Could your home become energy self sufficient using solar power?
Image by traviscrawford
Impressive local power company. You can choose between standard, solar+hydroelectric, nuclear and solar-only power for your home. After less than two minutes on hold I spoke with someone who helped me switch plans.
Question by Mr. Whiskerstoo: Could your home become energy self sufficient using solar power?
Can solar cells power your home?
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
8 Responses to Could your home become energy self sufficient using solar power?
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yes a well insulated and designed home can be self sufficient in some cases sell the power back to the grid
D
November 6, 2011 at 8:34 am
yes,smart thing to do.
Star
November 6, 2011 at 9:07 am
Yes they most definitely can. However the initial cost is somewhat prohibitive. The average cost per watt installed right now is about $ 4. When that comes down to about $ 2/watt then it would be far mor feasible.
Gooch
November 6, 2011 at 9:35 am
It depend on where you live and the design and construction of the home. The location determines the number of days of sunlight vs cloud cover and average local temperature. If you live in Portland Oregon, you will never get enough sunny days to power the whole house every day. Also, if you live in the desert southwest, unless your home is extremely well insulated the air conditioning will need more power to deal with 100 F temperatures than solar power can provide.
lunatic
November 6, 2011 at 9:48 am
This might help you: http://tinyurl.com/mlqary
farconville
November 6, 2011 at 10:14 am
You would most likely need to work on making your house more energy efficient first. For every $ 1 you spend on energy efficiency, that saves you $ 4 on your solar system. So once you cut your energy use down to a minimum, you can start looking at solar.
Look at solar water heating for both your hot water and your space heating through radiant floors or forced hot air.
Becoming self sufficient with solar generally means lifestyle changes too. You cannot use a typical American’s energy consumption and be off-grid. Even simple things like vacuuming the house have to be planned in advance, only vacuum on sunny days. It is doable, but it takes commitment and/or money.
You can check out these free videos about preparing for solar at http://www.altestore.com/store/Books-Classes-Educational-Videos/Educational-Videos/c1138/.
Amy
November 6, 2011 at 10:34 am
No. I cannot not where I live.. If you live in the desert perhaps you can. The problem is solar is only good 4 to 6 hours a day if the sun shines. You can store only so much power. Say it rains for two weeks. You are in trouble.
Save a tree bob
November 6, 2011 at 11:11 am
Yes, they can for less than $ 200, if you build your own electrical panel
New
November 6, 2011 at 11:44 am