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I think this video is probably pretty useful for noobs like myself wanting to replicate J's battery bank.

Are those batteries lead acid types? If so, how do you like them? Much maintenance involved?

Wow, that would be awesome...

Has anybody, other than WK, used a Model S battery pack or other lithium batteries for the heart of their system? Any pointers on resources to learn how to make a battery bank from salvaged lithium batteries? I think I saw where WK indicated his huge bank cost roughly $40K. I'd love to make a...

Freezing does happen in Seattle from time to time. I think you're right, the road from idea to implementation is going to be a steep one and that doesn't tend to be a money saving journey. I'd hate to see an investment of this magnitude turn out to be a bad one. I definitely need to do more...

I was thinking a bigger tank for propane just so it didn't have to be filled very often, and because I believe propane can be stored longer without going bad. In Seattle the winters don't get all that cold typically, but I would like to get an auto-start feature and the ones we've looked at...

Has anybody used a propane generator to supply electricity during those non-average days of little to no production? Is that not a good option?

Thanks for the real world PNW experience, adiggs. You make a great point about those non-average strings of days. I was hoping a propane generator would be a good backup, but if that isn't a good idea for some reason then I may have to look deeper into the grid alternative after all.

We have a small stream but we can't use it for hydro given local laws (and it makes sense). I did briefly look into rainwater collection to see if gravity fed water would be useful, but the power production comes nowhere close to what solar can provide.

Do you think that PVWatts data I'm using is off, or are you suggesting that if I built half the system that my array wouldn't meet all the needs? With the 30KW system we've got planned, we're showing 30KWh a day (national average usage) in December with the weather. We've sized the array for...

Not sure how much the connection would cost, but I'm guessing it would be a bit pricey. It would have to go through an easement and then several hundreds of feet to the build site of our property. Based on the PVWatts report we ran through helioscope using the Seattle location, our array would...

Awesome setup, wk -- this thread is inspiring. The wife and I want to do something similar this summer, although we're thinking a 30KW system of roughly 96 330W panels installed in five rows and elevated 35 feet up using some kind of stand alone support structure that we'd build above and just...