-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Why even have batteries?
- Thread starter h2ofun
- Start date
Of course you can oversize if you don't care about financial justification.
Not sure what solar cost is for you but to oversize my PV system by 50% it would cost many times more than the cost of even a large inverter generator:
9500 Watt SUPER QUIET Inverter Generator with CO SECURE Technology
Amazing deals on this 9500W Co Secure Inverter Generator at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
You should check with people that actually live with off-grid solar. They pretty much all have generators for backup to their solar.
I don't want to go off grid entirely. I just want one more freaking panel. And yet some how PG&E allows H2ofun to have 100 extra panels.
Screw PG&E. I hate how BS they are and there is no recourse at all against them because the CPUC insists they cannot do anything wrong unless the CPUC (or a mega lawsuit with lots of deaths) determines they did a wrongdoing.
Screw PG&E. I hate how BS they are and there is no recourse at all against them because the CPUC insists they cannot do anything wrong unless the CPUC (or a mega lawsuit with lots of deaths) determines they did a wrongdoing.
I have not been allowed anything yet, and its only 41 extra
PG&E got to review the design before they would grant the meter release and confirmation that the planned system aligned with their NEM rules.
They crapped on the original 24 panel PV design (8 kWp DC) with 2x Powerwalls as a partial home backup). They countered saying I could do 23 panels since the PV Watts calculator put it at 110% of my previous yearly usage. I countered saying I was expecting to buy an EV and also try and get an electric water heater. They said nope.
The partial home backup solution was actually just straight up nixed by PG&E's planning department. I had to add a 3rd Powerwall and do whole home backup.
I've been told numerous times that PG&E's planning department isn't usually this draconian, but whatever. PG&E has also sent people to my house saying solar companies are scammers and I was being pilfered of my money. So whatever.
skepticcyclist
Member
You can always install a single panel yourself after. I ended up doing that.
I have 19 panels. One string of 10 and one string of 9. I added another panel to the string of 9 after PTO. But I do have microinverters so it was a little easier for me to connect it in series to the one next to it.
Yeah I'm not going up on this roof without a harness. And the guys doing the racking wouldn't put the stand-offs to hold the extra panel. As things go, I don't really think I'm equipped to install the panels lol.
What's stupid is the guys who were doing this for a living would have been fine adding 2 more panels because they said the 2 panels would fit. I would have gladly paid them for those 2 panels.
Sunrun's designers said 1 of the 2 panels wouldn't fit (for some reason they knew more than people who were up on my roof). And PG&E forbid any of these extra panels because that'd be against their policy or some BS. I bet if I added 42 extra panels they'd send a crew back to my house and manually remove each panel and smash them on the ground.
Like if I could have just paid the people to do this system install directly, didn't have PG&E crapping on me, and submitted my own permit... I think I could have saved a ton of money and gotten 2 more panels. All the red tape and layers of wacky are really a drag on all this green energy stuff.
Edit, I really hope to add even more batteries down the road to further lessen my need to export power back to PG&E lol. It's only a matter of time before the CPUC allows PG&E to collect fat $ for every kWh that goes into their grid.
Last edited:
PG&E already charged $950 for the NEM2-MT interconnection fee (due to the batteries). And they required me to add a rider on my insurance to protect them from my equipment. So yeah, they can increase the interconnection fee up over $1,000... but I still think that's a drop in the bucket when they charge H2ofun $0.50 for every kWh he exports to PG&E's grid during off-peak time lolz.
Of course you can oversize if you don't care about financial justification.
Not sure what solar cost is for you but to oversize my PV system by 50% it would cost many times more than the cost of even a large inverter generator:
9500 Watt SUPER QUIET Inverter Generator with CO SECURE Technology
Amazing deals on this 9500W Co Secure Inverter Generator at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
most of those generator aren't meant for continuous use, they will wear out and die rather quickly. probably need commercial/industrial generator like those you see on a trailer
That maybe true for businesses but they are perfectly fine for residential use for occasional outages even ones that last a few days as many have done successfully during outages after storms.
Outage yes, but you were replying to a post about using gen to cover the gap on low production days, of which there will be many
Nope, the thread is about reasons for having batteries and several people mentioned having batteries for outages.
Can we define "quickly"?
Air cooled gas engine at 3,600rpm= 250-1,000 hours +/-
Water cooled diesel at 1,800rpm 20-80,000 hours,
Both are depending on quality service, and maintenance.
Generator Lifetime
Type: Input Variable Units: hr Symbol: Rgen,h Unlike the lifetime inputs for most other components, the generator lifetime is specified in hours of operation instead of
www.homerenergy.com
Home use for 5-10hours per year means 25+ years in the first case. I have a 1970s gasoline generator that has been used 5-10 hours per year. It is still running, and running well. Air filter and oil changes are the only maintenance (so far!). I am not saying it is typical, just that home use for a few hours at typically less than full load isn't a big stress on even the little generators.
I have trouble loading up my small diesel generator enough to get it warm enough. An energy efficient house without AC or electrical heat doesn't present much load. (200-500W for me; YMMV). I typically have to load it up with space heaters a couple times a year to keep it in shape.
I am not saying that there aren't super cheap generators out there with things like plastic cams, leftover casting sand in the engine block or other "features" that will cause short lifetimes. But at some level, you get what you pay for. An Aliexpress $200 generator vs a Yanmar liquid cooled for $12,000. The economic question of marginal cost / marginal benefit comes into play. How bad would it be if your generator failed during an outage? On dialysis with obstructive sleep apnea and limited mobility? Yes, a generator failure could be bad. You might want more than one backup generators. One outage every fifteen years...different case altogether. My point is YMMV. Some folks have high needs, others don't, and the respective solutions vary.
All the best,
BG
I see, your intent on replying to the whole/original was confusing as to the specific you quoted, anyway no big deals, yes I agree with you generator will work fine in outage situation
Low production days, even if 100 days a year and say 5 hours a day, the typical portable generator may last a year or two before needing major overhaul.
5-10 hours per year are outage type usage and they will last forever.
5-10 hours per day! to cover the gap in low production days (to stay off-grid) they will last a year or two before needing major overhaul
