TO BE…..OR NOT TO BE….without.
- Thread starter JRH
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Tulex
Solar Wizard
Oh, I just thought I wasn't deep enough.....
Haaa.. the damn pic wouldn’t load of all the hundreds of thousands of people in Texas and the whole gulf without power… Bummer…
Weather channel pic….. of all the poor souls in the south with out power…a zillion…it was meant to be a somewhat philosophical message backed up with science… forgive me… I’m just a shoe-sales man
Ya know , it wasn’t ……but well could have been…Is that a Wife your talking about
EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
The storm went just north of us. I didn't even know the power outage was happening. I feel for them. It's been a scorcher today again with heat index here at 114 for a little while. Definitely some people suffering if they don't have some kind of backup power, and not everyone has the resources to do that. But it happens pretty much every year somewhere in Texas and across the south, with or without hurricanes. We've gone nearly two weeks without power twice when we lived down on the gulf coast, after Rita and after Harvey.
POCO trivia fact - the Texas grid doesn't encompass all of Texas. Only about 75% of it. Where we are we're on a coop that's part of SERC which I believe gets most of it's power from the eastern grid. So when ERCOT was failing during the Texas freeze it didn't impact us at all. This is an old map but it's mostly still correct.
The whole point I was trying to make was while the population grows exponentially internally and from outside , many wanna just shut down most all traditional power sources , (??? ) with no quick replacement insight, the aging grid system is destined to meet its limits, but the pressure on it will keep growing..
the vast majority of all people have no plan in place to be even a little sustainable for their own power generation…of any kind… probably less than 1 or 2 % ( 3 to 7 million people) of the people , if that much.
THUS ,we have a choke point coming when the masses see the big boys are not going to be able to sustain everything everyone demands all the time in the quality they want it…
the golden days of plenty of everything are gone.. and won’t be back…generally if your over 45 to 50 you know what I mean…
At this point people can still put together a basic power system to help them now and in coming times…but the vast majority arnt even aware that there is a real problem ,much less what the answer is…and that’s if they were willing to buckle down to do the work and learn…ha.. ain’t Gona happen. Pigs will fly first….
at this point energy gear is somewhat affordable .it’s readily available .. it may not always be this way…once it’s clear to most people what is happening to the nation/ world as a whole , if just 10% of our population ( 35 million people) went on a scramble for alternative power equipment , it will be like water, food and toilet paper before a hurricane … zero..nada.. zip…
you will pretty much have what you already have…that’s it…
the people in forums like this are not normal at all. They are extreme forward thinkers…extreme doers..extreme creators and more knowledgeable than 99% + of all people alive on creating what they need In energy…And they are actually trying to be better at it…. that’s what make them exceptional ….
I know what the problem is …..
im not sure what the answer is …
im not sure there is a pleasant one ..
Most people react to bad times ..
and are rarely proactive during good times.
hey maybe I’m wrong and it’s all Gona be hunky dory…..I hope I am…
J.
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
I agree Jim, most folks seem to be in a state of denial and/or blissful ignorance. Things seem to be careening downhill in a hurry, even over the course of a few years, and folks seem oblivious, and get offended if the subject is broached.
Yeah it's a bad situation for those people in the south. As of now there are about 400k customers, not people but folks with a hook-up, without power in TX, LA and MS. As hot as it's been there, not having power for any length of time has got to be brutal
Outages according to poweroutage-
poweroutage.us
While we are not there, we're in eastern KY, and we have our share of outages because of the hilly terrain, narrow, twisty roads, and billions of trees needing just a little nudge to take out power lines. I frankly got tired of it, and we have several fridges and freezers with food that need power. Plus, I know with more power stations being removed from an already shaky grid, I felt the need to be prepared.
I got us into solar not because I'm some kind of green freak, but because of the above concerns. It's just part of becoming a bit less dependent on the system. Will it pay for itself? Right now, at this rate, probably not, but I don't care. It's not even where I'd like it it to be right now, but at least it's a start. Along with growing your own food, having a source of water, and the means of defending all of it.
/Old man rant
I was wondering what's the percentage of folks on here who got into solar for similar reasons?
