Ericccc
New Member
Complete newbie here and hoping to find answers to what I assume are some very basic questions.
But for some very basic background there are two things I'm looking to do.
One is to get a small non-grid-tied solar system at my grid-tied house in order to experiment and learn, reduce my electric bill a little (even if those savings never add up to as much as I pay for the system), and maybe eventually enlarge that system to meet my most minimally critical electricity needs in the event of a grid power outage (at least during the day on sunny days.)
The other thing I'd like is to have a complete but minimal solar system at a cabin where I don't have grid power, but I have a wood cookstove I can use there, and I plan to use an outhouse, plan to do without running water... so I wouldn't ever expect to use much electricity there, but I'd like to have lights, run a freezer, maybe be able to use some power tools on sunny days...
So the questions:
1. I currently own practically zero tools for doing electrical work. What would a complete set of all the basic tools I'd need to set up and maintain my own solar electric systems cost?
2a. I'm not yet even seriously thinking about taking my house completely or even mostly off-grid, but very, very roughly what would it cost just for a quality system (not counting tools and if I could supply all the labor myself) to go completely off-grid in North Carolina if I were to continue using the roughly 1200 kWh/month that I currently use for my house and small farm? And what additional costs would I have over the life of the solar panels?
2b. Very, very roughly what would it cost for a complete system capable of supplying just 300 kWh/month (but with components compatible with future expansion up to 1200 kWh)?
3. What are the most common solutions for people that are completely off-grid and not-grid-tied to the constraints of winter and cloudy days? I assume practically every off-grid solar system is sized much, much larger than it needs to be to supply the electricity needed in the summer on sunny days in order to still have enough electricity for most of the winter and for cloudy days, and even then I assume most people that are completely off-grid still have generators or some other source of power besides solar for the longest periods. What's the typical range of how over-sized off-grid solar systems typically are under optimal conditions in order to still be usable most of the rest of the year? If you can't feed that surplus power back into the grid, are there other possibly transferable ideas for what to do with that surplus electricity besides just not using it?
4. If I only ever did laundry, irrigated the garden, and did other flexible electricity-consuming things when the sun was shining, and if I only cooked in more energy-efficient ways like with an instapot or used completely non-electric ways to cook when there wasn't plenty of sun, could I potentially save a significant percentage of what I'd otherwise need to spend for a solar system?
5. Do people have mixed AC and DC off-grid solar systems? For example, is there any reason not to use DC for lighting but have an inverter to be able to use AC for appliances that might not be available or that would be a lot more expensive in a DC version?
6. What's the best way to find out the limits of what I can legally do with solar panels without having to get permits, hire licensed contracts, or otherwise have to deal with any government offices? How much do those limits vary across the US and what's more or less average for what's legally allowed without regulation?
7. I like Will Prowse's teaching style a lot, so I plan to get his book, even though mobility isn't something I'd be looking for, but what other books would be good to read in order to gain an understanding of all the basics I should know before I even try to buy my first little starter experimental solar system?
But for some very basic background there are two things I'm looking to do.
One is to get a small non-grid-tied solar system at my grid-tied house in order to experiment and learn, reduce my electric bill a little (even if those savings never add up to as much as I pay for the system), and maybe eventually enlarge that system to meet my most minimally critical electricity needs in the event of a grid power outage (at least during the day on sunny days.)
The other thing I'd like is to have a complete but minimal solar system at a cabin where I don't have grid power, but I have a wood cookstove I can use there, and I plan to use an outhouse, plan to do without running water... so I wouldn't ever expect to use much electricity there, but I'd like to have lights, run a freezer, maybe be able to use some power tools on sunny days...
So the questions:
1. I currently own practically zero tools for doing electrical work. What would a complete set of all the basic tools I'd need to set up and maintain my own solar electric systems cost?
2a. I'm not yet even seriously thinking about taking my house completely or even mostly off-grid, but very, very roughly what would it cost just for a quality system (not counting tools and if I could supply all the labor myself) to go completely off-grid in North Carolina if I were to continue using the roughly 1200 kWh/month that I currently use for my house and small farm? And what additional costs would I have over the life of the solar panels?
2b. Very, very roughly what would it cost for a complete system capable of supplying just 300 kWh/month (but with components compatible with future expansion up to 1200 kWh)?
3. What are the most common solutions for people that are completely off-grid and not-grid-tied to the constraints of winter and cloudy days? I assume practically every off-grid solar system is sized much, much larger than it needs to be to supply the electricity needed in the summer on sunny days in order to still have enough electricity for most of the winter and for cloudy days, and even then I assume most people that are completely off-grid still have generators or some other source of power besides solar for the longest periods. What's the typical range of how over-sized off-grid solar systems typically are under optimal conditions in order to still be usable most of the rest of the year? If you can't feed that surplus power back into the grid, are there other possibly transferable ideas for what to do with that surplus electricity besides just not using it?
4. If I only ever did laundry, irrigated the garden, and did other flexible electricity-consuming things when the sun was shining, and if I only cooked in more energy-efficient ways like with an instapot or used completely non-electric ways to cook when there wasn't plenty of sun, could I potentially save a significant percentage of what I'd otherwise need to spend for a solar system?
5. Do people have mixed AC and DC off-grid solar systems? For example, is there any reason not to use DC for lighting but have an inverter to be able to use AC for appliances that might not be available or that would be a lot more expensive in a DC version?
6. What's the best way to find out the limits of what I can legally do with solar panels without having to get permits, hire licensed contracts, or otherwise have to deal with any government offices? How much do those limits vary across the US and what's more or less average for what's legally allowed without regulation?
7. I like Will Prowse's teaching style a lot, so I plan to get his book, even though mobility isn't something I'd be looking for, but what other books would be good to read in order to gain an understanding of all the basics I should know before I even try to buy my first little starter experimental solar system?