go solar

[highlandcattle]

We would like to encourage everyone to look into investing in solar or other alternative energy for homes and business. We have been complety off grid since we bought our property in 1996. Its very affordable. Dont listen to what "you hear" from unreliable sources. Check it out for yourself. There are many reputable on line companies to help you get set up. We have bought through Harbor Freight and a newer one called Windy Nation. $300.00 for a 100 watt panel and all the components. Ron is now putting up our 3rd Southwest Wind power microturbine. He'll have more than enough power for anything. If we can afford to do this anyone can. Be independent from the greedy power companies. Its a great way to live.

[SeanD]

I wish I could. We had someone take a look a couple of years ago. I have too many trees obstructing the yard. A couple of them are absolute giants that I could never take down. I'm jealous of everyone who can get off the grid.

Sean

[NhShaun]

I have a few solar panels at my little off grid cabin where i will be sugaring this season. Much smaller scale than a whole house system, but it is certainly effective and supplies me with all the power i need. The generator comes into play when i am in need of more power for Saws and what not. I think anyone with an abundance of sunlight on their property should look into solar, at least get a quote.

[highlandcattle]

We did this all ourselves with help of a very creative neighbor. Knew nothing about it. Just a few questions over the internet back many years ago. Just been learning as we go along. If you go with a company which mist people have to. Its half for the equipment and half is labor. So thats why it costs so much with solar installers. But they have to get permits and do things to the latest code which is as it should be. microturbibe all ready to go as soon as the wind starts up. We have 2 more in our barn roof for the house.

[highlandcattle]

Ok I need help. Trying to put up pics and can't figure it out

[psparr]

Ok I need help. Trying to put up pics and can't figure it out
Are you posting from a phone or computer? If a computer then when the reply window opens theres a little square in the top of the window that has a tree in it. Click it and it will let you upload one.

[highlandcattle]

I should have said from my phone. We'revupvhere on top if the mountain and there us no service. Its hit or miss.

[psparr]

I think it's a little easier with the app called tapatalk.

[wildlifewarrior]

Highland, How many of those 100w panels do you guys need for your home? how many deep cells do you have for reserve?

Mike

[highlandcattle]

We have 6 125 watt panels for the house along with 2 400 watt microturbines which are trickle charges. We have an 8500 watt generic generator for back up. We have flat screen tvs, laptops regular kitchen appliances. We're so used to living this way after 18 years its no big deal. We used New England Solar and Electric out of Mass. For the house and the Windy Nation for the sap house. Check out the websites. our house system from 2003 cost about $8,000. Today would be half that. Price of solar has dropped drastically. We're watching Dish tv right now as the storm is coming in. Wibdmills are spinning.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have been building a house for the past 3 years and it is 1 level 2500+ square feet with all 9' ceilings. My electric bill averages aprox $ 100 monthly year around. I have no gas only electric. I heat with a central air wood and coal furnace in the basement. I have a GE Hybrid hot water heater in the basement which also saves aprox $ 30 monthly and is a dehumidifier also. I would love to install solar but I can't see how it would ever pay for itself with the initial cost and maintenance. Being totally independent is awesome and I would love to hear more of the average annual cost for 20 years with startup and annual maintenance.

Temps here in the winter are not as cold on average as the NE, but we have a lot of cold temps and last year for example, we had prob 12 to 15 nights below zero. I took extra careful detail in building the house and insulating it the best I possibly could. This includes 15" of blow in fiberglass in attic, 6" in outside 2x6 walls and behind that, aprox 1/2" of closed cell waterproof insulation against outside walls to completely seal off everything. I used Tyvec tape around all the windows and lots of other details. I am not trying to draw any attention to what I have done, just to show you can do the little extra details and $$$ when you build and it will pay huge dividends in the long run. The wood furnace also usually keeps the basement at least 60 degrees even at the coldest temps. It is not insulated, just poured concrete walls that are 6" to 10" thick. I did seal the rim board cracks with foam and insulate it with R13 above the concrete walls. There is no insulation on the underside of the floor. About 50% of basement walls are fully above ground as it is walkout basement and they are bricked.

[maple flats]

I also have solar. I started with 3x150 watt off brand panels at $410 ea. I bought 4- 6V Trojan solar batteries, a cheap charge controller and a cheap inverter. That just got me interested and addicted. I soon discovered that the panels were not UL listed, the charge controller was grossly inefficient, and the inverter was junk. My next purchase was 4 UL panels @ 185 watts ea ( $350 ea) and a good MPPT charge controller (Outback@ $495), and I added 4 more batteries, since the originals were only 3 mos. old. I also bought a good inverter (Xantrex@ $4100 delivered), which I still have and use. The next year I added 4 more of the same panel (@ $305 ea) and I then needed my generator much less. A year later I tried to order another 8 panels but was told they had been discontinued. Since different panels don't play well together we decided to make what should be our final move. Up untril this point I had installed everything myself, but we now wanted to go grid tied and our local utility said I had to use a certified installer. We contacted 3 installers, got bids and chose one to go ahead. We added 22 new panels @ 220 watt ea., strictly grid tied, a new grid tied inverter and a few minor changes were made to the original system, so that is now both battery back up and grid tied. Since that point we have only made 1 change. While theOutback charge controller was good when we were just off grid, we needed to remove that and get a Xantrex controller for greatest efficiency, because that inverter and the new CC can talk to each other. All excess power from that battery back up portion sells to the grid after the battery bank is fully charged, the other new 22 x 220 watts go to the grid unless I am using more that what my original is producing. All of this is at my sugarhouse. We also send the excess KWH to our residential meter which is about 3 miles away, so that reduces our elec. cost at home too.
Off grid solar is good peace of mind but not so good economics. While your elec. is free, the batteries have a life expectancy of 7 yrs. Mine are 6 yrs old, and replacement is costly. My bank of 8 cost just under $1500. The next ones I buy will be Rolls Surette 5000's rather that trojans, which are guaranteed for 10 yrs rather than 7. That is the recurring cost that makes off grid expensive. However, if your cost to get grid power is too high because of the distance involved the picture tilts to off grid solar.

