Why did you choose solar

simmtron

Re: Why did you choose solar

We decided to sell our house and cottage in Canada and move somewhere warm, Mexico. We found a great place near Playa Del Carmen that is in an eco village. No electricity or city services. After spending $7200 a year on heating and electric bills, not including water, cable, stupid property taxes, its nice to have more electricity than we need with an off grid system. We never need heat and use fans instead of air conditioning. What amazes me is how many people HAVE to have air conditioning when only 30 years ago very few people had central air in their homes (stop being cry babies). Learn to conserve.
http://cancun360.mx/onewithnature/
some pictures taken in our community if interested.
And no we are not a bunch of weird hippies, OK maybe I'm weird.

The photos are of Pueblo Sacbe

gww1

Re: Why did you choose solar

When I was a kid and when I first got married I didn't have air conditioning. My last truck didn't have air conditioning. I LOVE air conditioning.

Cheers
gww

niel

Re: Why did you choose solar

everybody is different as some can't take cold and some can't take heat. i was never able to take high heat for very long, but i'm getting a bit older now and that tolerance is inching upward some. canada to mexico is quite a contrast though. i hope you're nowhere near where the drug cartel killings are going on.

waynefromnscanada

Re: Why did you choose solar

simmtron wrote: »

(stop being cry babies). Learn to conserve.

Oh there are SO many folks around me who need to be told that. Unfortunately, they have no idea what it is to conserve, nor are they interested in learning. Instead they sit back, complain about their electric bills and get mad at anyone who dares suggest they may be wasting energy. Sad.

petertearai

Re: Why did you choose solar

The cable from the road was $13000.00 Then I had to pay for a share of the Transformer, then pay a monthly line charge and power charge, even if I didnt use any power.
My system has cost just less than the cost of the cable ( had I run a cable from the road) . So Im ahead In $$ and I find the solar stuff interesting.

Muskoka

Re: Why did you choose solar

Peter, my situation was exactly the same. Didn't make much sense to hook up to the grid.

Conserve, I have a friend that thinks he needs every light on in the house at noon time, just so he can do his crosswords. You would think he lived in a cave. Problem is, his actual electrical usage is only about 1/3 - 2/5ths of his monthly bill, the rest is extra charges and taxes, pretty sad.

How are you going to get people to conserve hydro when they, must live in 5000 sq ft homes (3 people), have a tv in every room (always on), have a hot tub that gets used 10 times a year (maybe), the list could certainly go on. Heck, we still can't get people to stop drinking and driving, or smoking cigarettes, good luck with the electricity conservation.

Glen

ggunn

Re: Why did you choose solar

niel wrote: »

everybody is different as some can't take cold and some can't take heat. i was never able to take high heat for very long, but i'm getting a bit older now and that tolerance is inching upward some. canada to mexico is quite a contrast though. i hope you're nowhere near where the drug cartel killings are going on.

Playa del Carmen is on the south side of the Yucatan Peninsula and a long way from the drug routes. I'll be there (on Isla Cozumel, actually, 12 miles across the channel) for 11 days in about six weeks. I love that part of Mexico.

gww1

Re: Why did you choose solar

Ok you got me, I love cigarettes and air conditioning. I can't believe people care if I quit either and I try to get the best deal on both along with a good peice of pork once in a while.
Cheers
gww

Cariboocoot

Re: Why did you choose solar

niel wrote: »

i hope you're nowhere near where the drug cartel killings are going on.

No, I moved away from the Vancouver area.

solar_dave

Re: Why did you choose solar

niel wrote: »

i hope you're nowhere near where the drug cartel killings are going on.

Bodies turn up everyday around here!

niel

Re: Why did you choose solar

solar_dave wrote: »

Bodies turn up everyday around here!

that's not good.

solar_dave

Re: Why did you choose solar

niel wrote: »

that's not good.

The other big thing is the cartel kidnappings of drug dealers demanding ransom from their families.

westbranch

Re: Why did you choose solar

Ggunn, rumour in Cancun is that the "people" with money to build the new 'Resorts' are .... you guessed it, the Drug Cartels, and they just launder their drug money through those 'nice tourists'... mañana...

ggunn

Re: Why did you choose solar

westbranch wrote: »

Ggunn, rumour in Cancun is that the "people" with money to build the new 'Resorts' are .... you guessed it, the Drug Cartels, and they just launder their drug money through those 'nice tourists'... mañana...

Even if that rumor is true, since the tourists who go to Cancun are the source of the money which is running the laundry, the last thing that the cartels would want is for that revenue stream to be disturbed.

But anyway, that's Cancun, and I have neither reason nor desire to go to Cancun. Cozumel is only ~40 miles away and is a very different place. Cancun is all about the night life, while Cozumel is about the day life, i.e., diving and fishing. I'll be there in, let's see... six weeks and two days.

Vic

Re: Why did you choose solar

To derail this Thread ...

The Grid is four or more miles away ... Wish it were farther away, but this is about as far away as I wanted to deal with. The original thought was to try to be at least 10 miles from the grid, but that translates to some very rugged territory, so this is what we chose.

There is some wind, thank goodness that there is not enough wind to make turbines worthwhile. Would not not want to live in any place with a significant wind resource!

SO, PV is what we use, and are delighted with it, and FLA batteries. Silent power on 97+ percent of the days.

The main reason to try to move as far as practical from the grid is due to interest in distant communication on High Frequency Hammie radio bands.

ALL of the el-cheapo, world's cheapest electronic crapola in the cities creates a din of RF NOISE that wipes out even strong local radio signals. In the very low density "outback" the only noise (with rare exception) is created by my systems, and is very very low, inperceptibly low. And if a noise does appear from a system here, I know who to call, and when the remedy will be applied.

