Joining from Western NC

[user 4343]

Hi everybody,
we are near Asheville, NC.
Considering whether it makes financial sense to do some “partial off-grid” mods.
we want to do a “toe in the water” approach, adding batterries, inverters and solar a little bit at a time and waiting for the mods to prove that they are paying for themselves?

we want to start with a grid-down backup system that can power critical loads for at least a day. We’re thinking, to get started, a 2Kw powerstation with either small generator or solar charging or both. Plan to connect it via generator transfer switch. With some solar, I’m thinking we can take fridge off-grid 24/7.

where we live, we get a grid-down about 3-4 times a year, usually in winter. If we get a 2Kw powerstation, I’m thinking we can take some loads off-grid 24/7 as long as we feed in enough solar, and have enough battery to power critical loads for 24 hours.

is this realistic?

 

[Sourdough]

Welcome from Paradise, Alaska. (Where it is hot)

 

[LadyLocust]

Welcome from the other side of the US of A
There is/are a thread or two on solar power and several here with good knowledge.
Lots of great folks too!

 

[Weedygarden]

Welcome from Colorado. I think that anytime we can be more self sufficient, we will be better off.

 

[Bacpacker]

Welcome from across the mountains in Tennessee.
Your plan sure sounds doable.

 

[snappy1]

Welcome from Mississippi!

 

[Pearl]

Welcome from Texas! Definitely realistic, start going through some of the related threads here!

 

[backlash]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Peanut]

Welcome from Bama! Several folks here use solar... they'll be along shortly.

I lose power about once a month (at the end of a very long power line). Lost power for 12 days in the 2011 tornado outbreak. This is a farm and I rely on generators, have several out buildings, shop, barns. I need portable power at times, especially when the i lose grid power.

I have a 5kw and an 8kw generator, both have problems right now. You may have heard this... an old military expression... 2 is 1, and 1 is none. I down to none... My next door neighbor has a pto generator for his dairy. I've borrowed it a couple times through the years. It's nice having a 3rd option...

I wrote the above to suggest having a backup system for your backup, a power source other than the sun. You didn't mention a tractor... but if you do, a 25kw pto genny is about $4K, plenty of power for a home. Here in the south we see hurricanes from time to time. And NC usually sees the same ice storms as Bama... I like having plan a, b, c and d to deal with them.

 

[kd4ulw]

Welcome from Indiana!

 

[Cascadian]

Welcome from Oregon.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Welcome from Florida.
2KW isn’t very much.
Here in hurricane central we have a 5KW and have had to use it multiple times.
We can keep the three freezers full of food frozen, the refrigerator cold, run the wifi modem, a fan, and a light or two.
But not everything at once.
And the 220 outlet will run our well pump, that I had an electrician friend wire up for the genny.

 

[Amish Heart]

Welcome from Kansas

 

[Morgan101]

Welcome from Eastern Missouri. Good to have you with us.

 

[Magus]

Welcome from North Georgia! Saddle up around the burning pit, you'll like it here!

 

[Magpie]

Welcome from Ireland!

 

[sonya123]

Welcome from SW Virginia. And yes it's doable. It's what we have. Have enough solar to run a fridge (converted freezer, doesn't need much energy) and a freezer , plus plug in stuff like the phones. We also have 2 large generators that will run everything we need for a while.

 

[bkt]

Welcome from New York!

And as you experiment, please share with us what you find out.

 

[Biggkidd]

My family and I have been living with a 2kw power system completely off grid for the last 15 years it's definitely doable!

 

[dademoss]

Welcome from Ohio!

 

[user 4343]

My family and I have been living with a 2kw power system completely off grid for the last 15 years it's definitely doable!

Thanks for all the replies.
I realize that 2Kw battery is insufficient to power the whole house, and is also insufficient to power the most important critical loads like fridge, furnace, and modem for more than probably 12 hours. We have a small 300wh powerstation which works well to power some lights, charge phones, and power cpap for a day. we do have a small propane generator that we can plug into powerstation which can put out about 1,650w continuous and it can run for 30 hours on a single 20# bottle. Can simultaneously plug into the powerstation a 200w portable panel, probably good for 500-700w on a sunny day. And at last resort we can connect an extension cable to our RV which has another 2Kw of battery storage and 300w of solar. I like the reply from Peanut that 2 is 1, and 1 is none, common expression in military. We’re on a 5acre wooded mountain lot, not a farm, so no pto options.

sorry to be so wordy, but considering installing a 55gal emergency water tank and pump so we could have a supply of running water and don’t have to rely on our stash of 1 gal bottles. Running the well pump not an option because batteries and inverter needed for split phase are too expensive just for running water. Has anybody used the storage tank approach in lieu of powering up the well pump?

