02-03-2014, 06:26 AM
quote:
Solar only works in the day time (and only on nice sunny days)
This statement is far from the truth, as even my 30 + year old Carrizo quad-lams produce an acceptable amount of power on cloudy days, and the newer panels are even better.
I've been completely off the HELCO grid for over 25 years.
Solar electricity is best suited to a localized system rather than a distributed system using existing HELCO infratructure, so batteries for storage are a no-brainer, and as such my solar power system works quite well at night.
That said, I don't try running heavy inductive loads from my inverter, I use a generator to power washer, dryer, power tools, etc.
A modest stand-alone solar electric system will pay for itself within a few years, after which the power is essentially free, save for system upgrades to batteries etc.
I run my entire household on 8 180w Kyocera PV panels, 4 6v deep cycle batteries, an Outback charge controller, and a 2500w inverter.
Screw HELCO, they don't even serve my road.
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."