6 years with Solar. Was it worth the investment

Рет қаралды 699

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 38

@berthelvetic1923 2 ай бұрын

Don't go in business with government agencies. Go off grit, or forget any investment. They move the goal post, without to ask you.

@booterone1 2 ай бұрын

Different entities are always trying to get the consumer to cut back on something (economical gas vehicles and led lights come to mind), just when you try to fall in line and save a little, they raise the fuel tax or charge more for EV licensing because they don't use fuel or the electricity rates go up because many are you less and instantly you lost any savings you gained. It is a proven fact, anytime the government gets involved in anything, the prices are guaranteed to go up.

@americansfortruthandjustic7504 2 ай бұрын

I am currently grid-tied with a single Tesla powerwall. I am planning on adding another powerwall which will make me completely power independent 6 months of the year. Still the winter 6 months I need to pull from the grid. For me batteries are the way to go because you still have power during grid outages at least 9 hours during winter months

@spartanaerialservices 2 ай бұрын

I am 100% offgrid. Best decision I ever made. No one makes my deals for me but me.

@barefootmicrogreens Ай бұрын

Love it!

@JeremyMartin 2 ай бұрын

I am still on grid with no solar 😢 I vote you go off grid and add more panels 😊

@barefootmicrogreens Ай бұрын

Hopefully one day!

@Slider2732_ 2 ай бұрын

We have a micro system compared to yours, 1.1kW and 2x 100AH LFP batteries, also a little all in one power station. The point is, we save even using those and have outtage power! Have been able to keep fridge, lights, internet etc going. I would recommend disconnecting a couple of panels from your setup and getting relatively cheap power stations, Ecoflow Delta 2 Pro's or similar. No fuss with inverters or separate batteries, just plug a panel into the back with an XT60 connector. Also, your tariff may be able to be changed for less cost at night, so, can use your solar in the day and other peak times, by using the power stations to save money. When you're asleep you're also saving money. Can also take the power stations on trips, outside for yard work and with you if you do move house.

@Slider2732_ 2 ай бұрын

Btw, have subscribed, because I'd like to follow your journey with this. It must affect many people and good luck with finding a solution 😀

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

I really like the idea of being able to take the power station with us when we move. That is another part of the equation for determining how to proceed. In about 6 years we do plan to move out of the state. Thanks for subscribing and I will document the updates.

@johnsturtevant9351 2 ай бұрын

Go off grid - period. - Get the batteries and be your OWN utility. Now, you do have to do your own maintenance - but it will be worth it. I am one grid with the on-grid house (have to for employment\work at home) - I am off grid with the cabin and I have 800 watts in - 5KW storage - and I can use up to 1000 watts at anytime. This works for me for most things so far. In fact, upgrade and once I my current system tops off, I can use the same panels to power another system like 3000 watts out etc... Still working on that on paper. At some point it would be nice to be totally off grid and no bill. I have lowered my current bill significantly. I may even go to a grid\solar system for the on-grid house, so I use only what I need to stay topped off. Thus cutting the cost long term further. Just some thoughts.

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

I am leaning heavily to buying the necessary batteries and disconnecting from the grid. Question though. We do plan to sell our current house in about 6 years. Do you think being off grid helps or hurts the value of our home? Would you pay more or less if a home was off the grid, supplied plenty of electricity for all your needs, and did not have utility bill at all? This is another issue I have in this equation. Thank you so much for your input.

@johnsturtevant9351 2 ай бұрын

@@barefootmicrogreens If in short term you are selling out - save your $$$$ for later. A new buyer is going to depend, on their mindset. If they don't want the tasks involved in off-grid then it is not worth the time and money. That said now is not the time to be selling period, best to get what you can, pay it off now, and build it up and get off grid, etc... don't crawl, don't walk - but RUN!!! It is GO TIME NOW!!! Do it NOW!!! Time has run out for most.

@bryster66 2 ай бұрын

I feel for you bud!... If you don't mind DIY, Go with a power wall. I just installed a 12PV EG4 with Power-wall. This is a "Hybrid" system. Way easy! if you need more then change this up to a 18PV EG4, with Power-wall or two Batteries. Depending on what you need, it will only cost 5 to 10 grand if you DIY it, from Signature solar. There are so many options available now. Anker, SolarARK, or even Tesla Power-wall being the most expensive. My 12PV just cost me $7500 with tax, and free shipping. with you already setup with Solar, it will match perfectly. You can add a Natural Gas or Propain, or Gas and even Wind Power Generator to these systems as well, if you don't generate enough Solar.

