Good Morning, Friends,

If you haven’t read my previous posts, here’s the situation in a nutshell: we live in a rural mountain community in Swannanoa, NC, where the bridge connecting us to the outside world was swept away during the 1 in 1,000-year flood event caused by Tropical Storm Helene. We’ve also confirmed that a tornado swept through our valley, which explains the large number of trees down on houses and roads.

No Power Interruptions at Home Despite Grid Outage

Although the power grid on our road is down and likely will be for weeks, if not months, we haven’t experienced any interruptions in power at our home.

Living in a remote, rural community, most of our neighbors have some form of backup power. Many have either 1) whole-house propane generators that kick in automatically during outages, or 2) critical load systems that connect to portable generators for essential power needs. Very few homes lack integrated backup power.

Until March of this year, we relied on the second option: a 7,700-watt portable generator connected to the house via a dedicated 220V outlet. This primarily powered our well pump but also ran essential appliances like the microwave and lights.

We also had a dedicated 490W solar/PV system that powered our DC refrigerator and freezer, which were always off-grid, running on a 360Ah battery bank. When power was out, the fridge and freezer stayed operational, and we could use the generator when we needed water.

This system served us well for 13 years, although I had to frequently maintain the generator and deep-cycle flooded Lead Acid batteries.

The New Solar PV System

In March 2024, we installed a 10.13 KW grid-tied solar PV system, something we had dreamed of since we finished building our home in 2011. We couldn’t afford it back then, but we finally made it happen in 2023, after signing a contract in August.

We wanted to include a whole-house battery backup but were initially hesitant due to the cost. Our installer designed the system to allow for battery integration in the future. Then, in mid-January, while dealing with my mother’s final days battling cancer, we got an offer from our solar installer: a significant discount on Tesla Powerwall Version 2 units, as they were transitioning to Version 3.

Honestly, my wife and I had so much going on in the family, we had no bandwidth to do a cost analysis. We simply decided to go for it. We committed to purchase two Powerwalls, which was the minimum needed (for Version 2 Powerwall) whole-house backup.

Note that we originally preferred a Kyocera LiFePO battery system, but it was too expensive and complicated to install compared to the Powerwalls. Looking back, this decision has been a blessing for us and our community, especially post-Hurricane Helene.

Staying Powered During the Crisis

Thanks to the Powerwalls, we’ve had no power interruptions at home during this disaster. These two batteries have kept the lights on, the water pump running, and our satellite internet operational.

It’s worth noting, though, that our system wasn’t designed to keep us fully off-grid for weeks. Additionally, two of our solar panels were damaged when a tree fell on the house, reducing our PV system’s output to about 60%, likely because the failed panels also affected other panels in the same series.

By managing our energy consumption carefully, we’ve kept everything running.

Managing Power Consumption

Right after the storm, I shut off the circuit breakers for our HVAC system and water heater, the biggest power users apart from our well pump. I also appointed one of our daughters, “Phantom Load Czar” and gave her absolute authority to hunt down, turn off, and unplug anything that wasn’t necessary.

If we didn’t reduce our usage—if we ran the HVAC, water heater, and cooked all our meals on the electric stove—we’d only have 8-12 hours of battery life. But by cutting out those heavy loads, we can stretch that to nearly 48 hours.

The Advantages of Solar

Unlike our neighbors with propane generators, who have to ration fuel, our system recharges every day thanks to the sun. Even though our output is lower on cloudy days, we still get daily “fuel deliveries” from the sun.

Keep in mind that our road is in rough shape and most propane delivery companies will not refuel customer tanks at present.

When solar production is lower–when it’s overcast or cloudy–we scale back by skipping hot water, cooking on a camping stove, and using minimal lighting. So far, we haven’t dipped below 50% battery capacity.

This week, we’re expecting clear skies, so by early afternoon, our batteries should be fully charged, allowing us to use excess solar energy to heat water for showers and run the dishwasher—true luxuries during a crisis like this.

Helping Our Community

As I mentioned, many of our neighbors with whole-house generators only run them for a few hours each day to conserve fuel. They’ve been bringing their devices to our home to charge, and because we have satellite internet, we’ve opened up free Wi-Fi. We’ve jokingly renamed our porch the “Witherspoon Internet Café,” where neighbors use our internet for everything from filing FEMA applications to contacting loved ones.

One big advantage is Wi-Fi calling, which has been crucial since cell service remains unreliable. While we now have some mobile voice and texting capabilities, the connection is unstable and frequently drops. Wi-Fi calling bypasses these issues, making it easier to deal with complicated phone trees and long hold times.

Challenges and the Road Ahead

We’re preparing for the possibility of being without grid power for another two months—or longer. The road to our home, with a 1,000-foot elevation gain, was severely damaged, and nearly all the power poles are down. Some transformers are wrecked, and our local substation was wiped out by flooding.

Duke Energy will have restored power to 90% of its customers by next week, but we’re in the 10% that will take much longer. Our entire power delivery system needs to be rebuilt, and the road might need to be repaired first to make this possible.

With winter approaching, we’ll have shorter days and more overcast skies, which will further reduce our solar production. We plan to repair the damaged panels and hope that gives us enough output to make it through the colder months. Otherwise, we’ll have to be even more conservative with our power usage, possibly shutting off devices like our satellite modem during the day.

Before you ask: don’t worry about our heating during the winter. Our house is passive solar and we also built it around an efficient RAIS wood stove. We can typically heat our home on less than two cords of wood per winter. We’ve got plenty in stock and, in fact, will have a nearly unlimited amount starting in a couple of years when our sawed up wood has cured.

Change in mindset

We now know that we can live comfortably off-grid, and while we’d consider making it a permanent arrangement, our main reason for staying connected to the grid is to sell back our excess solar energy.

As long as our solar system continues to function, we should be in good shape until the grid is restored.

Four Words…

Thank you so much!

We feel so incredibly fortunate compared to many who have lost their homes, their businesses, and members of their family.

Once again, our family is overwhelmed by the kindness and love you’ve shown us.

We know many who live in Florida where they’ll soon be receiving the full force of Cat 4 or 5 Hurricane Milton. Know that we’re here for you too.

Have a wonderful day.

Best & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)