Off-Grid

I'm hearing from a number of people who are wanting to live off-grid like I do. I suspect they think that it's a case of having free electricity and living life as usual. I don't see it as being that simple. So I'd like to answers all the various questions emailed me via the post. 

.....Off-grid electricity isn't free. It's paid for upfront with the cost of installing a system, be it solar, hydro, or wind. It continues to cost via maintenance, repairs, replacements. 

.....Basic home systems are moderately low usage packages. Most people used to being on-grid are energy hogs, even when they think they are conserving. So if one really plans on switching to off-grid, you need a plan to use a heck of a lot less electricity than you're use to. 

.....You're the repairman! Yup, you need to learn about how your off-grid system works and how to keep it running. Off-grid systems need to be maintained and repaired (so does the grid, but the power company does that for you). 

.....Power back up. Batteries can only store power for a few days of normal home usage. So what happens if there's no sun, or wind, or the creek dries up during a drought? You'll need a back up system, such as a generator. 

.....Learning curve. Not much to learn when you're on the grid, other than learning to pay your bills on time. But having your own off-grid system means learning how electricity works, what the various words mean (watt, volt, amp, resistance, etc), how to figure the equations, how to wire the system, how to care for batteries, how to keep it operating, and how to not kill yourself. If you manage to kill yourself the first day, at least you won't have to worry about learning the rest of the stuff. 

.....Learn to use less. (And if you killed yourself the first day, you've accomplished this step most effectively.) This is a biggie for making a successful transition to off-grid. Even those of us who think we are conserving really well while on-grid will have a surprise to see what life is like off-grid. For many people its a steep, tough learning curve. 

.....The feeling of freedom. Many off-gridders say that they don't intend to rehook-up to the grid. They like the independence, of being out from under the thumb of Big Oil, lack of monthly bills. They have a sense of energy self-sufficiency. There's a bit of security of knowing that when the grid goes down, they will still have power. There's a "feels good" feeling off-gridders report. 

Ok, could you learn to use less? We had too. Yes. It was difficult for us to change our habits. Now it seems normal....and easy. But it wasn't in the beginning. 

.....stop using energy hogs. No clothes dryer. No regular freezer. Efficient refrigerator only (no ice maker, no water filter/dispenser). No hot tub/jacuzzi. No electric range/oven. No electric hot water. No dehumidifier. No anything that gobbles electricity. 

.....limit the use of energy users. Limited use of hair dryer, clothes iron, kitchen appliances, electric tools, etc. 

.....eliminate or unplug the constant drains -- unplug chargers, eliminate electric clocks, no nightlights, no outdoor floodlights on for periods of time, no lights on in unoccupied rooms, nothing running unless actually being used (such as computers, printers, TV, etc). 

.....change all light bulbs to LED. Only switch on lights that you are actually using. 

.....use power tools, clothes washer, vacuum cleaner, etc on sunny mornings where sunny afternoons are expected to recharge the batteries. 

.....change habits to eliminate unnecessary power use. Example, use an iPod rather than running the stereo system all day for background music.....or eliminate the background music altogether. Kick the TV habit. Eat more raw foods rather than baked or broiled. 

We took dozens of steps during our change to off-grid. Some were giant steps. Others were baby steps. 

...change all incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent. We now are gradually switching to LED. 

...use a propane frig. That's how we started, but we quickly discovered that they use a lot of propane. We switched to a small energy efficient electric frig. Then when the time was right, switched to a dc chest frig. 

...run a chest freezer at someone else's house that is on-grid. Many off-gridders do that here. We finally bought a dc chest freezer when our electric one quit working. It feels like luxury having the freezer in my kitchen. 

...learn to use a propane on-demand hot water heater. Also, we learned how to cut our propane useage by over half. 

...use a clothesline to dry the laundry. 

...use appliances and tools on sunny mornings. 

...limit dependency on electric kitchen appliances and gadgets. We actually changed our eating habits when we moved here. Not so much to avoid electricity usage, but it turned out to be a nice side benefit. I no longer use a breadmaker, seldom ever use the oven, actually seldom use electric appliances on a routine basis. 

...switch from desktop computers to laptops, and later to iPads. 

...and take dozens of little steps to cut back our dependence on electricity. Every light turned off, every item unplugged, every electric item bypassed....it all helps break the electricity habit. 

