So, to answer Drew et al...
Didn't really plan being off grid when we made to initial decision to move to Hawaii. I had been stationed on Oahu late 70s- early 80's, knew very little about the Big Island and that electricity everywhere in Hawaii was expensive.
One of the criteria looking at property min 5 acres. That alone did 2 things. 1 - limit where, 2 where also divided into a - water and electric, b. water only,c. electric only, d. none (off grid) pricing of course went up with what was available for utilities. Didn't take long to realized my budget was for off grid unless I just stumbled onto something by chance. Off grid locations varied as well, a few were within predetermined areas where for a certain charge (SSSP, I believe it is called) the electric company would continue to run poles down the street, other properties the electric was perhaps within range if you got the easements and paid for the pole installation, others were just to remote for any connection. Our property was the 2nd case, electric ran behind our neighbor up to the cell tower and FAA station, he was hooked in. So I could have asked for the easement, but after a rough estimate for the pole run, decided it was too steep just to guarantee a significant monthly bill. Also I figured if I had power to my location eventually someone below would want to tie in as well, but I didn't want a line of poles across my property and forget about doing underground. So going off grid seemed logical.
As we have a year round stream at the boundary we considered hydro, but there were drawbacks, plus it would be 8-900 ft from the house.
I built our learner solar system from a diagram in HomePower magazine. What a learning experience. Killed our 1st set of batteries in short order, did some upgrades, but basically the system was active from 2005 until 2012 when I removed it and tied the cottage into the main system.
Don't know about now, but back in 2005-6 when I was planning for the main house, choosing a solar person was a crap shoot - all had their strengths and weaknesses. While I personally don't care for some of my guys work or work habits, I can and do say, "my system works" - not something most of my friends can say. Seems like most would underestimate the number of needed panels or use inferior batteries or both. I know I drove my guy bonkers because I approved everything. we doubled the number of panels, made the electronic section expandable, and he recommended his best battery. Our son's future inheritance is $60k less, but along with all the concrete we put in, I tell him we made solid investments and got a charge out of doing so
Many told us at the time that we couldn't do solar and have a swimming pool, glad I didn't listen. We started with just 4.5kw of panels and while sufficient, adding another 1.5kw last summer may have found the sweet spot. We have a diesel Genset from China, less than 1400 hours since summer of 2008. I track our solar production and use daily with our low of just over 2kw to 35kw per day. We normally use 17-18 kw per day without guests. Yes, we built a house with normal everything electric. Except the clocks not keeping time, just like on grid, except our habits LOL. We do have propane stove, dryer, and on demand hot water.
So, hope this helps. Willing to answer any further questions either here or privately.
Now that we are off grid, couldn't imagine going back.
David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet
