Off-Grid Solar House

I’m curious also.so,to get the e-mail ping for this thread I’m posting.
what I do know is that here in S.fl A guy I met spent 7 grand for panels and the eqpt. to transfer/convert the energy to a viable source.
his home is 2800 sq, ft.he has to surplus it with 1066 Kwh of Florida Pillage and Loot (FPL) energy,which is 128.00.
he has whole house heat and air,all the luxuries,ALL.
I learned alot about go green when I was selling solar hot water.

Off Grid:

The first word in being off grid is sacrifice. Off grid systems not only have limitations but also often have lots of down time. Folks that live off grid usually have alternate cooking and lighting systems.

CR has lots of rainy cloudy days and solar may not be as dependable as you want. The best alternative systems are multi-source. Solar and wind rely on batteries for night and low wind situations. These can often run out of power unless you have a very robust system. Back-up from a propane or diesel generator may be needed for those down times.

Modern wind and solar electric systems are electronically controlled and work together seamlessly. Other systems such as solar hot water, motor generators or small hydro may have to be controlled manually at times.

All these systems require maintenance and it REALLY helps if you can do most of it yourself. While the electronic systems are wonderful the higher the tech the more difficult to maintain short of replacing whole systems.

The best systems in the U.S. are those where you “bank on the grid”. When you make power it reverses the meter to credit your bill but when you don’t make power its available from the grid at no cost until you use up your credit. Very dependable and practical. I do not think they do this in CR but ideas spread.

I’ve worked in small hydro and seen a lot of systems with lots of down time and high maintenance. Lots to think about.

[quote=”alexander69″]Hola,

We are looking into being “off=grid” meaning total solar powered house and a well. If anyone has done this, and I will be shocked if no one has as ICE is a big pain in the ass, please let me know of your experiences. We are not going to give ICE 25,000 dollars to run poles to our home site and then turn around and give them the rights and land. It is absurd. Any solar experience is appreciated. Off=handed comments just to hear yourself ramble is not.

Saludos,
Alexander[/quote]

Hi There,
First… what do you want? If you want to live like you always have, solar is very expensive and high maintenance. If you want to have the basic necessities of modern life it can be done for about $10k. It will give you a great feeling of independence and self reliance. I have lived off grid in the past for several years and now have grid, but I use a small 12 volt system for my lightening and a chest type refrigerator (for cold pipas ;-). I also use solar hot water with a grid tied hot water tank for emergencies… that water is cold in the mountains!!

Bottom line is… KEEP IT SIMPLE. I have four 75watt panels and 2 Rolls 400 amp hr batteries. This provides 12 volt lighting to my entire home and runs a 12 volt chest fridge. With a small inverter I run laptop computer, router and satellite television. What it will not cover is a standard style refrigerator, electric stove, hot water or washing and drying machine.

Now, that being said. With a system about 2x this size I personally could run comfortably a energy efficient washing machine (DAY TIME ONLY), Gas dryer, have a solar hot water collector, energy star refrigerator, lights, tele, computer and small appliances.

You learn to wash clothes in peak sun so as not to drain the batteries and other things like this, but basically it can be done with a lot less than the Solar Dude tells you!

As mentioned by another member it is a little more difficult in the rainy season, but with proper energy management on your part it can be done.

Oh.. and would probably need a separate small system for your well so add another 3-4k. Call it 15k and you will be enegizzzed :-)) and tell ICE no thanks… thats what I did 😉

Hope this helps,

TicoPaz

Hi,

I’m no expert on this but I do know a bit about solar. As we have a 4.3 KW system and 64 square feet of hot water panels in North Carolina. Yes, you can do this, don’t let anyone scare you off. Our system is grid tied but the only difference is the charger and the batteries. The most important thing to start though is a site evaluation. This will determine solar, wind or hydro or a combination. If you go with Hydro and have a good clean reliable source with great head, I would not even get a backup system, for the other two I would get a small propane generator. Anyway, study your site, I’m sure you can get it to work and for $25,000, you should be able to get enough batteries and equipment to supply a load of at least 12kw per day. We only use 6kw on sunny winter days (as have passive solar) but in the summer with AC and a pool running 5 hrs a day, we use a little over 20KW. Of course you can get a large propane tank and use it for cooking, backup hotwater, dryer and even refrid. decreasing your power greatly. If your not into TV and you use efficient appliances and a little propane, I bet you can live on less then 6 kw per day. A high efficient refrid about 21 cubic feet uses about 1kw per day, figure on a KW for your water pump, A high efficient washer gets about 250 watts per load. Anyway you get the point.

[quote=”alexander69″]Hola,

We are looking into being “off=grid” meaning total solar powered house and a well. If anyone has done this, and I will be shocked if no one has as ICE is a big pain in the ass, please let me know of your experiences. We are not going to give ICE 25,000 dollars to run poles to our home site and then turn around and give them the rights and land. It is absurd. Any solar experience is appreciated. Off=handed comments just to hear yourself ramble is not.

Saludos,
Alexander[/quote]

Good Day;
I have a friend who started a Spanish School and Eco Hotel next door in Nicaragua and has gone completely off grid now. She has had some trials and errors and would be a good reference for the where’s, what’s and how’s of getting up and running. I am sure it would be much easier in Costa Rica than Nicaragua but probably would use same sources.

She is a great lady and has started all of this after retirement (Boomer). I am sure she would be pleased to give you some advice. She has a website where you could contact here. http://mariposaspanishschool.com/

Alexander:
I just got through doing some research on it for my house (which is on the beach and requires ac). It would cost me $42-$50,000 to be able to crank out and store the kw’s I need to run ac’s….so for me it wasn’t cost effective. You being in Puriscal where ac is really not needed so much, would be far less expensive…I called the guys that advertise on AM Costa Rica and they quoted me some prices bases upon my daily kw needs.
Daily kw need is the first thing you need to determine…There are alot of online calculators for this…

Hope this helps.
ts