I ran numbers within the last couple years for an off-grid solar and the pay back time exceeded 20 years. This was for a 450kwh/month system. The solar panels themselves were relatively cheap at a little over a dollar a watt. The killer was the battery bank.
Since really you're building a battery powered house that happens to be recharged by solar/wind/generator the number of batteries determines how long you can go with cloudy days or no wind before you fire up the generator to recharge. Every winter we get periods of at least a week at a time when there is no sun. I've kept track. We have long periods of little to no wind and long periods of too much wind.
Part of the trick was figuring how much electricity you use and keeping the battery bank from getting more than 50% discharged (for maximum life). The batteries I looked at were the Rolls-Surette.
Our local utility does not do grid tie. We are on a Co-op and my electric bills have been basically flat for over 10 years. Very hard to justify the cost only to break even in 20 years and that's *assuming* battery cost do not go higher or the EPA flips out over lead-acid batteries.
Also we get hailstorms and apparently solar panels are not that hail resistant. Sure, your homeowner's insurance covers it but how long are you going to be without them while the ins co. is dilly dallying around?
Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo filesizes should be less than 300K and Videos, less than 2MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Restoration Story: Fordson Major - by Anthony West. George bought his Fordson Major from a an implement sale about 18 years ago for £200.00 (UK). There is no known history regarding its origins or what service it had done, but the following work was undertaken alone to bring it up to show standard. From the engine number, it was found that this Major was produced late 1946. It was almost complete but had various parts that would definitely need replacing.
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
1964 I-H 140 tractor with cultivators and sidedresser. Starts and runs good. Asking 2650. CALL RON AT 502-319-1952
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