Guess that PV Power followed me home -- it chose me. FWIW, Vic

Actually that puts it back on track. - 'Coot

niel

Re: Why did you choose solar

vic,
you are quite right about the myriad of rf noise. i'm not so sure 10 miles is far enough away when dealing with the lower hf bands. i wonder just how much of the noise down there has also been propagated and has created an unnatural noise floor? we already know what storms do as we hear them hundreds and often thousands of miles away quite strongly.

firerescue712

Re: Why did you choose solar

I got into solar as a hobby. I have always been intrigued by the idea of generating energy out of sunshine. As you can see in my sig., I have a mixture of panels, charge controllers, and batteries. I run my office off the batteries. The other night, the wife walks in and asks if I know the power is out. The satellite, computer, lights, printer were all at work when she walked in. I heard the transfer switch trip over as she walked into the room. It was nice to have uninterrupted power. I am now thinking of enlarging the system, or starting up a separate system over the next 2-3 years. The delivery guys always ask about my solar panels. We usually move into conservation practices. A solar hobby is cheaper than hunting in these parts and I reap better benefits.

inetdog

Re: Why did you choose solar

I got into solar PV after being interested in it, but not motivated enough to actually do anything about it other than a battery maintainer or two. Then we bought a house with an installed GT system and I started trying to learn more before we moved in. Now I am totally hooked.
Since our primary heating (furnace, dryer and Demand DWH) are propane, I don't have a lot of incentive to expand the system, but I am watching my smart meter numbers online and knocking on the case of my SMA in the detached garage every now and then.

gww1

Re: Why did you choose solar

Everybody that posted, who hasn't already, should post some pictures in the "show me yours" thread.
Bigg or small it is always exciting to see whats being done.
Cheers
gww

Ian S

Re: Why did you choose solar

I leased a GT Sunpower system for the financial return. It's a prepaid lease so one upfront payment of under a buck a watt and it's looking to produce about 12,400 kWh in its first year of operation (2 months to go for that milestone.) Living here in Phoenix, we have plenty of sun. I will have the investment paid off in under 6 years, then it'll be 14 years of gravy. Hopefully, Sunpower will be around for the long haul.

Vic

Re: Why did you choose solar

Vic wrote: »

To derail this Thread ...

Actually that puts it back on track. - 'Coot

Marc, this was my tongue-in-cheekieness, or attempt at mild sarcasm.

niel, From what I see very little of the noise from most of the switching crap propagates very far. For the most part, the power levels of this radiated energy is fairly low. Lightning strikes represent a considerable amount of power, and perhaps the altitude of the average strike being fairly high may help propagation.

On rare (tahnkfully) occasion there is something that sounds like propagated Line Noise, but this usually does not last for much more than one day.

There are a few HF birdies or carriers from Solar Hardware, like CCs that can be heard on some discrete frequencies. These are at a fairly low level, and do diminish as frequency of interest increases. The low bands, where these noises would cause more problems due to large capture area of antennas and less effective filters on solar power equipment are night-time bands. So since these noises are absent when the CC's converter is off (SS is sleeping). But, still, CC birdies are generally one or two S-units above the noise floor. On80/75M, the noise floor is often below S1. Unless there is a Solar event, or the evermore present Lightning Static. Of course, separating antennas from obvious noise generators also helps.

The inverters make almost on RFI -- due to use of CM filters, metal contuit on all above ground AC wiring, and buried AC feeders between buildings. The noise environment for the off grid location is many, many S units below that in town. The remote site is essentially devoid of RFI ... knock, knock.

Speaking of noise from other residences, DENSITY is the thing that really increases noise. Generally, low density equates to low noise.

But, there are always trade-offs for every location. Poping out for a quidk bite at the Deli or for Chineese food take out is more than a three hour round trip. And, when one needs just one more Lag Screw, town is far too far away ... and so on. 73, Vic

niel

Re: Why did you choose solar

i wouldn't be too sure it isn't propagating as even milliwatt transmitters have been heard long distances at times and with the large numbers of failing glass insulators acting like spark gap transmitters i'm sure the noise floor would drop much farther than you might think. i have seen +60db from bad insulators in the neighborhood before and yes that is on the lower hf part of the spectrum. it would be very interesting if there was a brief radio silence and utility shut down just to observe how much rf pollution we are actually putting out there just by seeing what it would be without our input to it. oh and we'd have to stop all cars too as they are pretty bad radiators of rf junk too. unlikely we'd ever get that opportunity to see that.

reminds me of the increased solar insolation the u.s. received after 911 due to the grounding of all aircraft. you don't know what normal is until our influences are taken away.

waynefromnscanada

Re: Why did you choose solar

Was SOOO nice here when that massive Spring snow storm moved through here 36 hours ago, resulting in wide spread power outages, while for me, life continued exactly as normal, totally independent of the downed grid, while all around me were folks bundled up in winter clothes and blankets, no lights, no heat, not even water. At times like that, I feel sorry for those who have placed the well-being of their lives, and that of their families, totally in the hands of Big Electricity. And I'm stunned at their angry reaction and the rage they express when the grid goes down in a bad storm. Instead of raging at the power company, they should in my opinion, look in the mirror.

Muskoka

Re: Why did you choose solar

Couldn't agree more, well said.

inetdog

Re: Why did you choose solar

waynefromnscanada wrote: »

Instead of raging at the power company, they should in my opinion, look in the mirror.

Well said. At a minimum they should get an inexpensive generator, since the economics of off-grid solar do not justify it for backup use only.
One for every two or three houses and lots of extension cords? :-)