Solar Panel Laws?

[kiddchaos]

You might want to start with a small test system and see if you want to go for it.

The guy at Missouri Wind and Solar, DIY Wind and Solar Energy has some interesting systems and You tubes to watch. (Wind blades were in GI Joe movie, ha).

As far as non-solar, there are tri-fuel converters for a gas generator for SHTF type of scenarios.

 

[MikeDVB]

And when everyone's lights are out but yours, the criminal element knows just who to rob.

Why is that? Are they going to be able to 'steal my power' and take it back home with them?

I'd argue anybody that's taken the time to go off-grid, is likely [but not guaranteed] armed and prepared to defend their homestead.

I'm making provisions to be able to black out my house so that from the outside, it looks just as dead as everyone else in the event of a black out, even though the rooms will still be blazing with light.

Personally I'd make the argument that being blacked out would be security through obscurity and not really security.

I.e. you're not more secure because you're blacked out - you just don't stand out. I'm not saying it's a bad idea or that you're wrong so don't misunderstand - I'm not critiquing you.

I'm also taking steps to convert all of my room lighting to white LEDs. In that way, there can be a set of cheap car batteries that are kept charged and at room temp, and in an emergency, the lighting system wouldn't even realize there was no mains power coming in.

LED lighting is quite nice due to both the longevity of the light source and the extremely low power consumption.

 

[CathyInBlue]

Why is that? Are they going to be able to 'steal my power' and take it back home with them?

I'd argue anybody that's taken the time to go off-grid, is likely [but not guaranteed] armed and prepared to defend their homestead.

But criminals are addicted to the path of least resistance. When the lights go out, why would you want to victimize the house that's blacked out and a question mark as to whether or not it has expensive loot, when you can victimize the house that's lit, and as a consequence of having an owner that cares enough to outfit his house with backup power, has prolly been outfitted with primo loot?

The fact that the owner is more than likely packing heat doesn't necessarily factor into the criminal calculus. The tofu-eating, global-warming freaks who are into off-grid/renewable power aren't generally the type to pack heat anyway.

Personally I'd make the argument that being blacked out would be security through obscurity and not really security.

I.e. you're not more secure because you're blacked out - you just don't stand out. I'm not saying it's a bad idea or that you're wrong so don't misunderstand - I'm not critiquing you.

That's the same argument as the gray man gambit during an emergency evac. You're no more or less safe because you're wearing anonymous clothes, packing anonymous luggage, with all of your BOB resources hidden. You're secure because of the BOB resources you have hidden. But because you're grayed out, the real-world zombies that might want to eat you (hopefully in a purely metaphorical sense) don't recognize the resources under their very noses, and so leave you alone.

This is essentially the gray house gambit.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm making provisions to be able to black out my house so that from the outside,

Wouldn't that also "black in" your house, leaving you unable to see what's going on outside?

 

[rooster]

A family member is a contractor who builds houses and he does a lot of what you would call "green power" setups IE. Solar,wind,geothermal. He was actually just explaining how a lot of it works to me the other day and he mentioned that in order for you to be able to sell power back into the grid your setup must be made with all U/L (underwriter laboratory) certified parts. They are more expensive than doing a full DIY but you do have the added benefit of knowing that the system is fully tested and you can sell power back if you make enough.

Check out this site he had a book he got from there that explained how all different kinds of self sustaining power works for a single home. Kind of like a "green power" for dummies book.

Power4Patriots Home

 

[CathyInBlue]

Wouldn't that also "black in" your house, leaving you unable to see what's going on outside?

That's what IR-capable cams installed around the periphery, up in the soffits are for.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

That's what IR-capable cams installed around the periphery, up in the soffits are for.

 

[CathyInBlue]

Of course, anyone else with IR camera capabilities will wonder what the deal is during a black out with that house that's a blaze in IR light.

 

[Indy317]

Would a solar set-up be worth doing just for emergency back-up power? I actually wouldn't mind a small enough system to charge enough batteries to maybe run a fridge and a few outlets in the home. My thinking is that in the summer, during a power outage, I could still have a fridge going. During the winter, I could use an extension cord and plug in the wood stove blower. Of course if one was on a well, running the well would seem to be something important as well, but most of those are hardwired into the system, not plugged into a wall outlet. I've always thought of a system just big enough to power the well, pressure tank, and softener 24/7, but that could also could have a few outlets inside the home to run the fridge and maybe radio/computer/TV.

 

[Prometheus]

Wouldn't that also "black in" your house, leaving you unable to see what's going on outside?

A lighted room with no drapes vs a lighted room with blackout curtains is going to provide the view of the nighttime outside... blackness.

I would assume such blackout curtains/shutters would be opened every morning.

 

[CathyInBlue]

But a room with blackout curtains/shutters can also be blacked out and the curtains/shutters drawn back for a dark-adjusted eyeball to peak out without sending search lights stabbing out into the blackness.

My idea for the painted vignette on the outside of the integral shutters would be equally convincing when observed from the outside night or day. A properly blacked out room with just one window for peeking in would look like a bottomless pit for light from a flashlight, so a deep, matte black texture on those areas meant to appear to be visually open into the interior should work night or day. Alternatively, just having a painted vignette and looks like voluminous, opaque curtains plastered against the inside of the window would be light in color, but not unexpected night or day and still offer convincingly innocent total light blocking.