Yeah it's a bad situation for those people in the south. As of now there are about 400k customers, not people but folks with a hook-up, without power in TX, LA and MS. As hot as it's been there, not having power for any length of time has got to be brutal
Outages according to poweroutage-
United States Power Outage Map
PowerOutage.us tracks, records, and aggregates power outages across the United States.
poweroutage.us
While we are not there, we're in eastern KY, and we have our share of outages because of the hilly terrain, narrow, twisty roads, and billions of trees needing just a little nudge to take out power lines. I frankly got tired of it, and we have several fridges and freezers with food that need power. Plus, I know with more power stations being removed from an already shaky grid, I felt the need to be prepared.
I got us into solar not because I'm some kind of green freak, but because of the above concerns. It's just part of becoming a bit less dependent on the system. Will it pay for itself? Right now, at this rate, probably not, but I don't care. It's not even where I'd like it it to be right now, but at least it's a start. Along with growing your own food, having a source of water, and the means of defending all of it.
/Old man rant
I was wondering what's the percentage of folks on here who got into solar for similar reasons?
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Some…. But I don’t know how many…..But the difference is , if things ever get tough ,they will know a huge amount, own most of what they need in gear and most have a working system that could be put to use……they already have 95% of what needs to be don…I agree Jim, most folks seem to be in a state of denial and/or blissful ignorance. Things seem to be careening downhill in a hurry, even over the course of a few years, and folks seem oblivious, and get offended if the subject is broached.
Yeah it's a bad situation for those people in the south. As of now there are about 400k customers, not people but folks with a hook-up, without power in TX, LA and MS. As hot as it's been there, not having power for any length of time has got to be brutal
Outages according to poweroutage-
United States Power Outage Map
PowerOutage.us tracks, records, and aggregates power outages across the United States.
While we are not there, we're in eastern KY, and we have our share of outages because of the hilly terrain, narrow, twisty roads, and billions of trees needing just a little nudge to take out power lines. I frankly got tired of it, and we have several fridges and freezers with food that need power. Plus, I know with more power stations being removed from an already shaky grid, I felt the need to be prepared.
I got us into solar not because I'm some kind of green freak, but because of the above concerns. It's just part of becoming a bit less dependent on the system. Will it pay for itself? Right now, at this rate, probably not, but I don't care. It's not even where I'd like it it to be right now, but at least it's a start. Along with growing your own food, having a source of water, and the means of defending all of it.
/Old man rant
I was wondering what's the percentage of folks on here who got into solar for similar reasons?
most who arnt preparing like you ARE could flip flop in days and take their assets in a new direction very quickly… the average guy will be less equipped than the average German Shepard to get along in a bad event ..(;at least it knows sorta what to do to survive with almost nothin ) .
I have given up trying to encourage normal people to do anything…it does no good , I was more or less speaking to the forum type people ..it was more of a summation of what I see happening. A rhetorical summation…
the gulf power outage right now is a tiny drop in the bucket of what’s possible. Consider if the number were millions… tens of millions…a hundred million…one bad eco event could do that.. one crazy kid foreign leader could chunk a high altitude “bang bang” And do that….many scenarios exist that could require some forthought to survive…
with all that said , we will do our best , and hope for the best..
thanks for your reply.
J.
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robby
Photon Vampire
- Joined
- May 1, 2021
- Messages
- 4,226
I think if you spend to much time thinking about this stuff it will just drive you into a state of depression!
power has been more reliable in the last 40 years than it was in the previous 40.
Two factors just make things seem worst. One is the notable increase in the summer temps and the second is that we have gotten spoiled. I remember as a teen breaking out the candles and making blackout a fun time for the family to tell stories, play board games. Today we freak out as soon as the power and internet fail.
power has been more reliable in the last 40 years than it was in the previous 40.
Two factors just make things seem worst. One is the notable increase in the summer temps and the second is that we have gotten spoiled. I remember as a teen breaking out the candles and making blackout a fun time for the family to tell stories, play board games. Today we freak out as soon as the power and internet fail.
littleharbor2
Solar Addict
Wow! pretty deep thoughts for a shoe salesman Al, right?. I do agree with your thoughts and am glad I'm one of these Forum member types. We are hearing rumors of the grid coming down from San Felipe, (25 miles away, the end of the grid is about 15 miles away), and given the choice I'll keep my off-grid set up, thank you.
