How much does solar actually cost?

A solar installation can cost from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. If all you want to do is keep your phone and a couple flashlights charged, the cost will be very low. An average home in Utah will cost around $30,000 to replace what the grid offers.

However, a lot of money can be saved by simply facing reality. Electricity is the very most expensive way to heat or cool. Propane or natural gas is far cheaper for heating and cooking. Just turn on an electric range and go outside and watch how fast your meter spins. Heat from electricity requires a direct short. Even refrigeration is far cheaper with gas.

Once you eliminate heating and cooling, all you have left is lights, computers, televisions, and audio systems. These are not heavy electricity users. A microwave oven uses a thousand watts or so, but generally only runs for a few minutes.

Moving from grid to solar/wind is a change in lifestyle. You really do turn things off when not in use. You limit your high energy usage to daylight hours. For instance, you run your welder and air compressor during sunlight hours when possible. During the day, you produce far more electricity than you use and the excess goes to keeping your batteries charged. The size of your battery bank determins the amount of electricity available at night. A wind generator can also charge your batteries at night. In areas of consistent wind, your battery bank may be quite small.

Make a list of how many watts each of the devices you want to run add up to. Add 20% and this is the minimum amount of solar panel watts you will need. Off-grid people sometimes supplement their power production with a generator if they are on a budget. If you do use a generator, only use it to charge the batteries so that you don't have to run it continuously.

Battery prices are dropping dramatically. Some LiFeP04 batteries that used to cost $900 each are now less than $200. Your battery bank should be large enough to run whatever you use at night, without dropping below 60% state of charge. Batteries will last decades if the state of charge never drops below 80%.