OFF-GRID SOLAR POWER DURING THE BLIZZARD OF ‘22
First, let me start by wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
As far as Christmas's go, this one had to be one of the most challenging ones to date. On December 23rd we were hit with a major snow event that left us without power for over 4 days. For many of our friends and family, this meant no heat, hot water or a way to cook. Luckily for us, we have all gas appliances and a gas fireplace in addition to a generator to keep us mostly powered up. And a bonus, our new solar system.
Thank goodness for this as we were were able to open our house up to some relatives to spend the night and enjoy a hot shower and warm meals.
Even though we were equipped with a generator, we were starting to get a little nervous about having enough gas to stay powered up, and the local gas stations didn’t have power
Battery Set-up
either. Fortunately, Sam had been testing out our solar system recently and half our panels and the batteries were hooked up. What a great opportunity to really test things out!
So, how did a solar system help us through the storm considering it was a complete whiteout and there was no sun at all?
When we were designing the system for our off-grid cabin we kept in mind it would likely need some back-up from time to time. You can’t always count on the sun! Especially in the winter months. So, when doing our research on the types of inverters available, (the solar inverter is the device that converts the direct current (12DC) to 120V (AC)), we chose an Inverter/Charger. This means we have the ability to top up our batteries using the generator when the sun isn’t available to recharge them.
With the extended power outage of approx. 90+ hours we were able to use the generator to easily charge our 2 – 200AH batteries the whole time. So basically, instead of running the house from the generator we split the time between generator use and battery use. The total generator run time was approximately 32 hours, the remaining 60+ hours were from battery power. This greatly reduced the generator running hours and saved us precious generator fuel, very important when all the gas stations are closed and inaccessible.
It also meant we could run the generator during the day and not have to listen to it at night! OMG that generator running noise can drive you insane!
With this set-up we were able to keep the house warm using our natural gas fireplace with blower, power the kitchen refrigerator continually, several lights, the gas range, and occasionally the TV to catch over the air weather broadcasts from Buffalo (and a football game for distraction). We also powered the chest freezer and garage refrigerator a few hours a day to keep the food stored from thawing, this was mainly done during generator hours.
On Christmas day we were able to convince 4 family members to come warm up and enjoy a hot meal. Once warmed up and fed, they all decided to stay with us. Who doesn’t love a sleep over!!