 

[Alaskajohn]

Welcome from Alaska! Definitely check out the threads on solar. Some good ones.

 

[havasu]

Welcome! I was just in Ashville last month while on vacation. I will tell you that Holiday Inn has a great bar and wonderful staff!

 

[Wingnut]

Greetings from Alamogordo, NM, or close to it... I'm in the boondocks. I like that area around Asheville, I remember it well from my 'trucking daze'---you're not that far from the Smokies or Chimney Rock, two really cool locations.

 

[Hooch]

Hello from idaho!

 

[viking]

Hello and a warm welcome from S.W. Oregon, we have 1260 amp-hours of battery supply that feeds a 4,000 watt pure sine wave 120/240 VAC inverter/charger, batteries are mainly kept topped off by 1,560 watts of solar array. We get frequent outages, especially during winter. We also have a 7,500 watt generator in case of long term outages where the solar batteries don't get a chance to fully recover, that's only happened once since 2013 when the original 1025 amp-hour old batteries were still hooked up. We don't live off grid, but we could if we had to, grid power here is very affordable so we'll run it until it's gone.

 

[Biggkidd]

Thanks for all the replies.
I realize that 2Kw battery is insufficient to power the whole house, and is also insufficient to power the most important critical loads like fridge, furnace, and modem for more than probably 12 hours. We have a small 300wh powerstation which works well to power some lights, charge phones, and power cpap for a day. we do have a small propane generator that we can plug into powerstation which can put out about 1,650w continuous and it can run for 30 hours on a single 20# bottle. Can simultaneously plug into the powerstation a 200w portable panel, probably good for 500-700w on a sunny day. And at last resort we can connect an extension cable to our RV which has another 2Kw of battery storage and 300w of solar. I like the reply from Peanut that 2 is 1, and 1 is none, common expression in military. We’re on a 5acre wooded mountain lot, not a farm, so no pto options.

sorry to be so wordy, but considering installing a 55gal emergency water tank and pump so we could have a supply of running water and don’t have to rely on our stash of 1 gal bottles. Running the well pump not an option because batteries and inverter needed for split phase are too expensive just for running water. Has anybody used the storage tank approach in lieu of powering up the well pump?

Our inverter is a 2kw aims inverter charger. We currently have 2400 W worth of panels hooked up, I'll be adding 1200 watts back for 3600 watts real soon. Currently they are hooked up on a seperate project. But the kicker is we have a 35 KW battery Bank! yep you got to have the storage. 2kw is awfully small to get by with but I managed to raise two children on that system and my ex-wife lived here for 3 years while we had it.

 

[Biggkidd]

Our inverter is a 2kw aims inverter charger. We currently have 2400 W worth of panels hooked up, I'll be adding 1200 watts back for 3600 watts real soon. Currently they are hooked up on a seperate project. But the kicker is we have a 35 KW battery Bank! yep you got to have the storage. 2kw is awfully small to get by with but I managed to raise two children on that system and my ex-wife lived here for 3 years while we had it.

I was just thinking about this comment I made earlier I want to point out we have lead acid batteries that are probably 8-10 years old now. With LifePO4 batteries we could get by with about 15kwh and have MORE useable power since I try not to take more than 25% from these lead acid batteries to get the long life out of them.

LIFEPO4 batteries can safely use 80% of the capacity without harm and still get long life! However it's better to keep them between 20% and 90% for the longest life from my research.

 

[viking]

II was just thinking about this comment I made earlier I want to point out we have lead acid batteries that are probably 8-10 years old now. With LifePO4 batteries we could get by with about 15kwh and have MORE useable power since I try not to take more than 25% from these lead acid batteries to get the long life out of them.

LIFEPO4 batteries can safely use 80% of the capacity without harm and still get long life! However it's better to keep them between 20% and 90% for the longest life from my research.

That's why I added another battery bank, I had five banks of four batteries each and after I added the sixth bank the whole system seems to work much better, before I was topping off the cells every month, now it was almost a full year before I had to top them off and even then they could have gone longer before adding distilled water.

 

[Lenny]

Welcome from Iowa! I hope you enjoy your time here.

I am a Navy, Vietnam Veteran. We worked together with the Marines. In bars in the Philippines I'd say, "The Navy sucks more than the Marines," and they'd tell me the Marines suck more. Then we got drunk and had good times.