Reducing energy footprint/ eliminating risk

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HeisenbergPrinciple

Member
I am in the process of undertaking a largish scale grow operation in my basement and am trying to take all the precautions necessary to eliminate the risk of getting caught. One of the precautions is using solar panels to eliminate my energy footprint. I would still be using some power to run household appliances etc. Would a house that has a large amount of solar panels arouse suspicion?
 
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irieie

Well-Known Member
no solar panels are not suspicious. i would not be worried about your energy use unless you are using over 4000w. the main things you must worry about, are traffic in and out of your place, smells, your garbage, and exhausting hot air directly out your house (this is what FLIR looks for). if you want to find out more about not getting caught i highly recommend checking out barry cooper and the videos he has made. he was a narc k9 officer for a long time in TX before he changed and became a MJ activist. his videos will help you know what police look for and how they catch people.
 
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HeisenbergPrinciple

Member
irieie said:
no solar panels are not suspicious. i would not be worried about your energy use unless you are using over 4000w. the main things you must worry about, are traffic in and out of your place, smells, your garbage, and exhausting hot air directly out your house (this is what FLIR looks for). if you want to find out more about not getting caught i highly recommend checking out barry cooper and the videos he has made. he was a narc k9 officer for a long time in TX before he changed and became a MJ activist. his videos will help you know what police look for and how they catch people.
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I will be using about 15000w. There is no traffic, I live in a very secluded place. No friends come to my house, nobody knows about this in my real life. I know about the FLIR cameras and how to exhaust the heat ect. I have seen his videos and they are great. Thank you for the reply.

I am still scared about doing this and am paranoid about having a large amount of solar panels (more than is needed to power a house). Also I am using appliances that use non solar electricity. Maybe this is an invalid fear, but perhaps somebody can shed more light on the matter.

Is there anything else I should be worried about?
 
tokingtiger

tokingtiger

Well-Known Member
if your still freaking, you can always use a generator to suppliment some electric, you can get any size and even a smaller one would displace lots of energy. The biggest thing i have seen is when you just have to show someone, even family, and its amazing how fast that loved one starts to throw up if you dont take care of them they are goign to narc on you..
 
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HeisenbergPrinciple

Member
No loved ones will be living with me or frequenting my house, you are right, nobody is to be trusted, not even loved ones. I thought about generators and its not very cost effective. Thanks for the reply.

I am worried that a helicopter flies by the house and see's a ton of solar panels, decides to investigate, and realizes that the combination of solar plus non solar power usage is much higher than any normal house would need.
 
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irieie

Well-Known Member
HeisenbergPrinciple said:
No loved ones will be living with me or frequenting my house, you are right, nobody is to be trusted, not even loved ones. I thought about generators and its not very cost effective. Thanks for the reply.

I am worried that a helicopter flies by the house and see's a ton of solar panels, decides to investigate, and realizes that the combination of solar plus non solar power usage is much higher than any normal house would need.
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well since you will have a serious grow i would be a little wary. but there are other things which use a lot of electricity as well. do you weld or do anything that could use a lot of elec.? you could always make it look like you do. high elec usage may raise a flag but it is not probable cause. but at the same time i see that any attention would be bad attention. i would try to minimize risk wherever possible. it will be hard trying to hide 15kw so why bother. i would work on things you can control that would be evidence of growing mj specifically like smell etc. also if you are that freaked then maybe scale down your usage.
 
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hydroleaf

Member
Is there anything else I should be worried about?[/QUOTE]

Posting that your going to do a big grow operation on this site..
 
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HeisenbergPrinciple

Member
irieie said:
well since you will have a serious grow i would be a little wary. but there are other things which use a lot of electricity as well. do you weld or do anything that could use a lot of elec.? you could always make it look like you do. high elec usage may raise a flag but it is not probable cause. but at the same time i see that any attention would be bad attention. i would try to minimize risk wherever possible. it will be hard trying to hide 15kw so why bother. i would work on things you can control that would be evidence of growing mj specifically like smell etc. also if you are that freaked then maybe scale down your usage.
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is it impossible to hide 15kw?
 
dam612

dam612

Well-Known Member
so your paranoid about solar pannel, but whats gunna happen when your flower 15,000watts of plants? your guna be a wreck.
 
