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  • SolarRoger
    Junior Member
    • Dec 2011
    • 6

    #1

    Greetings from Italy

    Hello everyone!

    OK, so actually at the moment we are in London, but we are designing a farmhouse restoration (well, rebuild) in Italy at the moment and hope to have a degree of independence from the utility companies. I've been reading (oh, so MUCH reading) about various heating and electrical options that my head is spinning a bit, but my current thoughts are that we'll do something along these lines;

    1) We'll probably use ground source heating ... which puts the electrical load up somewhat.

    2) I don't like the idea of grid-tie from the perspective of lack of independence - we are in a rural location and I'd prefer to use off-grid to lower our dependency on the utility co. I'm well aware that from a practical perspective, we won't be able to go completely off-grid and that's just fine.

    3) I'd like to be able to sell surplus in the summer back to the grid in order to help balance the costs a little.

    So that's the plan! I'll now switch over to another thread and ask a few specific questions to help refine what we're considering so you can tell me that we're barking mad!

    Ciao
    Roger
  • russ
    Solar Fanatic
    • Jul 2009
    • 10360

    #2
    Originally posted by SolarRoger
    Hello everyone!

    1) We'll probably use ground source heating ... which puts the electrical load up somewhat.

    2) I don't like the idea of grid-tie from the perspective of lack of independence - we are in a rural location and I'd prefer to use off-grid to lower our dependency on the utility co. I'm well aware that from a practical perspective, we won't be able to go completely off-grid and that's just fine.

    3) I'd like to be able to sell surplus in the summer back to the grid in order to help balance the costs a little.

    Ciao
    Roger
    Hi Roger - Welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

    Can you justify the additional cost of the GSHP? Your location seems to be on the coast - therefor probably a mild climate. When I looked at GSHP vs ASHP there was no way to justify the extra cost (substantial) with the savings (minimal in a mild climate). If you are freezing your butt off in the winter and it is too cold for an ASHP to operate efficiently then the GSHP can be the best solution.

    Being off grid is kind of like being a 'little' pregnant. You are either grid connected or not. There are hybrid systems - one discussion in another thread mentions this today.

    To sell surplus back you are definitely grid connected.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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