Posted on 02/08/2011 7:55:56 AM PST by MsLady
My hubby and me are thinking about going solar. Basically because we feel society is breaking down and things are getting very unstable. Obama seems to be h*ll bent on making our lives more costly to the point of ruining everything. And because we like the idea of being as independent as possible.
At any rate, we live way up north. Snow levels usually run 200" or more. Long winters from oct. through march/april. We probably have seen the sun 2 or 3 times since the beginning of the year. Lots of cloudy days from about dec. till feb/march. I wanted to know if anyone had experience with them, especially if you live in the north.
We will be building our own.
I would not recommend digging coal on your own land. The permit process will require months of work by a geologist and a PE to meet Department of Interior requirements.
I almost forgot. If you get over 200 inches of snow a year, do not even consider a Solar system of either type. You will highly regret the choice if you decide to spend the large quantity of money they require.
I highly recommend the Wood or coal fired boiler at your latitude.
We have had solar for around 25 years and are in a similar climate. It hasn’t been much use in the winter, so we rely on our wood stove. We also have a generator that we have used to keep our well pump and refrigerator going.
We live close to where Obama is going to visit thursday, in the UP of Michigan.
How to make a million dollars with home solar panels; start with two million dollars.
Thank you!!!! We got a big rebate for putting in the windmill too. We are going for the battier back up next. My brother in law who owns a recycling center just got 25 batteries in from the state that they used for back up when the power went out. We can get them dirt cheap all we need is a good converter. He has one that came with the batteries but, it’s over 10 years old.
well, if you want a 40 year payback on an item that lasts 30 years, go ahead.
Uh first off, I’m not stupid, secondly it never hurts to look into how things work and get info. And I wouldn’t be paying someone to build them, I’d do it myself. I’m looking at all my options for being as independent as possible. Someone who is stupid wouldn’t do that. They’d just sit on their butts and criticizes those that do.
You’re not going to provide yourself all the electricity you’d like if TSHTF.
You NEED power for pumping, communication, and circulating the heat from the stoves.
A small solar power kit would be worth it for the few days of sun and no wind. Size it just for your pump.
Battery storage is neccessary- but the cost is worth it for your windmills anyway.
You won’t have enough elect. for food storage and heat/cooling. Make other plans (you sound like you’d already have a ‘root cellar’. You might consider the luxury of a freezer in the root cellar- elect or gas- but that’s probably asking a lot.
A tile stove is is much better than wood stoves. If you have a local mason with any knoiwledge of fireplaces you could save your backs a lot of chopping and carrying.
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/12/tile-stoves.html
It sounds like you already have wind, and storage batteries with a converter will handle your lighting. If you decide to generate your electricity with steam, you will need a small high pressure boiler system separate from the low temp radiant heat system. It requires high temperature steam with at least 80 psi of sustained steam output to run a turbine.
The biggest advantage they provide is, they are easy to work with, repair and maintain.
We have toyed with the idea of heating our water in the winter months with our wood stove. I have to investigate that more. We have an old water heater sitting out in the barn that we can use.
I could see where, in some cases, solar would work. Hot water would be one of them, as there's a massive battery for energy storage (the hot water tank) already built into the system. It's also an inexact system, in that you really don't care if your hot water is at 125 degrees, or 123 degrees. So there are potential bennies.
I've not ever used solar, but my recommendation would be to put the money into things that work with a high reliability. Like giving your house a serious weather-proofing (insulation, new windows, etc etc). Or upgrading your heat / cooling devices. You'll see a return on these, there are tax credits, and they're not a detriment if you want to sell your home. (for instance, if I was buying a house, I DON'T want all of the labor and expense associated with any "alternate" technology. I'd be fine with more insulation, though!)
Solar, IMO and with specific exceptions, is a boondoggle.
MsLady:
I’ve lived in the north. You’re better off sticking with wood as a renewable resource, and planting back what you harvest, than using solar.
Much easier timewise, much cheaper to implement. You can generally get by on a well forested quarter acre, for use in heating.
If you are already generating about a quarter for the use of electricity, Wood would pretty much take care of all your heating costs, and let you use the wind power for some of your electrical.
That’s what I was thinking, just enough to power the water pump would be great. My hubby wants to use it to store power in the battery back up that he wants to get up and running. With batteries from my brother in laws junk yard. He just got 25 from the state police station we can get dirty cheap. We just need a good converter.
If you really want to put yourself in the position of being more self-sufficient in the case of society totally breaking down, scrap the idea of solar electric generation. Instead, put together some type of wood-fired steam engine electric generating system. (Of course, somebody will need to get a boiler operator’s license for your own good. It will show you have enough knowledge to keep from blowing yourself up.)
With your access to inexpensive batteries, you’re in a better position than most people to also store some of the electricity you’d generate.
I have a walk out freezer from late nov. till early march...lol It’s my front porch.
NOW that sounds interesting. I’m def going to look into a wood boiler. We have in floor radiant heat already in the basement and first floor of the new part of the house. We added onto an old log house. It’s amazing the center of the house is now the old log house. In the summer unless it’s hot for many days, that area stays nice and cool.
The boiler thing has some real possibilities. We have our own source of wood, so that in and of it self is very helpful.
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