Xtoff
New Member
Hi all! I'm a remote IT worker living in a rural part of Coos Bay, Oregon. Solar isn't very popular over here, and a lot of people say it's not practical due to cloudy and rainy winters. I'd like to try some things out anyway. Power goes out here a bit in the winter time, and I have a couple of generators, but having a battery backup would be nice.
I also have a couple of creeks on my property, which I'd like to someday utilize. They're at full blast in the winter and will produce enough flow for use, but information about how to do hydroelectric correctly seems to be sparse. It would be nice to use solar in the warmer months, as we get about 3 solid months with no rain and usually no clouds, and use hydroelectric in the winter.
At the end of the day, I need to show potential ROI to my wife before making purchases. We got a solar quote when we lived in Medford, Oregon, and the ROI was 20 years, which is absolutely absurd. It was also grid-tied with no batteries, so that defeated my primary goal of having something when the power goes out. I have yet to find an honest local solar company around here, so I'm pretty much on my own to figure this stuff out.
I also have a couple of creeks on my property, which I'd like to someday utilize. They're at full blast in the winter and will produce enough flow for use, but information about how to do hydroelectric correctly seems to be sparse. It would be nice to use solar in the warmer months, as we get about 3 solid months with no rain and usually no clouds, and use hydroelectric in the winter.
At the end of the day, I need to show potential ROI to my wife before making purchases. We got a solar quote when we lived in Medford, Oregon, and the ROI was 20 years, which is absolutely absurd. It was also grid-tied with no batteries, so that defeated my primary goal of having something when the power goes out. I have yet to find an honest local solar company around here, so I'm pretty much on my own to figure this stuff out.