Another grid tied renewable energy user Kubota driver here!
40 years ago I bought (barely, no extra money at all) some raw rural property, and the 10 K the utility wanted to hook me to the grid was an unfathomable number. So the first night on the property I ran the lights in the fifth wheel trailer/cabin (home built, it came off the factory trailer frame, it was built like a small cabin, all wood) off of my truck battery, and driving into town the next day charged it back up. I gradually progressed into a small off grid wind system, then a larger one, then some of the first consumer available solar panels came along (magic!) and things got progressively easier.
Fast forward 30 years, I sold the property and home I had built, after installing grid power for the new buyers (their mortgage company demanded that, no problem, I just jacked the price up to cover it, and the house was wired conventionally) and moved 2 miles away to a 40 acre chunk of raw ground. What a difference 40 years make, this time round I had a couple hundred thousand bucks in the bank, so things went back together real quick! I had planned to go off grid, but when I found there was a power line to a semi deserted shack right across my property I went grid tie. Screw batteries, I had a gut full of them while off grid, pure grid tie is the way to go, simpler and more efficient.
My grid tie system now consists of 4 KW of solar, a 2.5 KW wind turbine, and since I have water production rights (not to use, I have to put every drop back in) of the creek that flows through my mountain side property (147' of fall, I use about 85 GPM to put back 800 watts or so into the grid,24/7, from April to early December, when I shut it down for the winter), and I have never looked back. My utility (or "my battery", as I think of them) does not pay me anything, but they store my excess power, at 100% efficiency, I put 1 watt in, I get one watt back, try that with a battery! Plus it's a "battery" of infinite size. Right now, after the usual winter months of my consumption eating into my excess (all electric home and shop, screw propane) I STILL have over 8,000 KWH credit. In another few weeks, as the weather warms up and the water starts flowing again, my heating demands go down (electric boiler for the radiant floor, plus numerous radiant panel heaters) and the days get long and sunnier, I'll start rebuilding my surplus, ending the year with 12 or 13,000 KWH in "the bank."
I just bought a plug in Prius, so I now drive back and forth to town, 15 miles, for free. I have another 2 KW solar system at my town property (my crane yard), so when I get there I also can drive back, for free. My crane shed is also heated for free, with another electrical boiler rad floor system.
I am not ripping off anybody, no more then I am by driving a fuel efficient car rather then a gas guzzler. Sure, the guzzler driver contributes more highway maintenance funds because he buys more gas, but that's not my problem. My excess goes into the grid when the utility needs it the most, it's a win/win and I know a lot of people who work for that utility. More power (ha ha) to the people who feel the need to continue throwing their money away by renting their electricity, instead of buying their own production facility. It's like RENTING a home instead of OWNING your home. I have not paid a power bill for 40 years, since grid tied just the 5 buck a month hook up fee, which I pay with a huge grin. The next time you pay your utility bill Grouse Feathers, think of it like taking money (money you had to earn as income, and pay income tax on) out of your wallet and setting it on fire, poof it's gone, and you have nothing to show for it. And plan on doing it next month, and the next, forever. Besides having free power for the last 40 years, I'll have it until I die, the value of this is many many times greater then the initial outlay.
Solar rant over! Back to tractor stuff! I need to unplug the 1,000 watt engine heater from the Dodge Cummins flatbed (why put up with a cold start when I can pre heat for free....) and run down the mountain to meet the truck driver who's bring my new set of forks for my new L3301. The rest of the day I'll be fine tuning my procedure for loading, unloading, and securing for transport the tractor, using the 12' dump bed trailer I also just bought. Then clearing more snow! Then, in a day or so, I have a antique safe to move in town, the people called me thinking it was a job for a crane, but after looking at where it was, I realized it was a job for the Kubota, AND the new QA forks. I can't believe I get paid for having fun like that. I'll see if I can post a few pics.
