[quote=Jacarandoso]You’re right, if you don’t have the roof or a large yard space, then there isn’t much you can do about that. What size back-up generator do you have now? Most people will tolerate no AC for the 5 hour black out rather than spend a fortune on a back-up generator, so that is pretty much an optional cost with grid-tied systems.[/quote]
I don’t have any right now. I’m just trying to get as close to apple to apple comparison as possible, since I’m in the market to reduce my energy cost. I’m not saying people won’t tolerate not having AC for 5 hours, but to be fair to both tech, you have to make it as close to apple vs apple as possible. If we lose power again and it happen to be during a heat wave, 5 hours w/out AC might not be much fun.
The reason why I’m bringing up solar + battery pack/generator is because I want to compare cost with the same predictability. Lets say it’s cloudy, then if you have a solar system w/out battery pack, you would still have to depend on the cost of electricity from the grid. With FC, you are completely off the grid. As long as you have NG, you have power, rain or shine. So, when you add in the cost of NG for FC solution, you would have to either add in the cost of electricity for days/months where you don’t get very much direct sun light. Or, you would have to count in the cost of a backup generator that can produce enough power so you don’t have to change the way you use power when you’re on the generator.
One other + that I don’t think we can take advantage of it right now (or ever) is the amount of power it produces. 120kWh I would assume is enough power for at least 3 household. Can you imagine if we can get one of those unit and split with your other 2 neighbors to reduce your up front cost.