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

This is the best advice yet. Thank you so much for the input. I suppose this equipment will fall under the 30% federal tax rebate as well, right? I will be researching this and most likely going this route. So you say "Hybrid," does this mean it is tied to the grid with battery back up? That sounds perfect for my situation. So during the day while I am producing we are using some and my batteries are being topped off. At night I will draw from the batteries and only in rare case I'll draw from the grid. Am I thinking about this correctly? Again, thank you so much for this comment.

@abeardedbucket 2 ай бұрын

I am always amazed when I hear people advise against batteries and be only grid-tied. Seems more and more places are killing the value of selling back after so many did installs just like yours. Thankfully the price of batteries and everything else to totally disconnect keeps going down, well is a slight bump from tariffs but still less than it was, and the grid continues to show how worthless it is. Currently looking at buying raw land and being totally offgrid.

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

I could not agree more. Had I known the utility company would have changed the policy I would have never tied to the grid.

@benjamindrew9232 2 ай бұрын

I hear in Australia they’re beginning to charge customers for storing the electricity! I’m with you about going off grid, I myself was going to go with Victron inverters and build my own battery bank with raw cells. Will Prowse has really good videos about building your own battery banks and stuff like that which would be much cheaper than buying them already made. I believe the victor on inverters if you’re running 220 V you’re gonna need two of them. But there’s also something where you can grid time or it’s like a hybrid system where it’ll analyze your cost of electricity and basically balance out how much you use versus how much solar panel and battery you use and stuff like that . I’m still learning about it so I don’t have much information on that.

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

I am interested in learning to build battery bank. Thanks for the suggestion of other channel. I will check it out.

@americansfortruthandjustic7504 2 ай бұрын

Financial return is long and may not be worth it. Having guaranteed backup power is worth a lot to me and that makes up for the questionable financial return. In your case, adding batteries and maybe more solar panels could allow you to ditch the power co-op completely.

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

We intend to move out of this state in the next 6 years or so that is my reservation on any large investments. However, I do think a homestead that is completely off the grid with no utility bill at all would be a nice selling point when we cross that path. I tend to agree with you on batteries and ditching the Co-Op. Thank you for your comment.

@TheBadweasel1975 2 ай бұрын

@@barefootmicrogreens have a think about shipping container solar. i live off grid in a house bus (with a small solar setup) with a storage container that i have attached panels on the roof and sunny side (both fold out-able) with its own battery/inverter system that i use as a grid/generator to top up the bus system. something like that is scalable with extra blocks of panels designed (height length) to be able to slot inside to be portable as well. you can convert it easily to a full setup up by direct connecting heavier cables (30 amp) vs the 15 amp rv cables i use

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

That sounds like a really cool setup. Are there any pictures or videos of your setup posted online anywhere?

@americansfortruthandjustic7504 2 ай бұрын

@@barefootmicrogreens Tesla installed the Powerwall2 to work with an existing solar array from a different vendor. Tesla installers automatically set up the Powerwall2 to power the house during an outage or when the solar cells run out of daylight. Tesla design, not mine.

@leelopreste8852 2 ай бұрын

I give the electric company 6 cent and they sell it back to me for 12 cent,why not just keep it and save it all!

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

Because I dont have the batteries to store the excess power.

@leelopreste8852 2 ай бұрын

@@barefootmicrogreens battery are the first thing you get.Wal-Mart sells them for 100.00 dollars.

@gaylesmith1738 2 ай бұрын

I don't know much about it, but it sounds like your co-op doesn't like what you're doing! I think you should go back to the $40.00 & use your solar to supplement. 🤷‍♀️ At least until you can cut the cord!

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

I had a conversation with the CEO that went about as you would imagine it would. Not appropriate for You Tube. He is very anti anything considered green energy. Everything has been so politicized the last 8 years its insane. Thank you for your comment.

@christopherhorton821 2 ай бұрын

If your grid tie is working for you then great, BUT like you said. You spent a whole lot of money making a grid tie system, and the cost to convert that for always being off grid might not be worth it. My advice is to get a smaller system and some batteries, and inverter to run what you need to run in a power outage. You don't need to power your whole house. You just need to power important things to get through a bad spot.

@barefootmicrogreens 2 ай бұрын

Great point!