Good points, Lew. Our setup on Sunshine are similar to yours -- KISS wind generator, 4 solar panels, 100 amp alternator on each engine and a Honda 2000 for backup. Most cloudy days are also windy days, so we hardly ever need to run the engines for charging purposes. When we do need a boost, the Honda does the job.
We do have to do a better job of "saving a watt" by converting to LED, but I'm waiting for the prices to come down a little more. I noticed that our local Menards (in Indiana) is selling solar panels for $495.00. I didn't notice the wattage since I was in a hurry, but they are physically the same size as the ones on our boat. I think it's some sort of omen that a big box store in Indiana is even selling them. We'll see what the future holds..... Phil s/v Sunshine PDQ 36 On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 12:07 PM, [email protected] < [email protected]> wrote: > > Thousands of households are supplying all their electricity using Renewable > Energy sources today. > > Home Power magazine leads the way in this field. Back issues are available > on DVD. > > Personally, I run my entire household now using solar panels. I have 1300 > watts of solar and two KISS wind generators (that I rarely use these days, > in fact they are down for repairs at this time). Adding four 130 watt > panels to the seven 120 watt panels I already had turned the corner. > > It is a truism that it is easier (and cheaper) to save a watt than to make > a watt. To this end one must reduce electrical requirements. For example, > both our five cubic foot (Sundanzer) freezer and physically identical > refrigerator each use 25 watts (2 Amps at 12.5 Volts) when running. We have > very few incandescent bulbs aboard. Our big energy hog is our 32" TV and > satellite antenna. > > Very occasionally we do use our genset to top up when we have several > cloudy days in a row. Even on cloudy days the PV array still makes > significant power, but also on those days we are usually indoors in front of > our computers or watching the TV. > > Although we make full use of our microwave and toaster oven we do use > propane for the galley range and the water heater. > > And we don't use the air conditioning, a load that accounts for about half > of the power usage when used ashore. > > Although many electrical loads are large and unavoidable, such as I imagine > Lew's business is, it is completely possible to live off the grid > comfortably. The key is that the dwelling must be designed from the ground > up for a low footprint lifestyle. > > > And as others have noted, as the price of fossil fuel rises, the > alternatives become more economical. > > > > > Norm > S/V Bandersnatch > Lying Gloucester MA > > _______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web > http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here > http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html >
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