09-20-2014, 08:04 AM
HELCO can do things that individuals can't as has been mentioned. They have deep pockets with which to re-build systems whereas homeowners generally don't. Their emissions are regulated. They have spill containment. When a 5,000 gallon tanker transfers its load to the power plant storage tank they rarely spill as much as a gallon. When I fill my little honda 2 gallon tank I have often spilled as much as a tablespoon. That's 1 in 512. That's 10 times as bad and it often goes on the ground. When my friends and I used to go fishing we would run the little honda days on end without an oil change. The utility takes far better care of their equipment. Their systems are generally more efficient than a homeowner's generator. As has already been mentioned by others, not everyone is up to the task of maintaining their own system. If everyone ran their own power systems there would be gas and oil on the ground and in the groundwater and pollution in the air.
There are reasons for being unhooked from the grid. Ask a survivalist if it wouldn't be cheaper just to depend on the grid for power to his BOL (bug-out lodge). After he got done gagging he might be able to tell you of the benefits of being off grid. Being cheap isn't one of them. Neither is being easy.
My ideal situation would be to have a hybrid system that can stand alone getting power from solar panels during the day and the grid at night. This would have more benefit in places where there is a savings for having interruptable power. On Oahu HECO will hook your water heater up to a switch they control and give you a break on your bill. I would trickle charge my batteries all night long on this feed. In this scenario the batteries would be very gently used and would last as long as possible. If the worst should happen I would still have power. I would not be dependent on HECO or HELCO in that I would keep on going when they went down. How would that compare to what I do now? I would hardly ever run the generator. I would spill hardly any fuel and dispose of very little oil. NO noise. Would I hook up to HELCO now since I already have a solar system in place? Depends on if I had the money. I would buy many things for the mere satisfaction of possessing them and having yet another power supply, particularly one as clean and trouble-free as grid power would be one of them. I would still keep the generator though, exercising it once a month to keep it internally rust free.
As for being tied to my neighbors through a micro-grid, never. That would be trading a large and powerful partner who was skilled and equipped to keep their equipment running for a ragtag group of dreamers whom you were dependent on but whom you couldn't fire when they didn't perform. In my current off-grid status I only have to manage myself.
Edited for math errors.
There are reasons for being unhooked from the grid. Ask a survivalist if it wouldn't be cheaper just to depend on the grid for power to his BOL (bug-out lodge). After he got done gagging he might be able to tell you of the benefits of being off grid. Being cheap isn't one of them. Neither is being easy.
My ideal situation would be to have a hybrid system that can stand alone getting power from solar panels during the day and the grid at night. This would have more benefit in places where there is a savings for having interruptable power. On Oahu HECO will hook your water heater up to a switch they control and give you a break on your bill. I would trickle charge my batteries all night long on this feed. In this scenario the batteries would be very gently used and would last as long as possible. If the worst should happen I would still have power. I would not be dependent on HECO or HELCO in that I would keep on going when they went down. How would that compare to what I do now? I would hardly ever run the generator. I would spill hardly any fuel and dispose of very little oil. NO noise. Would I hook up to HELCO now since I already have a solar system in place? Depends on if I had the money. I would buy many things for the mere satisfaction of possessing them and having yet another power supply, particularly one as clean and trouble-free as grid power would be one of them. I would still keep the generator though, exercising it once a month to keep it internally rust free.
As for being tied to my neighbors through a micro-grid, never. That would be trading a large and powerful partner who was skilled and equipped to keep their equipment running for a ragtag group of dreamers whom you were dependent on but whom you couldn't fire when they didn't perform. In my current off-grid status I only have to manage myself.
Edited for math errors.