Use an induction cooktop anyone? Anyone?

[NYPorsche]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I am putting solar panels on this place and probably a battery. I don't know how the battery works. Can it be a backup power supply? The solar system we have has no battery and shuts down when power from the utility goes down.
There is no natural gas and the house is not plumbed for propane. I'm going to have to spend some money on something. It may as well be something that helps pay for itself. Our natural gas generator cost $10,500 to install plus $250 a year for maintenance. It has run maybe 5 hours in 7 years. That's some expensive electricity.

The battery can function as a backup supply but obviously dependent on capacity. Installation of the battery will come with the automatic switch to go from line power to battery so your battery/solar doesn't backfeed down the line and kill a linesman working up the road. My parents installed one of those systems when they put solar in a few years ago. So far - they love it, the power change is instantaneous, and the solar keeps on generating to recharge the battery (they're out in the sticks and they lose power 5-10 times a year). During the summer months, it's near infinite as they are generating more power than they use. During the winter months there are limitations obviously due to the lowered solar generation. When we had our system installed I asked about that but it was $$ and our power is very stable - it's been 19 years now since the last time my power went out. We're a couple blocks from a large university that used to have a research nuclear reactor, so supposedly they made sure that our power grid here pretty bulletproof. Do you remember the great North East Blackout of 2003? Took out power in most of Western New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, New York City. My little corner of Buffalo was up and running. So - long way of saying we didn't drop the 5 figures that a battery install would have taken.

At 5 years on our solar system now, we've recouped our initial investment. So now I'm just enjoying my free electrons raining down from the sky and powering my induction range. The $19/mo electric bill for the connection fee is pretty nice.