Opinions about setting up solar panels purchased

exodus125

garynappi said:

 I don't mean to pee on the parade, but here's another perspective from a fellow So. Flo. resident :-)

I too am a solar newbie, have lived in live in So. Flo. nearly 40 years and face(d) the same issues over the years you have with power availability after storms.

We came to the conclusion that given the infrequent complete long term power losses, and daytime rainy / cloudy conditions post storm, a genset was convenient and cost efficient enough to be practical over trying to be comfortable with a purely solar system. Florida Flicker and Flash (FP&L) while regularly having short term power glitches has only necessitated my powering up my genset three times since the 80's.

Back when I got my first genset I lived on a small island next to the ICW, and the worst power incident was after Wilma, we were out of power for several weeks. With my pool filter, clothes dryer (filter and dryer not run simultaneously) refrigerator and 3x 6000 btu window shaker A/C's I was more than comfortable with an 8500 watt genset. Its only shortcoming was/is fuel which is lessened now that Florida has enacted statute 526.143(2) mandating that newly constructed gas stations have the ability to power their pumps when FP&L (in So. Flo.) goes down.

Today my solar powers my exterior lighting, as well as water feature pumps and if I lose power I kill the genset at night, and still have exterior lighting. I can also power my alarm and surveillance system rather easily with my current system by inexpensively expanding it a bit. 

At ~ $160 x 8 (~$1280) to replace your aging batteries and selling some of the rest, you could have a decent genset capable of running most of your home and use a skeleton of your current solar system for other purposes?

PS: My genset only uses 4-6 gallons of fuel a day assuming a 10-12 hour day which while not free at <$15 and it necessitates my making a fuel run once every 5 days to fill my five 5 gallon jerry cans. At every storm sighting that may make So. Flo. landfall I fill up my cans and wait for the worst but expect the best. If the storm passes by, I use the fuel in my cars. 

Running my genset I can also charge my solar system battery with a charger to keep the battery topped off if we have a cloudy day. 

Very good points. I have already began to sell parts and plan on keeping maybe 4 panels to power one lithium battery just to run a 12v fan and charge phones if needed.