Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (Niota: land, property)

[Gary Slusser]

Lisa, yes a Class A.

I have a buddy in Calif. that just this past spring paid $46k to over his large roof with (IIRC 40+) solar panels and he is selling electric, something like 3-5 KW/day) to the power company from about 8:30 AM into late afternoon. He says he will be getting a tax credit too. He also has more money than he knows what to do with...

Rachel, constantly shocking a well can cause serious problems and shocking can not prevent bacterial contamination and can actually make the problem worse causing the well to lose production requiring expensive well cleaning and rehabilitation or a new well. Also, exposure to low level chlorination by products, if formed, can cause serious health problems. Unless you have a proven need to shock, you shouldn't.

[ylisa7]

Rachel- You are doing great with your electric bill. I don't think you need to worry about going solar. You're right it probably wouldn't pay for itself in your lifetime especially since TN doesn't give any credits or breaks for solar.

Gary- Yeah California is great about giving credits and breaks for solar. So is Canada according to Heynow999. We just aren't so lucky in TN and there is no way I'm going to spend that kind of money for solar lol.

Have a good day. It's clearing up outside and we have to go work.

Lisa

[rtj49]

Hi,
Gary Slusser, I have a friend in S Cal who does not pay any monthly bill for electric. His solar panel system powers two a/c systems. One for the house, and one for the shop, plus all other electric. He sells/credits excess power back to his electric company. This is so interesting. Just seems to good to be real. J Capps is in the construction industry and does his own work. Maybe that is a great help in keeping overall costs down. Do most utilities buy/credit the excess power back?

RTJ49
Maryland

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by rtj49

Hi,
Gary Slusser, I have a friend in S Cal who does not pay any monthly bill for electric. His solar panel system powers two a/c systems. One for the house, and one for the shop, plus all other electric. He sells/credits excess power back to his electric company. This is so interesting. Just seems to good to be real. J Capps is in the construction industry and does his own work. Maybe that is a great help in keeping overall costs down. Do most utilities buy/credit the excess power back?

RTJ49
Maryland

Do you know how big that system is and how much it would cost. It's massive amounts of money.


Here is a link for rebates by state.

DSIRE: DSIRE Home

Lisa

[Gary Slusser]

I don't know for sure but I think there is a federal law that says anyone producing more electric than they use can sell it to the electric company. Maybe not.

My buddy has a huge house and heated pool and bar. He has all the electronics gadgets money can buy and something like 13 TV sets; some are the large flat screens. IIRC he said he has 4-5 computers scattered around the house and stereos and remotes and their chargers all over. Personally I couldn't live like that.

[Rach1966]

thanks Gary for the reply
I just remember my parents doing that every now and then because we grew up on a dairy farm
where I live now, the well is over 30 yrs old (have no idea how deep it is)

Lisa, our daily avg KWH used is 16.0 (have no idea if that's good or bad but it's what's on this month's electric bill)

[kylekeith]

If anyone is interested in a 3500 Watt Propane Generator.. heartlandamerica.com has them on sale right now
$550 - Matrix 3500w generator. 20 hours runtime on 1 gallon of propane.

if you sign up to their value club for $50 you get a $50 discount on the generator.

haha

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by kylekeith

If anyone is interested in a 3500 Watt Propane Generator.. heartlandamerica.com has them on sale right now
$550 - Matrix 3500w generator. 20 hours runtime on 1 gallon of propane.

if you sign up to their value club for $50 you get a $50 discount on the generator.

haha

Thanks. I'll have to check that out.

Lisa

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by rtj49

Hi,
Gary Slusser, I have a friend in S Cal who does not pay any monthly bill for electric. His solar panel system powers two a/c systems. One for the house, and one for the shop, plus all other electric. He sells/credits excess power back to his electric company. This is so interesting. Just seems to good to be real. J Capps is in the construction industry and does his own work. Maybe that is a great help in keeping overall costs down. Do most utilities buy/credit the excess power back?

RTJ49
Maryland

The trend in solar PV installs in my CA neighborhood is to produce 80 to 90% of your homes electricity over the course of a year... often referred to as Net Metering and you settle your account once a year. Typical installs are 40 to 60k before tax credits... I'm looking at one right now that went in last week at my neighbors.

[bgarrett]

Originally Posted by Gary Slusser

I've been around a fair amount of stored water and can tell you that the inside of your atmospheric type tank will probably need periodic cleaning and disinfection..

Gary, My grandparents out in the country near Abilene Texas used a windmill and a galvanized watertank from 1930 to 1990 and no water treatment or filters and my other grandparents in Louisiana had a well with a bucket and a rope, again no treatment or filter and no one ever got sick from the water.
Has Americas water gotten so bad it must be treated and filtered now?