That’s my stumbling block…I want solar/“off grid” power but my rates are $0.12/kwh so the math is tough
EV lots getting cleaned out.
- Thread starter Snagglefoot
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That’s my stumbling block…I want solar/“off grid” power but my rates are $0.12/kwh so the math is tough
I bought a 330 watt panel over a decade ago for $40 as a science experiment (charges a string of 6v Fla), could have bought pallets of them at that price but local laws make diy solar basically impossible .
The cost of solar could be near zero but .gov harassment to ensure you overpay 10x+ is very real.
Well, that’s what we thought, but it’s hard to know the impact. The couple who is under contract don’t own an EV, so while it may, theoretically, improve the value, I don’t believe that it made any difference to them.
Agree, we are on a rural Co-Op and it's 10-11 cents a KWH. The math is not really mathing for ROI.
However, what makes it increasingly attractive is the grid outages. We just got back from Oregon but while we were there, there were storms in Central Texas and the power was off for 7 hours. When we arrived from the airport the next day the dumb (as in not WiFi) thermostats were waiting for me to re-input the date and time before switching on the system. The house was hot. So frustrating. Thankfully we left the fridge basically empty so there wasn't any problems there, and the frozen food hasn't made me sick yet!
Plus we get ice storms, floods, hurricanes, etc. I'd prefer not to be 100% reliant on the grid.
Solar+battery seems like a way to avoid all that.
At your prices, just battery seems a way to avoid all that. The installed price of a Powerwall runs about $14,000. Your price may vary, of course. That’s about the installed price of our Generac, but the Powerwall doesn’t require a propane tank in the yard, nor does it require annual maintenance. It might be worth pricing out the options for standby power.
This is a case where the capability is desired, and not a cost question. If you add up the likelihood of having to throw out all your food, and the cost of that food, then, standby power has insufficient ROI, based solely on total costs on both sides of the equation. Take the chance, throw out the food if it happens, and you’ll be spending less.
But if you value the convenience, the lack of worry, or other good reasons, outside of cost, to have standby power where power is unreliable, then this isn’t a money discussion - it’s a capability discussion - and comparing battery with ICE generator is where the money can be examined.
