We just got our first couple of solar panels hooked up and charging the batteries. It’s great to get off the genset…
The pair of Champion generators that we bought last summer have been great – reliable, fuel efficient, and not very noisy. However, its good not having to go outside to start up the generator right when you are in the middle of something and battery voltage is getting low. Its also wonderful to listen to the birds while I type on my computer.
We haven’t got our solar system completely set up yet. We still need to build a stand for the panels. We are also considering getting one or two more panels depending on how well the first pair are working.
Going solar isn’t exactly cheaper, at least not in the short term, than running the genset. We could burn a lot of gas in our little generator for the cost of a pair of solar panels. But in the long term, I don’t believe that gas is always going to be the cheap option. Possibly, in the very long term, gas might not be as readily available as it is now. So going solar, renewable, and green does make sense, at least to me.
Our electrical power consumption is not great – mainly just electronics and lighting. We don’t have a fridge, freezer, electrc stove, washer, or drier. However, of all the electrical devices that we do have, my old laptop is one of the greatest consumers. This means that whenever the batteries start getting low, I have to limit my computer time or make and/or choices between which eectrical devices we can operate. Since what little paid work that I do involves the computer, this starts to get a bit troublesome. So you can see, I am also very happy to have the solar panels so that I can use my computer more freely wthout worrying about energy consumption. It’s great to feel green about one’s job!