Can Solar Power Get You Off The Grid?

There are many solar power plans that show you how to put together a solar panel for under $200. When you compare this to commercial solar panels costing thousands of dollars it looks very good. But how realistic is it? Can you really power your home or get off the grid with such a system?

The short answer is: No.

Why then, do people continue to purchase such plans to build their own solar power system? Surely, they don’t all believe that they can power their homes from a $200 investment. No, of course not. There are many reasons these programs or plans are so popular.

For a start, the investment is minimal. You are not having to spend thousands of dollars and so that puts it within reach of almost anybody. If you follow the plans you can save thousands by constructing your own solar panels. This is a big incentive for many people.

By starting small and doing it yourself you gain experience and confidence. Since your initial panels will probably be relatively small and low power any mistakes you make will not be catastrophic and because you made it yourself you will know what to do to correct it. The thing that stops most people doing something (after cost) is a lack of confidence in their ability to do it. Having a step-by-step-plan to follow helps you gain confidence and skill.

Once you have a basic solar power system up and running, you can easily extend it at your own pace as time and budget permit. Again, because you built it yourself you will know what to do to increase its generating capacity and also save money.

Should something break (eg, you get a hail storm that damages some panels) you can readily fix it yourself without having to pay a lot of money for a tradesman.

I also believe that one of the most important though rarely mentioned reasons is the tremendous satisfaction you get when you have done something yourself and it works. If you have also saved a few dollars in the process then that is a bonus.

So while you won’t get off the grid for $200 (unless you already have an extremely frugal lifestyle) you can progressively add to your system so that eventually you will have anough generating capacity to run your household appliances and possibly even feed surplus electricity back into the grid.

And if enough people do that, the days of blackouts and brownouts will be a thing of the past.