Generator Dependency

scoharri · Sep 25, 2022

Hello,
Out of all of us off grid folks, how much do you rely on your generator to charge batteries during extended bad weather or just crappy solar days?

Nobodybusiness · Sep 25, 2022

scoharri said:
Hello,
Out of all of us off grid folks, how much do you rely on your generator to charge batteries during extended bad weather or just crappy solar days?

Never yet.

I played around with it to make sure it would work but have never needed it yet.

If you size your system according you shouldn’t either.

HighDesertOffgrid · Sep 25, 2022

Nobodybusiness said:
Never yet.

I played around with it to make sure it would work but have never needed it yet.

If you size your system according you shouldn’t either.

I agree. Although it is a lot easier said than done for most. 3-5 days worth of storage can be prohibitively expensive without lifestyle changes. I still run mine occasionally when I get too ambitious with shop tools (dead shorting a welding rod seems to use a lot of magical pixies).

Nobodybusiness · Sep 25, 2022

HighDesertOffgrid said:
I agree. Although it is a lot easier said than done for most. 3-5 days worth of storage can be prohibitively expensive without lifestyle changes. I still run mine occasionally when I get too ambitious with shop tools (dead shorting a welding rod seems to use a lot of magical pixies).

Yes Sticking a rod does draw some amps temporarily.
I usually just unhinge the stinger and try to get the rod off after rather than fight with it while still connected.

Usually if I’m sticking rods then then current isn’t high enough.

I have about 3 days of batteries so haven’t had to use Generator yet but that doesn’t mean I won’t.

HighDesertOffgrid · Sep 25, 2022

Nobodybusiness said:
I have about 3 days of batteries so haven’t had to use Generator yet but that doesn’t mean I won’t.

Sounds like you may be an off-grid homesteader, like myself. I am in the Mohave, so cloudy days are a rarity here and I am able to keep my battery bank fairly small (around 15kwh).

HighDesertOffgrid · Sep 25, 2022

HighDesertOffgrid said:
Sounds like you may be an off-grid homesteader, like myself. I am in the Mohave, so cloudy days are a rarity here and I am able to keep my battery bank fairly small (around 15kwh).

Point being (to the OP), size your system to your environment.

acdoctor · Sep 25, 2022

I ran off grid from 2017 through 2020. During the first winter months I had to run the generator for a hour most evenings that the day was less than ideal. Mostly because of electric water heater. I would recharge batteries while heating water. On ideal days the solar hydronic would be adequate for our hot water needs.
After crunching the numbers I installed a LP on demand water heater and disconnected the power from the tank heater. Now it’s just a solar hydronic storage tank.
Generator use went to more than one day of no sun ?.
My personal thoughts are, if you never need a generator total off grid then you over built. Nothing wrong with that, just spent more than necessary unless you didn’t spend money on a generator.

Currently I am on a 1 to 1 grid sell contract. I generally over produce during the spring and fall by 3 to 4 thousand kw. And use some of that during the winter.

The batteries just float until a outage. Or thunderstorms I disconnect from the grid.

Nobodybusiness · Sep 25, 2022

acdoctor said:
I ran off grid from 2017 through 2020. During the first winter months I had to run the generator for a hour most evenings that the day was less than ideal. Mostly because of electric water heater. I would recharge batteries while heating water. On ideal days the solar hydronic would be adequate for our hot water needs.
After crunching the numbers I installed a LP on demand water heater and disconnected the power from the tank heater. Now it’s just a solar hydronic storage tank.
Generator use went to more than one day of no sun ?.
My personal thoughts are, if you never need a generator total off grid then you over built. Nothing wrong with that, just spent more than necessary unless you didn’t spend money on a generator.

Currently I am on a 1 to 1 grid sell contract. I generally over produce during the spring and fall by 3 to 4 thousand kw. And use some of that during the winter.

The batteries just float until a outage. Or thunderstorms I disconnect from the grid.

I wouldn’t say overbought.

Just right bought.

Producing enough in the winter always leads to over production in the spring and summer but with Sol-ark the Gen input can be used as a smart load for water heating or something else.

I don’t sell back because the co-op makes you pay $40 a month just to have the grid available and only gives you 4 cents per KWH generated.

No thanks.

Symbioquine · Sep 25, 2022

Back to OP's original question, you can check this tool https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/#PVP to see whether your system is matching expected performance for your area. If you choose the "off-grid" tab and put in your system specs it will output how much of the time your batteries will be full/empty/etc. The empty days are when you'd need to run your generator. You can then see if something is under-performing in your system or if you have an opportunity to change your system to optimize for less generator use.

As others on the thread have pointed out, it can be cost inefficient to aim for zero generator use, but some scenarios have extra constraints - e.g. hard/expensive/inconvenient to get fuel or neighbors who are picky about noise.

Jack Rabbit Off Grid · Sep 25, 2022

I had to run mine this summer on 100+ degree days. Panels get hot laying on the ground and wasn’t putting out enough to run the A/C. Also all the smoke didn’t help.

AKvalleyguy · Sep 25, 2022

scoharri said:
Hello,
Out of all of us off grid folks, how much do you rely on your generator to charge batteries during extended bad weather or just crappy solar days?

I'm at 61 N Latitude. The generator is mostly quiet from as early as mid to late February until the first of Nov. Exceptions are when rain sets in for weeks during the late fall time. For me, it's not that expensive to run a generator for those few months.

It seems to be all about location and how big a system you want deal with.

cs1234 · Sep 25, 2022

Nobodybusiness said:
Never yet.

I played around with it to make sure it would work but have never needed it yet.

If you size your system according you shouldn’t either.

While expensive to run, and not ideal, it can be a nice fallback while you are trying to save the money to build your system up. Not everybody can afford the upfront expense to size their system to their max needs in all seasons/weather from the beginning. Especially those with non-homesteader wives/children that don't like living in the cold/dark, even if it will allow a smaller system / save money / speed up getting out of the big city. ?

HighDesertOffgrid · Sep 25, 2022

Nobodybusiness said:
Producing enough in the winter always leads to over production in the spring and summer but with Sol-ark the Gen input can be used as a smart load for water heating or something else.

Another good point. My panels are solid mounted at 18.4 degrees at 34 N. intentionally to maximize summer output during months of triple digit temps. I may be off-grid but I will not sweat in bed.

Generator Dependency

scoharri

New Member

Nobodybusiness

Solar Sponge.

HighDesertOffgrid

Solar Addict

Nobodybusiness

Solar Sponge.

HighDesertOffgrid

Solar Addict

HighDesertOffgrid

Solar Addict

acdoctor

Solar Enthusiast

Nobodybusiness

Solar Sponge.

Symbioquine

Solar Enthusiast

Jack Rabbit Off Grid

Solar Enthusiast

AKvalleyguy

Solar Enthusiast

cs1234

Solar Wizard

HighDesertOffgrid

Solar Addict

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