"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
news
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 6 Nov 2017 13:18:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

...
What are your future plans mounting and expansion?


It's still a backup for outages, ...

The problem I see with solar power is the lifespan cost of the
batteries. If I pay $100 for a battery that stores 1 KWH, i.e. 83A-h
at 12V, and it lasts 500 cycles at full discharge or 1000 at 50% DOD
the operating cost is $0.20 per KWH of "free" electricity, more than
grid power even here where it's up at $0.19.

OTOH if I buy that battery for emergency backup I want it to last as
long as possible and so won't cycle it very often or very far, except
to confirm that it's still able to run the fridge overnight.

The compromise I want to try is to have enough solar power to fix
lunch, watch the TV news and browse the net at noon without drawing
much from the batteries. I've been experimenting with a 300W rice
cooker as a general-purpose heating appliance. The outside doesn't
warm up and waste heat. It does get hot enough to boil over so I may
loan it a thermocouple and temperature controller.
-jsw