If you've read my previous blog posts, you already know that I live and work off the grid in an earthship that my husband and I built ourselves. We have also conquered the challenges of gardening in our very rocky ground. (See: Homesteading Part 1: Less is More and Homesteading Part 2: High Desert Gardening ) This post will address that "off the grid" part of homesteading.
Living off the grid has been a very liberating experience for us. While my husband and I have lived off the grid for the past five years, neither of us consider ourselves experts in solar or wind power. The size of our solar array and wind generator have been determined not by our needs or wants, but by our financial circumstances. We estimate the total cost of our system to be $6300. While there are other ways to generate your own power such as mini hydro or the utilization of geo thermal energy, our area has an abundance of sun and wind.
How is this done? We have five basic components:
1. 700 watts of solar panels and a 500 watt wind generator, which capture energy from the sun and wind;
2. An inverter which converts the DC power to AC power;
3. A charge controller which regulates the entire system;
4. Batteries to store the energy, and;
5. A generator for back up power.
It's always sunny in ... Arizona! According to Forbes, "in a single hour, enough solar energy falls on Earth to power the human population for an entire year." (http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/09/energy-solar-green-biz-energy-cx_bp_0709atlas_slide.html?thisSpeed=30000 ) Our sunny state ranks so high for solar potential that former Governor, Janet Napolitano, was recently quoted as saying "There's no reason Arizona shouldn't be the Persian Gulf of solar energy." And yet, the power of the sun is hardly used at all, not even here in Arizona.
About Solar Panels: Solar panels range in size from 1 watt to 300+ watts. Most solar panels up to 135 watts are 12 volt panels. All solar panels are rated in Watts. The watt rating is how much power (amps times volts) the panel will produce in full sunlight. This is the industry standard (STC) for all PV panel ratings. However, that is a "best case" scenario, in real life on a year around average you can expect 10-15% less for nearly all panels. http://store.solar-electric.com/solarpanels.html
Spring time in the high desert of northeastern Arizona is a very windy season. While the state of Arizona isn't ranked very high for wind, this little area of the state is right up there with Montana and Kansas. Some days, the winds can reach up to 50+ miles per hour. We've affectionately named those days "dry hurricanes", and although certain outdoor activities may not be very pleasant, the wind provides us with renewable energy via our wind generator.
About Wind Generators: All wind generators (from all manufacturers) have somewhat "generous" ratings, as the power output is usually specified as the MAXIMUM output. In real life you will almost always get much less. Also, most people tend to over-estimate how much wind they actually get. Most wind generators require winds in the 12 to 25 MPH range - 25 MPH is Beaufort 6 - the stage where the wind starts to "whistle" on wires and structures. http://store.solar-electric.com/wind.html
People will often ask me about the maintenance of an off-the-grid system. Really, there's just battery maintenance. Some batteries are closed cell... ours are not. Is it difficult? I am reminded of when, at 16, my father took me aside to teach me how to maintain my car battery. You know, keep the poles clean and check the water level. There's no difference. Just more batteries, that's all. If a 16 year old girl can do it, anyone can.
How is living off the grid different from on the grid? That can depend on how large of a system you have. Ours is relatively small. We have a 2400 watt inverter. That means that the most power we could have running at any given time is 2400 watts. Not a problem here, but in the city with all appliances and lights running I'm sure we could have exceeded that amount of power on any given day. So, we're careful... we're conservative. The lights don't go on during the day if there's enough daylight coming in, and in the evening they're only on in the room we're using. Same goes for the television, if no one is watching it, it stays off.
Our friend, the generator. Just recently, we moved our solar panels from a fixed position on the roof to a tracker that moves with the sun. This has increased our solar capacity tremendously. Previously, we needed to run our generator in the evenings for about four hours in order to make sure the batteries were fully charged for the night. We now run it for only an hour (big difference!). Cloudy days just mean a little more diligence on energy conservation, and may mean running the generator a bit longer. Once we purchase more batteries, and perhaps another panel, we will probably not have to run the generator at all. That's the goal in self-sufficiency.
Living off the grid need not be intimidating. The beauty of solar systems is that you can start as large or small as your budget will allow and keep adding on. In fact, you don't have to live in the country to have solar or wind power. Start with adding panels at home and tie it into the grid. Many power companies across the country now have programs where they will buy the power you've produced and are unable to use. How about that? The power company pays you!
If you'd like to know more, are interested in homesteading, or just curious about the area... call me or send me an e-mail! I'd love to talk with you! In the mean time, check out these off-the-grid ready properties! http://wtmtmls.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=157494a7-b35f-4478-812a-64dc6e79e525&Report=Yes