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HeisenbergPrinciple

Member
dam612 said:
so your paranoid about solar pannel, but whats gunna happen when your flower 15,000watts of plants? your guna be a wreck.
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I guess I will cross that bridge later on :)

So I think that I will use a generator as well, in order to not have so many panels that it arouses suspicion. Now I am debating if i should either not use any electricity from the power company, or if it is somehow less suspect if I still use a small amount electricity from the power company (how much I do not know). I am willing to go to lengths to lower the risks. Also there is government rebates on solar panel purchases available, will applying for the rebate put me at any risk?

The location of my house is very secluded and I am not worried about neighbors. I will not have friends over, or family. The ventilation will be dispersed so detection from heat is pretty much a non issue. I also think I will have a good handle on any odors. I will also be burning any trash related to the grow operation. To anybody reading..... is there any other risks that I should take measures against? If so I humbly ask that you may enlighten me about them.
 
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doser

Well-Known Member
OK, so first off, I am in no way an expert in these matters but I don't know how many panels would be required to run a house and I am (I think) smarter than the average leo regarding such matters, (I am in the trades) so I don't think that in of itself is going to raise suspicion. May I suggest starting out with a truncated version of the final install and make sure that the utility co. isn't going to come by to make sure of the install procedures. Also I would make sure that the install is proper in fact prior to startup with plants I would invite whoever would take issues with the installation, (inspectors of any nature) over and get them satisfied that the install is proper. They certainly will be interested in it at some point and you don't want them there after you have plants. You can always add to the system after all inspections hAVE TAKEN PLACE. dAMN!! How about additional wind energy? Then you will just appear to be yet another alternative energy nut. God knows there are so many of that ilk as to not arouse suspicion. Smell is going to be a big issue and I would not wait untill you have 1500 plants blooming to figure that one out.
Good luck!!
 
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HeisenbergPrinciple

Member
doser said:
OK, so first off, I am in no way an expert in these matters but I don't know how many panels would be required to run a house and I am (I think) smarter than the average leo regarding such matters, (I am in the trades) so I don't think that in of itself is going to raise suspicion. May I suggest starting out with a truncated version of the final install and make sure that the utility co. isn't going to come by to make sure of the install procedures. Also I would make sure that the install is proper in fact prior to startup with plants I would invite whoever would take issues with the installation, (inspectors of any nature) over and get them satisfied that the install is proper. They certainly will be interested in it at some point and you don't want them there after you have plants. You can always add to the system after all inspections hAVE TAKEN PLACE. dAMN!! How about additional wind energy? Then you will just appear to be yet another alternative energy nut. God knows there are so many of that ilk as to not arouse suspicion. Smell is going to be a big issue and I would not wait untill you have 1500 plants blooming to figure that one out.
Good luck!!
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Thanks!! One question, what do you mean by starting off with a truncated version of the final install.
 
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snocat

Active Member
have you checked out some of the new windmills that are available to the general public,by the time you pay for all those solar panels and a generator and the up keep of both you may be able to get yourself a wind mill that will supply all you need and if theres any left over your local power company will buy it from you,so you may even make a few bucks on any unused power,just a dream of mine that may happen some day but good luck on your venture,and if you have city water make sure the meter is not where the grow is
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
I don't think you can break even with the value of your crop and the cost of the panels. You're talking about 1/4 million $ or more to generate 15Kw. That's only when the sun is shining, too. A 15Kw gas or Diesel generator is a much more realistic option. Of course, you would still need to mask the heat signature of the generator. That can be done. You can' t hide two acres of solar panels.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
All i can say from a seconds thought is that you'd be after a hell of a lot of solar panels to make a dent in a 15K power bill, and if the authoritie saw that amny solar panels for a single house they might indeed ask who on earth would require that many or what was going on that would require that many. They're hardly cheap items.
 
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sweetcheekz

Active Member
15k in solar panels is prob gonna cost like 50k-70k and cover your whole roof....as far as someone seeing it and being suspicious, they'd have to talk with the electric company too.
If you produce more energy than you use, you can sell it back to the electric company (at least here you can). So they might think you're using that as an income (with one expensive start).
I'd rather explain solar panels (just say you know the world's going to end soon and you're taken care of) than a sudden increase of 15k watts.
 
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