Solar panels on barn roof.
Solar power has been providing our electric for going on fourteen years now. Does it mean we have never had a power outage? Absolutely not! I should explain myself here. Our system is only as good as our equipment. I mentioned in a previous post, Independent Grid-Tied System, that we had been having problems with our generator. We are now having problems with the new motor. It is not as good as the one that originally came with the generator kit. I am thinking we will need to buy the exact same model as we had.
NY does have sun in winter!
When you are completely off-the-grid, and the winter months are pretty much sunless here in the northeast US, you really need a generator. Our system is pretty small by most people’s standards, but usually works for us. As we get older though, I’d like to have life a little easier. That is where a grid-tied system comes in to play for us. Solar electricity has become pretty easy to add to your home. There are many government incentives and grants available depending on your state.
Cleaning snow off the solar panels.
What I like about this idea is that your home can be like any other house. Just like what you were used to before you moved off-the-grid. I also like the idea of the solar rebates offered. Our house here will be off-the-grid probably forever, but we don’t have to be. We are considering moving to a bigger piece of land, in a more private area, yet connected to the local power grid. Setting up a grid-tied solar system with a battery bank, insures that we should have power no matter what. If the utility power experiences an outage, then our battery bank will keep us from losing our power. The best of both worlds, I say!
Hook Up!
Copyright © 2013 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole
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- A book about how to set up a simple water storage system for your small homestead or in a prepping situation.
- This is an eBook about how to put together your first bug out bag or BOB, as it is known, of essentials. It had great reviews and sounded like a good one to have in your library.
- This eBook is a good start on how you can build up an emergency fund. Now I KNOW this is not an easy task! This little book will get you started in the right direction.
- An eBook written by Gavin Webber explaining how to set up your own small solar system for those power outages.
- A small guide to a basic solar set up.
- The guide to generating electric using solar photovoltaic panels.
- I loved this eBook! It is written by Michael Bunker and he has quite a following. As well he should, he presented many facts to me that I was not aware of, even though I have lived off-the-grid for over thirteen years now. Check it out!
- A valuable source for the beginner as well as the experienced gardener.
- This is the book I read on home storage and learned how to utilize my own root cellar. The BEST book on the subject as far as I can tell. If you want a good quality root cellar that really works, this is the book to read.
- This is a very good source of how to preserve meats on your homestead.
has been down. My husband worked on it, bought some parts and worked on it some more. Then it’d run a few days or so, but finally coughed its last cough. We were done. Had to rely on the sun for power. Not easy to do at this time of year in New York state! That is why I have not been keeping up with my blogs.
