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diy solar

Hello From Coos Bay, Oregon!

Xtoff

Xtoff

New Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2024
Messages
5
Location
Coos Bay, OR
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.
 
You will probably be surprised at how much less a DIY system costs if you invest the effort to really identify your needs and wants are then translate that into a reasonably sized system that reduces your electrical consumption and provides back-up power. Also, important is not to forget that consumption can be reduced by replacing large appliances with energy efficient models.
 
Xtoff said:
Hi all! I'm a remote IT worker living in a rural part of Coos Bay, Oregon.
Click to expand...
I would sell it to your wife as energy independence for your wfh/network setup. Gotta be available to earn the bucks that pays for it all. And then of course you can add your critical loads like fridge/freezer etc, as your capacity allows.
 
Many ROI’s don’t factor in rate increases.
There’s a lot of stuff you can do yourself but you MUST learn to do it right and safely. DIY doesn’t mean shortcuts. A lot of rack batteries kits are very good now compared to just a few years ago. Inverter selection and quality is getting better. Solar panels so far are priced reasonably and you’ll need much more than most. And yes, you’ll probably still need generators for the long cloudy stretches with grid down, but at least you don’t have to hear it running at night.
Don’t go running off without a plan, buying things then ask is this good. Ask first, ask and ask some more.
 
Greetings from Bend, the sunny side of Oregon. With all the cloudy days on the coast wouldn't micro hydro from your creeks be the best solution?
 
Xtoff said:
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.
Click to expand...
What is the ROI on those gasoline powered generators?
 
Q-Dog said:
What is the ROI on those gasoline powered generators?
Click to expand...
I technically got my 12kW propane/gas generator for free, so the ROI is pretty good in my circumstance, but I only use it when the power goes out. I have no intention of using it for being completely off-grid at the moment. I've only used the thing for maybe 6 hours so far within the past couple of years. I would use it more, but I don't have a generator hookup for my house yet, so it's kind of a pain to use. Finding decent contractors out here is challenging, so I might end up putting in a generator inlet and a transfer switch myself.
 
hugemoth said:
Greetings from Bend, the sunny side of Oregon. With all the cloudy days on the coast wouldn't micro hydro from your creeks be the best solution?
Click to expand...
Yes, micro hydro would be a good solution. My neighbor has a pretty substantial waterfall coming from his pond, but he unfortunately doesn't really like change, and I doubt he'd let me install something there. That water eventually flows through my property at a pretty level grade for most of the way, and I have some salmon spawning areas that I don't want to disturb. With that said, they don't spawn in the winter, when the flow is the greatest, so I'm hoping that I can put something together upstream a bit with the option of pulling the system out, in the case of a major rain event, and during spawning.
 
Xtoff said:
I technically got my 12kW propane/gas generator for free, so the ROI is pretty good in my circumstance, but I only use it when the power goes out. I have no intention of using it for being completely off-grid at the moment. I've only used the thing for maybe 6 hours so far within the past couple of years. I would use it more, but I don't have a generator hookup for my house yet, so it's kind of a pain to use. Finding decent contractors out here is challenging, so I might end up putting in a generator inlet and a transfer switch myself.
Click to expand...
Do you get free fuel too?
 
Q-Dog said:
Do you get free fuel too?
Click to expand...

No. In the 2 years I've used it, I've gone through maybe $30 worth of propane. I have no intention of using it as my primary source of power, so I'm not really seeing why ROI for an emergency source of power is relevant.
 
In your first post you said you need to show potential ROI. Install a battery backup for your house with solar panels and you now have an emergency power source that doesn't have any fuel costs, and can actually shave $$$s off of your electric bill.

You can keep the gasoline generator for if the sun stops shining.
 
Q-Dog said:
In your first post you said you need to show potential ROI. Install a battery backup for your house with solar panels and you now have an emergency power source that doesn't have any fuel costs, and can actually shave $$$s off of your electric bill.

You can keep the gasoline generator for if the sun stops shining.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I plan to do. :)
 
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