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NCislander
Solar Enthusiast
Much agreed. That is exactly why I am on this forum. I will never recoup my investment of Off-Grid, other than independence when things get tough. Definately getting tougher out here. Good hearing from like minded people.I agree Jim, most folks seem to be in a state of denial and/or blissful ignorance. Things seem to be careening downhill in a hurry, even over the course of a few years, and folks seem oblivious, and get offended if the subject is broached.
Yeah it's a bad situation for those people in the south. As of now there are about 400k customers, not people but folks with a hook-up, without power in TX, LA and MS. As hot as it's been there, not having power for any length of time has got to be brutal
Outages according to poweroutage-
United States Power Outage Map
PowerOutage.us tracks, records, and aggregates power outages across the United States.
While we are not there, we're in eastern KY, and we have our share of outages because of the hilly terrain, narrow, twisty roads, and billions of trees needing just a little nudge to take out power lines. I frankly got tired of it, and we have several fridges and freezers with food that need power. Plus, I know with more power stations being removed from an already shaky grid, I felt the need to be prepared.
I got us into solar not because I'm some kind of green freak, but because of the above concerns. It's just part of becoming a bit less dependent on the system. Will it pay for itself? Right now, at this rate, probably not, but I don't care. It's not even where I'd like it it to be right now, but at least it's a start. Along with growing your own food, having a source of water, and the means of defending all of it.
/Old man rant
I was wondering what's the percentage of folks on here who got into solar for similar reasons?
/Another older man out here doing what I can. Common rant lately...
EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
A good number of us. There are several threads attesting to that. I'll likely never get my money back (although I WILL get back a good portion) but that was never the driving force. There are some who are primarily focused on saving money but usually they are doing grid-tied and some of those programs have back-fired, pushing the 10 year payback out to 15 or 20 or more. @timselectric swears he won't do anything if there's not a quick payback, but with the gazillion batteries he's installing I'm gonna call a little bit of BS on that ...I agree Jim, most folks seem to be in a state of denial and/or blissful ignorance. Things seem to be careening downhill in a hurry, even over the course of a few years, and folks seem oblivious, and get offended if the subject is broached.
Yeah it's a bad situation for those people in the south. As of now there are about 400k customers, not people but folks with a hook-up, without power in TX, LA and MS. As hot as it's been there, not having power for any length of time has got to be brutal
Outages according to poweroutage-
United States Power Outage Map
PowerOutage.us tracks, records, and aggregates power outages across the United States.
While we are not there, we're in eastern KY, and we have our share of outages because of the hilly terrain, narrow, twisty roads, and billions of trees needing just a little nudge to take out power lines. I frankly got tired of it, and we have several fridges and freezers with food that need power. Plus, I know with more power stations being removed from an already shaky grid, I felt the need to be prepared.
I got us into solar not because I'm some kind of green freak, but because of the above concerns. It's just part of becoming a bit less dependent on the system. Will it pay for itself? Right now, at this rate, probably not, but I don't care. It's not even where I'd like it it to be right now, but at least it's a start. Along with growing your own food, having a source of water, and the means of defending all of it.
/Old man rant
I was wondering what's the percentage of folks on here who got into solar for similar reasons?
I look at the excess I have when the batteries are full at noon and that I could be selling that back, but then I look at the crap I would have to tolerate from the POCO to do so and having them all up in my business and I just have no interest.
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2022
- Messages
- 19,292
You can't see the whole picture. (It's in my head) lol@timselectric swears he won't do anything if there's not a quick payback, but with the gazillion batteries he's installing I'm gonna call a little bit of BS on that ...
Hint: no more fuel costs for transportation.
You are correct on all that , except that the last 40 - 60 years were run by a totally different type person than the next 10 or 20 and beyond are Gona be …it’s not the house that makes a family work, it the people living in the house…same with a country…And those that made the last 60 years great are not the up and coming people running the house…
I remember the same candle light adventures as a child…it was fun…it taught us to be resilient and roll with life…take somthing bad and make it work for ya.
but it’s a different day with a different crowd starting to call the shots now…..I fear they are in for a rough ride at some point…they are not prepared for anything to happen that doesn’t please them…
if one studies history it won’t depress ya , ya recognize what’s happening..it’s happened many times, it’s the cycle of life. It’s what we humans do.
IMHO…
It’s called Tim is playin his cards close to his vest…. It’s smart ……
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2022
- Messages
- 19,292
Not really. All of my plans/ideas are here somewhere.
Their just spread out over thousands of threads. lol
