Architect/Home Builder

I am waiting for Batteries to drop in price as an "off grid" system is the only way for me to justify spending on Solar... we have brownouts on a regular basis and I would only use the grid to augment the panels for charging batteries..

 

Not sure whether prices for batteries will drop in a short notice. Their is a world wide demand for all kind of batteries for solar, cars, computers and whatsoever.

Furthermore I am not really sure whether an off grid system would be the best solution. The weak point are the batteries. They are pretty expensive and lasting due to clima conditions maybe 5 or 6 years. Then you have to replace them.

That means in my opinion if everything is working out fine you could manage to save let's say 4.000 Peso per month, or roundabout 250.000 Peso within 5 years.
And after 5 years you need exactly the same amount to buy new batteries.

Hence I was considering to get a on grid or hybrid system in order to eliminate the weakest and most important part of the system. The idea was that Noreco will be my batteries.
Unfortunately this might not work out due to reluctance and lack of cooperation of Noreco to support this technology.

In my opinion the best solution in terms of money value and having a stress free live would be an off grid system in combination with a generator to cover brown outs.

In our area, Sibulan, we have occasionally brown oits, let's say once a week, but not longer than for 1 or 2 hours. For this short time my generator is working fine.

As said I am still undecided what to do. Attitude of Noreco, prices for batteries and obvious lack of reliable and trustful contractors are giving me a lot of concerns.

Anyhow it's clear to me that I have to make a decision as soon as possible, cause prices for electricity will raise and raise in the future. Only this year from January to November Noreco was increasing the generation charges from 5,xxxx to 9,xxxx.

By investing in a solar system you are freezing the rates by the level of today.

It's an interesting topic and I hope more members will post their experiences. Would be greatly appreciated.

 

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Not as concerned about savings as much as quality of life... The new Gel batteries do not off gas so can be kept in air con extending battery life. hoping that with increasing demand that production will drive prices down but hate brownouts with a passion and getting tired of Gen upkeep .. so will purchase in the next year hopefully

 

With what I have to say here Sir and I do not mean to single you out, but when I read posts like yours I cannot help but chuckle to myself, it may sound a bit smug of me? but Why build a house in PH that requires the high usage to electric to cool it down? the problem as I see it is Sheep Mentality, follow what the rest of the Sheep are doing and build a large CHB house, using Tin sheeting for the roof in nice dark colours and what you have is a storage heater to absorb the heat of the sun during the day to release it during the dark hours, Sheep have more sense at least they wear their insulated wool coat. added to this CHB houses have a high potential to become death traps in a serious Earthquake, most people killed during such an event are from falling masonry, it has now become the trend to build these fine palatial structures using cosmetic Pillars and Beams, this leaves them under engineered with a much higher potential to fail in a Quake. To build a sound well constructed house in CHB with a high resistance to Quakes, requires a deep concrete stem wall at least 2ft=60cm below grade to extend around 8inch=20cm above grade and the Pillars and Beams to be constructed before any CHB is laid, unfortunately none seem to be done in this way?

So the answer to this is build a house that can be fully insulated which does not require the use of AC and high usage of electric and added to this, they the AC units, also require quite a bit of maintenance to keep them running efficiently, for an insulated house a consideration may be given to have a small 1 panel stand alone Solar system with a Batt back up which only requires the ability to run a couple of fans and the fridge, it may even be possible to get a ROI from this but this is off no consequence considering the saving to be had by not having AC.

The small (75M2) fully insulated house I built there has a monthly electric bill of no more than P2K a month, even if it had been double this size it is unlikely for the Bill to increase all that much considering a big portion of this Bill is taken up by standing charges.

 

Dave I agree with you 100% on this, to give someone P5K to do the survey of the house you would have to be (Aff yer Fecking Heid) I cannot help but wonder if it was Big Bad Jeff that was involved in this, especially when it was said he smoked a few Cigs and did little else, Jeff is a chain smoker to extreme and also that kind of person who would extort money from someone in any way he can, thinking of him and his mates rates.

My Solar system here in UK has a 25yr warranty for the panels only and I think 10yrs for the rectifier/inverter and other associated parts, now if this had to fail after the warranty expiries, this will cost me 40% of the original installation cost to have this replaced, I would imagine here in UK they are using well tried and tested units, but unlikely to be the case in PH?

As for Phil-Can, (The replacements were NOT TOO SKILLED) when they brought in English John as Foreman, I would suggest everything went south after that, although Bernie did not say this to me directly, when I did ask him if John was one of the reasons he left, he just gave me a big smile and no denial.

 

Apologize.
Didn´t want to create any kind of inconvenience like uncontrolled laughter.

Apologize again for living in a sheep shelter.
Just thinking to improve my existing house.

Well, unfortunately I bought my house a few years ago. Don´t want to build another one and don´t want to dismantle mine.

In my area and due to my personal habits and preferences I do need and I do like AC and I want to have it. It cost a certain amoutn of energy, like other devices as well. Microwave, water boiler, pool pump and so on.

Due to the above and due to increasing rates for energy I am thinking about to install a solar system to gain independency as well as reducing costs.
That´s why I was wondering whether other members might have similar ideas and how I could possibly learn fromit.

Of course you have made some valid points. I am not questioning that. It just doesn´t help me.
If I would start from scratch eventually I would buy another house in a different area. It´s just too late. I already bought a house 4 years ago, I do live in an area where I do need AC, and actually I am looking for decent advice to get a solar system installed. On grid, or off grid or hybrid. That was the question.

 

When I tell akong asawa we should build a new house in Negroes she laughs at me and says all we need is a bahay kubo, because they are cool without electricity and besides when I think about it they were good enough for her grandparents.

 

Maybe fine for her, but unless you have been living off the grid in Florida, I don't think it's going to work for you. lol

 

Actually we did a lot of tent camping together when my son was in the boy scouts and the PI does not seem to have all the pesky gnats we experienced in the Florida and Georgia woods/wetlands. We still have the tents and break them out now and then for some family bonding in the state parks. As long as I have a solar or battery fan I can make it work.