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Step 14Grid Tied or Batteries?
A Grid Tied system, as most commercial systems are, feeds the electricity you produce into the mains through an inverter that needs to be installed by a licensed electrician.
You receive credits from your supplier for the amount of electricity you produce. This electricity is then on-sold to consumers as Green electricity at a premium.
This setup has advantages and disadvantages.
One advantage being you don't have to buy and upkeep a Battery Bank,
One disadvantage is that if the mains go down you're down too.
A hybrid system is possible but will also need professional installation.
This is a Battery system that diverts the power to the grid when the batteries are fully charged and appliances are not running.
You receive credits from your supplier for the amount of electricity you produce. This electricity is then on-sold to consumers as Green electricity at a premium.
This setup has advantages and disadvantages.
One advantage being you don't have to buy and upkeep a Battery Bank,
One disadvantage is that if the mains go down you're down too.
A hybrid system is possible but will also need professional installation.
This is a Battery system that diverts the power to the grid when the batteries are fully charged and appliances are not running.
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Personally I would ask for everything on paper. No Telephone calls.
In my area of Australia the govt has set a price (60 cents) per unit (kilowatt hour) that the suppliers must pay you for the power you produce.
To the question of Grid tied or Battery.......
The answer is Both, if possible. It's quite satisfying to be sitting in the cool comfort of your "solar" aircon or grabbing a cold beer out of your "Solar" fridge during a blackout on a 45 deg C summer day. If you go solely grid tied you lose this flexibility and when the grid goes down so do you.
Cheers.
Rob.
Sounds like I need to live in AU. Here in Las Vegas NV USA.. we are paying nearly the highest price for power in the US. 1.21 per KWH.
Because of medical problems.. I have a very hard time with the HEAT. Last years power for my home and A/C was over $500 USD a month!! Inside we kept the temp around 77.
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I bought my friend a Wind Turbine (missouriwindandsolar -dot- com) for around $700. It is a 1000 Watt (up to 1400 watt) Custom LOW WIND turbine. (how cool is that!) Going to set it up on his Rural property and see how good it really is. $700 is a very low price for such a turbine!
If his performs well over the next 6 plus months. I'll see about installing one on my home here in Vegas. I live very NORTH here in the Valley. We get a lot of wind up here. So the investment = returns should be better than solar. The only problem is maintenance. Solar when grid tied is usually maintenance free.
Thanks for the reply.
GENE
How has the wind turbine been performing? It been almost six months.
Any info would be appreciated
The wind turbine continues to work AOK.
Unfortunately the way its wired up.. (there are solar panels on another circuit) I'm not able to see how much power it brings in.
I'd like to add that any owner would most likely have to:
Do a close visual inspection of the turbine. Make sure all the nuts are still tight. And re-grease it. At least once a year.
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Our air conditioner finally died in November 2011. We got an incredible DEAL at only $6500 installed. Costco was hawking a place that wanted almost twice as much for less. Go Costco huh?
Since the replacement.. Our power bills have dropped to the lowest they have ever been. It isn't summer yet.. I'm sure that we will be nearly HALF of what it was last year. $$$$$ SAVE MONEY check your existing air conditioner.. etc.
I really want to move into an EARTHSHIP home. Check that out. earthship.com. No utility bills. Totally off grid.
If our finances come together.. me and the wife may do that. Get the hell out of Vegas and move to Taos NM.
The wind turbine was a bargain and probably the best gift ever!
Is it up and running yet? I'd like to know how it performs.
I bought a 300-500 watt Chinese built one a year or so ago but failed to take into account the wind turbulence where I lived. It needs an even breeze to perform at its best.
I'll get it set up one day.... somewhere.
Cheers Gene.
Rob.
Man I am SO SORRY for not getting back to U sooner. I've been either SICK.. laid up in bed for weeks. Or crazy busy. In fact I'm running out the door for a frantic 7 day business trip.
We did Indeed get the 1000 low wind turbine up and running.
http://www.missouriwindandsolar.com/Diagrams_Facts_sheets.html
It went up just as advertised. The sellers are pretty unique.. AND their product is what it is. In this case you DO get what you pay for. That aside.. It is a very GOOD low wind generator! It "Does the job" that much higher cost generators do. I highly recommend it.. if you follow their (crummy) instructions to the letter. Use their suggested Welding cable (remember I'm not a tech person) etc.
My friend who I gifted it to.. is going to replace the wire (he was trying to save money piecing together several wires.. now he is going to use ONE LONG wire). Duh.. Trying to save a nickel cost us probably 10 hours of sweat!
To directly answer YOUR question.. This requires 6-8 MPH to get ANY power going. Which compared to OTHER systems is fantastic. Most won't even kick in until the turbine spins up to 25 - 30 mph.
Missouriwinandsolar.com are the REAL deal.. and I suggest you give them a go. But like I wrote above.. please PLEASE don't cut any corners. Use the right wire. Their choice for Pipe is a good one.. They bring a lot of direct experience to the table.. use it.
Take care.. got to run!
GENE