baha wrote:I've made some predictions here that may come back to bite me So I'll stick my neck out and predict in 50 years there will be a whole industry devoted to removing CO2 from the air, turning it to limestone, and using it to fill old strip mines.
pstarr wrote:The US will never change voluntarily.
pstarr wrote:We will sink into feudal state nothing like the movies.
baha wrote:Plantagenet - Thank you too. I always love your pretty pictures You aren't paying attention. I didn't say anything about the grid switching to renewables...I said burn the damn thing down
Plantagenet wrote:
Unfortunately the US Power Grid isn't actually switching to renewables---its switching from coal to Natural Gas.
Off or On Grid?Dreaming of cutting the cord and getting rid of the big bad utility? Perhaps you should think again. Renewable electricity has lots of benefits, but stand-alone (off-grid) systems are more expensive and complex, and require more maintenance than batteryless grid-tied systems. And there are other big advantages to installing renewable energy systems on the grid. Before you make your decision about whether to be off grid or not, let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons.
Off-Grid Disadvantages
When you make the decision to go off grid, you take on the duties of the cursed utility you were trying to avoid. My experience is that you tend to curse them less and appreciate them more as you tackle these responsibilities.
First and foremost, making all of your own electricity is costly. If you are already on the grid, it’s unlikely that installing an off-grid RE system will provide you with cheaper electricity, unless your area has generous incentives, very high utility rates, or both. (Note that most financial incentive programs apply to on-grid systems and do not apply to batteries.)
System maintenance and troubleshooting are serious, ongoing responsibilities with off-grid systems. When you pay your utility bill, you’re paying for those hard workers in business suits and coveralls to take care of things. If you are the utility, you have to do the work all by yourself, plus buy the coveralls.
Off-grid systems use batteries to store electricity and provide it for your home, but batteries don’t last forever. In fact, they will need replacement every five to fifteen years (typically less than ten, unless you have deep pockets for high-quality, industrial-type batteries). A minimal bank of batteries will cost at least $1,000, and long-lasting industrial batteries for the same application might cost three to four times that much. And it’s not just the cost in dollars that’s a disadvantage. There’s maintenance and replacement time, aching backs from lifting that heavy metal, and perhaps labor cost—and then there’s the environmental cost of making, moving, recycling, and replacing all that lead.
Batteries have another, less tangible cost, and that’s energy waste. At their best, batteries are 90% efficient. That means if you put in 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh), you will get out less than 9 kWh. As they age, their efficiency drops further, and they are also affected by temperature. All this adds up to more energy waste the larger, older, hotter, or colder your battery bank is.
In comparison to grid-tied systems, stand-alone systems have another serious drawback—wasted surplus energy. When a grid-tied renewable electricity system makes more than the homeowners use, the surplus is fed to the utility, creating an energy credit and allowing the system to always run at full capacity. Nothing is wasted, and the grid is figuratively (not literally) 100% efficient—you get credited for all that you throw their way. When you’re off grid, your surplus must be used or it will be wasted. With most off-grid PV systems, the array simply gets turned off by the controller when the batteries are full, so the energy is never generated. With most wind and hydro systems, the excess energy is shunted to a dump load, typically an air- or water-heating element. Savvy off-gridders are aware of their system operation, and change their energy-use habits when there’s a surplus—like choosing to do laundry in the middle of the day. But it’s not automatic, and it takes some social adjustments to switch from energy sipper to energy gorger depending on the weather.
Most off-grid systems need a backup engine-generator, and this is another big disadvantage of these systems. Generator electricity is expensive when you calculate the cost of purchasing, fueling, and maintaining these dirty, noisy machines. And if you buy a cheap model, you might end up with what veteran off-gridder and RE installer Roy Butler calls an “800-hour throwaway” and have to replace it sooner than you wished.
If living off grid sounds like a bit more trouble than you expected, good! I’d like you to be successful with your renewable energy plans, and being realistic is a good first step. My family moved off grid in 1981, and my wife and I have raised a raft of kids and run several businesses from home, so I know that it’s not always a picnic. We’ve been through multiple generators, and have had hard times when we had to wait for the weather to change before doing the laundry. The social and familial implications of living with a variable energy source shouldn’t be underestimated!
On-Grid Advantages
Using renewable energy on the grid avoids most, if not all, of the disadvantages of being off grid. The utility is like a big, 100% efficient battery that can absorb all your surplus energy. In addition, you can lean on it as hard as you want to for as much additional electricity as you might need. If you can’t afford a renewable-electric system large enough to supply all your needs, you can install whatever portion you can afford. If you’re off grid, you have to make it all, one way or another, and if you’re strapped for cash when you’re putting in your system, you’ll end up making a lot of it with fossil fuels. When the grid uses fossil fuels, at least it uses them more efficiently, and with less noise and pollution than a home generator.
With grid-tied renewable energy systems, there is no absolute need to conserve electricity or change your lifestyle. You can choose to live the same way you lived before you installed an RE system. Your system will offset some or all of your usage, and your daily life can continue unchanged.
Weighing the Costs
From the perspective of more than 25 years of off-grid living, my advice is not to unplug from the grid if it’s there. “greening up” the grid with your renewable electricity will benefit you, the environment, and your community better than cutting the cord.
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