Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Hurricane Sandy and Getting Off the Grid

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Hurricane Sandy and Getting Off the Grid

    Hurricane Sandy left millions along the east coast without power for days, and in many cases, weeks. The storm highlighted our dependence on electricty and exposed the fragility of our power grid, according to Forbes. Even those homes with solar panels were left without power. The New York Times pointed out that "despite the popular perception that installing solar panels takes a home 'off the grid,' most of those systems are actually part of it, sending excess power to the utility grid during the day and pulling electricity back to run the house at night." There are ways to harness solar energy when the grid goes down such as adding batteries to a home system or using the kinds of independent solar generators that appeared in the wake of the storm.

    More...

  • #2
    What is meant by "New hybrid solar generators"


    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by russ View Post
      What is meant by "New hybrid solar generators"
      Good question.
      From the context of full-time grid tie with a capability to provide backup power when the grid is down, I suspect the author is referring to what we usually also call a hybrid system, just not "new", namely a panel, CC, battery and inverter system that is either a primarily off grid system with "sell" capability or else to a primarily grid-tie system like the upcoming SMA TL-US models which have no batteries but can deliver a limited amount of AC powered straight from the panels.
      SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

      Comment


      • #4
        In other words someone in the business spreading BS to confusticate the customer or a writer that has no idea.
        [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by russ View Post
          In other words someone in the business spreading BS to confusticate the customer or a writer that has no idea.

          Or both.
          SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

          Comment


          • #6
            Some of the info is right...

            The storm eariler in the summer that knocked a good portion of the east coast off the grid got people thinking and we saw a lot of people buying gas-powered generators.

            Sandy had a much broader affect and it exposed what happens when a very populated area has a distructive storm. Electricity, Gas, Food, Heat, etc.

            Those gas-powered generators everybody bought after the eariler storm were rendered useless when there was no gas to be found.

            Everyone else should think hard and use Sandy or Katrina for that matter as examples to exactly what Mother Nature can do and how there's no special force of people on-the-ready to come and save you.

            Everyone needs to understand how to live much smaller and consume much less.

            Of course that would severly hurt the ecomony which seems to be the most important thing there is.

            Wa'd I miss?

            Comment


            • #7
              Comments in the text in bold.

              Originally posted by T-bones View Post
              Sandy had a much broader affect and it exposed what happens when a very populated area has a distructive storm. Electricity, Gas, Food, Heat, etc. New? Ask anyone living anywhere close to the coast in the south - nothing new

              Those gas-powered generators everybody bought after the eariler storm were rendered useless when there was no gas to be found. There is almost always gas to be found - at least in small quantities. You don't run the generator full time - only the minimum amount necessary.

              Everyone else should think hard and use Sandy or Katrina for that matter as examples to exactly what Mother Nature can do and how there's no special force of people on-the-ready to come and save you.

              Everyone needs to understand how to live much smaller and consume much less.

              Of course that would severly hurt the ecomony which seems to be the most important thing there is.

              Wa'd I miss? Life? The entire scenario is not new - just a new audience that seem to be less prepared to cope with a disaster.
              [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

              Comment

              Working...
              X