A Solar Home : We decided to investigate the possibility of living off grid. Considering there are many variables to look at, it may not be possible in all places. But here is some interesting information which you can look at from the viewpoint of Solar Energy.
Build in the costs : First look at the property you are looking at. There are many ways in which one can implement solar panels. Unfortunately, there are varying degrees of quality and efficiency as well as stability and irradiance. So it needs to be sized for the area you have available and the kind of power you consume.
Off-grid may not be ideal : Considering solar is is coming close to the price of grid power, you may want to sell to the grid. This is an ideal situation, so you would not require to have batteries to store power. You would still need an inverter to convert the DC to AC.... but that is unavoidable. If you keep moving power back to the grid, you can end up with a nice annuity income.
Capital costs: The highest costs are those of the land. Other costs such as the actual house, solar cells and the installation are usually a fraction of the land costs. In some countries, there are subsidies to allow you to lease the cells. If you do not consider the land and building costs, the cost of the project would depend on what you use. For a 1kWh system the pricing is around $2,000 in some countries. This used to be $30,000 just 5 years back!
Future technologies : The case for solar technology is that power costs are always on the rise. We are also on the cusp of some very exciting tech such as OPV (Organic Photovoltaics) which are expected to crash the pricing down due to the lower cost of material and bulk processing (Roll to roll). These are semi-transparent flexible solar cells which are being refined. (Degradation and efficiency is still an issue). While the costs are expected to be less than 1/3rd of the current 1st and 2nd generation solar cells, the lifetime is also not more than 3-4 years (80% efficiency) and efficiencies are being improved as I write this. But organic photovoltaics may one day be on the roof of your car or the blinds on your windows.
Build in the costs : First look at the property you are looking at. There are many ways in which one can implement solar panels. Unfortunately, there are varying degrees of quality and efficiency as well as stability and irradiance. So it needs to be sized for the area you have available and the kind of power you consume.
Off-grid may not be ideal : Considering solar is is coming close to the price of grid power, you may want to sell to the grid. This is an ideal situation, so you would not require to have batteries to store power. You would still need an inverter to convert the DC to AC.... but that is unavoidable. If you keep moving power back to the grid, you can end up with a nice annuity income.
Capital costs: The highest costs are those of the land. Other costs such as the actual house, solar cells and the installation are usually a fraction of the land costs. In some countries, there are subsidies to allow you to lease the cells. If you do not consider the land and building costs, the cost of the project would depend on what you use. For a 1kWh system the pricing is around $2,000 in some countries. This used to be $30,000 just 5 years back!
Future technologies : The case for solar technology is that power costs are always on the rise. We are also on the cusp of some very exciting tech such as OPV (Organic Photovoltaics) which are expected to crash the pricing down due to the lower cost of material and bulk processing (Roll to roll). These are semi-transparent flexible solar cells which are being refined. (Degradation and efficiency is still an issue). While the costs are expected to be less than 1/3rd of the current 1st and 2nd generation solar cells, the lifetime is also not more than 3-4 years (80% efficiency) and efficiencies are being improved as I write this. But organic photovoltaics may one day be on the roof of your car or the blinds on your windows.
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| Scientific American Solar Hydrogen House solar architecture |
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