Thanks for the input everyone, it's much appreciated. Since my original post here a few hours ago I've done a little more digging on Trojan's web site and I see that the 6V T-105RE's are the "premium" grade vs the "signature" grade 12V T-1275's I was looking at... the difference is 1000 more cycles/life at 20% DOD and 400 more cycles @ 50% DOD... now that is significant and it does look like 6V would be a better value (just like everyone told me, go figure
)
I've got a lot of details to work out yet, but to answer some questions my preliminary plans are as follows:
*2kw solar panels (8 @ 250W)
*1kw(minimum) wind turbine(s)
*3-4kw home brew automatic propane powered back up generator (will start when battery bank drops to a certain level, stop when the bank's fully charged)
*450ah battery bank
*48V dc- 240v ac psw inverter(s) (still debating on which one exactly)
I figure that's all a good place to start
I've got some idea but I really don't know exactly what my daily electrical needs will be, it's difficult to compare my current usage to what I will use when I move out of my present home into my future one. As it is now, my old house has an electric range, electric water heater, electric clothes dryer, a couple 1.5 kw heaters running 24/7 in the winter, 5kw electric garage heater, too many incandescent light bulbs, an older refrigerator, etc, etc... needless to say, I need a lot more kwh/day now than I will in the future. I plan to cut my electrical consumption drastically; a gas range, tankless gas water heater, gas clothes dryer, and gas furnace will go a long way there... that leaves a refrigerator, well pump, furnace fan, lights, tv, computer, and other misc. things that won't be needed all day everyday; clothes washer, microwave, etc... it should all be manageable... well, it's going to have to be. I plan to design the entire system to be expandable if needed, we'll see I guess. A $15k+ estimate from the utility to install gas and electric service (an expenditure with no hope of any "payback", only more expenses) gives me pretty good incentive to take the plunge and go completely off grid.
Jesse