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Thanks. I went to Mira Shani’s yoga website and messaged her asking her to pass my name and contact info on to her husband Jarret Scott concerning giving me an estimate to design and install my solar.

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It is so frustrating! I spoke with a guy who has lived off grid for 12 years and he said my system should cost me about $75,000 at most including all materials and labor. He said these solar guys try to make it all seem more difficult and complex than it really is so they can charge outrageous prices. He said if I get a good electrician, the solar part is pretty much plug and play. Nothing to it. Ha! Easy for him to say. But I do agree with his perception.

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Could you post links to your youtube videos showing your solar setup? I am not finding any.

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Hello B747. Yes, he did an energy audit. I average 818 kwh per month with the high being 1354 kwh in January and the low being 928 kwh in May. I moved into this home in October and so far for the past 8 months, my daily kwh usage runs anywhere from 22 kwh to 54 kwh. I live alone but I am preparing for family to move in with me.

In the last 8 months of looking, I can only find one other solar contractor to quote my job and he seems unqualified because he just keeps trying to sell me a Generac system. Seems like all he understands is Generac.

IF ANYONE KNOWS OF A GOOD SOLAR DESIGNER/INSTALLER IN Middle to East TN area, please give me their name and contact info. I know a whole house solar system is expensive but it seems like this quote is way overpriced. I am an hour north of Chattanooga, an hour and forty minutes east of Murfreesboro, an hour south of Crossville, 40 minutes east of McMinville. So please let me know if anyone knows of any good solar guys in this general area.

The quote I posted above includes a Generac generator to charge the batteries when they get low when the sun does not shine for several days or weeks.

I do not have a propane generator. I currently have a gasoline Honda EM6500 SX generator as backup to keep my fridge, 2 freezers, tankless propane water heater with pilot light, propane stove top with pilot light, propane gas furnace with pilot light, hard wired security system, & a few lights going if electricity goes out temporarily.

I have wood burning stove insert and wood burning cook stove. I also have propane gas furnace for heat.

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Thank you! I got it! I will contact him! Thank you so very much – I appreciate your help!

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Thank you! I have recently been advised against using Sol-Ark, mainly because it is so expensive and I was recently told Sol-Ark now have competition that is just as good of a product for a lot less money.

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I would love to have the main guy’s phone number so I can call him to advise me. How do I private message you on this site? I haven’t figured this site out, yet. I did send you a request to connect (I think that’s what it’s called?)

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I finally heard back from a solar designer and installer. He quoted me $70k for a 10 kw whole house back up solar system with 25 kw hours of battery using Solar-Ark with built in central component, inverter & transfer switch. It is open source and compatible with any battery & is expandable. It is tied to the grid BUT can also go completely off grid when the grid goes down. The inverter is 150 lbs. Panels are waterproof & durable at perform at 80% after 30 years. Price includes them building racking system in my yard because I don’t want to put panels on my roof. It’s a turnkey job where they do it all. This is all according to the salesman who called me today.

Can anyone give me feedback about this Solar-Ark whole house system and the $70k price I was quoted? He mentioned “fortress”, “simplify”, and “homegrid” batteries that do well with the Solar-Ark.

Does anyone know if Solar-Ark and the 3 batteries mentioned are good brands, or not? And whether $70k is a reasonable price, or not, for what I am getting?

The team consists of a project manager, an electrician who will be onsite to do electrical work, 4 installers and one person who does the ground mount and digging trenches. Salesman also mentioned they are part of “Tungsten Solar” and they do a lot of work for TVA (TN Valley Authority).

They are 6 to 8 weeks out scheduling wise.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this or any questions I should ask the salesman? I (obviously) don’t even know enough about solar to ask the right questions.

All feedback is welcomed and appreciated! Thank you and God bless!

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You will need to check into the policy that your local power company has on solar to find out if they will pay u or not. My county won’t. They blow. As for not being able to do it yourself. You can do ANYTHING you set ur mind to. If u want solar YOU can build it. Just takes some planning and research and asking questions. There is alot about it I don’t know as well. All it takes to do anything is one word… start. Like I said if u want solar you can do it. I believe that you can. I’m no expert, hell I’m not even a novice at it but I’ll help explain stuff if u need it. If I don’t know I’ll help find someone that does. After all we are all in this bidenomics together.You will need to check into the policy that your local power company has on solar to find out if they will pay u or not. My county won’t. They blow. As for not being able to do it yourself. You can do ANYTHING you set ur mind to. If u want solar YOU can build it. Just takes some planning and research and asking questions. There is alot about it I don’t know as well. All it takes to do anything is one word… start. Like I said if u want solar you can do it. I believe that you can. I’m no expert, hell I’m not even a novice at it but I’ll help explain stuff if u need it. If I don’t know I’ll help find someone that does. After all we are all in this bidenomics together.

I will call the electric company 1st thing tomorrow morning to find out whether or not they will pay or

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Thanks. Will check them out.

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Where do I go on the freesteading site to accept your connection request? Been looking for it on this site, but I don’t see it. Thanks

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You make good points here. And I am not opposed to a smaller, less sophisticated system, or a different system altogether, as you say. But smaller, less sophisticated and different from what? I don’t even have a starting point yet. I am trying to find a person, someone, anyone, to even call me or email me back to set up an appointment to come look at my home and advise me on ANY system, even a smaller, less sophisticated system. Anything.

Generac was supposed to call me this week, but they did not. And I think (? but not sure ?) the Generac Powercell system I was considering is grid tied or partially grid tied and if so, will probably not work for me. I want to be off grid so I am not dependent on the grid.

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Thank you for all of this great info and for explaining it in simple terms so I can understand it. Based upon this info, I don’t want a grid tied system and I don’t want a partially grid tied system. Because I strongly believe and think it’s only a matter of time before the grid goes down. Surprised it hasn’t gone down yet. I don’t want to be dependent on the grid in any way. So I need an off grid system installed.

Do you have any recommendations for how I can find a good solar system designer, installer, contractor who knows a lot about both solar and electric? I cannot get any solar contractors to call me back (I am guessing business is probably booming for them and they don’t even have time to call customers back or reply to emails). And every electrician I have called says they don’t do solar. And they don’t know anyone who does solar.

How on earth do you find a good solar designer and installer?

I know solar systems are expensive and I am prepared to pay for a good system, if I could just find someone who is knowledgeable, experienced, & skilled, who is trustworthy & will show me how it all works & what to do when it doesn’t.

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This is awesome info! Thanks for taking time to type out all of this! God bless you and yours!

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I am so happy for you that you will be 100% off grid AND that you have the brain power to build it yourself! Good for you! Very cool! I don’t know enough about this solar stuff to even know what I don’t know. For example, I previously read that this getting reimbursed for solar power given back into the grid is a gimmick (or can be a gimmick) so I dismissed it as something I don’t need. But now I question if what I read is accurate info/true. Maybe it’s not a gimmick and is actually, something I need to strongly consider before writing it off as not a goal and not important and something to dismiss. I am so confused by this stuff and overwhelmed by it all. I aspire to be 100% off grid as well.