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Like I said, to determine how much storage you need, it matters how much darkness you get and your energy needs, then, i.e. at night or on cloudy days.
But for feces and levity, I'll guess you use half your energy at night. That means you would need 30 kWh storage. In NiFe battery terms, that would cost roughly $10.5k. Much cheaper for lead acid. Somewhat cheaper for LiFePO4 batteries.
Before that, though, determine what else you might do. What is using so much energy? Can the house be better insulated? Can a swamp cooler be used instead of AC much of the time? Can you use wood or stored heat for heating? Much to consider.
New England. Costs a lot to run dehumidifier in lower level. Pool pump is expensive. Heat and hot water with Oil and hydroair. House over 3000 square feet. People that go off grid do not set up their battery storage for overnight. Thomas Massie says he could run his house for 3 days during a total eclipse
Last edited by DiverseSegregation; 10-16-2020 at 07:22 PM.
Yes, there are alternatives! If you have tons of wood lying around, use that! Whatever you have. Here in Az, there is sun and wind. I also have plenty of capacity to grow biomass at my rural land.
I know how much energy I use in my city house because it has been recorded for years. Barring unforeseen problems, this system I'm building should yield more than enough energy all year. If I need supplemental energy, I can always just light up a backup generator, or flip the switch back to the grid. Eventually, when in a house of my own design, I'll be using much less energy, anyway.
In this part of the country the cost of electricity is not necessarily the cost per kilowatt but rather all the delivery fees and other costs. If I were to spend all that money, I would not want to be connected to be able to flip a switch because that ability translates into a thousand dollar or more per year bill for that luxury.
What about cost associated with removing and replacing when you need a roof?
Right, so Massie is using a Tesla battery with tons of storage. My urban situation is a bit different, and not a total "homestead" scheme. It's only to escape the electric bills for a few years. When I move completely away from the grid, and transfer the solar equipment to my rural land and live there, the house will be optimized for energy efficiency, and this system willgive me a couple days or more worth of energy. Even if decently cloudy, a 4kW solar system might produce more like 1 kW. Also, again, that's what a generator is for, and I plan other versions of energy storage.
Also, a total eclipse better not last for 3 days, or things are desperately screwed.
If you have any land, don't put it on the roof? Here, I'll be putting it on my car-port, and if that surface ever needs replacing, it's more about a little hard work. Also, maybe the panels will protect the roof a bit so it will last longer? That's a little speculation though.
I'll keep ya informed, man. How many solar panels for 60kWh per day depends on their output, but a little math yields 20-250 watt panels for a 12 hour day, barring inefficiencies, etc. Your situation is quite a bit different than mine, of course. A pool would be nothing but a pain in my ass. We don't have to dehumidify anything here, but if the outside humidity is less than your lower level, look into ducting air in? Also, 3000 ft^2 is quite a large house for my taste. Lastly, you should look to maybe run the heater off of wood if you have plenty of that, there.
There is no 1 solution for everyone. Be thoughtful and resourceful in your considerations, and I think solutions may be less expensive than you think.
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