Solar Forum Trolls of The Energy Industry.

[sunsaver]

Yes, i know this is a strange topic, but not if you think in terms of profitmotive. If you cure the patient, you kill the customer, and the profits.

If people start talking about free electricity, and start going off-grid; it means that they will have no more electric bills.

The energy industry wants you to finance solar panels on your roof. You will pay all costs and cover all risks. The "grid-tied" system will lower, but not eliminate, your electric bill. Your electric bill will go down, but you have a new solar mortgage to pay! Meanwhile, the energy industry will purchase your cheap, clean, solar energy (because you paid for it) at peak solar times, and sell it to your nieghbors for peak, hot and sunnyday rates for maximum profits. They also get your carbon credits, which they can trade on the carbon market, and they can also promote higher stock prices because "x" percent of their electricity is from clean, renewable, solar energy that you paid for!

There are many homeowners who are taking out huge second mortgages to finance "clean" energy solar panels for the benifit of the owners of coal-fired and natural gas powered electric plants. They think that they are helping the environment; and with regard to global warming, they probably are. But while they are paying for the cost of this transition to a clean energy economy, the owners of dirty energy are the ones who are reaping the profits.

Dont be a sucker. Get free and go off-grid, or dont even think about paying for solar power. If you are financing things, its just more slavery for yourself and your nieghbors. Ben Franklin wrote that, "the barrower is the slave of the lender". If you want to eliminate bills, go green, and get free from foriegn-owned corporate slavery, then just do it. But dont expect the transition to be easy. I have been censored, deleted from forums, even threatened with fines and my life, all for just telling people that there is free electricity in the ground, in the water, in the air, and in outerspace.

 

[valmom]

I would love to be off the grid. My SO- not so much! And being entirely off is really expensive- I've looked at some of the fridges and appliances that work with a home solar system. (SO is not into deprivation) I shouldn't say that, she is trying. But it really is a big jump to be entirely off the grid. I'm 90% sure I could talk her into a grid tie system since it doesn't involve an actual life style change. Yes, it does suck that it is entirely on our dime if we did it and the electric company is the one who reaps the profit (most of it). But, it would be a good thing to do for the earth to use cleaner energy of almost any sort. I always look at all those stupid flat roofs in cities that could all have grid tie panels on them and wonder why the energy companies aren't capitalizing on them instead of covering actual farmland (around here) with huge areas of solar panels and running wires.

A bit off topic, but has anyone seen the commercials for hydrofracking for natural gas? UGHH

 

[Marianne]

A couple years ago, I saw a bit on a TV show, maybe Ed Begley Jr's, about a couple that financed the solar panels on a new house they were having built. What they were doing was actually leasing the panels. Yes, their ele bill was lower, yes, they still had a 20 year bill for all the solar panels, but the combined total was less than if they were electric only. They generated power for themselves only, not enough to share with the neighbors or sell back.

It doesn't have to be panels on the roofs. The industry is working on solar cells that are actually placed in the driveway of residental homes, side walks in cities, and I think it's England (could be wrong on that) that has a huge array on a very large retaining wall next to a busy in-city highway.

Most people don't realize how many panels it takes to create the amount of electricity they're used to using. I'd love to be off grid too. But I like a/c. Especially when it's 110 degrees outside and I'm canning and processing harvest from the garden. But for many of us, the current cost of the panels, batteries, etc is above our means.

So the next plausible step is what most everyone here is doing. We try to be self sufficient, burn wood for heat, produce our own food, make our own _______. Those steps reduce our consumerism which takes trucks off the highways (less fuel burned), ultimately maybe less being manufactured (less production energy costs), etc etc.

 

[sunsaver]

Yes, ive seen alot about Ed Begley Jr. He helped inspire me to get solar panels. The average family can't go off-grid and still live with high powered appliances. And the actual cost of the batteries will probably not be cheaper over time than grid-tie ( the main arguement of the energy industry against solar power). And i must admit that having nothing more than a box fan on a sweltering and muggy Louisianna day like today is pretty tough. But the advantage is the fact that, because i also paid off my mortgage on my home, i have no bills. If i do a job for a week, ill get $600, and i can buy another panel and charger to add to my rig. If i have no work, there's still NO ELECECTRIC BILL. I might be paying more, but at times when it's convienient for me, and on my own terms. Eventually i plan to have enough panels to run my window unit ac, when the sun is shining, and my fan only at night, so i dont drain the batteries.

