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To: Blueflag

Your “no” came with several accurate qualifiers. A storm that would knock out the grid for two weeks would include catastrophic damage to structures. btw—I’ve had a variety of solar installations for more than 20 years.


11 posted on 04/19/2023 4:09:06 AM PDT by NautiNurse (Alvin Bragg: Giving Trumped-Up Charges a whole new meaning)
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To: NautiNurse

We live in ‘the sticks’ with lots of trees (N GA) and most of the electrical distribution is aerial- both on poles and the drops to homes. So when we get widespread storm damage with outages it can take a while for our EMC to fully clear and restore the lines.

Longest outage has been 6 days. Couple of times 3 days.

Most outages are less than 8 hours.

We barely notice.

You spoke of catastrophic damage. If the damage to our home is “catastrophic” there is a good chance we won’t be in it or bigger issues than solar power will be in play.

FWIW, we also have two dual-fuel portable generators as back ups and for projects around the property. We’re good on ensuring power.

Re longevity: as a solar user, you’re likely aware a panel installation is good for ~25 years, then loss of production efficiency and other deterioration point to a refresh cycle. So yeah, there’s money involved- for re-roofing and new solar components. Everything residential has an anticipated end of life.

We have solar NOT because it’s some magic money saver. Rather we have it as a backup and a means of flat-rating about 80% (on a good year) of our power costs. Making money selling power back or zero cost electricity is an internet myth/lie. Solar is a deliberate investment made for reliability/resilience and predictable costs.


17 posted on 04/19/2023 4:34:28 AM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur: ad ferre non, velit esse sine defensione)
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