2 posts tagged “solar power”
My neighborhood newsletter had a small article on renting solar equipment, and mentioned that it would not cost anymore than your current electric bill. Between the rent of the solar photovoltaic cells and the small amount of electricity that you would have to buy from the power company to make up the difference -- these two combined would never exceed what you normally would have paid for a monthly electric bill. And on the solar side, that flat rate you pay for rent would never go up for the life of the contract.
Their literature compares it to the cell phone industry, and how it really didn't take off until companies started giving away cell phones when you sign up for a one- or two-year contract. Of course we all do pay for cell service infrastructure (the phone itself, the cell towers, the switching equipment, the fiber-optic lines) through our $50 a month cell phone fees. Could solar power from the sun work the same way?
They tie those solar panels directly to the grid, so no batteries are involved. But who is to stop you from charging your own UPS system off the grid? And who would be there to prevent you from bypassing the grid in an emergency?
It would take about $20-30K to run your entire house on solar power. At least that was the price tag for a cabin I visited near Ridgway, Colorado. The house was too far away from the grid to have them string a line for less than 20 grand, so the owner had a complete solar electric system installed which featured a backup propane generator in case the sun was scarce for too many days.
For about a tenth of the price, you can buy a smaller system for emergencies or camping trips -- a system to power radios, TVs, run computers or power tools, water pumps, lights and more. Joe Schwartz of Home Power Magazine recommends the Harvester as a true sinewave solar power system, "the nicest all-in-one PV charging station I've had my hands on."
The Harvester Solar Electric Generator, Solar One Solutions, 51 Marble Street, Framingham, MA 01702. Phone: 508.620.7652.
The Harvester allows for an expandable solar array (80 watts to 240 watts), and features a choice of inverters with Truesine 110V/60Hz or 220V/50 Hz. The unit includes an advanced 15 amp PWM charge controller with LCD display, and a deep-cycle sealed 100 amp-hour battery. Available both in mobile and rapidly deployable ground mount format.
