Could our small farm go all electric?

[FatTire]

Spare me please. Take away the gubberment subsidies (taxes on the rest of us) and all of this solar and wind stuff is pure nonsense, physics and economics say so. If you care to look and do the math even the so called environmentally friendly cars like Tesla's are running mostly on coal or other fossil fuels. That is unless the tooth fairy is putting the electricity in the sockets to charge the things up.

I love organic too, the gas and diesel in my fuel tanks are organic and so are most plastics.
Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or the product of decay, or is composed of organic compounds.
Organic chemistry, chemistry involving organic compounds or more simply, Organic compound, a compound that contains carbon.

Wanna make yourself a million in farming, then start with two million. Nothing is free and there are no free lunches, everything costs something for someone, somewhere. Try to get something for free and you're more likely end up paying double.

Its true that the transition to renewable energy is being subsidized big-time. The oil/gas firms are also subsidized, as well as the auto industry, farming, and a whole ton of other stuff. Sometimes society is better off for it, sometimes not.

We live off-grid, not so much by choice as by the fact that the power grid ends about 5 miles below us. We've never yet run a generator, demonstrating it is possible to live within the amount of PV power that a 2kw array can produce in a sunny location. We use propane for hot water (on-demand) and for cooking, a total of about 100 gallons per year. Our electrical consumption is about 20% of the "average" American household, yet we have live a very comfortable life. The only thing we don't have is a clothes dryer. Having said all that, I don't really see the point of the Tesla, at least not yet. As pointed out above, since most of the charging is done at night, basically they are burning coal or natural gas to drive. And I'm happy with a gasoline UTV and diesel equipment, I can't see installing a huge PV array for vehicle/equipment charging, especially since our equipment use is quite high during long snow storms. Others might have different preferences and different requirements.

 

[dickfoster]

I'd rather all subsidies end right now this very instant for everything. Subsidies are what politicians do to pay back for all those contributions to keep their rear ends planted in those seats. Let's put things on a level table and see what happens for a change.
There are good reasons for solar and other forms of electricity if you can't get to the grid, then it makes some sense but solar will never and can never be a decent source to power the grid. It's just plain nonsense when there are other forms of energy, other than fossil fuels, so much more suitable for that available. All we have to do is do it but the politicians have other interests, their own mostly.

 

[JamesHW]

There are grand intentions then there is where your cost vs benefit ratio resides with long term projects . For example many parents start out with washable diapers and feeding the child all organic home prepared foods .
Some time and a child or two later . It's disposable diapers and food choices tend to be what is on sale .
If there is utility power running down the front of your property line . If you do the install and maintenance yourself . The solar PV cells, batteries and inverters will require replacement about the break even point of "utility savings".
Success with "green power" depends if your home is mostly fossil propane fridge, stove, water heater, domestic heat and clothes dryer. With " green" just operating lights , TV and microwave.
Connected to the grid without telling the utility you have solar panels and a grid tie inverter is an option. The solar will supply the daytime electricity instead of purchasing mid day peak rate power from the utility .
Of course solar power is about nil for three months of the winter due to short days, dim sun and snow covered panels.
How deep are your pockets and how many hours a week do you wish to spend working up a sweat.

This is not really an "off the grid" idea, though perhaps I wasn't clear. At least for 2-3 years the EV would only get periodic use, probably something like 4-5 weeks spread out from April through September and would be stored during the rest of the year in the shipping container.

My thoughts on solar were more as a power source for my storage container with the ability to charge the UTV and provide a trickle charge as well as provide power to the containers for lights and maybe a WIFI repeater and security camera. If the cost of the solar doesn't compute then recharging and trickle charging while stored would need to be run from the house or the container placed closer to the house where we have electric, NG and cable TV. For power outages I am thinking an NG Generac. The house currently has no central heat, was always a summer house.

Snow on solar panels could be a concern and is an interesting problem if someone isn't around to clean them off. I was thinking of placement at the northern end of the field for max sun. Panels would be tilted at a more severe angle during Winter months to try to minimize snow buildup and have the best angle for sunlight over the day.

Though I do believe the Sun does actually comes up during the Winter at our latitude. I read somewhere "a standard 3kW system facing due south, producing around 300kWh during June and July, will produce around 75kWh in a winter month like December or January. So you are talking about a 5th of the energy production in the winter months". I believe this is for Devon England, somewhat further North than me.

So the calculus would be a system that for six months could provide a full charge overnight at 12v to completely charge the EV such as the Intimidator or Polaris Ranger and still be able to provide a trickle charge while stored.

 

[JamesHW]

I'm curious about the offer to install the solar generation array. Was this from someone who wanted to use your land to generate solar power so they could sell it or from someone who wanted to sell you solar pannels? There's an outfit sending out a color brochure asking properry owners with 3 phase power lines to let them install solar farms on their property.

I'll have to dig it up, but definitely wanting to generate power, not a homeowner setup like they tout at the hardware stores. It was a letter addressed to me.

 

[buickanddeere]

For those people who say fossil and nuclear power is subsidized. Care to calculate the wages paid by the fossil and nuclear industry . Then add the taxes and royalties paid by fossil and nuclear .

 

[TheMadOne]

My two cents for the EV thing.

Buy an old cub or 8n. It'd be cheaper and capable of more ground work, also a heck of a lot harder to steal that much iron. And fewer people would want to. In addition to that, the carbon cost of such an old machine is pretty well amortized, meaning that it's actually more eco friendly to buy than a new EV, especially one with lithium batteries. Obviously this reverses as the EV gets older, but current battery life would force replacement every decade or so. Thus starting the cycle over again. How long do you plan to farm? Just put sta-bil in the tank, pull the battery and bring gas with you. Also won't depreciate near as much as a new EV. there's also the price of implements to consider. I don't claim to be an expert, but I've not seen many used or cheap UTV/ATV implements out there, while implements for a regular tractor can be found all day long on craigslist.

 

[dickfoster]

For those people who say fossil and nuclear power is subsidized. Care to calculate the wages paid by the fossil and nuclear industry . Then add the taxes and royalties paid by fossil and nuclear .

Another pet peeve of mine. Business shouldn't pay tax because it's just passed along to us. It's just another way to hide all the taxes we the people end up paying. Let's get it all out in the open, then someone get a rope. LOL

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I don't think the OP was looking for a political discussion. I think this could be an interesting thread so I hate to see it on a path to being shut down.
:2cents:

 

[JamesHW]

Thanks Luke.

Sorry if I pissed in anyone's corn flakes.

 

[JamesHW]

As to implements, if I went with a UTV then we are talking about towable. I have a harrow already in the form of some old bed springs combined with some metal fencing. I've seen small towable implements for garden tractors that are not expensive, but small and light weight.