off topic - but not entirely

[sillygoose]

Has anyone gone solar for their house electricity? I know John has. The reason I bring it up here is that one of things I worry about is my tank during a power outage. I know standard solar systems don't help you in that situation but I know that some power inverters provide a little juice while the sun shines. Does anyone anything about this?

 

[danfeig]

I haven't gone solar, but, I am using battery backups on my Vortech pumps and a couple UPS battery backups on my other other pumps.

I have been looking into propane backup generators and have yet to "pull the plug."

 

[reepher315]

This got brought up in a thread the other day. It would make power outages much less nerveracking. Not to mention save on electric bills. Go Green!

 

[sillygoose]

We did a Costco dual fuel generator the other day. I couldn't stand the uncertainty. We had to run our tank off of our truck inverter all night a couple of years ago. Leaving it run out in the driveway for hours was obviously not ideal but nothing died.

I'm surprised at how affordable solar will be for us. We are working out the details and the system should be paid off about the time we retire so that will help the "fixed income" budget. We are looking at a system that will cover us just about 100% - but for safety, if you are tied into the grid, they don't work in an outage.

 

[adnedarn]

We have solar, but like you said... when the power goes out the inverters shut down. I have glanced at this concept, but not too much. http://www.wholesalesolar.com/grid-tie-to-off-grid.html

I have a gas generator for running my greenhouses and other essentials when the power goes down. It's just a mad rush to get all the important things hooked up and running!

On the cheap, I would think you could have a couple 12v deep marine batteries on float chargers and then an inverter that can cover your systems power consumption. When the power goes out, drag out the batteries from wherever, hook up the inverter and plug things in. I know some of my plugs are not able to be gotten to, but I think the main part of them are plugged into the Apex system so would only be a couple plugs.

 

[Newsalth2o]

I've had solar for almost 3 years now. Mine is not off grid. I have used a portable backup gas generator to run my tank and fridge during a power outage before but it was one time in 11 years so I would say it's extremely rare in the part of Tucson I live. Power seems to be reliable around broadway and Pantano.

 

[adnedarn]

Longest my power has been down at this house, was when they had it off to turn on the solar. How ironic!

 

[sillygoose]

Do you guys recommend any solar companies in Tucson?

 

[Tucson Reef]

Call Solar Path up by McGee and Oracle. If you sign with them tell them I sent you, I'll split the finders fee with you, they are good people. Also SMA now makes a Inverter now that will stay on during outage as long as there is sufficient sun power, it isolates so no power goes downline during outage

 

[sillygoose]

Yeah I was reading about the SMA inverters. Doesn't give much juice but maybe if I had two (my system would be big enough) I could run the tank when the sun shines.

 

[Tucson Reef]

I'd call em and go down there, or they can come to you. My system runs the house from about 7:30 to 3:30 and sends excess to TEP. I had a 1434 KWH credit on last months bill, they pay/credit in Oct so I get no bill for Nov-Dec and at least partial Jan admin fee, depending on sun shine and cold weather. My system puts out up to 40 Amps, which is more then use unless the water heater, stove and AC are all going same TIME

 

[Tucson Reef]

http://www.sma-america.com/en_US/news-infos/current-news/news/news/1977.html

 

[Newsalth2o]

When I did mine I had 5 different companies design and quote it. The cost difference was amazing I'm talking about $15k difference for the same size system. So definitely get several quotes from different companies. I used sun valley solar from Phoenix for my system. Most companies pay referrals from existing customers. I asked for references and I called people they gave me. Some were very helpful others were bothered by being asked questions. But either way you will learn from them. Feel free to pm me questions I'll be happy to share what I learned.

 

[adnedarn]

I agree with all Newsalth2o had to say.... My system was done by Sky High Energy in Phoenix. Definitely call around to see who gives you the best quote. I did the math and found buying my system made the most sense for me... The lease systems are sold with the "warranty included" and such statements, my owned system also has product and production warranties. I'm also available if you have any questions.

My system is a 13.34 kw and has two inverters, it is basically 2 systems, one on my west side and one on my east side. On sunny days I make 85-90kw/day so far and 2,500kWh in the past 30 days.

 

[MMK1]

How much damage can be done to corals, for example, during a 2 hour blackout?

 

[Newsalth2o]

How much damage can be done to corals, for example, during a 2 hour blackout?

Two hours without a significant temperature rise and not a severely crowded tank should be ok. What really hurts is temperature rise and lack of oxygen exchange. So the bio load, coral and fish type and tank size all play a factor in how much time your tank can tolerate still water. IMO