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Solar panels / solar roof ??

That sounds so practical, right ? Most people don't have a spare car to leave parked all day when the solar is generating. At night, who would want power in their house, and be able to go somewhere at the same time ? More like sales BS to me.
Haven't really looked very deep into the technology so I cannot say for sure if it is BS or not. But I do know it is not a sales tactic. The solar subcontractor told the homeowner one of his options would be to wait 4 or 5 years because the technology will look very different. He told the buyer to not buy what he was selling.
 
Kubota 10kw diesel generator connected to an "emergency sub-panel". It powers all the essential loads, everything but the AC and my wife's indoor pool. Has an auto transfer switch with auto start. Cost with me doing the entire installation was about $7500. I got rid of the factory enclosure as it leaked and there was no room for maintenance and built this gazebo around it. Dead quiet too. I also installed a gravity feed day tank as the engine would lose prime and fail to start otherwise.

We have run it for as many as 13 days straight on two occasions (hurricanes) and the 60 gallon tank still is only half full.

I have enough diesel in storage for it to run at full load for about 3.5 years if necessary.
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I think this is a great idea as well! Maybe as good as the propane gas tank!!
 
I have solar with feed to service for credit, worked great for years . Now ists not working. I think I got a short or controller went bad
 
The plain simple fact is that if you want to build a house that can use solar energy off grid in hard times, design the house and specify the appliances to be able to use DC power, separate solar hot water, propane refrigerator and freezer, etc. Air conditioning should not be part of an off grid design. Even then, power use and load management are essential for success.
 
Powerhome Solar is the company I have coming - know nothing about them so this is a shot in the dark ….

They are well established but highly overpriced for comparable systems. Yes, it comes with a lot of perks and amenities but they aren't worth the additional 15k price tag. At least that was the price difference for the system they quoted for me compared to another company's estimate.

I highly recommend not going with them, personally. But others may feel different.

Also, the tax incentives everyone inevitably mentions are not what they're made out to be. You only get as much tax credit as you owe in taxes, or something to that effect. So unless you owe a lot you don't get that big tax check they dangle in front of you during the sales pitch. Just FYI. I think solar is an awesome concept I hope to invest in at some point.
 
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Am I to assume that under normal conditions the solar panel systems being discussed here are not actually storing the energy on site nor are they powering the home.. but rather they’re feeding the power company’s lines in exchange for a lower monthly electric bill ?
Of the ones I have looked at, all store on site for local use/backup at home, AND feed excess generation back to the local power company.

Pretty sure current GA law requires the power company to buy your excess generated power.
 
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Am I to assume that under normal conditions the solar panel systems being discussed here are not actually storing the energy on site nor are they powering the home.. but rather they’re feeding the power company’s lines in exchange for a lower monthly electric bill ?
Solar panels are batteries of solar cells that absorb energy from the sun and convert it into electrical energy at a small DC voltage. What you may be referring to is a "direct meter" installation whereby connected to the grid via an inverter, excess power over what your house is using goes to the utility grid and is metered separate at the "buy rate". At night, when the solar array is dead, imported power is metered at the sell rate. They cannot exist economically without massive subsidies. Taxpayer-subsidized renewable-energy in the USA today, has become another deceptive socialist one-way wealth-redistribution scheme and a regressive tax on the poor.

 
Of the ones I have looked at, all store on site for local use/backup at home, AND feed excess generation back to the local power company.

Pretty sure current GA law requires the power company to buy your excess generated power.

Depends who your provider is. Jackson EMC will give you a one time check once you pass a certain Kilowatt "reinvestment" and that's it.
 
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