Off the Grid

[Bill Barrett]

Anybody off the grid? hows it working for you?
Thanks Bill

 

[scott_vt]

Anybody off the grid? hows it working for you?
Thanks Bill

Mornin Bill,
There are some real interesting threads under the projects section. I will include a link to a thread started by 3RRL, very informative.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/81392-my-solar-shed.html

 

[Phils]

Hi Bill,

I've been off-grid since the late seventies and it works "ok" for us. If we used the amount of power that we do and were "on grid" we'd have very small utility bills. As it is, we average $150/month for propane which is our only utility source other than the sun.

Propane powers two fridges, with refrigeration one of the most difficult parts of living 'off-grid'. The propane also powers a 10KW generator that replenishes the battery bank during dark and stormy days. Also propane is the water heater, range and oven. We use two gallons per day if we don't run the generator for power and three gallons per day during the stormy months when we have to compensate for lack of sunlight.

Last year I began sending excess solar-supplied electricity to the refrigerators. I had to cease that project before I even could get a feel for what it'd save in propane because the particular propane/AC refrigerators I have recently had a recall because of defective electric heaters and tube welds at those heaters. So far Dometic hasn't released a "fix" and starting in April will be installing "band-aids" that prevent the problem from becoming a disaster but don't address the problem. You can read more about it here if you are interested: RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Dometic Refer Recall - Possible Fire Hazard -Update 2/13/07

Because of that problem I'm no longer sending any AC to the fridges, leaving them solely propane powered. Next time around I'll get the most efficient regular AC fridge I can find and make sure I have the photovoltaic panels and battery bank to support it. A decade ago standard refrigerators weren't nearly as energy efficient as those available now.

Lemme know any other questions you might have.

Phil

 

[caver]

I've met this guy who is off grid. I was in the area and he gave me a tour of his hydro system. He runs a caving digest I subscribe to.

Shed Building

Hydro System Tour

 

[scesnick]

Caver,

I have been researching a micro hydro system for about 2 years now and i think the time will be right within the next year to pull the trigger on this project. Especially since the my state ( Maryland) is going to raise of electricity rates 75% next year !!!
I have a flow of 150 gpm and a head of 55 ft. which after doing all the math equals out to right around 650KwH a month. Good enough to substantially decrease my bill and maybe even eliminate the bill all together... I can't wait to quit lining the pockets of others and start making my own power.,

 

[Bill Barrett]

Caver,

I have been researching a micro hydro system for about 2 years now and i think the time will be right within the next year to pull the trigger on this project. Especially since the my state ( Maryland) is going to raise of electricity rates 75% next year !!!
I have a flow of 150 gpm and a head of 55 ft. which after doing all the math equals out to right around 650KwH a month. Good enough to substantially decrease my bill and maybe even eliminate the bill all together... I can't wait to quit lining the pockets of others and start making my own power.,

Sounds like a heck of a start. If you have the resource like it sounds you have, I think hydro is the best option.

 

[Diesel-ME]

You may also want to study up on cogeneration gear. While not necessarily off-the-grid ready, this technology has been getting some press lately. I have no personal experience with this, but just by way of example this outfit has some cool stuff in the works:

Climate Energy

~paul

 

[marks]

Look for the forum at Northern Arizona Wind & Sun .

 

[RonMar]

Caver,

I have been researching a micro hydro system for about 2 years now and i think the time will be right within the next year to pull the trigger on this project. Especially since the my state ( Maryland) is going to raise of electricity rates 75% next year !!!
I have a flow of 150 gpm and a head of 55 ft. which after doing all the math equals out to right around 650KwH a month. Good enough to substantially decrease my bill and maybe even eliminate the bill all together... I can't wait to quit lining the pockets of others and start making my own power.,

The beauty of hydro is that it typically can run 24/7. If you go with a battery/inverter system and use the hydro to charge the batteries, they can be charging at low use times and store that energy for peak use times. DC is also much simpler with hydro as you don't have to regulate turbine RPM as closely as you do to generate a good 60HZ AC. With the right type inverter, once the batteries were peaked, any excess could be sent back into the grid to earn credits for the commercial power you use. Some solar systems I have seen go strictly net meter, using the grid as your battery. With sun, any power produced by the inverter that is not used by the home, is sold back to utility and meter spins backward. No sun and meter spins forward as you draw from the grid. Then the trick is to use less than you generate so the meter's net movement is backward. Being able to generate 24/7 would really help with this. By basing on DC and batteries or net meter, you can also incorporate solar into the system fairly easilly(but not cheaply to increase your power output... Sounds like an exciting project. Surew would be nice to get a check from the utility at the end of the month

Ron

 

[YanmarFever]

Our house is wired for living off the grid. We have a 12 kw diesel generator I imported from japan with a mitsubishi engine.

We have 8 trojan T105 batterys and a trace inverter for a backup

When the power goes out we just switch over

also a woodstove, propane stove, propane water heater, ect....