Fuelly Forums - Off the grid(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wazabi Owner (Post 68250)

I want solar panels after the composting toilets which will be after the concrete dome home which will be after the cob art studio; I can go on and on... As far as solar panels, I'm still waiting for prices to go down and technology to go up. We are getting real close

"They" have been saying that PVs (solar electric panels) would be getting cheaper for the last 25 years. The prices did go down for awhile, reflecting improving technology and efficiency of manufacturing, but demand has been driving the prices up for the last 3 or 4 years. Composting toilets are great, build your own. Concrete dome homes have lots of wasted space, unless you are going to use it as a greenhouse to grow trees. Buy some PV panels and start using them if/when they get cheaper, get more.

We had a severe thunderstorm last night, power has been off since 11 or midnite, neighborhood is dark, but we have power, thanks to our PVs, windgenerator, and large bank of batteries. Probably a couple of day's worth of power, assuming there is no sun or wind to recharge them. We used to be off grid at a previous home, but moved to a grid tied place in town, on a large lot, left the grid connection in place as it is a nice back up power source.