newbie wants info please

Re: newbie wants info please

Again, these are rough costs so you can start your own research/paper designs...

Reliable off grid power is not, and as it looks now, will never be cheap... It is just less (sometimes) less expensive/less work than many of the other options (i.e., running a genset 24 hours per day; spending $30,000 for poles plus a $100 monthly power bill/fixed service fees).

Conservation is always going to be a key part of any off grid energy plan (and is becoming more important for us on-grid folks).

When power is/was $0.10-$0.20 per kWH--One can be pretty cavalier about the appliances we buy and how long we leave the lights on when nobody is in the room...

For off grid power, when you are looking at $0.50/$1/$2+ per kWH--Each electric appliance we choose to operate becomes much more of a cost/benefit study.

That old refrigerator that uses 2kWH per day may be $6-$12 per month on the power bill... That same refrigerator running off grid is now $60-$120+ per month--And around 10 years of monthly bills was paid up front for the equipment (i.e., a 3.3 kWH per day system costing ~$33,000 +/- plus new batteries ever X/XY years, etc.).

Getting a new refrigerator that uses 1kWH per day could save you the (rough) equivalent of $30-$60 per month in power bills... Using a 30 Watt laptop (0.3 to 0.72 kWH per day) vs a 200 watt desktop computer (~2-4.8 kWH per 10-24 hour use day), etc...

The more people conserve (and install GT inverters)--You are going to see changes in how power companies bill... Today, I pay a ~$4.50 per month connection/billing fee and $0.09 to $0.50 or so per kWH (depending on season/time of day/amount of power I use).

There are power companies that are addressing "loss of revenue" that are changing to a $40-$96+ per month connection fee and $0.06 per kWH... Now, conservation and energy use, again, becomes disconnected for the much of the month power bill (those that use lot of kWH for heating and cooling will still have good size bills and some incentive to conserve).

We already had a least one person with a seasonal cabin disconnect his AC utility power... The fixed $40-$50 per month power bill, even when the cabin was unused, was becoming more expensive that a small off grid solar power system+small genset to supply lighting and small appliance power for the X months per year that it was used.

You really need to look at your power needs--If you can live with a single or pair of refrigerator/freezers and just lights, laptop, clothes washer, well pump for home water use--And perhaps a genset to run the shop tools when needed--Off grid power may be a competitive answer for your electric needs.

If you will use lots of power (lots being more than ~100 kWH per month), utility power is going to be of similar expense (it sounds like).

And if you plan on using the US/North American power average of 1,000 kWH per month--Then utility power (or a trust fund) will probably be your only cost effective answer.

While I encorage you to look at off grid power (do a few paper designs)--I believe that having grid power will be easier/less expensive in the long term. Also, I believe that if/when you (or your kids) sell the property in the decades to come--They will find the property has more value because of the already utility connected power (Off Grid power systems generally are not worth very much to a new buyer, from what little I have seen... Batteries are already dead, equipment is typically 10+ years old and out of date, genset is leaking oil and regulations require a new double wall fuel tank and fuel costs have continued to rise, etc.).

I do not conserve because I am green, I conserve because I am cheap (I don't believe in polluting our environment either--And conservation is also very green).

-Bill