Within a rural setting, your options to be completely grid-free increase given the amount of space available, unlike urban home solutions.
The house itself does not dictate the number of solar panels or the orientation.
The space provides more options.
Understanding your energy needs with correct planning is the ideal step. Executing the plan in stages, if so desired, as long as you factor in your energy needs, to ensure all components are effectively purchased when needed, An area often overlooked is cabling & wiring. There is a host of information that will be added to assist you in your planning. If your target is total grid free living, then a mix of all three ready-to-install technologies will be the ideal way forward in covering your needs.
- Solar PV for direct electric generation.
Solar water heating to reduce the energy consumed for heating the home and water for personal use.
Wind turbine for covering you on days when the sun may not have maximum intensity.
This supplemental part is a bridge to ensure you have adequate energy for all your needs. An adequate number of batteries ensures you will not need a grid connection. If you produce more energy than you need and don’t have neighbours to share it with. Selling to the grid will be the best option, as your investment return period reduces.
If your calculations are based on this year’s energy prices, and your payback period is between the 7 and 10-year average, then as each year passes, energy prices rise at the same rate. Your actual payback period will naturally reduce as this money is no longer being spent on energy bills. If you are selling back to the grid, then the payments back to you may also increase in line with inflation. Considering the effective life of solar PV panels is 25 years on average, you have plenty of years of totally free energy and payback from the grid for your excess energy. Depending on your rural location, if you have access to a river or a flowing stream, you can freely harness this energy source. Geothermal is an area of energy production, that has received good media attention. We will not cover in much detail on this site, as a small percentage of home-owners who can apply this technology. Geothermal is location dependent, expensive to implement, and has many factors to consider. This subject cannot be covered on this site, because of its individual complexity.
References
ten. (2000). Solar energy in building renovation—results and experience of international demonstration buildings. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778800000529
