Preparing for Sandy

[Tig]

There are a few, very few in my opinion, places in this country where some, not many, people don't like the taste of the water, but I guess I'm stupid like you. I would never have thought people would be goofy enough to pay soda pop prices for water. But they do. And I still find it incredible. I think it's primarily to show that they have more money than they need.

When the old water tower and treatment system in Trenton was discontinued due to quality problems, a budding entrepreneur leased it and started a bottled water company. It was a real head shaker, but it didn't last long.
For storm preparation, we always fill the bathtub. Not potable in there but a half a pail will do a flush.

 

[radioman]

They just closed schools in my area...
My kids are thrilled for a "snow day" with no snow.

 

[newbury]

<snip> we always fill the bathtub. Not potable in there but a half a pail will do a flush.

And that's a fallacy - if it's tap water and a clean tub what's the problem? Put it in a kettle and boil it and it will do for drinking water in a pinch.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Yea you would think the company installing the solar system would have designed that into the system.:banghead:

EDIT: Oh darn. It looks like somebody beat me to it.

The thing is, without a battery bank, a solar system is no good, because the power is too inconsistent. So many people who put in solar just go grid-tied. When their usage exceeds the solar panels' output, they draw the excess from the grid; when the panels exceed their draw, they feed back to the grid. At the end of the month, if they are net-negative, they may get a credit from the power company. But when the grid is down, the cells are useless, and the backfeeding creates a dangerous situation for the line workers.

Why don't more people put in a battery bank, you might ask? My guess is cost. A battery bank to run a home might run $10k or more, and you have the additional complexity of the charge controller, a more complicated switching setup, so that the panels know when to charge the batteries vs. feeding the grid, etc... A lot of people buy the panels first and foremost to reduce their environmental impact and cut down on their electric bill. Getting power during an outage is not their concern.

 

[forgeblast]

Emergency Water Kit We have one of these systems if we need to filter. We also have a uv filter on our well water but if the powers off so is the light.
It appears we made it out of the storm with litte to no damage, now its calling friends and family to see who needs help.

 

[Baby Grand]

Welder-generator is barking in the back yard. Our power went out last night about 8 pm, but only because a tree at the end of our street took out the line on the state road. Power outage maps show our area didn't do too badly, but some of our neighboring towns got hammered. Hope everyone is safe, on high ground & dry.

 

[pennwalk]

HUGE relief! We dodged the bullet here. Still had power when we woke up. We had 3 teases where the lights flickered. The basement is dry and there is only 3 inches in the rain gauge. There are 3 or 4 small branches down but there sure are a lot of leaves on the ground. Now all we have to do is clean up from the preparations and we will be back to normal.

Chris

 

[RoyJackson]

HUGE relief! We dodged the bullet here. Still had power when we woke up. We had 3 teases where the lights flickered. The basement is dry and there is only 3 inches in the rain gauge. There are 3 or 4 small branches down but there sure are a lot of leaves on the ground. Now all we have to do is clean up from the preparations and we will be back to normal.

Chris

I'm about 15 miles west of pennwalk...same thing here, just leaves down. I haven't seen any branches or limbs down at all.

 

[RoyJackson]

HUGE relief! We dodged the bullet here. Still had power when we woke up. We had 3 teases where the lights flickered. The basement is dry and there is only 3 inches in the rain gauge. There are 3 or 4 small branches down but there sure are a lot of leaves on the ground. Now all we have to do is clean up from the preparations and we will be back to normal.

Chris

I'm about 15 miles west of pennwalk...same thing here, just leaves down. I haven't seen any branches or limbs down at all.

 

[Rob-D]

EDIT: Oh darn. It looks like somebody beat me to it.

The thing is, without a battery bank, a solar system is no good, because the power is too inconsistent. So many people who put in solar just go grid-tied. When their usage exceeds the solar panels' output, they draw the excess from the grid; when the panels exceed their draw, they feed back to the grid. At the end of the month, if they are net-negative, they may get a credit from the power company. But when the grid is down, the cells are useless, and the backfeeding creates a dangerous situation for the line workers.

Why don't more people put in a battery bank, you might ask? My guess is cost. A battery bank to run a home might run $10k or more, and you have the additional complexity of the charge controller, a more complicated switching setup, so that the panels know when to charge the batteries vs. feeding the grid, etc... A lot of people buy the panels first and foremost to reduce their environmental impact and cut down on their electric bill. Getting power during an outage is not their concern.

I've been living with alternate energy for several years. My off grid system went in in 2006 with 8 panels and one Outback 48 volt inverter at 3.6Kw capacity (now I have two for 7.2Kw). The batteries in 2006 (8 Rolls 530S cost $1600), had I gone with an intertie back then it would have cost me about the same aside from the batteries and charge controller (MX60 costing $500.00). In 2011 I got a grant to put in a 6.4Kw intertie which covers all my electric usage so the off grid system does act as a big UPS(uninterruptable power supply) like sits next to most computers. (My intertie covers all my energy usage and then some (I have a credit at the power company).
This summer I built the mounts for 12 more panels (Sharp 240 watt = 2880 total watts plus my original 1400 watts; 4280 total power) Now the off grid system has two Outback inverters and two MPPT (maximum power point tracking) charge controllers (one for each panel bank). The extra power on myoff grid system will supplement my heat. Since I built my own panel racking for the off grid system the total cost of everything, on and off grid, is about 15k. Total power is 10.72 Kw.

Batteries aren't that much, either are charge controllers. Because my batteries aren't discharged everyday (batteries are rated in charge cycles) they will likely last 20+ years. When the power goes out they cover my house for long as I need it. Next I'm making windmills and microhyro. With the addition of those I will have continuous power regardless of the sun. And with that I expect to heat my house for free. Next year I'll install another intertie for my off grid system so that during the summer I can send all my spare power back to the grid.
Last night the power went on and off several times. We watched Netflix on our large screen TV, my two freezers with all our summer garden vegetables never lost power nor did the fridge, well pump or oil burner motor. I can't put a price on what that's worth.