Saturday, July 31, 2010

Solar or not?

Solar was about the only way we could go when we decided to live in the Arizona desert. It was also at that time about all we could afford. We were not trying to make a statement one way or the other. This is what we needed in order to live where we chose to live.

Our retirement plan was "what can we do without in order to survive?". Through with the lay offs we have gotten a pretty good preview of what we can live without.

We started planning for the fall of the economy when the housing market started rising dramatically about 6 years ago. We were one of the fortune ones that bought low and sold high, took 13 years of owning our home but it quadrupled in price. It was a very modest home. Within 1 1/2 years the home we sold was barely worth what we paid for it in the 90's.

So here we are, unemployed and very thankful we do not have a mortgage or utilities. We lost nothing when we lost our jobs accept some pride. Most people would be homeless after 6 months.

We put all that money up front into solar when we were working and now we are reaping the rewards. We are surviving.

Granted a grid-tie solar system is a bit less expensive than an offgrid one due to the charge controller and battery backup. But if you are going to go solar, do a stand alone system if possible. We would never sell back to a utility company at a fraction of the rate we were buying. Let them buy the land and the solar to put on it. We did all of the research, leg work and put the money, sweat and tears into this off grid solar system. We don't need them anymore. We paid for the system, it belongs to us and it is not for sale for a penny on the dollar.

Eventually, it will get to the point to where they need us. Think about it.

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