OT: solar panels vs generators

[little a]

Living here in north texas and having power/ water off for 55 hours has me wanting backup for my family (5 kids). I have a perfect house for solar - south facing with no obstructions. I’m on a septic system with a water well so when electricity goes out I’m f’d.
I know this is a hot topic and someone told me if you have solar panels and you are grid tied here in texas you can’t use solar during an outage but if you have a battery backup or power wall you should be fine in an outage, right? Or is it better just getting a loud generator?
TIA

 

[InMotion]

Solar panels > Inverter/Charger < Batteries (Li-ion if you can swing it) with Generator stand-by. Power usage in a crisis should be kept to a minimum. If done correctly, a small system is all you need. Look at Aims Corp.

 

[dm1330]

Solar panels > Inverter/Charger < Batteries (Li-ion if you can swing it) with Generator stand-by. Power usage in a crisis should be kept to a minimum. If done correctly, a small system is all you need. Look at Aims Corp.

You are looking at a major, major expensive however.

 

[InMotion]

You are looking at a major, major expensive however.

I absolutely agree. It will be expensive. Payback would be hard to achieve as well. I think we are still 5-10 years away from having an ideal solution. Maybe longer if someone stands in your way.

 

[Dean Pope]

Living here in north texas and having power/ water off for 55 hours has me wanting backup for my family (5 kids). I have a perfect house for solar - south facing with no obstructions. I’m on a septic system with a water well so when electricity goes out I’m f’d.
I know this is a hot topic and someone told me if you have solar panels and you are grid tied here in texas you can’t use solar during an outage but if you have a battery backup or power wall you should be fine in an outage, right? Or is it better just getting a loud generator?
TIA

I don't know what the cost of your electricity is down there, but I think solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall would be a very good investment. But in terms of your question, my guess is that you could use your solar in an outage as long as you had a manual switch that would disconnect you from the grid. And of course, you could use the battery any night, outage or no outage.

But up here in Nebraska during our recent rolling 30-60 minute outages, solar wasn't useful since most/all of them were covered with snow at the time. So they are not fool proof, but I would say 95% of the time solar power with a Powerwall would fit your needs. A generator would work 100% of the time and they are cheap. But the solar panels will pay for themselves by saving you money and let's get real, how many times do you expect solar panels to be covered in snow in North Texas and experience a power outage at the same time?

 

[cornhustler]

I have a perfect house for solar

Not sure what your mortgage looks like but with such low interest rates and good southern exposure, refi for solar might make sense. Additionally, producing your own power is extremely manly and deeply satisfying. If you just want to keep essential things running you might be able to get away with a portable system: Something like a Goal Zero Yeti 3000X paired with their Boulder 200 Briefcase solar panels. Cheapest solution might be to get an electrician to add a transfer switch to your house so you can hook up a generator to your breaker box, then just plug-in a size appropriate generator when needed. Go with a gasoline unit as propane will be sold out instantly. You could even siphon fuel from your vehicle if need be. I would go solar because it will be integrated into day to day use and is super bad ***.

 

[Scott559]

 

[Scat_Back]

Agree with solar. I’ve been sort of drawing up a rough draft system for myself even up here in Omaha. I have a perfect south facing roof. I will probably integrate a couple wind turbines as well being up on a hill. I would go with the best of the best, LG panels. Build a system that will last (good investment) Definitely go with micro inverters on each panel as the large string inverters usually fail in 5-10 years, making them a terrible investment. Enphase iQ7+ inverters have a 25 year warranty. Agree on installing a transfer switch. You can make sure that even if you’re grid-tied, you can cut that tie and use your own stuff if you need it, even if you have to install it after the inspector leaves

 

[little a]

I don't know what the cost of your electricity is down there, but I think solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall would be a very good investment. But in terms of your question, my guess is that you could use your solar in an outage as long as you had a manual switch that would disconnect you from the grid. And of course, you could use the battery any night, outage or no outage.

But up here in Nebraska during our recent rolling 30-60 minute outages, solar wasn't useful since most/all of them were covered with snow at the time. So they are not fool proof, but I would say 95% of the time solar power with a Powerwall would fit your needs. A generator would work 100% of the time and they are cheap. But the solar panels will pay for themselves by saving you money and let's get real, how many times do you expect solar panels to be covered in snow in North Texas and experience a power outage at the same time?

thats what I’m thinking plus the house is paid off and since I don’t have to pay for water or sewer not having to pay for electricity would be good too...

 

[Crazyhole]

I wouldn't jump at solar just yet. It'll have its time, but we are still a few years away. For now, a generator is the way to go and it doesn't even have to be a stationary one. I've got a portable that I use on job sites, and set up a transfer switch at my house in case I ever need to use it there. For me that just makes sense because I can maximize the investment.

 

[lightningjack]

https://www.generac.com/for-homeowners/clean-energy/clean-energy

 

[NikkiSixx_rivals269993]

biggest expense is the batteries.. LiPo4 is the way to go. depending on your situation, 15K plus or minus for the whole thing

 

[LagunaHusker]

West Valley Phoenix area here, not an economically sound investment for me.