The prepper in me has been begging for Vince to check into solar panels for our home. We’ve used them for chicken coops. The picture below was obviously taken in Missouri . . where grass is green!
Solar Panel
We have the well for the orchard working totally off solar panels.
Solar Panels for Well
Vince has not been real interested in solar power for the house, mainly because of the cost. Lately he’s been reading more and more about scenarios where electric grids could be in trouble and he’s decided now may be the time to add solar power.
From our research, we’ve determined:
- The initial estimates have ranged from $23,000 to $70,000. Quite a difference in price, as well as capabilities of the systems. We’re probably going to go with a system that will not run our air conditioner but will run pretty much everything else. Our water heater, dryer, stove and furnace are propane so that takes a bit of the load off the kilowatt hours needed. Here, except for the very worst of the summer, our nights are cool enough that we could sleep with the windows open and be comfortable enough with fans.
- We will be able to get a tax credit but there are no other incentives/rebates available to us.
- No all electric companies buy back excess power so we’ll have to be sure and choose a company that will buy back the excess power. What they do here is give you credit so that during the winter months, when using less power, the credits are issued so that during the summer when using more power than we can generate ourselves, we use our credits, effectively cutting our electric bill by 92%.
- Based on the current electric costs, and projected increases, the cost of the system would pay for itself in a little over 8 years. For me, it’s not so much the cost of the system, but the peace of mind in knowing if the power is off, we can still run the refrigerators, freezers, well pumps and . . the sewing machines! 🙂
I know some folks are happy to have generators but we’ve had whole house generators (not currently) and we have several gasoline/diesel generators and they’re only good as long as you have fuel for them. In an extended power outage, fuel . . even natural gas, could be an issue. Here in central Texas, there’s probably never going to be a time when lack of sunshine is an issue. Even though there are days here and there when the sun might not be sufficient to charge the batteries, there’s rarely two or three days in a row without enough sunshine, and the freezers will stay solidly frozen for several days if we don’t open them.
I’m glad we have our generators but really, they don’t give me a lot of comfort simply because I’ve been in situations where we had to rely on them for over a week and getting fuel was next to impossible.
Vince’s biggest question is: Are we staying here? He wants to be sure before taking the plunge. After being home for a few days, I miss the kids but I think I’m ok staying here . . at least til the next trip.
If we go with the solar panels, that will be the icing on the cake for my prepping. I will feel like we’re about as prepared as we can get for whatever comes our way.
Richelle says
I am sure you have done your research into wind power also. Just wondering why solar over wind? I have always said the moment we move out of the burbs we will be getting wind power.
JudyL says
For our area, the cost of wind power is more expensive and has a longer payback. We have a lot of win but we have more sun.
carla says
I’m sure you have done your research. Here in CA our solar is hooked up to ‘the grid’. We pay $8/month to be hooked to grid. Our electric use and generation evens out. Yes, we receive reports so we know this is accurate. For five years we have not paid for electricity (only $8/month to be connected to grid) BUT, if power goes out on the grid, we are down also. We don’t store our generated electricity on site (much more money for a system like that). But our grid is rarely down and even then usually just a couple hours. So we didn’t incur the added expense of the onsite storage option.
carla says
and yes…you would want to be sure to stay for the 8 years when it would pay off. New buyers won’t pay extra for a home with solar.
JudyL says
Our power here has been out once for several hours in the almost 3 years we’ve been here and that was because lightning struck the ground and caused a fire but since we’re concerned about a nationwide grid problem,, your system wouldn’t offer us much peace of mind. Even though the system costs quite a bit more to store it, that’s our main reason for wanting it. Our cost of electricity is so low here, that otherwise, we wouldn’t even go with solar.
I wouldn’t make a blanket statement that buyers wouldn’t be willing to pay for the cost of solar. I think anyone who is concerned about our power grid, or anyone who is concerned about power usage and knows the costs involved with installing a solar system would be happy to pay the extra costs if they found a home that was already operating on solar power.
Sherrill says
I keep looking at the homes around here with solar panels and one of my neighbors only has 3 panels (I guess that’s what they’d be called) and she still says it makes quite a difference, though don’t know if they have the ability to store. Didn’t know there was so much involved in solar but did know it was expensive. I watched a show last night about a terrorist attack on the EMP (?, think that’s the right verbage). YIKES! Amazing, though, how protected the politicians and military would be protected..guess us gen pop are on our own, thus the need to prep!
Nancy Boyd says
Yes, be sure you are staying. A lot of expense to leave and some people would not want it. It would also put your house in a higher bracket to sell. Just be sure you want to stay. Missouri sure is a nice place to live!!
danielle says
We looked into it…I like the idea very much….but we do not plan to be our house long enough to reap the benefits. I love the set ups that the solar panels are the actual roof shingles. Am hoping when we move into our retirement home that we can look into it…..the house is smaller so they system should be cheaper but of course we will be moving to a place that gets less Sun than we do here! LOL
SarahB says
Boo hoo, we don’t get enough sun in central Ohio for solar to work very efficiently. In fact, we don’t get consistant wind either which is why our electricity is crazy expensive.. we have no alternatives. Propane is expensive and we can’t get natural gas where we live. Talk about feeling trapped. We love everything about our little homestead EXCEPT the dependence on the grid. That being said we have manual pump for the well and other set-ups so we could survive a power outage. It just wouldn’t be as easy… Can’t wait to see which solar system you go with! I also would love the panels that look like roof shingles!!
CJ says
Having done extensive research into this area, I’d just like to point out one thing… battery cost/life. I’m going to make the assumption that you’re going to want a minimum of a 10kW system. A high quality battery bank adequately paired to match will run around $8k, which itself isn’t the problem, it’s the life span of the batteries, and in the end, what made us changed our minds about having a battery back up solar setup. They will have an average life span of about 5 years, and then need replacing. This not only drastically changes the reality of your payback, but also makes you dependent on being able to replace those batteries every 5 years.
Judy L. says
For us, it’s the best option right now. The cost of all of the components has been coming down. Vince is counting on discharging the batteries no more than 50% and therefore having them last 8 years. The cost of energy here is going up enough that it will make the payback worth the investment. Per kW, it has gone from 7 to 11 cents in less than 3 years.
We figure that it’s as much about security/peace of mind so even if, dollar for dollar, it costs a little more, it’s still a good investment.
Carolyn says
BIG expense, specially if you are still thinking of going closer to the kids.
JudyL says
We’ll be here at least til Vince retires — maybe. 🙂
JudyL says
Another thing is that our goal is to be have power in the event of a grid issue and we are not doing this to save on our electric costs. It’s a little like having our wells. We don’t do it to save on water, costs but to be able to have the water we need for our gardens without restrictions.
AmyM says
We, too, looked at solar when we lived in CT… and our house was 97% of perfect position. But the rebates were so small that it would have taken 20 years to payback. Each state is different…
But the costs are coming down, as well as the size and longevity of the panels.
Not going to help during a blackout, but another thing we are doing to help with costs… changint to LED bulbs where we can. They are really coming down in price. They one we first bought was $30 for the kitchen over the sink… now Costco has them ( the can light size)… for $13… and had them on special last week for $7! And they are supposed to last many, many years. Our electric bill is happy.
Freda Henderson says
We are happy with our generators and have had no problem getting fuel, We have had to use them 3 times, once for 8 days.
Susan says
I love that you would be completely independent of outside resources.