If you add a transfer switch to your system, the solar panel’s inverted (AC) power can remain in your house when the grid goes down. That’s the same strategy used with generators that plug into a home’s electrical system (so that generator power doesn’t leak out onto the grid creating safety issues).
Alternatively, one can route both solar panels and mains power into a charger/inverter system (and cache energy in a battery) and then use the inverter output to run circuits in the house. There are a lot of ways to set these things up, but the most affordable ways are usually “just tie to the grid for grid credit.”
I’m assuming that your local jurisdiction hasn’t passed draconian laws which saw that people aren’t allowed to own solar panels unless those panels feed the power grid directly. I’m not even sure how that kind of law would be enforced, given that one can pick up $100 solar panels from Costco or Amazon and plug a DC fridge into them directly.
I’m also assuming that your local code doesn’t say that in-house wiring must be connected to the power grid without any option for a transfer switch. I suppose that’s possible, although it would be rather strange. And I guess in that case I’d ask how I could use a switch so that my solar panels re-route to a single emergency outlet when the grid goes down–basically turning them into a generator.
I’ve seen a lot of people who have purchased “grid-tied” solar systems, where the installer didn’t tell them that they’d need to add a transfer switch if they wanted to use the solar panels when the grid went down. Those homeowners often get mad at the utility company or the government when the power goes out and their solar panels shut off. Transfer switches are a few hundred dollars–not free, but definitely worth it.
Anyway, I fear that this topic has gotten a bit off-topic with all the solar speak. There are definitely ways to run a small electric kitchen from solar when the power goes down, virtually anywhere on earth that isn’t shaded. There are also propane stoves and other options for grid-down scenarios. If anyone is wondering about options they’re welcome to DM me and I can try to provide pointers; I’m not in the solar business, but I learned a lot going through the whole exercise myself.
Unless the grid were to go down for days, there really wouldn’t be enough power shunted into my panel to be useful, even if I spent extra to wire it and storage in. I keep a 5KW generator anyway.
I could be ahead to just put an acre of pasture in panels, but something tells me the local utility has already foreclosed that option. Interesting that none of their facilities have panels contributing to the grid.
It’s not? Who’s enacted residential bans on secondhand tobacco smoke? Or slippery area rugs on hardwood floors? Or sharp table corners and outlets unprotected from prying fingers? Can I warm up my car in my own garage? Must I have a carbon monoxide interlock flash green before I put a child in his car seat?
Frankly, the “burden others” argument is a persuasive one for banning motorcycles altogether.
I’m sure this was not the intent of this thread but it is one that will haunt me forever. Early on in my residency was a ten in the icu with a traumatic brain injury sustained while riding a motorcycle, and wearing no helmet. To my chagrin, my husband and son ride ( have ridden? Not lately) motorcycles, and safely, but I will never forget that kid.
I used to ride in my late teens/early twenties… never again. I had two spills (one on a H750 in a drive way with oil spills, and another on a Gold Wing from a patch of sand in the middle of an intersection). Thankfully no injuries, but that was pretty much it for me.
OMG!! What a beautiful bike!! I am so envious.
I have a Yamaha FZ6R, just a basic 600cc commuter bike. I commuted for many years on it, now that I’m retired… its a toy.
Oh wow. Didn’t delete in time. But I’ll pass your comments on to husband and son, and see if the mods can delete my picture.
ETA Maybe it wasn’t too late. Poof! It’s gone! ( From the picture, not the garage)
If I recall correctly, the young man had no insurance and he was in the ICU for quite awhile. I don’t know who, if anyone paid. I was an intern; “staging” in medicine.
I freely admit to being terrified of them, that would affect me not at all
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
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I was an enthusiast [edit - to be clear, an enthusiast of all my friends’ bikes] until we started having kids. Then my wife convinced me to lay off bikes until all the kids were through college.
I grudgingly agreed, mostly because every single riding friend I know has had to lay it down due to other motorists.
So I’ve got another 4+ years before I get a new bike…
You do know a kitchen downdraft vent is energy inefficient, right?
For reasons not very clear, it is ok to criticize people using gas stoves because they are energy inefficient and polluting. However, when it is pointed out that downdraft vents are less effective and energy inefficient, then these other people are snotty?
This part I agree. Not everyone need a powerful hood, just like not everyone need a fast car. However, a downdraft vent is energy inefficient. So it isn’t so much a fast car vs a slow car, but an efficient car vs an inefficient car.
After all this is over said and done. My power goes out here now and then occasionally. The worst part of it all is no television. I can handle the darkness with two propane Coleman lanterns . Lighting up the downstairs I’ll get a generator soon . 10,000 Watts to run the well pump . Still I need star link for internet. I have a small propane portable stove to cook on when I’m without power. Electric stove. I’ll just watch movies and listen to music on my phone screen when without.
