A young couple has taken an alternative approach to setting up a small yet robust solar power for homes system for under $2200. Here, they detail how they set up their very own solar power for homes system pretty much from scratch. They did all this with very little outside help and even less of the basic equipment that traditionally goes into setting up a solar power for homes system.

We left the unsustainable and hectic life of the Florida Palm Beaches with 26 years of the Three P’s (planning, preparation, and practice) under our belts, and headed for the Appalachian foothills of Alabama to homestead 21 acres of wooded countryside.

Our first challenge on the electrical energy front was supplying our needs for lighting, weather alert radio, and fans. (You would have to live here in the humid southern summer to appreciate this).

The three reasonable alternatives would be grid hook-up, fossil fuel generator, or solar power for homes. Our creeks not being of sufficient flow and hundred-foot plus high forest made both hydroelectric and wind power impractical.

Raye and I took into account the environmental and financial cost of clearing the power company’s required 60 foot right of way through our woods, or the more aesthetically pleasing buried cable. We used that figure as the target expense to beat if we were seriously going to install a solar power for homes system in our new home. Sadly, none of this is really cheap upfront. Perhaps that is what sets many a homesteader apart. It’s not the short-sighted worldview, but the long term.

In setting up our solar power for homes system, for photovoltaic panels we chose the SP75 that at the time were made by Siemens. These robust mono-crystalline cells have been around since the invention of solar cells and they have proven themselves tough, long-lived, and efficient. Shop around. Look for a bargain – and be patient!

We were able to purchase four panels for under $300 each – a great price seven years ago. These were mounted to a homemade tower made from scrapped components: 16 feet of four-inch galvanized schedule 120 pipe; bearing and frame from an old tossed satellite dish, a commercial heavy-duty linear actuator, recycled square aluminum tubing, and an inexpensive tracking circuit built by Duane Johnson of Red Roc.

For storage, we kept the costs way down by using five pairs of six-volt golf cart batteries ($46 apiece as opposed to $130). Some argue that these are “beginner batteries.” Well, over six years later and these little guys are still kicking electrochemical butt – their expectancy is well within the upper lifespan of the lower capacity expensive ones.

At first we used a charge controller with all the bells and whistles. Because our initial cottage was placed under the nearly total shade of old-growth forest, the tracking tower and panels were located some 300 feet out into an acre clearing used for gardens, chickens, orchard/vineyard. Even with very large gauge wiring from panels to batteries some power loss was expected, but this was the trade-off to placing the cottage out in the baking sun.

We eventually found that the solar power for homes system worked much more efficiently without the controller and (as pointed out by the folks at HomePower.com) we just let the batteries bubble more often. Obviously, for us at least, this did not cause our batteries to be damaged. The small inconvenience of adding distilled water on a month to month basis depending upon the season was a small amount to pay for the simplicity of the system.

So what can you push with this simple little solar power for homes system?

Well, we run two cottages and a 40-chicken chicken house. In the cottages there are

•    several lights (one 8W, two 22W, two 32W 12VDC fluorescents, and four incandescent lights);
•    two 108ft sup 3 displacement fans for the shower and the composting toilet respectively;
•    two computers running on 12VDC;
•    auto CD/stereo;
•    DVD playe
•    weather alert radio
•    nickel metal hydride battery charger for camera
•    walkie-talkies
•    flashlights
•    portable players
•    and everything else.

For those appliances using 120VAC we have two modified-sine inverters. A400W for Raye’s sewing machines and just about any other small appliance. There is also a 750W inverter for small tools, a grain mill, and the 52-inch Hunter ceiling fan.

Our chicken coop is illuminated with a twin 15W tube fluorescent ceiling light for keeping enough light hours during winter in order to keep the hens producing eggs. There is also another of the 108ft sup 3 fans in the coop that keeps the odor out and the cool air in.

Our solar power for homes system, including all the wiring, components, etc. had to come in under the $4,000 cost of getting the power company grid set up out in our place. That proved to be a target we met at nearly half cost. Part of the savings was the result of doing all the work ourselves, part looking for bargains and salvageable components.

The panels for our solar power for homes system are guaranteed for 25 years, and with a similar insignificant decline in output over that time to no less than around 80% quoted output. Think about this: after 25 years even at 80% there will be quite sufficient power to run all our stuff. The components were already paid for at purchase, and they paid for themselves several years back, too!

Our primary future costs to maintain this solar power for homes system will be the battery replacement, which amortized over five to seven years comes out to only $5.50 to $7.70 per month.

Like much of what we have been doing out here, the solar power for homes system for the cottages has been just another laboratory for our semi-underground home which is now nearing completion. We modeled the house system from that of the cottages, and have purchased 10 SP75 panels and a 2000W inverter for it. The cottages will continue to be powered by the smaller system when we are in the house. Guests in the first cottage, and renter(s) in the second, will continue to reap the environmental, financial, and reliable benefits of going solar.

When our good neighbors lose power because of downed trees during storms, etc., we usually do not even know until a day or two later. Not only have we been without power interruption for nearly seven years. We still have hundreds of mature hardwood trees that would otherwise have been cleared.

We hope that our learning experience with an alternative energy system will encourage others to consider jumping off the grid if their situation is similar. We would also like to hear from others working towards a sustainable lifestyle and living off the land.

Our solar power for homes system costs

•    SP75 Mono Crystalline Photovoltaic panels (4): $300 each.
•    Stowaway 220Ahr 6 volt battery (newer ones rated 200Ahr: $46 each.
•    Cobra model P12000 2000W (4000W surge) mod-sine inverter: $185.
•    Vector model VECC043 750W (1500W surge) mod-sine inverter: $75.
•    Vector model VEC031POB 400W (800W surge) mod-sine inverter: $35.
•    LED based tracking circuit (Redroc.com): $35
•    Scrounged components, wiring, miscellaneous components: $200

Total:                                                                                              $2190

So you can see that where there is a will there is a way. Consider setting up your own solar power for homes system. These guys did it themselves. You don’t have to do it this way. This example is cited for you to see that it can be done, even under extreme circumstances. So get your solar power for homes system underway today!

From Sam Deane,
your solar power for homes guide,
at www dot go solar power for homes dot com.

-

Info via: Pic via:

The Trackback, –

by Sam Deane, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

 

 

                                                                 Looking for that perfect Christmas gift?
                                                                 Visit Our Solar Power For Homes
                                                                 All-New Homes & Gardens Solar Store!

 

 

                         Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS Feed!

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,