Help! Florida Makes Off-Grid Living Illegal

[NRFC]

Anybody got any idea how I can find basic solar panels?

where can I go to get costs? I'm clueless as where to start. I'm nervous about just blindly googling/contacting some random company...

 

[Its Me Austin]

Good luck running the a/c constantly down here in the summer.

 

[IDL]

Anybody got any idea how I can find basic solar panels?

where can I go to get costs? I'm clueless as where to start. I'm nervous about just blindly googling/contacting some random company...

Gotta do a bit of research on what you will want.

You need panels, charge controller, batteries, and inverter. All of those things need to be sized to what you want to achieve.

I chose to start small but in such a way where I could scale up later if I wanted, so I got a bigger charge controller that could take more juice later if I wanted to add more panels.

Then you gotta search around for suppliers and price it out. You may be able to order them online.

It take a bit of work, but it's good to get into.

 

[NRFC]

Gotta do a bit of research on what you will want.

You need panels, charge controller, batteries, and inverter. All of those things need to be sized to what you want to achieve.

I chose to start small but in such a way where I could scale up later if I wanted, so I got a bigger charge controller that could take more juice later if I wanted to add more panels.

Then you gotta search around for suppliers and price it out. You may be able to order them online.

It take a bit of work, but it's good to get into.

Great. Thanks much for the reply. Will do.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

I did a search and didn't see anything about this... Anyway, saw this article and it caused more questions. Reason being, I recently bought a house and was interested in getting "off the grid" as far a paying current electricity bills.

Florida Makes Off-Grid Living Illegal

 

[IDL]

Great. Thanks much for the reply. Will do.

No problem, let me know if you have any questions since I went through the exact same thing.

FYI for batteries, I went with two 6 volt golf cart batteries connected in series to put it at 12 volts. They are popular for solar systems because they are fairly common and they are deep cycle (important!). Scaling up later is just a matter of adding more batteries.

Probably good for starting out unless you want to jump in and get fancy ones.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

No problem, let me know if you have any questions since I went through the exact same thing.

FYI for batteries, I went with two 6 volt golf cart batteries connected in series to put it at 12 volts. They are popular for solar systems because they are fairly common and they are deep cycle (important!). Scaling up later is just a matter of adding more batteries.

Probably good for starting out unless you want to jump in and get fancy ones.

What are the batteries for? I'm guessing they're too small to store the extra juice.

 

[Kevin Rudd]

Weird. Can you be connected and just not actually use or pay for the services?

doubt it, usually they throw in a maintenance charge on your electricity bill regardless of usage.

 

[Rhood]

Didn't you know there is less freedom in conservative states?
Welcome to Florida
Living off the grid in the Everglades is nothing but a swampy hot mess. Good luck with that.

 

[IDL]

What are the batteries for? I'm guessing they're too small to store the extra juice.

The batteries are to store a backup power supply so if the grid goes down or you are off grid, you can power your devices with them. The inverter converts DC current from the batteries into 120V AC current that is compatible with your typical home appliances.

two golf cart batteries together store I think 240 amp hours @ 12 volts, so that is around 3 kilowatt hours.

The panels keep them charged.

You can set up panels to feed directly into the grid as well and not use batteries at all, but if you do that and the power goes out you won't have power.

 

[Ruprecht]

doubt it, usually they throw in a maintenance charge on your electricity bill regardless of usage.

You can have the physical connection without having the service connected here.
Electricity is a private utility here though, and there's no issue living off the grid either.

 

[Wolveswithkeys]

this thread's definition of "off the grid" is not the same as mine.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

The batteries are to store a backup power supply so if the grid goes down or you are off grid, you can power your devices with them. The inverter converts DC current from the batteries into 120V AC current that is compatible with your typical home appliances.

two golf cart batteries together store I think 240 amp hours @ 12 volts, so that is around 3 kilowatt hours.

The panels keep them charged.

You can set up panels to feed directly into the grid as well and not use batteries at all, but if you do that and the power goes out you won't have power.

Thanks. I always thought you needed a bigger battery system than that.

I've just started looking into solar - waiting another year to see if our state/new gov. comes out with any incentives before I buy.

 

[IDL]

Thanks. I always thought you needed a bigger battery system than that.

I've just started looking into solar - waiting another year to see if our state/new gov. comes out with any incentives before I buy.

Yeah it's enough to cover the essentials for little while but if you were going to be off grid you'd need more.

You can get a device that plugs into the wall socket, and then you plug whatever appliance into it and it will monitor your consumption. That way you can get a rough estimate of how much energy you need.

Of course, you get more bang for the buck by conserving energy than beefing up your supply so you gotta tackle both ends.

Figuring out your current power consumption and finding ways to reduce it is a good place to start no matter what really.

 

[Ruprecht]

Thanks. I always thought you needed a bigger battery system than that.

I've just started looking into solar - waiting another year to see if our state/new gov. comes out with any incentives before I buy.

Depending on how remote your home is and feed in tariffs, grid tie in systems are usually much more economical.
I've got a 10KW grid tie in system (40x250W ET Solar panels and 2x5KW SMA Sunny Boy Inverters) a deep cycle battery bank capable of supporting my useage would cost more than the rest of the system.
I use a lot of power though (@ 40kw/h per day).

 

[PainIsLIfe]

Yeah it's enough to cover the essentials for little while but if you were going to be off grid you'd need more.

You can get a device that plugs into the wall socket, and then you plug whatever appliance into it and it will monitor your consumption. That way you can get a rough estimate of how much energy you need.

Of course, you get more bang for the buck by conserving energy than beefing up your supply so you gotta tackle both ends.

Figuring out your current power consumption and finding ways to reduce it is a good place to start no matter what really.

I'm going to need to stay on the grid, but installed a high effec heat pump this spring and have been replacing old bulbs with CFL and LEDs.


Looking at a couple of point of use water heaters in the kitchen and bath to replace a very old hot water heater. Now, if I can just get the kids to turn off their electronics.

Depending on how remote your home is and feed in tariffs, grid tie in systems are usually much more economical.
I've got a 10KW grid tie in system (40x250W ET Solar panels and 2x5KW SMA Sunny Boy Inverters) a deep cycle battery bank capable of supporting my useage would cost more than the rest of the system.
I use a lot of power though (@ 40kw/h per day).

Elect. is still really cheap in my area, but I'm looking at 7k grid tie which should eliminate my bill except in the coldest winter months.

edit: I'm using 30kw per day in the summer currently.

 

[TheFirstEMP]

"Land of the free" my ass.

 

[Xplosives]

This seems like a bizarre law. If people want to live out in the swamps with no power or sewer why not? As long as they're not hurting anyone else by their actions it's not really the government's business if you buy power from FP&L or have solar panels.

seems like a gotta have a hand in your pocket no matter what law.

 

[oldshadow]

How could anyone claim to

 

[drivemehomeyo**]

usa is quickly losing all its freedoms.

soon it will be illegal to grow your own vegetables.