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Great point. Most people don't realize when they lose power, the solar panels are intentionally shut down. That's to prevent your solar juice from going upstream during a blackout, potentially harming line workers.
Either batteries, or in my case, I have a standby generator.
My BIL was real proud after he got solar. Bragged about how he’d have power after the zombie apocalypse and the grid went down. I asked him if he had battery backup. He got a bit annoyed after he realized his system wouldn’t do what he thought it would. We talked a few months later, and he was bragging that he’d solved his problem by buying a generator. I asked him how much fuel he had stored. He had five gallons. He doesn’t talk about it anymore.
My BIL was real proud after he got solar. Bragged about how he’d have power after the zombie apocalypse and the grid went down. I asked him if he had battery backup. He got a bit annoyed after he realized his system wouldn’t do what he thought it would. We talked a few months later, and he was bragging that he’d solved his problem by buying a generator. I asked him how much fuel he had stored. He had five gallons. He doesn’t talk about it anymore.
That is really funny! I've been looking into adding storage to my system, the prices are coming down to the point where they are competitive with standby generators (i.e. permanently wired generac systems), but portable generators + transfer switches are still an order of magnitude cheaper.
There is a DIY option that runs about $5k or so to add a battery to the solar system, but even still it's not worth the hassle unless you get a lot of outages.
There is one small gray area- one of my systems has a backup outlet on it, where if the power goes out, you can still get up to 2,000 watts from a single plug. Since there's no battery, it's not terribly useful other than perhaps for a freezer/fridge, or maybe plugging in a UPS and running your telephony equipment, because every time a cloud passes over it shuts off. It's called the SMA SPS outlet; kind of a gimmick.
My BIL was real proud after he got solar. Bragged about how he’d have power after the zombie apocalypse and the grid went down. I asked him if he had battery backup. He got a bit annoyed after he realized his system wouldn’t do what he thought it would. We talked a few months later, and he was bragging that he’d solved his problem by buying a generator. I asked him how much fuel he had stored. He had five gallons. He doesn’t talk about it anymore.
This occurred quite often some years back in Florida - people bought solar thinking they would have power after a hurricane and the utility was out. Surprise!
There is one small gray area- one of my systems has a backup outlet on it, where if the power goes out, you can still get up to 2,000 watts from a single plug. Since there's no battery, it's not terribly useful other than perhaps for a freezer/fridge, or maybe plugging in a UPS and running your telephony equipment, because every time a cloud passes over it shuts off. It's called the SMA SPS outlet; kind of a gimmick.
Now I'm going to go out in the morning and look for my SMA SPS. If I have one.
How about we let this battle of the words end? I'm sure everyone else is tired of reading it. Let's call it a draw, and move on.
Feel free to do whatever you want.
I maintain my position regarding swimming pools and solar as not appropriate as investments in the traditional sense of the word; your incomplete, individual anecdotes notwithstanding.
A lot really depends on your electric prices per kwh, especially in summer, and whether you are on a rate that charges more during peak demand periods, or has tiered rates. It also depends on if your utility has special rebates for solar, or if they have a solar lease program. So without detailed info on your particular electrical rates and programs available, it's hard to say if solar makes sense for you. Solar systems also sometimes have battery storage and can act as a bac-up power generator to provide your home with power during power outages.
My brother lives in an area of frequent lengthy outages, so he's enjoying the luxury of back-up power when his neighbors are out of power. He's also on a lease program where he only pays a monthly lease payment which offsets his savings somewhat, but he doesn't have to put out the cash upfront for the system, and the installing company has to do any repairs necessary. He also applied for a grant program from the government that paid for his battery bank (2 large Tesla brand batteries that can power most of his house for at least 24 hours even if there's zero sun). Find out what programs your utility offers.
If you want a pool, just realize that it in no way will pay for itself when you sell. It doesn't raise the home value by the same amount that it costs. In some cases it may discourage some buyers who don't want the costs to operate and maintain it. The pool will actually raise your energy use, so installing solar and a pool may offset some of the operating costs.
Last edited by TheShadow; 07-30-2021 at 06:50 AM..
Precisely. Which, other than anecdotally, in no way represents either swimming pools or solar installations as an "investment."
Quote:
Originally Posted by kokonutty
Feel free to do whatever you want.
I maintain my position regarding swimming pools and solar as not appropriate as investments in the traditional sense of the word; your incomplete, individual anecdotes notwithstanding.
This is pretty funny. Not only have you not understood the difference between your false generalization and him relating his personal experience, you choose to double down on making sure that lack of understanding is readily visible to all.
Now I'm going to go out in the morning and look for my SMA SPS. If I have one.
I had to fight the installer to actually install the outlet. It's as easy as adding $20 of electrical parts from Home Depot, but the installer has to actively enable it in the inverter. When you open the cover there is effectively a jack that you can wire an outlet into.
There was one older iteration of the SMA inverter where the option was there but it was capped to something like 200 or 400 watts; the newer generations are true 20a 110/120v circuits.
I was so excited about it but I realize now that it's a gimmick because you have to walk out to the garage, plug whatever you want to plug into it, then flip a switch. I misunderstood the documentation when I purchased, thinking they were going to wire an entire house circuit up to this thing so that I would automatically have solar power on that one circuit in an outage. As my telephony equipment is already on a UPS it would have been perfect, but given how annoying it is I just leave my telephony on the circuit backed up by the generator.
I live in an area where there is no cell reception and have no landline so it's important that I keep my internet up and running. I also have a cell repeater that works in a pinch but it's less good than wifi calling so I leave it unplugged; it's just insurance against an internet outage.
I live in an area where there is no cell reception and have no landline so it's important that I keep my internet up and running.
What do you have for Internet?
I have (or had) the same problem, and used HughesNet, which I despise. Then about a year ago, a company called NextLink started setting up towers all around this part of the state, in rural areas. Antenna based Internet, but very good. More speed than you need, no data caps, fast and no lag. I think they got some money from a federal program to put broadband in more rural areas. And it worked!
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