Dream all you want about buying a battery bank and going off grid but the real world is that most off gird owners dream of the day they can hook up to the grid. While working in VT for a short period I ran into two separate folks who burned their home down due to issues with their off grid systems and several who had to run for weeks on generators when the battery bank failed and they couldn't afford to write a check for replacements or they physically couldn't get the batteries delivered and moved into their homes. There were frequently 4 or 5 year old off grid systems for sale on craigslist from folks who had given up and hooked to the grid.
Even if the installation and technology is perfect the problem in northern climates is that weather patterns can lead to days without sun. Most battery banks are sized for 3 days of minimum usage and most folks start to curtail usage after about 1 day. Here is link to a large system in Berlin NH that a local water department installed. https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/pv/public_systems/abbn135684/legacy/graph/days
Take a look at the output by scrolling back a few months and see how little they generated this winter. I guarantee you that a homeowner would be running the generator every few days for the last three months. The reality is that off grid power is generally recognized to be in excess of $0.50 a KW when long term maintenance and generator costs are factored in. Many off grid systems are closer to $0.75 per KW. Some folks try to augment with wind and small hydro but small wind is rarely successful and hydro resources in cold climates are very rare.
The other thing not discussed by off gridders is they typically replace their electricity dependency with propane. Many have gas stoves and ovens, sometimes dryers and less frequently refrigerators.
Off grid is great for seasonal homes with low power demands and the option to go home if the battery is dead but even with perfect batteries unless the cost of storage drops by several magnitudes, I don't see it as an option except those on the fringe. Thus we are stuck working in the system to make grid connected solar fair.
Even if the installation and technology is perfect the problem in northern climates is that weather patterns can lead to days without sun. Most battery banks are sized for 3 days of minimum usage and most folks start to curtail usage after about 1 day. Here is link to a large system in Berlin NH that a local water department installed. https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/pv/public_systems/abbn135684/legacy/graph/days
Take a look at the output by scrolling back a few months and see how little they generated this winter. I guarantee you that a homeowner would be running the generator every few days for the last three months. The reality is that off grid power is generally recognized to be in excess of $0.50 a KW when long term maintenance and generator costs are factored in. Many off grid systems are closer to $0.75 per KW. Some folks try to augment with wind and small hydro but small wind is rarely successful and hydro resources in cold climates are very rare.
The other thing not discussed by off gridders is they typically replace their electricity dependency with propane. Many have gas stoves and ovens, sometimes dryers and less frequently refrigerators.
Off grid is great for seasonal homes with low power demands and the option to go home if the battery is dead but even with perfect batteries unless the cost of storage drops by several magnitudes, I don't see it as an option except those on the fringe. Thus we are stuck working in the system to make grid connected solar fair.
