There's been a lot of cloudy weather recently. I've been keeping a log of the data that the charge controller generates. It is averaging just a fraction of what I thought it might. Such is the disappointment of these things. All of that effort and money for so little. Nothing has changed in my opinion of solar power, which wasn't favorable anyway.
Yet, I am considering going a bit bigger. As it stands, it isn't sufficient. Maybe it will never be, but it is certainly not that now.
I've come to the conclusion, maybe even long ago, that going small was the best way. The more you try to recreate the kind of lifestyle that you are accustomed to in the city, the more you'll have to spend. The amount goes up rather dramatically. You can spend tens of thousands of dollars on one of these solar powered systems. Even then, it is subject to intermittency at the whims of mother nature.
Not that I was ever really a fan of these things. I think the average person, who spends those tens of thousands, is doing it for reasons other than economics. The economics makes no sense at all. That's why subsidies are necessary.
If at all practical, I am going to try to go geothermal. To put it another way, I think the basement route will allow me to avoid the big cost of climate control. The other biggie is food preservation. That one can be trimmed back as well with old timey ways of preserving foods. A fridge just uses way too much energy. Running lights is trivial in terms of energy requirements.
Less is more. Smaller is better. Or cheaper, which to me, is better. To go fully solar and try to live the modern lifestyle, is nothing but sheer extravagance.
So the next step is being contemplated. Next stop could be more expenditures, which I don't like. But I've come this far, so I might as well finish the project. At least, this part of it.
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