Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (schools, move) - Page 35 - City-Data Forum

mbmouse · 08-30-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinman313

Better yet!! Go Off Grid and make enough electric to sell back to the power company. By law they have to buy it back. It's a watt meter that runs back wards..... That's sticking to them !

Funny you brought this up. I was just at a sustainable energy event in Bristol on Thursday and they were saying that in CA, they are already doing that within some cities and areas. You have to produce the majority of your own energy and give a certain % back to the grid. It really is a smart thing to do, wish I too could take my house off grid. Maybe the next one.

SuzieQFL · 08-30-2008, 02:33 PM

Lisa & Mike,
I have been sitting at this computer all day ... hours and hours....because I found your first post and couldn't stop until the end. What a project, and how wonderful it is to see it all come together!

I admire the two of you very much..for your dedication, your back breaking hard work, your love of each other and your talents. The majority of people wouldn't be able to do this, and I know how proud you must be. Congratulations!!!

I can't wait for the housewarming party!

younglisa7 · 08-30-2008, 03:15 PM

mbmouse- Thank you for your support and adding more information for people to see about spray foam insulation.

How was the energy show?

Tinman- It may be too late for us but that link is sure to help someone else out.

Brasstec- Thank you and I'm sorry to hear about your rate hike. 31% at one shot is huge. Our local area is increasing their rates Oct. 1 by 20%. That is another reason Mike and I decided to go off grid. We are also lucky enough to be able to try.

mbmouse and Tinman- Yeah it would be great to sell power back to the power companies. Have you seen the size of the systems you need to sell power back? They are tremendous.

SuzieQFl- Welcome and thank you so much for your really sweet compliments.

I am so happy you found our story and you are enjoying it. FYI, I try to do my stories and pictures on Monday and Thursday mornings.

I am at the computer again today because I am burnt out. Mike and I are forcing ourselves to work today. After our coffee we have to get back down to the house.

Lisa

Heynow999 · 08-30-2008, 07:08 PM

I agree with the closed cell insulation, that is a good choice. I had some spraying done in a building I own and I didn't understand the differance between open and closed cell. The guys who did mine used open cell. If I had known better I would have found a company to do closed cell.

Here in Canada r-40 in the wall wouldn't have been over-kill. I think it depends on your climate. You are more worried about summer heat, here we worry about winter cold!

Keep up the good work!

Heynow999 · 08-30-2008, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinman313

Better yet!! Go Off Grid and make enough electric to sell back to the power company. By law they have to buy it back. It's a watt meter that runs back wards..... That's sticking to them !

Here in Ontario the local power company has a program to encourage the use of solar panels. They will buy electricity generated by solar panels for .42 cents a kilowatt. We only have to pay about 11 cents a kilowatt to buy power so this is about four times more than we pay for electricity. I am going to install enough panels on my house to cover about 1/4 of my comsumption, but because the power company will buy it from me at 4 times the price, I should have a zero power bill. I have 9 of my 16 panels installed so far. Hopefully I will have them all up this weekend

Sunnydee · 08-31-2008, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heynow999

Here in Ontario the local power company has a program to encourage the use of solar panels. They will buy electricity generated by solar panels for .42 cents a kilowatt. We only have to pay about 11 cents a kilowatt to buy power so this is about four times more than we pay for electricity. I am going to install enough panels on my house to cover about 1/4 of my comsumption, but because the power company will buy it from me at 4 times the price, I should have a zero power bill. I have 9 of my 16 panels installed so far. Hopefully I will have them all up this weekend

How great is that? What brand and type of panels are you using? Thanks!

Lisa and Mike, you're doing great! It's 58 degrees here, so I have my windows open and I'm sitting here watching my hummingbirds feed as I read the latest installment of your story. I really look forward to your updates and am in awe of your accomplishments and scenery. Have you decided on paint colors yet?

Heynow999 · 08-31-2008, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunnydee

How great is that? What brand and type of panels are you using?

I am using 16 x 160 watt Evergreen panels with a Fronious 3000 grid-tie inverter. 2.56 kw total

younglisa7 · 08-31-2008, 06:44 AM

Heynow999- It sounds like you have a great solar program. We don't have any in TN. There are much better programs out west.

Let Mike and I know how you do with 16 panels. What size are they? What kind of system did you put in? Tell us all. It's hard to find info on people's actual systems and it's ashame. Good luck with your panel installation. Take pictures, LOL. We only have 6 135watt panels and we definitely need more. As you know we are brand new to solar so it is a huge learning experience. Some things are trail and error.

Sunnydee- Thanks again for the nice words. Yes, I think, we found a paint color. It's Valspar(Lowe's) "Pale Glow". It's like a beige/tan but no tint of rose. I think it should work. There are way too many paint colors out there.

Have a good day everyone.

Lisa

younglisa7 · 08-31-2008, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heynow999

I am using 16 x 160 watt Evergreen panels with a Fronious 3000 grid-tie inverter. 2.56 kw total

Wow. That's huge. How big is your house?

CUinTN · 08-31-2008, 08:07 AM

Hi Lisa and Mike! What an awesome thing you are doing. I too have been following your story closely as my DH and I are trying to escape CA to Greeneville. We will be generating much of our own power as well. Currently here in CA we are in the process of installing 24 180W Evergreen panels and a Fronius 5000(?) inverter. That should generate about 70% of our power needs. We will be paying close attention to the install to learn how to do it ourselves next time. It's true that our utility co will credit our account for excess power produced during the winter. They call it net metering. Unfortunately, they won't buy excess. Every year they give you statement of electric used vs elect produced. If you generate more than you use over the year, you give it to the power co for free.

Ya'll keep up the good work!