How to use an electric vehicle for emergency power

Friends in hurricanes - I have friends who lost half their house. Friends who had flood damage. Friends who lost trees.
Most all lost electricity for days. Some STILL have no power!
Post of a friend I thought you might be interested to read, shared with permission - this never occurred to me.
http://bit.ly/2xkL1Ze

BTW, did you know that if you have solar power in Florida, it is actually illegal to use it while the power is down?

lobbyists. unreal

Generic said:

BTW, did you know that if you have solar power in Florida, it is actually illegal to use it while the power is down?.

Click to expand...

That's probably if you have a grid-tied system. If you are off the grid, they'll never know. Or if you have the appropriate transfer/cut-off switches, so that you can isolate your system from the grid....

OnTheShore said:

Generic said:

BTW, did you know that if you have solar power in Florida, it is actually illegal to use it while the power is down?.

Click to expand...

That's probably if you have a grid-tied system. If you are off the grid, they'll never know. Or if you have the appropriate transfer/cut-off switches, so that you can isolate your system from the grid....
.

Click to expand...

You aren't allowed to be. And only FPL can turn off the switch. Lobbyists

OnTheShore said:

Generic said:

BTW, did you know that if you have solar power in Florida, it is actually illegal to use it while the power is down?.

Click to expand...

That's probably if you have a grid-tied system. If you are off the grid, they'll never know. Or if you have the appropriate transfer/cut-off switches, so that you can isolate your system from the grid....
.

Click to expand...

You aren't allowed to be. And only FPL can turn off the switch. Lobbyists

That is cool. We have power outages in the Pacific NW from storms, and when the earthquake hits ... So I have generators for well, and now 11 kw running off LPG with a transfer switch.
It isn't lobbyists, it's the way the system is set up. With a solar panel set up to feed back into the grid, connected at the meter, but without an automatic way to isolate the generation from the grid in power down, it isn't safe for repair work and, to be selfish, you don't want your panel to be trying to push power into a dead neighborhood. The electronics (and install labor) needed to be able to isolate and use you own solar for your own house when power down probably cost an additional about $1000 for a 4+kw installation, more if add battery storage. People doing solar into the grid to save on power bills don't want to add that cost. "rooftop solar" and "off-the-grid solar" are different

I don't claim to know all the ins and outs but I got this from many sources. Here is one
http://www.iflscience.com/policy/illegal-power-home-solar-panels-florida/

I can't believe that this is an issue, in the UK you can get a "feed in" tariff for solar panels which is higher than the actual cost of electricity. It's subsidised by the government to encourage more people to install them, in fact it got so popular the government had to reduce the rate a couple of years ago because it was costing them too much, but it's still above the standard charge.

Family has owned a 'camp' off the grid out in the middle of nowhere for 40 years. They built their own solar powered system. Tiny thing. Trial and error, from plans of Mother Earth News. They are aging hippies.
Guess what? State Power now wants to take 15 acres of their land and put in high tension lines. They have fought this, want them to go around and are losing. (name of the state omitted on purpose) One of the first statements from big power was ... Hey sunshine, you'll finally be able to have electricity! Sent them pictures of cows next to huge electrical grids and high tension lines.
They've had all they needed for years. They bought 100 acres out where they did to be off grid. So sad. Now if they don't accept the offer, their land is going to be taken. Sorry to rant -