solar panels??????????

[leftinma]

hello ladies and gents, new to site so please bear with me. i was under the impression that when the s--- hits the fan{emp or other }you should try not to stand out? then why are people putting solar panels on their houses? i think it would draw unwanted people. wouldn`t it be better to have them portable?

[avking]

I think the biggest reason is that portable panels do not produce enough power to be worth the time for a house. They are good for a BOB, but that is about it.

[Rudyj]

solar power

Ive spent some time looking at solar power for my house in case of WTSHTF, and unless you have some serious coin (and I dont) its not something your going to be use other than making coffie or burning a few lights.I am planning on picking up a 100 dollar panel a couple of deep cell batterys just in case. In the event of a long term problem gas will run out and batterys will disapear, and them you will look like a genius if you can access power with your solar cell.

[prkchp76]

i personaly think solar is great if you can get two or three houses together then you have a defensive group as well as guards and so forth solar can produce enough power if done with the serious coin but inovation is the key to sucess and survival

[hubste5]

We serve two masters here, and sometimes it creates confusion, because they do overlap.
1) SHTF preparations, living in a world gone sour -- the more extreme.
2) A yearning to be self sufficient, even if SHTF does not occur.

Now I think most preppers that have taken the big solar bite fall into category two... They do not like the idea of depending on anyone for anything, plus if there are outages, they can go on with life.

In a real disaster-type SHTF, deep cycle batteries might be hard to come by after a while, and the batteries do have a life cycle. Batteries are necessary to sustain a household on alternative energy. I think the category 1 people are more inclined to learn to live without power, altogether.

Like most on here, I am a mixture of 1 & 2, I would love to be off the grid, and make or even sell back power... But ultimately, my concerns are keeping my family warm without electricity, fed without grocery stores, etc...

[avking]

I have to disagree on a few points here.

Solar power for your home is not that expensive and depending on your local energy costs and incentives, the pay off does not take very long. Our solar setup ran around $55k, but we received over $30k in tax incentives and grants, a $18k almost no interest goverment backed loan and $7k out of pocket. The loan payment is less than our electric bill used to be. So, in day to day costs, it only cost us $7k. Since then, we have not had to spend a penny on the electric bill. Plus we sell back energy.

You do not HAVE to get batteries. We produce far more energy than we use, during the day. Without batteries, we would not have power at night, but we would have it all day. I personally think batteries are a good idea, but not technically necessary. Many people run solar without batteries and add them later.

I do not think batteries will be that hard to come by, unless all civilization goes away for decades. In a short or mid term scenario, the most likely, there will be millions of abandoned vehicles, all with at least one battery in them.

Portable solar is good for creature comfort when camping or when in transit to a BOL.

Heck, almost everyone here has a BOB, E&E Bag, etc... But how many of us have a place to go? I bet that many do not have a suitable long term (over a year), place to go. Your BOB is only good for one thing, to get you to your BOL. Without a suitable and well stocked BOL, you simply will not survive long term. This is just my opinion of course and not meant to discourage people from having a good BOB.

[prkchp76]

thanks avking im chuckling and saying good point at the same time right

[leftinma]

trailor lights

:D:D if not alot of $$$ try trailor lights and a couple of panels;)

[Ponce]

I don have one 110w solar panel with two 12v deep charge batteries, they are for the back up of my alarm system and marine spot light (with attached camera) in case the public power goes out.

But, also have six generators, two for myself and four for future trading..... like for gas?

[leftinma]

:confused: if the power is out for a long time and run out of gas or breakage of gens,thoes solar panels will look good to have a little light:rolleyes:

[Pioneer]

hello ladies and gents, new to site so please bear with me. i was under the impression that when the s--- hits the fan{emp or other }you should try not to stand out? then why are people putting solar panels on their houses? i think it would draw unwanted people. wouldn`t it be better to have them portable?

That's a good point! I have been using solar power for over 12 years and in 4 different homes. I have my panels on a pole and as I have been selling off a home and building another, I have been keeping my home and the panels far enough away from the road to actually be visible from anywhere except above me. (for obvious reasons)

I do have a backup of five 175 watt panels, inverter, batteries etc. that are not in use just in case something happens like the solar flares increase or whatever. I have a "survivalist" friend who is just starting out so I've been helping him with his setup and even after a few lengthy discussions about him building too close to the road, he feels more comfortable with his choice, as most newbies would I guess.

[avking]

My roof is 100% solar panels. It is a two story with no easy access to the roof. As far as people seeing them and wanting to take them, well that is a risk that can not be eliminated. But, the benefit significantly outweighs the risk. I think we are far enough from any highway that it will be ok. No one can see them from a public road, just my 3 mile driveway. If a less than squad strength group tries to take them, or anything else on out land, I think we have the ability to defend in place. I personally would not go into the shelter for anything less than platoon strength. We have well established fields of fire, no cover for a minimum of 100 yards and in some cases 300 yards. If the SHTF for real, we will deploy trip wires with flares and I am seriously considering motion sensors. I have purchased enough chain link fence to circle the inner perimeter, twice. So we will have two fences with a 10' of so gap between them. But, I do not intend to install the fence unless the SHTF, it is just to ugly. I want to get some razor wire, like they use to setup portable checkpoints in the sand box, but I have not been able to source any yet.

[bart]

i sell razor wire at my job. 18" by 50' coils. check www.afence.com for pricing info. just fyi.