Biggest thing to remember about solar power is the batteries is the weakest link and ideally deep cycle sealed batteries is the way to go.

Be warned all batteries no matter the type have a cycle life most people say never run your batteries below 50%.

Another thing to remember with solar the bigger the battery bank the longer the charge time which translates to more fuel used.

Sizing the system to be the most efficiient it can will save you dollars, it will save you fuel,

For a shtf scenario replacement materials would be a major concern "specialized" solar system parts would be difficult to find replacements.

The ideal solar backup power are car batteries they aren't the best for the job but they can be replaced more easily.

A battery and any inverter and bam you have back up power of course you can chain batteries together to have more reserve power..

No doubt all things solar is going to cost and remember you get what you pay for. the more options you give yourself the mroe flexible.

Solar,wind, and solar hot water heaters for hygiene.

They do make 12 volt freezers, they also make 12 volt fridge freezers that can be found anywhere and has a wide range of prices.

That second type is small and plugs in to the 12 volt outlets in most modern cars, and trucks.

We do get some wind too..I think about it everytime I see my weather vane fan spin...

Ive got my solar going finally, it is definetly an expensive project. Ive got 10 100 watt panels, going to 24 t-105 batterys run in parrell and series. with a xantrex charge controller and 2 5000 watt pure sine wave inverters. Im running just half my house right now, and plan to wire in my 2 windmills, but im still in the modifying stage of those. its definetly a good feeling to know your making your own power, and when everyone else has power outgages from storms, and other problems, mine just keeps on. I suggest everyone to do some research first and see what exactly your getting into, If i had to do it again, I would go with a more powerful system like a 24 volt or 48 volt system though. Good luck

Over the long haul, consider replacing your HVAC with ground loop geothermal.

We're going that route when the current units age out, as part of a long-term solar conversion. Although we are also going to go gas for cooking and drying. Hot water we'll get as part of the solar conversion, the ground loop units will preheat your cold water and then a touch of sunlight does the rest.

I've often considered making a canned well supply - a bolt-together pre-designed well pump solar power unit anyone could install that would fall back to house power if the batteries ran flat. I'd like to get the well off of the mains for the most part.

I'm helping a buddy gear up for solar. Oddly enough it is from his chicken operation.

Here in Texas, snakes, skunks, foxes, coyotes and racoons all compete to eat the chickens. So we've rigged up a hot-wire along the top of the fence where the chickens run in the daytime, as well as another wire about 3 inches off the ground along the base of the outer perimeter of the chicken run. Racoons climb over, but badgers, foxes and coyotes will dig under.

To make matters worse, Buddy has decided that the hens are not laying because they are only getting 10 & 1/2 hours of sunlight. They need 14 hours to produce any volume. Easily remedied; just run a circuit out to the hen house, and flip the light on when you sit down to breakfast, and turn it off when you put your feet up after supper.

But he's using a chicken tractor, a portable hen-house on wheels that he moves every two weeks. The chickens can eat bugs they find in the pasture (their true food source, more than grains) and fertilize it. Of course, four weeks into it, the tractor is making progress across the pasture, and an extension cord won't reach.

So now he has a battery for the bottom wire, a battery for the top wire, and a panel to run the lights (plus a small vent fan!) set up inside the "attic" of the chicken tractor.

Installing the frames for panels on the chicken hutch started a conversation about how he'd like to run pigs behind his corn crop, with a similar system. Then we started talking about a solar powered CCTV perimeter.....

I'll share y'alls thoughts with him from this thread. Thanks.

Biggest energy draw on any house is usually heating and cooling. Essentially you need a super insulated structure with a very efficient heat exchanger capable of delivering plenty of fresh air without thermal loss. One of those retired underground missile silos in the Plains states might be a suitable candidate. Every room on a different level with a counter balanced transport running up and down behind one wall. Can't keep the doors open between rooms with that design though.
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If you are getting a power inverter, some are very badly made. Look for a good one. I think, a 3000 watt power inverter is good enough to handle all your solar panels that you would need. The only thing is then storing it in batteries. All batteries usually have life spans and are expensive, but a lot of people use golf cart batteries.