Solar at the Hemlocks is not all it is cracked up to be

            Bottom line, where I live, it's just not that great. I have better alternatives.

            Now here's my requirement. If the main source of electricity fails, like public electricity, and my backup fails, which is mostly water turbine powered, and then if that fails (like a fuse blows*) and I have to go to solar, so be it.

            Now to add to my requirement, it is mostly industrial kind of things, like to power my freezer compressor to preserve my grains and seeds. That is where public electricity works well, and I like it. God bless the Americans that make that all happen. But water turbine stuff is pretty good, too, and solar comes in a poor third.

            Let me say it another way where I live. By the way it is at 36 north latitude in the USA, at about 2,000 feet of altitude, and full of trees. And the local weather is often not favorable to solar things.

            Said even another way, bad weather reduces electricity production. Said even another way, if all else fails then I have to make plans, and I have. Mostly I have plastic containers to protect the freezer ingredients from local vermin, and of course shelf life will be reduced. Lord knows that doesn't happen, and probably won't. But who knows?

            Now for those who choose solar, consider this. Just what is your objective?

            For me where I live, solar is fine for things like battery charging and other such lower demands.  It's the keeping my local freezer working that is up for grabs. And, by the way, I have a pretty good setup for solar and battery storage.

            Anyway, just a report for you to decide on.

* Now I have backup fuses, but have never tested it all, so I don't know for sure. So worse case, I will just use aluminum foil strips to keep it running. Now I have aluminum foil.