Has anyone gone off grid

[novynova]

as more and more powerwalls start to make their way into the wild, i'm wondering if anyone has used multiple powerwalls to completely disconnect themselves from the grid. to be clear, is there anyone that was once grid tied that no longer even pays an access/connection fee to their ex electric company?

 

[D-egg-O]

Good thread topic. I hope you get responses.

 

[Saghost]

Interesting topic - I'm curious what you'll hear.

For most of us that live in four season climates, solar plus battery isn't enough to handle annual swings unless you greatly oversize one or the other for what you need the rest of the year (solar produces less than half as much energy for me in January compared to in June, but I actually need more energy in January to heat things.)

There are a few solutions to that - secondary energy sources like wind or wood/pellet, super insulation with passive solar design, etc, but in a site not designed for it initially I have trouble believing that would be cheaper than keeping the grid.

 

[spottyq]

If you haven't seen it yet (you only have been around for less than a month), check wk057's setup. I think it is the closest you'll find to retrofitting batteries and going "off-grid" whilst making no other compromises (I know, it's not exactly what you asked; but I thought you might be interested anyways.)

Like the others, I doubt anything not designed from the ground up to be off-grid could be retrofitted to be low energy at a reasonable price. And even then, when the grid connection (the physical cables) is already paid, the cost of keeping it active is really low compared to the risk of having your batteries get empty at some point.

 

[arcus]

For most of us that live in four season climates, solar plus battery isn't enough to handle annual swings unless you greatly oversize one or the other for what you need the rest of the year (solar produces less than half as much energy for me in January compared to in June, but I actually need more energy in January to heat things.)

Agree. Unless you go for monolithic (dome) or underground homes to help with temperature related energy demand fluctuations.

 

[Shygar]

If you haven't seen it yet (you only have been around for less than a month), check wk057's setup. I think it is the closest you'll find to retrofitting batteries and going "off-grid" whilst making no other compromises (I know, it's not exactly what you asked; but I thought you might be interested anyways.)

Like the others, I doubt anything not designed from the ground up to be off-grid could be retrofitted to be low energy at a reasonable price. And even then, when the grid connection (the physical cables) is already paid, the cost of keeping it active is really low compared to the risk of having your batteries get empty at some point.

On PG&E it's $10 a month to stay connected to the grid. Where my dad lives in SC, it's $30 a month to stay connected. That could add up, depending on what your tolerance is for being without power in some situations.

 

[novynova]

On PG&E it's $10 a month to stay connected to the grid. Where my dad lives in SC, it's $30 a month to stay connected. That could add up, depending on what your tolerance is for being without power in some situations.

This is my motivation as well. my connection fee is $25 a month in upstate NY. upgrading my system to cover would be more than that but not so much more that it isnt a real consideration

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Anyone's who's gone off-grid would be unable to post to the internet

 

[Rockster]

Interesting topic - I'm curious what you'll hear.

For most of us that live in four season climates, solar plus battery isn't enough to handle annual swings unless you greatly oversize one or the other for what you need the rest of the year (solar produces less than half as much energy for me in January compared to in June, but I actually need more energy in January to heat things.)

There are a few solutions to that - secondary energy sources like wind or wood/pellet, super insulation with passive solar design, etc, but in a site not designed for it initially I have trouble believing that would be cheaper than keeping the grid.

Here in north Texas, the summers are pretty brutal. Two gluttonous central air conditioning units make going entirely off grid rather pricey for me. Over the past three or so years, my highest consumption day was 172 kWh and my lowest was 12 kWh. That's a pretty wide spread.

 

[zanary]

Here in north Texas, the summers are pretty brutal. Two gluttonous central air conditioning units make going entirely off grid rather pricey for me. Over the past three or so years, my highest consumption day was 172 kWh and my lowest was 12 kWh. That's a pretty wide spread.

Dang that's a wide spread. Northern Cali here. Lowest is around 10.5 and highest was 50 but that was with my 5 ton AC running for much of the day (which happens less than 5 days a year).

 

[SoundDaTrumpet]

Dang that's a wide spread. Northern Cali here. Lowest is around 10.5 and highest was 50 but that was with my 5 ton AC running for much of the day (which happens less than 5 days a year).

Similar spread here in Northern Cali. Lowest 12 kWh and 48 kWh max with 7 ton AC on the hottest day of the year during a prolong heat wave. 14 kWh was going to charge the EV. Fairly energy efficient home built in early 2000s.

I did the math, and I would require a solar that's sized 3X what I have now. I read that 3X rule of thumb somewhere as well for off-grid living to get through December. Though I have space on the north and east roof, Tesla roof shingles would work best on my west roof, which is chopped up in many pieces. It would look terrible to put traditional panels while destroying curb appeal. Oh yeah, articles says not cost effective... not even close.