When we were on-grid, using a non-electric item took a conscious effort. Now it's the opposite. I'm aware of each time I use an electrical device. It's a mindset change, I suppose. 

 

Solar Panel Adjustments

I think the last time I showed off our solar panel rack, the panels were on a slant in order to catch the winter sun better. The closer to came to summer, the less electricity we saw being generated by the panels. So it was time to do something.

We made the racks so that they could be on a slant or flat. Nothing complicated, just a simple bolt on one end that like be removed and placed in a different hole on the rack. 

So the panels are now flat. The only problem is that rain tends to pool on them. But surprisingly it doesn't seem to be much of a problem. They generate plenty of electricity. 

I'm really happy with our ground mounted panels. They are much easier to clean. Because of our ohia trees, the panels blacken over with whatever it is that comes off the trees.  Cleaning that black stuff off regularly has been keeping our power generating ability high. By the way, these are unisolar panels. I don't know if that makes a difference with the pooling water issue. 

Solar Panels Moved to a Ground Frame

After five days we finally have a new shed roof, but more importantly, we have a functioning solar system again. Yippee! No more having to run the generator. Mother Nature is now doing the work for us. Although the job is not completely done, the installation is completed enough to be working. 

What a difference when the panel is washed! 

We put four solar panels together on an aluminum rack, which we then mounted onto the ground frame that we built. We made four racks for a total of 16 solar panels. Each of the racks is attached in such a way that we can raise or lower one end, thus adjusting the angle to follow the sun during the year. This will give us much more power generating capability, compared to fixed panels. 

16 panels mounted on the new ground frame. 

A new combiner box was mounted onto the ground frame, bringing all the wiring from the panels to one spot. From there an underground wire takes the power to the inverter inside the power shed. The wire is not yet buried, but I will be getting to that job in a couple of days. We opted to go with an underground wire rather than an overhead one.

After getting things assembled, hubby worked on the finishing wiring while I tackled cleaning the panels. I knew they were going to be dirty because I was not able to reach them up high on the roof. Just hosing them off really wasn't enough, but that's all I had been able to do. But boy was I surprised to see just how horrendously dirty they were! With a little soap and gentle rubbing, our dark panels turned a pleasing shade of blue. And not surprisingly, the watts they were producing skyrocketed. Moving the panels to a ground frame turned out to be one very good decision. Now we will be able to keep them clean, treat any rust that starts up, and service them as needed. Quite honestly, I never want to go back to roof mounted panels again. 

Replacing a Simple Metal Roof -- Day 4

Hubby changing the wiring on the solar panels.

We finally got the rest of the solar panels with their racks down off the roof, plus the one rack that was on the mini-shed next door. Next  step -- rewire the panels from 24 volts to 48 volts. The reason? The higher the voltage, the further the distance one can drive the power. When the panels were up on the roof they were closer to the inverter. So 24 volts was fine. But now they will be about twice the distance away, so hubby felt that going with 48 volts was the better idea. Our inverter can handle 48 volts just fine. And since the way our panels are already set up, it was a case of simple rewiring. It took some time to do all 16 panels, but it wasn't all that complicated.

While hubby worked on the wiring, I cleaned the back the back of the panels. The surface was developing pepper-like pits that were showing some rust. Even though protected from the run, the surface was obviously reacting to the acidic moisture in the air. Once clean, the entire surface was treated with phosphoric acid, a product called Ospho. Works well. I will have to keep an eye on the panels in the future. 

It was now time to set the panels onto the ground fame. We had removed all the rack except for the two rails holding the four panels together as a group. Thankfully the four panels linked together in this fashion were not too heavy. With not too much grunting and hyperventilation, these two old foogies managed to flip them over and position them onto the ground frame. Good job done, if I say so myself! 

Now with everything off the top of the shed, it was easy to finish up the original job. Gosh, that was what started this whole mess! Time to finish that simple metal roof! The last pieces on needed to be cut. So ask, how does one cut metal roofing on a small at-home job? Buying or renting a hugh sheet metal cutter wouldn't make sense. And the roofing is too thick for metal snips. A sawsall would work but you would need to make a frame to hold the sheeting firmly in place. But there is a trick that works far better and doesn't require expense. Our friend David came by and showed us how. Take an old worn out circular saw blade. Put it onto the saw BACKWARDS. Now go ahead and cut the metal. Worked like a charm. Smooth. Easy. Much like cutting wood. Incredible! 

