Going Solar

Those who’ve know, us for long know that solar power has held an interest for quite some time now! It started many years ago when my mom brought home a lightbulb that had a black and white spinner inside. The heat from the suns rays would cause the little spinner to turn. It caught my imagination and made me wonder how far things with solar could go.

I could have never imagined it being where we are now! In the other house where we where living I put up the first solar panel about fifteen years ago, give or take a few years. I had found a panel that had fallen off of someone’s truck or perhaps dropped off by one of the many high winds we have out here.

At first I used it as a battery charger. It was a 50 watt panel and served the purpose rather well. I looked into other panels but was put off by the price and bought into all the pay back period nonsense! By nonsense I mean there are many things such a concept does not take into consideration and so should be taken with a grain of salt! It doesn’t take into consideration that the money your saving on electricity may be invested in stocks or bonds or even drawing interest in a savings account or allowing you to buy something else you were wanting. Personally I find it hard to place a value on the peace of mind you get when you start producing even a small amount of your own electricity!

Now don’t get me wrong, I know for many a pay back period is a serious consideration and if one is paying twenty to fifty grand to have a system installed then it should certainly be considered as well as other things such as will said system allow for expansion? Etc.

Now from where I stand, I couldn’t care less about a pay back period! I’m buying things a little here and there and intalling components as I go. I should perhaps be buying larger panels but find the 100 watt panels I’m getting for under $100 fit my needs and don’t hurt my budget. I’m starting with a clean slate here and so will build my system to fit our needs. I will start with led lights that will be 12 volt and go from there, one room at a time..

I picked up a fairly inexpensive MPPT charge controller that had good reviews. If your considering a DIY solar system I recommend you buy the best you can afford or at least learn the minimum you can live with! I once bought a so called 50amp charge controller from Wish. I finally got around to using it only to learn all the fancy buttons on the left hand side are really just stickers that do nothing! If something is priced to good to be true it more than likely is! I feel this is getting to be a bit long winded so will make other blog posts to cover more as I go! Best of luck to everyone going this route, please feel free to share your experiences with solar!