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Hello!

I was thinking about the same. I heard about a company it has those panels. I contact them asking for a quote for a new house 70sm. I was thinkin on having all the power needs by solar panels.
They respond to me saying in advance that the system is not cheap, but really  expensive in Ecuador.
This is the website if you want to send them an email

There are many off grid houses in Ecuador, but they're low tech and take advantage of the cheap gas and mild climate. Traditional solar panels, batteries, and your inverter are going to cost way more in Ecuador, just like all imported high tech equipment.

My suggestion is to use propane for cooking and hot water (if you need hot water), passive solar (skylights). That leaves you needing only enough power for lighting at night and charging cell phones, etc... You could hack the cheap little solar landscape lights. Take them apart. Cut the wires coming from the little solar panel and mark them so you don't get them crossed. Wire in a longer set of cables. Install the little panel outside and the rest of the light inside. They'll give you low level light for about 4 hours. In the US this project costs about $20 per light, so it's probably $40 here.

Another option, if you only need lights and a way to charge phones is to use all 12 or 24 volt equipment with one low end solar panel, one battery, and no inverter.

Consider your water source before attempting either of these low end solar systems. If you need a water pump you're out of luck. I would't try this on the coast, becuase you'll be out of luck for AC and fans.

Going solar is pretty expensive in any country. Good suggestions by Jesse. One of the main flaws of solar is there are too many parts that all have to work together. One thing goes wrong, and the whole system is down. Inverter goes bad, you're screwed. Batteries go bad you're screwed. Solar panels go bad you're screwed. Solar power is just a very inefficient form of power if you consider the cost. Don't get me wrong folks. I'm all for conservation, and alternative energies, but not really convinced solar is the answer.

j600rr wrote:

Going solar is pretty expensive in any country. Good suggestions by Jesse. One of the main flaws of solar is there are too many parts that all have to work together. One thing goes wrong, and the whole system is down. Inverter goes bad, you're screwed. Batteries go bad you're screwed. Solar panels go bad you're screwed. Solar power is just a very inefficient form of power if you consider the cost. Don't get me wrong folks. I'm all for conservation, and alternative energies, but not really convinced solar is the answer.

For the most part, I agree with you. The school where I took my electrical apprenticeship had a large solar power system. It was always underperforming and was never going to pay for itself. I think we're on the verge of solar being a good option, but it's still more about feeling good than being cost effective. Electricity is very cheap in Ecuador. Even the cost of bringing electricity to areas that don't have it is pretty cheap, so from a cost standpoint there's no reason to go solar.

From an environmental standpoint, using efficient building techniques will reduce your carbon footprint more than installing a $20000 solar setup because of the energy used to manufacture the panels, inverter, and batteries. If you want to save the environment, don't use AC or heat, use fans and blankets.

Yeah, I thought it would be a bit dearer down in Ecuador but the system I have in mind has come up to £2000, which is bout $3200... That would've been my budget if I was getting all the gear either here in Uk or in Us... Do you suggest to double that for Ecuador...? To be honest we are gonna have to play it by ear a bit as first we need to find suitable land with water source and take it from there...
I think Jesses suggestions are great and there's tons of projects on my mind as well... That's I think the beauty of being off grid that literally sky is the limit and you have so many beautiful options to using everything around you. Improvising with stuff... Whoop, whoop I love that...
We'd like to built a cob house in the mountains near El Cajas and gradually start living off the land. I must say I'm a fan of small solar systems and know people who have been really happy with them for years. Sure things can go wrong as with anything but I'd like to cross those bridges when I get to them. If you think negative, negative things will happen to you is my standpoint on that..
Just thinking about all that is getting me so excited. On the back of three 16-hour shifts in three days I would love to ffwd next 12 months but it's okay I'm happy to suffer for what's in store...

Re: solar panels
Another thing to consider is the hydro-electric dams that will be coming on line.  The govt reportedly will put 220 in all homes and replace gas stoves with convection. From what I have been told, this is cheaper than continuing to subsidize the gas.  Again, as I have been told, there are no plans to replace the gas hot water heaters nor dryers as these were never envisioned when the subsidy was created.  I did price an always on electric hot water heater in the States and it was over $600 plus installation.  The cannisters that we now use will have a cost similar to Columbia and Peru, somewhere around 21 to 25 USD.  This will help combat the smuggling of gas into both those countries as well as save the govt a tidy sum in subsidies.

If the above is true, even if one spends 100 USD per month for gas at a new price, at the end of 20 years one would have spent 24,000 USD, 4,000 USD more than the initial investment on solar panels.

Anyway...

Mike

Speaking of hot water and solar, Ecuador, even in the mountains, is a great place to use a solar hot water. Because the sun is so intense here you don't need a very fancy system. You could simply put a clear plastic top on your cistern and you'd have comfortably warm water in most areas. You might have to take your showers in the evening instead of the morning, but it sure beats installing an expensive water heater.

You beat me to the punch Jesse. Was going to mention about solar water heating. Here's a good online site with lots of info from Do it yourselfers. Lots of options if you want to try and build a self sustainable lifestyle.

I agree. We'd definitely like to go with thermo siphoning solar water heater panel or batch solar water heater of some sort. Cost of making it is next to nothing, functionality and sense of achievement should be great...

Try to get any savings or discounts initially here (gemenergy.com.au/commercial-solar/), before transitioning your own process to solar power. You could get a reimbursement of thirty percent, roughly, in your process when you use their refund. Make contact with a neighborhood agent or look on the Internet for more information to view what courses are near you.

think about wind power, 300w about $200 purchase online from china. about 22kg, can ship to US, then take here by air, no tariff maybe.

Hi, Tomas. I read through the discussion and was curious about your progress with the off-grid life in Ecuador. My wife and I are considering the same thing and I'd love to hear about your experiences.

Hi...have you guys built your cob house? My partner and I are dreaming of the same! If you have please share your progress with us. Shireen and Mike

I've heard of folks who use those garden lights. They put them outside in the daytime to charge, and bring them in when it gets dark. They're cheap, so you can buy 2x as many as you need if you want 6 or more hours per evening.

Also, there are now a lot of VERY bright LED lights in the $20 range. One or two of those would provide general lighting for a small to medium size house. You'd still have to have them out in the daytime.

Harbor Freight Tools has some portable solar systems, as do plenty of other places on the ground and on the web. One of these might be enough to keep your laptop charged.

You can purchase an entire system from me is you want.  I was one of the first companies to attempt solar in Ecuador but left for a few years now back.

rwbenedict wrote:

You can purchase an entire system from me is you want.  I was one of the first companies to attempt solar in Ecuador but left for a few years now back.

Sounds encouraging.

I live on solar, don't have to cost a fortune even is south america if you know what you are doing.

I have been looking for a long time, and three years ago, when the fed and state incentives were good enough, put panels on my roof.  Even in the PNW they have paid for themselves in 5 years, with a 95% eff at 25 yrs.  There is a new portable solar generator that seems amazing.  A little pricey, but with the flex panels, light weight, ability to get 240v, and new lith ion batteries, pretty amazing.  I was looking at the Kodiak (now Apex by Inergy), but the Titan blows it out of the water.  They just started taking pre orders on Aug 15th.