Sun Powered!
Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 25, 2017
For years, the power company has hounded us about our power usage. We use more than the neighborhood average, they said. They charged us a premium for our “above average” usage. You know, because we actually run gaming computers and stuff, and didn’t switch to those horrible CFL bulbs when they became available. They kept inviting us to install air conditioning units that THEY control remotely, so they could turn it off whenever they wanted to help manage the power load in the valley. Which, most likely, would happen when we are entertaining a house full of guests. Because we do that quite often.
The power company complained that they couldn’t keep up with the growth in the valley. They threatened rolling blackouts and brownouts during peak hours, and of course used all this to push for higher and higher rates.
Since clearly they are in such dire straits keeping up with demand, today we have officially flipped the switch to help ’em out. Our house is now powered by the sun.
Alas, we’re still on the grid and paying for the privilege … and any power we consume in excess of what we generate. But hey, since most of our food storage is in the freezer, at least it’ll stay powered half the time during an extended power outage. And I can run my A/C during those blazingly hot, bright summer days as much as I want, free of guilt or worry about the power bill.
So I guess we’re good (and financially committed) until something significantly better comes along…
HMMMM….
Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 2 Comments to Read
Copyright © 2024 Rampant Games | Privacy Policy
Powered by WordPress.
Deft said,
Do you have a battery backup system that stores energy? If you do not, I would be surprised if your panels were allowed to be active during a blackout. Usually when they’re working on power outages, they do not want a solar panel back feeding the grid, so they also shut down the panel generation during a blackout. That is, unless you have a separate stand alone circuit that kicks in during a blackout and loops solar energy into it…. How did you set it up?
Rampant Coyote said,
Hmm… Honestly, now I’ll have to check. I may have made some assumptions while we were talking about future battery installs (after the panels are paid for).