The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental organization Resilient Palisades to deliver a weekly “green tip” to our readers. This week’s tip was written by Doug Macmillan.
We’ve all had it: the annoyance of power outages that necessitate resetting numerous devices. Rotating or “planned” outages typically last one to two hours.
Luckily, it’s very easy to avoid outages. All you need are a few solar panels and a storage battery.
I installed 10 panels and a Tesla battery in 2015. Since then, our family has experienced zero power outages—even when a local transformer blew up and left me with the only lights on in a half-mile radius.
As a measure of how successful and transparent the system is, I’ll share a story. Recently my wife accidentally and unknowingly tripped the main circuit breaker for house while I was out of town. The only clue she had was that our AC did not work, as it required 240v. She thought the AC had broken.
When I returned two days later, I discovered the outage and reset the tripped master house breaker. So, for those two days my wife had been unknowingly running off-grid, watching TV, using her computer and preparing meals. We could have continued to run like this for a very long time. This is SoCal after all, so we have the free power of the sun shining down on us.
A setup like this is not a huge outlay. The panels and battery are less than $15,000, including the tax credit. There are substantial future benefits to using a Tesla battery. (Stay tuned for an explanation in future green tip articles.)
Keeping the lights on and the house running all while reducing your power bill. And doing your part to reduce your climate footprint. Sounds like a no-brainer.
Pacific Palisades is the first community in the United States preparing for a solar microgrid. Visit Resilient Palisades’ Clean Energy team page for info.
Whether you already have solar or are considering it, fill out the survey to help us better prepare for Phase One this fall: to provide the community with two to four package options for solar, storage and control that we will affirm are best prices in the market. And the bonus is that all packages will be compatible with our microgrid. So, when LADWP is ready to throw the switch, bingo—a resilient community!
For in-depth data about this or any of my previous green tips, contact dougmacmillan1@me.com.
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