration.
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Kawasaki Jimbo
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PostPosted: 18:05 - 19 Feb 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Step 1. Buy a field, preferably up a mountain.
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