We’re a couple of years away from building a new house, but I’m interested in this discussion.
Background - We live in Florida, and hurricane power outages are a thing, but not regular. In the 24 years that we’ve been in this house, we have lost power for multiple days due to storms only a couple of times. The worst one lasted 10-14 days after a direct hit from hurricane Michael.
I currently have a portable dual-fuel generator that will power most of my house, using the smaller of our two central air units. If the power goes out, I will have to move it, move 2 100 pound (propane weight) propane tanks next to it, hook it up to house, flip transfer switch. Those should power it for two days. After that, I would have to take them somewhere to get them filled. This is a short term solution that was 10% of the cost of a whole-house system, and I can take it with me when I move in 3-4 years.
A turn-key whole house generator with a buried (and filled) propane tank costs about $25k. More than a few people that I know had their generators quit working during the prolonged outages due to the hurricane, and that concerns me.
It appears that a solar system with sufficient battery backup would probably cost $25k to $40k.
I’m leaning towards the solar system for following reasons.
It can be used all year round either to power the house (off-grid) or for solar-buyback from the power company if we are on the grid.
Generators can break down, and they require maintenance (like oil changes) when they are run for extended times.
If there is a power outage for an extended time, we can turn off unneeded devices and even switch to small window-unit in smaller space to stay cool.
If we build our house in the middle of our property, there could be additional cost to run power to it due to distance from existing power sources.
I also have a PTO-driven generator that I can power with my diesel tractor if there are several days with cloud cover.
I see two advantages to a whole-house generator.
They can power the entire house
They automatically turn on when there is an outage.
Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions?
Edited to add: Due to the humidity in Florida and concern for possible mold development, I would not want to leave the house unpowered for an extended time.
Natural gas would not be feasible since we’ll probably be in the middle of what is currently 48 heavily wooded acres.
I forgot to mention that we would mount the panels on the ground since we have plenty of space and I don’t want them on my roof. They would probably be more secure on the ground since the house would shield them in one direction and the terrain/woods would shield them in all the others.
Why buried propane instead of a diesel belly tank? I always spec gensets with a belly tank in new england.
But why not both? The solar will help you 360 days a year. BUT like windy said, hurricane damage. If I were to design a storm-proof system, I’d go net zero house with solar then size the genset to power HVAC.
The notable damage from hurricanes is usually moreso from larger branches, and those typically are falling down rather than flying over distance. I would expect a solar installation would have a relatively clear space near it without any immediate trees. It’s a fair question to raise, but I’m not sure it immediately negates the idea.
I think most panels use tempered glass, so they are less likely to break than regular windows. That should improve their resilience to flying debris that shatters many windows during hurricanes. Also, panels are usually mounted on an angle, so any flying debris has a better chance to deflect off of them. (Unlike house windows.)
You said wind damage FROM solar panels, not TO solar panels. In a big enough hurricane, there will be flying debris whether it be from trees, houses or other stuff. We will be clearing out all large trees within falling distance of the house.
It won’t be on this property. The property slopes down 50-60 feet to a tiny creek and we’ll be building on a high spot. There is no way the high ground would flood absent an old-testament type flood in which case the solar panels would be the least of our worries.
It could be years between needing the generator. Diesel would go bad in that time. If it lasted even half as long as propane I probably would go with a diesel powered generator.
Edit - My tractor doesn’t use enough diesel to constantly refresh a belly tank. If I had a diesel truck I could draw from the belly tank and refill it every few months.
Ooooohh. I would love to have a diesel truck. Maybe I can use this to justify buying one. lol
I would do research into how well solar survives hurricane damage. If it holds up as good as the house, then I would go with that over a generator. What you really have as a backup are the batteries. And those would turn on automatically if there is a power outage (if you are connected to the grid).
The risk with solar is that either the panel get damaged or the skies are cloudy for multiple days. In areas where it snows, you can go days without getting any power from your panels. However, your panels will pay for themselves after 10-15 years.
My current house came with a “whole” house generator tied to the natural gas line. The whole is in quotes because the 11 kW isn’t enough to power the A/C but it does cover almost everything else (most importantly the sumps and the heat). When we get power outages, the neighbors plug into the systems to keep their refrigerators running. I added solar panels to get cheaper electricity, but didn’t get batteries because I already had the generator. Without batteries, the panels are useless if the power goes out. If/when I need to replace the generator, I will probably add batteries instead.
If going solar I wonder if home battery generator is an option. There are options out there that can charge off solar and power a home for a week or two.
We have solar and we have back up power too, but its unconventional.
What kind of cars do you have right now, or might you have in the future?
You absolutely should get solar, even if you don’t get a single watt from it, it increases the price of your house enough that that alone pays for it. Electricity prices will be skyrocketing in the very near future, so home solar is a smart investment all around. And, yup, it still creates lots of power even on cloudy days.
However, in a power failure, solar connected to the grid without home batteries will not provide power. That is our situation. But we have a work around.
If you have one or more hybrid cars, a PHEV, or an EV, you can easily set up a vehicle to load situation where your car can power a fridge, lights, fans, a furnace fan, internet, and other similar things, sometimes for weeks.
Using car(s) as a back up power source is what we do, and it has been very handy. And far, far cheaper than buying a full home battery set up or getting generators which add additional maintenance headaches. Even if you have gasoline in a hybrid or PHEV, you’ll be driving the car, so the fuel will not sit for years.
If you don’t get an EV, a hybrid Ford f150 or any toyota hybrid or toyota PHEV can be rigged up as a source of continuous AC 120v power, up to 1500 watts continuous. And, unlike portable generators, they can do that for a long, long, long time. (Other HV or PHEV cars might work too, but all my experience is with toyotas HV/PHEVs.)
In our area, the utility gives you a rebate of $4-5k if you agree to let them borrow the juice in your battery. They aren’t supposed to do that when there is a risk of an outage, though I don’t know the details.
If getting a battery system, see if you can recharge it from a generator, that allows for better utilization of the generator.
I would focus on making the house energy efficient so you require less overall energy, then solving for a power outage is easier. I don’t recommend a pool if you’re trying to cut energy usage.
This is what I have on a small scale. Honda 2k generator with a Solar generator, similar size, that can either charge solar (2x200 watt panels) or with the gas generator.
Definitely not adequate for “whole house” duty though.