dave1949
Super Star Member
Everyone's situation and priorites often differ. I didn't have to read too many of your posts to know that you would have a good set of reasons for making the decision that you did, connecting to the grid.
I'd hope you've seen enough of my posts to get a sense of what I'm about, but it's worth being explicit. My comment about the $5500 was never a criticism of your decision, rather an expression of my preferences, along with what hopefully comes across as some reasoning for doing so....
Thanks for taking the time to outline your thoughts and experience with your system Dave. It is valuable info and perspective for me, or anybody else who is even half serious about investing their own money in alternative energy.
While I consider battery maintenance to be trivial, you raise a good point about the availability of capable service people, in the general market. Any competent electrician (or for that matter, auto mechanic) should be able to handle basic maintenance on a battery bank. At a minimum, connections need to be kept corrosion free, and properly torqued, and flooded cells need to be topped up. Beyond that, tracking cell specific gravity is a good idea for the long haul, but just doing the basics will go a long way towards extending battery life.
It used to be that an average high school student that even half paid attention in grade 10 chemistry would have been able to maintain a battery..... but I'm mostly just showing my age by making that comment.... :laughing:
Resale can be a polarizing issue..... it's a matter of finding the right buyer, but that can tend to take longer, which is not what most people want to hear. KISS has a broader market appeal, for sure.
Rgds, D.
I didn't take your comment as a criticism in any way. I agree everyone arrives at their own choices based on their specific circumstances and how they weight the various risk exposures.
The decision we made eight years ago could have gone either way. If I were making the same decision today with lower prices and more choices, I would be more likely to choose off-grid. I still have a nice location for a battery bank.
A lot has changed in eight years in the solar area, but the biggest factor is cost per watt. Now it is getting down to the point where very few concessions need to be made, or extra costs borne, for things like appliance selection. Much depends on the local climate too in being able to shrink a home's energy footprint down to an affordable solar size.
Perhaps every dollar spent eight years ago for an off-grid system would cost $0.60 now? Whatever the number, I don't have to think about it being lost in hindsight. :laughing: I have no idea how judge where we are on that cost curve today. Are similar reductions five years away, or will there be leveling out? EDIT: And not to forget utility prices are rising to meet solar prices at the same time.
