are you thinking of getting a generator? (Center: credit, house)

[mojo101]

gas,solar?
I am intrigued by the solar generator,is it any good?

[elnina]

How often you will use it? Once in a decade?

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by elnina

How often you will use it? Once in a decade?

Well, we found out our grid was crap and weather is getting freakier. If I had one, not counting the snowstorm, I would have used it during Ike and at least two periods where I lost power during a storm for several hours. So not a lot - but it sure would have been handy during the freak snowstorm - and like I said, freak seems to happen more and more.

[elnina]

Solar generators depend on weather - gas generators are smelly, loud and need to be maintained.
Here they are compared:
https://www.renogy.com/blog/gas-gene...cost-analysis/
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/solar-...tors-one-best/

[AcresHomes44]

I already have a solar generator; best investment I made because you never know. Better to have one & not need it than need one & not have it.

[Oskar_Z28]

I'm thinking of getting one or two small Honda generators that I can use when going camping or emergency (once every few years). I had one bigger one, but it was really noisy and used too much gasoline (5 gal per 12 hrs). Used it for 15 days at my old house during Ike.

Now, we did not lose power during Snowpocalypse last month because we're on fire station grid.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by mojo101

I am intrigued by the solar generator,is it any good?

Do you mean solar panels? Solar battery storage?

I'm not familiar with the phrase "solar generator".

I have both. A standby generator, and a solar panel system. They are independent of each other, and serve different purposes.

[sonic0boom]

There are portable battery generators that supply enough juice to power a TV, electric stove, small fridge, etc. Many can be bundled with solar panels for charging or via a car adapter (for whenever your power is out). I'd certainly rather take one of these camping than a fuel generator.

But to the OP, yeah, if you want solar panels installed on your home, you better get a battery to store that power. I know someone who has solar panels but during snowpocolype, he didn't have power since i guess if you don't have a battery to store it, it just goes back into the grid. I'm not sure the specifics, but it wasn't providing power directly to his home.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by sonic0boom

But to the OP, yeah, if you want solar panels installed on your home, you better get a battery to store that power. I know someone who has solar panels but during snowpocolype, he didn't have power since i guess if you don't have a battery to store it, it just goes back into the grid. I'm not sure the specifics, but it wasn't providing power directly to his home.

Solar is unique in how it works (sans batteries). It doesn't feed your house, it feeds your meter. I know that sounds like the same thing, but there are differences.

It sends the solar juice to your meter, which uses that juice to lower your electric draw from Centerpoint. If you are making more than you need, it sends the excess back up the line into the grid, and you get a credit for over-production. If you don't make enough, it draws the shortfall from the grid.

And here's the kicker, and what happened in the bold above: If there is no power coming thru the lines (ie, power outage, ie meter is dead), the solar cuts off, and doesn't do anything! Nothing to the house, nothing to the grid. Most people aren't aware, but without special circuitry that 99% of solar systems don't have, when you lose power, you can't use your solar either. This is to prevent feedback into a dead system, that could electrocute a linesman working on a down system.

The exception is solar/battery. If you have a battery system, the solar will feed the batteries.

Most people with solar do NOT have batteries. We don't have solar to live off the grid, we use it to lower our electric bills, and be green. I can cut my elec usage by 60-70% with my solar panels. That's good enough for me. My electric bill in the summer went from $400+ to $100.

You only need batteries if you want to use the stored solar at night, or during extended cloudiness. Or during an outage. But I have a gas generator for outages. It's much better than solar/batteries.

The average payback for solar is 7-12 years, not a bad ROI. If you add batteries, it can easily take 15-20 years. Not so good for ROI.

[kreeyax]

Originally Posted by Oskar_Z28

I'm thinking of getting one or two small Honda generators that I can use when going camping or emergency (once every few years). I had one bigger one, but it was really noisy and used too much gasoline (5 gal per 12 hrs). Used it for 15 days at my old house during Ike.

Now, we did not lose power during Snowpocalypse last month because we're on fire station grid.

I bought a small Honda generator (EU2200i) a few years back and it's come in handy three times already when the power was out for longer than 8 hours here. I run the refrigerator on it, and can also plug in the coffee maker and some lights as well. I keep a 5 gallon can in the garage, and it was enough to last when the power was out last month (although I didn't run the generator all night long). Didn't lose any food in the fridge which was a big plus, neighbors were putting food outside to stay cold or throwing it away.

Anyways, many neighbors are looking at $10K+ now to install natural gas generators. I just don't feel the expense is worth the inconvenience personally, but everyone has different situations where it may be worth it to them. I just want to keep my fridge running.