Should I connect to the Grid or is their Alternatives

[GrantMcscott]

Currently I have been quoted 12k to connect to the grid for power.  Would this money be better spent in PV panels and a turbine with batteries?  Roof will go on in about a month so need to make a decision if I am going to have PV panels as I would like them to be in-line with the tiles. 

[Cpd]

1 minute ago, GrantMcscott said:

turbine

There is a lot to consider before assuming you can have a turbine, planning first as you will need a Fairly big turbine to make it worth while and then if your not in a perfect location for a turbine Due to local site conditions then there efficiently can be greatly reduced to the point that it would never pay you back...... 

[Jeremy Harris]

To be off-grid with just wind and PV I'm certain you would also need a generator, just for those times when there's neither wind nor sun.  You also need to be prepared to tinker and maintain the systems that provide you with power.  I suspect that £12k wouldn't buy much of an off-grid system, TBH, unless you were good at DIY this stuff and happy to put a lot of work in to get everything to work.  There are some very successful off-gridders, and it can work fine with care and some management of expectations.  Worth having a look at this blog, as the author has probably more experience of living off grid than anyone I know: https://lifeattheendoftheroad.wordpress.com/

 

IIRC, until he got his hydro systems running, he was still reliant on using a generator, despite having a fairly big wind turbine plus PV panels, and living in a location that's reasonably well-endowed with wind (Raasay).

[DamonHD]

Unless you are in a really windy location and can get a turbine ~10m above any obstructions for ~30m in all directions, then don't rely on wind alone, even with storage.

 

A site I help look after is full of people of various levels of complete grid independence.  It's hard and expensive, but can sometimes be done! Solar PV should be an important part of any off-grid system since it has several times the power density of wind, and has easier control and maintenance.

 

    https://fieldlines.com

 

Rgds

 

Damon

Edited February 24, 2020 by DamonHD

[Jilly]

The fieldlines.com  isn't working. 

[Jeremy Harris]

5 minutes ago, Jilly said:

The fieldlines.com  isn't working. 

 

 

It's also giving a rather unusual error message:

 

Quote

Not Acceptable!

An appropriate representation of the requested resource could not be found on this server. This error was generated by Mod_Security.

 

 

This URL seems to work: https://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?board=5.0

[DamonHD]

Very odd, and sorry about that!

 

Try it with the www (though it works without for me):

 

https://www.fieldlines.com/

 

Rgds

 

Damon

[PeterW]

6 hours ago, DamonHD said:

Very odd, and sorry about that!

 

Try it with the www (though it works without for me):

 

https://www.fieldlines.com/

 

Rgds

 

Damon

the original link seems to have a session ID appended to the URL hence it is failing 

[scottishjohn]

15 hours ago, GrantMcscott said:

Currently I have been quoted 12k to connect to the grid for power.  Would this money be better spent in PV panels and a turbine with batteries?  Roof will go on in about a month so need to make a decision if I am going to have PV panels as I would like them to be in-line with the tiles. 

connect--not even worth thinking about

I am similar situation 

but my power connection will be close to 30K-

even then it don,t makes sense cos i would still need a gen etc and want to live a normnal  not hermit life style and i,m getting older 

 

If you had a reliable 3kw or more of hydro --then maybe --but you will be replacing batteries every few years -- --so its not a one off spend with no work 

have pv panels to sell power back if you like --but if you not diy man doubt it will pay back inless then 8-10years 

[gc100]

It’s cost me about 30k to get my electricity connection. I had a really good look at this but even with that sort of cash I would stuggle in the winter. You ideally need 3 sources (PV, Wind, and a water stream/river). You need something for Oct/Nov to Feb/March . Wind turbine are very expensive to say the least and fraught with planning issues unfortunately. I just couldn’t get it to add up myself which was a bit annoying as there would be nothing more I’d like than to be 100% off grid. If you live alone or with one other it might be possible, but for me with two young children, working from home it was a no goer.

[joth]

The other thing to bear in mind is if you built enough generation to cover all your needs, you'll regularly have far too much excess you can't do anything useful with. At which point you'd perhaps want to install the grid connection anyway for export...