Solar Panels vs. Generators – Which Is the Better Backup Solution?

[jacksonjones495]

With load shedding affecting homes and businesses, many people are investing in alternative power sources. Some prefer generators for immediate power, while others opt for solar panels and inverters for long-term savings. Which option do you think is more practical and cost-effective?

[organic farmer]

What is the most cost effective is to learn to live without electricity.

I have had an off-grid solar power system for ten years.

I would say the best way to go into this is to first start with a generator, big enough to power all your household needs. Then add a solar system to that. You will need the generator later while doing maintenance on your battery bank.

[Mike 134]

For backup? Hands down generator. Most power outages happen due to storms. How many days will it remain cloudy after the storm making your solar panels worthless?
Just a quick back of envelope calculation, generator is 15% the cost of a solar system with batteries, perhaps even as little as 10%.

[organic farmer]

We had a Generac installed last summer, its cost was very near the cost of our solar system [including battery bank].

[DanS26]

You can buy a 10kW portable generator for as little as $800 (at Tr***** Supply). 10kW is more than enough for critical loads in the average home. Installed with transfer switch for under $1,000.

[organic farmer]

We had a 18kw Generac installed ~$20k.

[DanS26]

IMO generators are oversold by salesmen. It's really not necessary to run the whole house in an emergency on a generator which basically wastes energy.

My little 10kW runs a 2 1/2 ton AC, gas furnace, heat pump WH, well pump, microwave, 80% of the lights and outlets. entertainment center and desktop computer center. Plus my wife's workshop with irons and sewing machine. Just set the machine up to run critical loads and you are good to go.

[bcroe]

Your needs depend on what you consider essential loads.
Might be
fridge and freezer
furnace
sump pump
well pump
communication equip
Or just cover everything automatically.

You might just pick up a 5 kva gen set which can run on that
same fuel you put in the lawn mower. Arrange to be able to
connect your critical loads to it manually if needed. I have
one (electric start recommended) that has been used briefly
4 times since I bought it for half a kilobuck, but not at all in the
last 2 decades. Needs start battery maintenance.

You can pay for complete install of an automatic gen plant
large enough for your entire setup, with automatic transfer
on power loss. Might be hooked up to natural gas, test run
automatically on a regular schedule, still needing start
battery maintenance.

You could go off grid, which usually implies you will are doing
your own heating with wood and all that involves. Electrical
capacity will be limited, most likely will need batteries involving
inverters and more maintenance. But batteries ultimately
need a gen set to cover a long loss of renewable power.

I have enough solar to cover all my heating, cooling, and
electrical energy needs thru net metering, but no power
backup. Quite simple, minimal cost, and very low maintenance.
good luck,
Bruce Roe

[jacksonjones495]

Thanks y'all for sharing your experiences and advice

[DarrinDNelson]

I concur with Mike 134. We started with a natural gas Generac whole house generator for "crisis" backup power. We then added Solar to the house where here in Florida where we have net metering, we essentially are pumping our excess/unused energy back to the grid and getting credit for it. FPL essentially acts as our virtual powerwall. When our solar is not producing electricity, we pull from FPL's grid. If FPL is down, our generator automatically kicks in and serves all of our power needs until FPL comes back on line.

[sdold]

With load shedding affecting homes and businesses, many people are investing in alternative power sources. Some prefer generators for immediate power, while others opt for solar panels and inverters for long-term savings. Which option do you think is more practical and cost-effective?

With load shedding affecting homes and businesses, many people are investing in alternative power sources. Some prefer generators for immediate power, while others opt for solar panels and inverters for long-term savings. Which option do you think is more practical and cost-effective?

Hi, and welcome to the forum. I see that you've joined over 30 other forums in the past week, that's really impressive. With all of those forums you've joined I sure hope you'll find time to stop by here and say hi once in a while.

By the way some of your AI posts have some formatting errors, you should go back and check them:

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[azdave]

With load shedding affecting homes and businesses, many people are investing in alternative power sources. Some prefer generators for immediate power, while others opt for solar panels and inverters for long-term savings. Which option do you think is more practical and cost-effective?

This seemed like and AI bot question from the get-go. Why ask about load shedding and using solar panels for backup? The questions are asked in a very odd manner.

[sdold]

The username is what gave it away for me. After a while you notice that they have a lot of similarities, you can see that in the list of recently banned users (within the last two or three years).

[SunEagle]

The username is what gave it away for me. After a while you notice that they have a lot of similarities, you can see that in the list of recently banned users (within the last two or three years).

So is that post a spam from an AI and should they get banned?

[sdold]

It probably is, but I'd wait a bit and see what happens. The worst that will happen is one of the posts will be edited to add a link.