My Off-Grid Solar Power is Free now, Right??

 

Good day to our future off-grid residential dwellers! Being able to develop a property away from the grid-tied structure of utility provided power opens up your search to more possibilities of larger acreage, remoteness, and sometimes better views and more usable properties. And the independence of it all is attractive, of course. There are definitely reasons to live off-the-grid, and I support them. I LOVE helping clients find beautiful land to build on.

However, something I hear a lot from people who are living off-grid that I believe perpetuates misunderstanding is, "And now my power is free!!"

It isn't. It just isn't. A better statement would be, "And now my power is paid-for until I need to spend more money on my power generation system." The solar system will need, over time, batteries, inverters, charge controllers, and panels themselves replaced. And the back-up generator will also need regular maintenance, and, over the years, periodic replacement as well. The immediacy and frequency of these repairs and replacements is in direct proportion to the quality of the original parts and installation as well as the diligence of with the maintenance is conducted. This is absolutely a place where an skillful property owner can function with a much smaller budget line-item than a property owner who needs to hire help to build and keep the system solidly functioning.

So, I wholeheartedly support going off-grid and have many clients and neighbors who live that way happily and successfully. Just please budget for it!!