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I ask because we are in the planning stages of building in a house in Los Lunas, currently at just under 2500sqft. We do not want to be completely off the grid but do want to be as self sufficient from solar as possible. BUT, I do not want to give up the luxuries I have become accustomed to. I like my refrigerated air conditioning, big TV and other electronic devices. Also, because technology is what pays my bills.
Since there isn't really a sort-of-on-the-grid, any more than someone being kinda pregnant, or sorta dead, you're best off grid-tying your house, and putting as much solar on as makes sense for you.
Grid-tied means no batteries (far less headache and far less expense). 2500sf in LL with A/C would probably justify around 8kW, assuming you weren't surrounded by huge trees (parts of LL are like that). Since PNM, the US and NM governments are all shelling out quite a bit of coin in the form of incentives, you could make a strong financial case for building that as part of your house.
My understanding is you lose some of those incentives as soon as you add battery backup, since it's apparently a slippery slope to cheating the incentives meter once you do that.
You could get away with only 1/2 kW (or 0 kW) and save a lot of money, but it'd just be for show. It'd also not pay for much, or pay for itself as quickly.
Only two reasons exist for solar on your house if it's grid tied: Financial gain, and your image (to others and yourself).
I looked at one of my lower electric bills. We have gas heat and water. AC, but off right now, lowest electric usage I had was 705 kWH for 30 days, so that's about 23.5 kWH per day, assuming I only use electricity 12 hours, that would be a wild estimated half of that, 11.75 kW per hour, I would need two of those $40,000 units.... Then I would still have to heat...
I am not willing to live under those conditions. Others may enjoy it.
I looked at one of my lower electric bills. We have gas heat and water. AC, but off right now, lowest electric usage I had was 705 kWH for 30 days, so that's about 23.5 kWH per day, assuming I only use electricity 12 hours, that would be a wild estimated half of that, 11.75 kW per hour, I would need two of those $40,000 units.... Then I would still have to heat...
I am not willing to live under those conditions. Others may enjoy it.
Rich
Gotta watch the math here. Solar panels work for more than one hour per day.
705 kWh ÷ 30 days = 23.5 kWh/day.
23.5 kWh ÷ 5 hours of full-rated sunshine (very conservative for NM) = 4.7 kW system.
There is no such thing as "kW per hour", just like your car doesn't measure things in "miles per hour per hour".
A 5kW grid-tie system costs about $15k. Fed and state incentives give you $6k back in taxes, and PNM incentives (at present) give you another $600 back, per year, for 12+ years, on top of zeroing out your utility bill.
Assuming you had the tax liability to cancel out (carryover is allowed), your annual return on investment would be a guaranteed 16%.
In my experience, 10% of people realize what a screaming deal that is. 50% of people refuse to accept it.
It is remarkable what a person can do if they make their mind up to do it.\
This entire notion of "living off the grid" today seems to me to be overlooking the fact that for MOST of history humans have existed on this old earth without such things as electricity, piped in water, piped out sewage, forced air heating and cooling, gas fired engines, etc etc.
In my long lifetime I've known ranchers who lived in far more primitive circumstances than people today speak of when referring to "off the grid" living. Windmills and wind turbines have been around for a long time. And until "rural electrification" there was no alternative to living without, or generating ones own. Propane, butane and natural gas are relatively recent conveniences. And on and on...
This entire notion of "living off the grid" today seems to me to be overlooking the fact that for MOST of history humans have existed on this old earth without such things as electricity, piped in water, piped out sewage, forced air heating and cooling, gas fired engines, etc etc.
I'm not overlooking it. I have lived without electricity and running water for about three months at a time, on several occasions... I just don't like the lifestyle...
The same as I don't overlook medical science, like some do. Without a doubt, my life has been saved three times by modern science...
Some want to live "Off The Grid" for whatever reason. But talking about it and actually doing it are different issues....
I don't think I'd want to live off the grid, at least not entirely. I would like to have a mostly underground house which would be very cheap to heat and cool, however. Not to mention that it would also be quite insulated soundwise, which would be great for me as a professional musician. I could practice anytime and could set up a recording studio.
I would not mind being off the grid in the right place but living without electricity or generating your own are both a lot of work and money.
Nah... not at all, if you don't mind paring down your electric consumption. The expensive systems are all designed for people who want to have all the modern "conveniences".
For me it would fit quite well with simple living and considering water and electricity to be "precious" resources. A house heated with solar and a woodstove, water caught off the roof and hauled in, outhouse err "composting", ~80W of solar panels and a couple deep cycle batteries to run 12v lights and laptop computers and smaller electronics. No electric appliances. Maybe a propane fridge.
Some want to live "Off The Grid" for whatever reason. But talking about it and actually doing it are different issues...
Different strokes. I loved living in my truck for 12 years. There is nothing like being in a beautiful place many miles from another human being. All the "conveniences" I thought I might miss, faded into irrelevancies very quickly. I didn't even have heat or refrigeration (not even a cooler with ice)... or computers or any other sort of entertainment in the beginning. I eventually got a computer and solar panel, but that spoiled the experience in some ways.
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