For all you single guys in CA, things are looking up 
Power being shut off to California
- Thread starter Plumber1
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5 nights without power. Think that is a record for me. Finally back on tonight.
When we lived in Georgetown we went 23 days without power due to a snowstorm, thank god we had a generator and a wood stove.
Pretty sure PG&E has taken stock in generator sales, and Chevron.
You couldn't buy a generator in my area to save your life this week.
Kiwi TJ
I don't suffer from insanity I enjoy every minute
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Not inexpensive by any means for enough power to run a home. Even with the tax credits you're looking at roughly $2.50 to $3.50 per watt. So any where from 25 to 35 thousand dollars for a 10kw solar array. That would be enough to run an average small home.
Kiwi TJ
I don't suffer from insanity I enjoy every minute
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Less than a new Jeep and you would be forever off the grid. The money from your monthly power bill would pay for it. I’ve been saying for years that reenforced concrete with nothing flammable on the roof is the way to build. Look at the photos of the hurricane damage in the Caribbean and the only things standing are concrete. Same in the plains and east coast, elevate 8 ft for flood protection and poured concrete with hurricane/tornado proof windows. I’ve always thought that a dome home would be neat. Toured one in at the Worlds Fair in Knoxville, TN. A very cool idea, anyone who rebuilds and doesn’t think ahead is hiding their head in the sand.
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Bear in mind that most solar hook ups still require a connection to the grid. When the grid goes down you are out of power. The way to prevent this is for a battery back up and storage system. This solution gets pretty expensive.
Didn’t know that, so you still need a generator to help your solar panel system out and at night. I just assumed that the amounts mentioned were a complete day and night system.
This is what a lot of people with solar installations are finding out. Unless they spend a lot more money to disconnect their system from the grid completely (if even allowed by CA law), then the system is a net metering system that runs through the local utility. So when they shut down, your system shuts down.
Theoretically you could bypass their system by disconnecting from it like what you should be doing if you run a generator through your panel. But that would likely require another inverter and a disconnect. So maybe another $1,500-$3,000 depending on if it's set up for manual or automatic switchover and if the homeowner can wire it themselves or not.
I wonder how many fires are going to start from people using gas generators.
06TJ35's
TJ Addict
All of Los Angeles smells like nothing but smoke! Here in my school Whittier we are at the top of a big hill. All I can see is all the smoke on top of the cities.
Most systems around here are not set up as off grid systems, a guy that works for me has a 7KW system. He lives not far from me, so I asked him how the solar was doing since his power was out too, His response was his power was out too because his system like many others were installed as power offset systems to feed the grid and lower his bill, he lacks the inverter and battery storage. Many think that California is the Sunshine State and that might be true for Southern California, but in the areas up north that most live and work, we have 4 seasons: spring, summer, fall, and fog. I have seen the valley go 40 days straight without sunshine. most areas below 1500 feet will see fog in the months Dec, Jan, and Feb.
I would think that with technology as it is today there would be a way to install a transfer switch to disconnect from the grid at times of PSPS's. Bad part about the battery storage idea is cost. Those Tesla batteries are good for about 5 years if used as your sole power source, and they are about $8K a pop, so an expensive endeavor for sure.
I'm sure there is something in place that would disconnect the solar array from the main lines so as not to backfeed power thru the lines, so workers can work on the lines.
I'm sure there is something in place that would disconnect the solar array from the main lines so as not to backfeed power thru the lines, so workers can work on the lines.
06TJ35's
TJ Addict
Don’t they wish they had a TJ at that moment. Glad they all made it out safe! They didn’t really need a tj but it would have been useful! Scary situation for them.
Here’s full video. You can see how quickly the fire moves their exit burned luckily they all got out.
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