[highlandcattle]

We are over 1,200 feet off the nearest road with a power pole. In1996 it was well over $10,000 for an underground line. There's no way we could ever have paid that plus monthly fees. So we experimented with tiny little cheap solar until 2003 when we met some nearby folks who had just moved into their solar hone. Even though they had it installed it was the push we needed to go forward. We bought 1 microturbine and 2 125 watt solar panels and 8 Trojan T-105 batteries and the inverter is a Trace dr inverter which is a less expensive modified sine wave. This has performed perfectly all these years. Like I said all this is obselete now but it all works just fine. As each year came around we bought more panels and extra microturbine and 4 more batteries. Our battery bank lasted 10 years. Replaced it last year after locating a golf cart distributed about 40 miles from us and git a great deal. We are conservative with our power but its just the 2 of us. Our friends and "neighbors" have all gone grid tied with very large systems. We simply dont have that kind of money and for our location it wouldnt be possible. So every situation is different. For us this has been the only realistic option. Yes we built our place also and have certainly learned a lit. Plan plan plan and insulate really good! We have wood heat and make hot water in the winter from the living room stove and last year got an Eco-temp ($130.00) on demand propane heater for warmer weather. Open concept floor plan for air circulation. Very plain and simple. When we sell the farm and move we intend to apply what we've learned to our next place.

[GeneralStark]

I wish I could. We had someone take a look a couple of years ago. I have too many trees obstructing the yard. A couple of them are absolute giants that I could never take down. I'm jealous of everyone who can get off the grid.

Sean

Just something to consider and I don't know this is possible in your area, but here in VT neighborhood systems are popping up all over. Or, you can invest is a larger commercial local system to offset your energy costs. So, even if you don't have a good site it's still possible to go solar.

[Tmeeeh]

We're not off grid. We use the grid as a battery. Our excess power goes to the grid when we produce more than we need and we take it back when we need it. Our electric meter runs in both directions. (net metering) One disadvantage of this is that our system requires grid power to function. When the grid goes down we also have no power. We can't be generating and sending power to the grid when the linemen are trying to repair the power lines. One advantage is that we don't have to own and maintain batteries. Another advantage is that except when the grid is down we have access to all the power we need. Not the case if it's been cloudy and calm for several days and the batteries are nearly empty. Both systems work well It is a matter of choice. As Genstark said more and more states are allowing group net metering where renewable power credit that accumulates on one meter can be credited to another person's meter somewhere else.
For photos and videos of our system check our website. northfamilyfarm.com

[n8hutch]

Neighborhood systems? What A great Idea, I didn't realize people did that. I travel through Vermont A lot we have family in Enosburgh & friends in Fairfax, so I see a lot of small to mid sized solar systems, never acured to me that some kind of partnership might be involved, I would like to put some solar on my Garage roof, it gets sun most of the day, not sure I can talk my wife into it though.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I got a quote 1.5 year ago for a 4800w system was going to be 14k out of pocket. want to do it so bad I can taste it. If GMP does what the company in NH did and double their rates I will be doing it or moving!

[maple flats]

My system total was about $36,000, counting all stages. The first off grid portion was all out of pocket. When we got the rest and went grid tied it opened up some money. First, NY has a direct credit that is funded by everyone who is tied to the grid, called NYSERDA, that paid the installer direct $7260, and we qualified for Fed. tax credit of $6854 and a State tax credit of $5000. So far I have used about 1/2 of the tax credits in years '12 and '13. I still have 14,15 and 16 to use the rest before the credits are lost. To use the credit, it can only be used to cancel tax liability, thus if no tax is owed I can not receive any credit. But, using about 1/2 in 2 years, with 3 tax years to go seems like I should be able to get the credits. I don't want to leave any tax credits on the table, but I also don't like paying high taxes.

[BlueberryHill]

I have been wanting to add solar but I am afraid of the extra weight on my roof. 1750's house and I already had to add some bracing in the attic. Barn roofs face E-W :cry:

[maple flats]

my 30 panels total are 240' from my sugarhouse, on a ground mount. While not ideal, I didn't want to clear that much space near the sugarhouse. The distance effects the battery back up portion more than the grid tie only portion. On the battery back up the transfer wires had to be real heavy to minimize voltage drop, while the grid tie only portion is controlled from at the array, that inverter just keeps increasing the voltage until it pushes the power to the grid. As such, I have triplex overhead cable for a 100A service to the battery bank portion (1480 watts of PV) while the remaining grid tie portion containing 4840 watts PV only needed triplex overhead cable rated for a 60A service

[NhShaun]

I see a lot of the ground mounted panels in my area. They keep popping up all over the place every time i drive up north to my cabin i seem to notice a new solar set up. And for some reason that makes me happy.