Going Solar.

It would be amazing to be able to be completely energy independent. Unfortunately, that is not consumer realistic at this point. Here is an interesting article I found that suggests the possibility of going room by room. Doing a little research further into this setup reveals that in theory it is a good system but would likely not pass local code inspections. An interesting article none the less.



I’d bet you thought that you’d have to spend thousands of dollars to go completely off the grid? Even with state sponsored incentives, going all solar could set you back quite a bit. What would you think about going solar, room by room!? There’s a system out there that makes going solar very affordable and you can add to it as you go! No, this won’t take you off the grid in one fell swoop, but it can get you closer to energy independence without breaking the bank!

Now folks, this is a DIY project and if are not handy with electricity, you may want to leave that up to the pros, but with a little help from your professional buds, you can make it happen. Your mother-in-law will think you are a genius! Here’s what they say you will need to get started:

(all costs are stated in approximate figures, and if you hunt around the ‘net or your own backyard, you may find the system will cost you even less)

One Uni-Solar 32-watt amorphous-silicon PV module, 12 volts: $180.00

One Morningstar 6-amp charge controller, 12 volts: $40.00

Two Deka 92 amp-hour sealed batteries, 12 volts: ($130.00 each) $260.00

(get the sealed ones so you don’t have to build a vented housing unit for them)

One Aims 800-watt modified sine wave inverter, 12 volts: $65.00

This is a total of under $600. You can spend extra on wiring, etc or extra batteries. You can never go wrong by having more batteries. Now, I bet you think you’ll only be able to run one compact fluorescent for about 15 minutes, right? Wrong! I was quite surprised to find out that with this set up, a stereo system can run or about 100 hours. (not that you’d want to), a laptop for about 40 hours, (ok, that I CAN probably do in about 3 days), and the ubiquitous compact fluorescent bulb for 80 continuous hours! Frankly, I think that is pretty good!

Expanding the system is quite easy and will provide you with even more power–therefore you can expand your soon-to-be-off the grid system as you can afford it and/or have time. I think my chances of convincing my husband this is a good thing are pretty good!

Article from ecotality.com.