With gas prices surging as the war in Iran enters its third month, one Canadian oil and gas expert is warning the conflict has led to the “worst energy crisis that anybody alive has ever seen.”
Solar and batteries are incredibly cheap right now. But you’re still looking at like $1500 minimum as far as mitigating energy cost spikes. If you install everything yourself, panels are like $0.50/watt new, $0.30/watt used. Plus $500-1500 for an inverter. If you need to run at night or during bad weather then batteries will ~double that cost.
When I was planning it out I figured ~$2,500 might be enough batteries/solar to run like a small heat pump to control a single room or RV/van.
If you grid tie or (legally and safely) use wall-plug or plan for primarily using electricity during the day, you can get by without batteries. In places with hourly or peak electric rates (utility company charges lower rates at night than during the day), that can be viable.
Solar and batteries are incredibly cheap right now. But you’re still looking at like $1500 minimum as far as mitigating energy cost spikes. If you install everything yourself, panels are like $0.50/watt new, $0.30/watt used. Plus $500-1500 for an inverter. If you need to run at night or during bad weather then batteries will ~double that cost.
When I was planning it out I figured ~$2,500 might be enough batteries/solar to run like a small heat pump to control a single room or RV/van.
If you grid tie or (legally and safely) use wall-plug or plan for primarily using electricity during the day, you can get by without batteries. In places with hourly or peak electric rates (utility company charges lower rates at night than during the day), that can be viable.