7 ms·

I am happy I got solar earlier this year. I thought it would be very expensive but we are very frugal with energy and it only was 7k euro to go off grid. During

I am happy I got solar earlier this year. I thought it would be very expensive but we are very frugal with energy and it only was 7k euro to go off grid. During the day we can run anything (tons of sun so washing, dish washing, etc etc), during the night less so but we go to bed early (21:00) and get up at 5.

bArray 4y ago
Next investment for you then would be chemical batteries to store power. Given that you are paying in Euros, how do you expect to get enough solar energy over winter?
- tluyben2 4y ago
  Where I live (Portugal) I already did many winters with solar when renting; I had the generator on a few hours 1 day in 1 year, the rest was enough sun to make it work. Same in Spain when I lived there.
  - quonn 4y ago
    How many square meters solar and how much did you get out of it? Did you use a battery?
NKosmatos 4y ago
Good for you. That’s the best way to go, solar on the roof and batteries down the basement so as to be as independent as possible. Wish I could do the same.
nine_zeros 4y ago
We keep talking about alternative energy's importance in reducing fossil fuel emissions. But here is another example of why alternative energy is so important. It provides diversification from shortages and geopolitical nonsense that can your lifestyle. If you can get solar for yourself, get it while still being connected to the electric grid. You will have a much more reliable energy system than just relying on the grid.
- tluyben2 4y ago
  I agree but here you have to spend a lot more and do a lot of paperwork to connect to the grid; easier to just go off. But yes, you are right.
- fy20 4y ago
  Solar alone won't do anything to make it more reliable as the inverter will shut down if the grid goes down. This is a safety feature, as if the grid is shut down for maintenance you don't want inverters feeding anything in.
danwee 4y ago
Did you have to go through a lot of bureaucracy to get the whole thing installed?
- tluyben2 4y ago
  No, because I am not connected to the grid. If I wanted to be, it’s a big hassle.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    This is the key. Disconnected from the grid makes everything simpler and cheaper.
  - bogomipz 4y ago
    Does this mean that the solar elements are not connected to the grid, i.e you don't send your excess back to the energy company's grid or does it mean that your only power is solar? If is the former how does that work in practice you have different circuits for connected to the solar stuff?
    - krageon 4y ago
      They are off-grid. It says so elsewhere in the comments.
rwmj 4y ago
Solar installers here in the UK have literal years of backlog and are either not returning calls or quoting installation dates in 2024.
- cypress66 4y ago
  Doesn't UK weather make solar a bad idea?
  - perlgeek 4y ago
    Ever-dropping prices for solar panels are slowly making it economically feasible where it used to be a bad idea. According to https://uk.renogy.com/blog/what-is-the-average-payback-period-for-solar-panels-in-the-uk/ https://uk.renogy.com/blog/what-is-the-average-payback-perio... the payback time is now around 12-18 years, which is worse than here in Germany (I did a calculation for a small 600W installation in my area, and it came back with 8 years), but still better than the expected life time (20-25 years). This data is from 2021, maybe rising energy prices will lower the amortization time. In general, smaller installations have lower amortization times, because the higher percentage of power produced that you consume yourself (and you pay more for a kWh than you get for selling one).
  - teamonkey 4y ago
    Not a bad idea, just with a longer break-even point than many people can stomach. If you treat it as a long-term investment it still performs well enough with very little risk. It wouldn’t help in the case of these energy shortages though, unless you’re fully off-grid, as by law grid-tied inverters must shut off in the case of a black out, in order to prevent feedback to the grid.
  - rwmj 4y ago
    Plenty of people seem to have it.
mrtksn 4y ago
I'm happy for you as big fan of the nuclear reactor in the skies. I wonder though, what is the feasibility of energy storage? Is it too expensive to have enough storage till midnight?

bArray 4y ago

Next investment for you then would be chemical batteries to store power. Given that you are paying in Euros, how do you expect to get enough solar energy over winter?

tluyben2 4y ago
Where I live (Portugal) I already did many winters with solar when renting; I had the generator on a few hours 1 day in 1 year, the rest was enough sun to make it work. Same in Spain when I lived there.
- quonn 4y ago
  How many square meters solar and how much did you get out of it? Did you use a battery?

NKosmatos 4y ago

Good for you. That’s the best way to go, solar on the roof and batteries down the basement so as to be as independent as possible. Wish I could do the same.

nine_zeros 4y ago

We keep talking about alternative energy's importance in reducing fossil fuel emissions. But here is another example of why alternative energy is so important. It provides diversification from shortages and geopolitical nonsense that can your lifestyle. If you can get solar for yourself, get it while still being connected to the electric grid. You will have a much more reliable energy system than just relying on the grid.

tluyben2 4y ago
I agree but here you have to spend a lot more and do a lot of paperwork to connect to the grid; easier to just go off. But yes, you are right.
fy20 4y ago
Solar alone won't do anything to make it more reliable as the inverter will shut down if the grid goes down. This is a safety feature, as if the grid is shut down for maintenance you don't want inverters feeding anything in.

danwee 4y ago

Did you have to go through a lot of bureaucracy to get the whole thing installed?

tluyben2 4y ago
No, because I am not connected to the grid. If I wanted to be, it’s a big hassle.
- bombcar 4y ago
  This is the key. Disconnected from the grid makes everything simpler and cheaper.
- bogomipz 4y ago
  Does this mean that the solar elements are not connected to the grid, i.e you don't send your excess back to the energy company's grid or does it mean that your only power is solar? If is the former how does that work in practice you have different circuits for connected to the solar stuff?
  - krageon 4y ago
    They are off-grid. It says so elsewhere in the comments.

rwmj 4y ago

Solar installers here in the UK have literal years of backlog and are either not returning calls or quoting installation dates in 2024.

cypress66 4y ago
Doesn't UK weather make solar a bad idea?
- perlgeek 4y ago
  Ever-dropping prices for solar panels are slowly making it economically feasible where it used to be a bad idea. According to https://uk.renogy.com/blog/what-is-the-average-payback-period-for-solar-panels-in-the-uk/ https://uk.renogy.com/blog/what-is-the-average-payback-perio... the payback time is now around 12-18 years, which is worse than here in Germany (I did a calculation for a small 600W installation in my area, and it came back with 8 years), but still better than the expected life time (20-25 years). This data is from 2021, maybe rising energy prices will lower the amortization time. In general, smaller installations have lower amortization times, because the higher percentage of power produced that you consume yourself (and you pay more for a kWh than you get for selling one).
- teamonkey 4y ago
  Not a bad idea, just with a longer break-even point than many people can stomach. If you treat it as a long-term investment it still performs well enough with very little risk. It wouldn’t help in the case of these energy shortages though, unless you’re fully off-grid, as by law grid-tied inverters must shut off in the case of a black out, in order to prevent feedback to the grid.
- rwmj 4y ago
  Plenty of people seem to have it.

mrtksn 4y ago

I'm happy for you as big fan of the nuclear reactor in the skies. I wonder though, what is the feasibility of energy storage? Is it too expensive to have enough storage till midnight?