I sort of did it backwards. I changed my lifestyle, went to wood stove and oil lamps with only one panel and a battery. i went off-grid before paying for the complete system. I am very poor right now. My net income last year was only $5,000. So i am building up capacity a little at a time. Im also working on ideas for geothermal cooling. I can do these things cheaply because i have lots of tools and equipment and access to salvage parts and appliances. I used to earn 2 or 3 grand a week before the housing crash. I can also design my own solar stuff and inventions because i used to be an electronics tech and inventor.

My main point here is that with the exception of milk, butter, cheese, and flour, i am almost completely self reliant. And i will allways promote solar power because i believe it is the best out of only 4 clean options to solve the coming energy collapse. The other 3, wind, hydro, and geothermal don't work well on a small scale such as a home. But i will not get dragged into a political debate with those trolls from the EI. There's more to living well than the almighty dollar bill. Like making new friends on a great forum site!

 

[GOOGLE NIKOLA TESLA]

if i had the money i would dill a 3- 5 mile hole at my property, at these depths u start getting into above boiling temp from the inner earths molten heat, then run this to a steam turbine and live energy free forever. whats even more interesting is that using faster vapor gasses like alcohols and gasses you can get high efficientcy without going very deep, because the gasses expand alot faster than water.
it would be soo cool, this way you could run very high power equipment and not have to be left without some comforts of home.

 

[sunsaver]

Nice blog, marianne. Lots of useful tips. I'll be tapping your brain at canning time.

I highly recomend grid-tie for normal people. It is great for the environment, it will pay for its self after a few years, but continue to save you money after it's paid for, and most of all: it tells your nieghbors that you care about Gods creation. Maybe they will get inspired to start caring as well.

It sucks that americans always foot the bill for collapsing markets. They call it privatising profits and socialising risk. But there's nothing i can do about, so i probably should not have brought it up. I got drunk last night and started talking politics. Sorry guys! twas the spirits were moving me lips, true tho they be. I'll try not to let it happen again here. I'll find a political forum to go to when i'm drunk and wanting to rant.

 

[big brown horse]

We can't afford to go off grid either, however, very little electricity is used here per month. Energy efficient appliances, all lights off during the day, outdoor kitchen run on wood from our forest, a solar powered clothes dryer, wood stove indoors, rain collection systems, 2-4 legged mowers tillers and mulchers, biggy permaculture gardens and orchard and meat animals and egg layers etc help keep our electricity and fuel use at the bare min.

I don't think solar power works very well here in the Pacific North West most of the year anyway.

Welcome to the forum sunsaver!

 

[sunsaver]

I heard about a house in seattle, wash. that's all solar, but it's completely covered in panels. Very expensive. My panels still put out full voltage on cloudy days, but the current is reduced. If it rains for more than a week, the batteries go dead and i'm stuck with the oil lamps and good old fashioned books. :/ Fortunately it has been a very long time since my power cut off. It's really good because my back-up generator is out of commission.

It sounds like you are doing alot of the things that i do. I gather felled wood from my small forest garden for cooking and heating, grow most of my own food, and compost everything. I've been trying to get completely sufficient for 7 years now, but never thought above finding other like-minded people. Permaculture, forest garden, these are other peoples discription of what i've been trying to do all these years. I always called it my private garden of eden.

 

[Marianne]

I'll have to be content with passive solar in this house. Next house definitely will be earth berm, etc.

It's a little harder when the one you live with doesn't want to get on board. Although he surprised me when he said that he was interested in building a VAWT. I scrounge for supplies when I come across them, have most of the stuff for three VAWTS and a rocket mass heater. Time seems to be the biggest factor...or lack of time, that is.

Oh, and thanks for visiting my blog!

 

[offgridgirl]

sunsaver- Good thread. My husband and I live off grid. We built our own berm house and are working on becoming even more self sufficient. I have had my own run ins with the "solar people" who say we can't do what we do