Anyone Using Solar Backup?

[whoisit]

We are thinking of it on a very small scale. Just enough to keep a couple things on if we lose power.

We lost power for a week and it was a terrible shock. Nobody knows just how baad it is in this world of push button technology. Till its gone.

 

[Skull Pilot]

We are thinking of it on a very small scale. Just enough to keep a couple things on if we lose power.

We lost power for a week and it was a terrible shock. Nobody knows just how baad it is in this world of push button technology. Till its gone.

Get a generator that way your fridge will run at night

You can get one that runs on propane and automatically turns on when you use power

 

[whoisit]

.
Have one. But its loud! We used last week for a couple days when storm came through

 

[P F Tinmore]

Interesting. I have some Amish friends and many Amish are going solar. They use 12V solar cells to charge car batteries that they use for the lights on their buggies, run some lights and car stereos in their homes and charge their cell phones.

Cool people.

 

[whoisit]

Ammish are cool. Wish some lived closer I love to buy their crops and grains.

Solar can be expensive so we started out slow and still ain't there yet.

 

[P F Tinmore]

Ammish are cool. Wish some lived closer I love to buy their crops and grains.

Solar can be expensive so we started out slow and still ain't there yet.

Indeed.

The thing about solar, like anything else, it has to be put into use. When people start buying, competition takes over and improvements will be made. Better and cheaper has already begun.

 

[HenryBHough]

We are thinking of it on a very small scale. Just enough to keep a couple things on if we lose power.

We lost power for a week and it was a terrible shock. Nobody knows just how baad it is in this world of push button technology. Till its gone.

Practicality depends upon a variety of factors. Here are some but definitely all....ya gotta think it through.

1. Define "small scale'. How many things do you want to keep going? What's their hunger for power? How many of those things are there and what's their total appetite.

2. You wouldn't need a lot of solar panels provided you have sufficient storage capacity to bridge your anticipated need. But remember, when you need to use the capacity there's a good chance your solar cells will be under cover of darkness and/or clouds.

3. If you do work out an appropriate volume of storage (batteries), then you must periodically exercise them by partially discharging them. Of course Murphy's law dictates that the emergency requiring their use will occur the very day you have partially discharged them for maintenance.

Were I younger and in the situation where I felt there was sufficient risk I'd be looking at the combination of solar with batteries; a small propane generator with DC output to directly charge the batteries when the sun isn't doing it and possibly a larger one to periodically run heavy-load items like freezers. Things that will hold temperature for hours or maybe a few days between runs.

Until a few years ago I kept a small cabin away from the short and off the grid. For hunting and recreation but set up as a bolt-hole in case of flood or major fire. A few batteries; a couple of solar panels, a propane cook-top. Not much capacity but enough to get by with minimal lighting, a small AM/FM radio and low-power ham radio capable to reaching several self-powered mountaintop repeaters. Total investment was well under $500.

 

[whoisit]

Thanks Henry,

Yes I am aware of this. We plan to only use power for ice, fan maybe a few food items. We don't plan to store food for others to coem and take,lol. I don't see anyone surving a complete shutdown or shtf situation.

Just a little comfort for as long as it last. I missed the AC the most, a fan is important in summer. Ice can cool the air, so a freezer works for me.

We do need to set up batteries very soon as they need to be charged and used.

 

[whoisit]

Also I don't like storing gas and propane is expensive if used alot. We found this out using propane for greenhouse heat.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Also I don't like storing gas and propane is expensive if used alot. We found this out using propane for greenhouse heat.

Propane is cheap

And no matter what you use to heat a greenhouse you're going to be paying a lot as the heat loss is terrific.

We have a 500 gallon tank that runs our heat, hot water stove and generator

 

[whoisit]

Propane is up and down, we use it for cooking. And if the lights go out you can't buy propane or anything else once its gone. And we don't store up or prep. We use to but now we don't. Last major storm no food or propane for miles.

I figure if things get real bad for a long time most won't make it anyway. Why leave things for robbers? We try to have a months woth of food when we can.

Ammish will be the first to go if shtf. Hordes of hungry desperate people will go where they can get food.

I just want comfort while I can use it.

 

[waltky]

Solar powered water pumps pump water to thirsty cattle...

Solar Pump Helps Herders Overcome Zimbabwe Drought
December 26, 2016 — Communities in one of the most drought-prone parts of Zimbabwe are ditching farming in favor of cattle raising with support from the United Nations and a local NGO.

Mathafeni village about 600 kilometers southwest of Harare is in one of the driest districts in Zimbabwe, but a solar-powered borehole pumps water into a trough where some cattle are drinking. The borehole supplies water for a dip tank just a few meters away, which helps reduce the risk of waterborne disease. As Thembani Khumalo waited for his 12 cattle to finish drinking, he said before the borehole was drilled, his children would have to miss school to take the cattle long distances looking for water. “We are now taking our herds to the dip tank weekly and diseases like lump skin, which used to affect our livestock can now be controlled. There is a very big difference,” he said.

Healthy livestock drink water from a solar-powered borehole in Mathafeni village in Lupane about 600km southwest of Harare, Zimbabwe.​

He said fewer livestock are dying and their healthier cows are fetching better prices at market. He said buyers used to offer around $200, but now a beast can fetch up to $600. At every borehole, there is also a fodder garden to ensure livestock in the region have enough food throughout the year. The Mathafeni diptank and borehole were rehabilitated by a local NGO called LEAD Trust and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Southern Africa is still feeling the impact of El Nino-induced drought conditions. Subsistence farmers here have not been able to harvest enough to eat during the past two planting cycles. An estimated four million Zimbabweans are currently food insecure. Low rainfall in the Lupane district makes people there especially vulnerable, said LEAD Trust district program manager Lucia Mwanyisa. “We want these farmers to earn a better living from the livestock. If each animal or a third of that is sold at $500 an animal, that is a lot of money," she said. "Not many families harvest. If they do, maybe it is only for consumption.”

Nurse Dube, one of the farmers in Lupane district who switched to cattle ranching, says her livestock now have a reliable source of water and food, which helps her have a source of income.​

Mwanyisa said the solar-powered borehole has had other benefits too. “The water component has made life easy for the women," she added. "So using hand pumping is now a thing of the past. So women are no longer spending much time at the watering points. They used to spend four, five hours just to water a herd of about 50 animals. Some were using deep wells to water their animals.”

Dorcas Sibanda owns six cattle. She said "I can now do other house chores while cattle are drinking from the trough. Plus I no longer disturb my children’s learning. They can take their time at school without hurrying home to help." The FAO is pursuing 72 other similar projects in the Lupane district with funding from the European Union to help communities weather drought and other shocks.

Solar Pump Helps Herders Overcome Zimbabwe Drought

 

[Old Rocks]

We are thinking of it on a very small scale. Just enough to keep a couple things on if we lose power.

We lost power for a week and it was a terrible shock. Nobody knows just how baad it is in this world of push button technology. Till its gone.

Recommend a Tesla Powerwall in combination with an expandable solar system.