ImpatientMaker
Maker
I've been lurking for a couple years here on and off, built my own solar generator two years ago with the knowledge gained and have used it several times to power my fridge. Now I think I'm ready to design a whole-house DIY system with battery backup. But I'm still learning how hard it is to have your cake and eat it. I'm in a housing tract built in the 70's that apparently has poor electrical infrastructure and our power goes out more often than it should. Usually for 12-24 hours.
I would love to just not care about PG&E, somehow magically have power from batteries so I can run the AC and my huge TV with surround sound, but I know I'll have to scale back from that as I learn reality.
Here are my goals, and if y'all could give me good search terms or websites so I can learn what I need to ask more intelligent questions I would really appreciate it.
* Have enough house battery that I can run during the day and charge off peak at night (if needed)
* Charge the batteries and/or supplement grid consumption to avoid higher tier energy charges. I love my creature comforts and use a decent amount of watts.
* Maintain power to key circuits during outages, for up to 48 hours (fridges, internet, lights and some nice to haves).
* feeding power back to the grid is not as important to me, but is also a nice to have.
I'm learning terms like "grid-tie", "hybrid", micro-inverter (not good for batteries I think), etc. What else should I be boning up on! I'm watching Wills videos but it seems many are for off-grid only setups.
I would love to just not care about PG&E, somehow magically have power from batteries so I can run the AC and my huge TV with surround sound, but I know I'll have to scale back from that as I learn reality.
Here are my goals, and if y'all could give me good search terms or websites so I can learn what I need to ask more intelligent questions I would really appreciate it.
* Have enough house battery that I can run during the day and charge off peak at night (if needed)
* Charge the batteries and/or supplement grid consumption to avoid higher tier energy charges. I love my creature comforts and use a decent amount of watts.
* Maintain power to key circuits during outages, for up to 48 hours (fridges, internet, lights and some nice to haves).
* feeding power back to the grid is not as important to me, but is also a nice to have.
I'm learning terms like "grid-tie", "hybrid", micro-inverter (not good for batteries I think), etc. What else should I be boning up on! I'm watching Wills videos but it seems many are for off-grid only setups.