Finally, finally, finally, the simple metal roof has gotten done! 

Cutting the metal roofing. Yes, using a circular saw!

So here we sat with one fine, simple metal roof but no functioning power system. Back to work! Snuffling around the shed contents, we found the electrical box that we knew that we had somewhere, but alas it turned out to be an indoor box. We needed an exterior box to act as a combiner box for the solar panels. Then measuring the distances we needed for wiring, we discovered we were short by a few feet. Of course! What next? So it looks like we will have to make do until we can make a trip to Kona to pick up an outdoor box and exterior wire. 

Replacing a Simple Metal Roof - Day 3

Ground frame completed and painted. You can see the tarp Costco shed to the right that
we had moved in order to make room for this ground frame. By the shadow you can see
that the sun is overhead and slightly past the zenith because it is now past June 21st.
This day was July 8th.

With the basic ground frame completed, hubby had to give some thought as to how to effectively mount the solar panels. This time around he wanted to set them up so that their position to the sun could be shifted between winter and summer. Being that we are living below the Tropic of Cancer, the angle of the sun crosses over the zenith, making fixed mountings for the solar panels rather inefficient. The fact that most of our sunshine occurs before noon each day also complicates the issue.

When we went to start moving and adjusting the position of the new rack, we quickly realized the it needed to be braced better. So with the aid of a square and level, we got the rack squared and plumb then added bracing. Now the sucker was solid! During this process we set the legs upon the concrete footings, positioning the rack in it's final resting place.

Now came a coat of paint. Luckily we still had almost a full gallon of the house foundation paint that had been leftover. And in no time we had most of the paint on the rack, and not too much of it on my hands, legs, and clothes. A painter I am not! Well I'll correct that.....I can paint, but just about everything gets painted! Paintbrush handle, the ground, me, and eventually whatever it is that I'm intending to paint. Good thing I never had my heart set on being a house painter, ay?

In the midst of this endeavor, the dogs broke lose from their pen (three of them need to be confined when not being actively watched because they will eat chickens, lambs, and cats. Yes, they are throwaway dogs with criminal histories that we adopted because no one else wanted them. For the life of me I don't know why we did, but it must have been in a moment of insanity plus a flash of kind heartedness.) We dropped everything, ran around like idiots catching them. Repaired the spot where they had pulled the fencing, then went back to painting. An hour later, here they come again, running amuck, scaring the daylights out of the cats. Quickly rounded up, hole in fence repaired. Ten minutes later, déjà vu all over again!!! Rounded them up one more time. They thought this was a grand game. Yes, we know that the vog has been killing the fencing and it needs to be replaced, but why today? So out came a roll of 2x4 fencing and hubby lined the kennel pen with it. That's just a security patch, but it will gives time to buy new chainlink and do the job right.

The dog escape interlude gave the paint a chance to dry, so now we started moving the solar panels to the new ground rack. Since I have a task that needs to be done in town, hubby got to finish up. Tomorrow morning we will move the rest of the panels and start reconnecting the solar system. At least, that's how we have it planned.

And we still need to finish the second half of that simple metal roof job!

Replacing a Simple Metal Roof -Day 2

Laying out the concrete pads for the legs of the rack. Crusty, one of the
farm dogs is supervising the job. 

What's the firsts job of day #2? --- purchase the new lumber to make the frame that we will  be mounting the solar panel racks on. So right after breakfast and routine farm chores, we headed to Ace Hardware (the only store within a 2 hour drive that sells lumber). Three 8' 4x4s, either 10' 2x4s, eleven 8' 2x4s, nails, and some concrete stepping stones and we were heading back home. 

Next job, remove the two papaya trees that were in the way. Normally I'd feel bad taking down fruit producing trees, but these trees only produce fruit suitable for chicken feed. Not sweet or good tasting. So I was willing to sacrifice them. The chainsaw made quick work of the task. Soon both trees were down and in pieces. I gathered up all the green fruits and young leaves to use for chicken feed. The rest of the trees went into a hole destined to become my next flower bed.

Smaller of the two papaya trees that had to come down. 

The larger papaya tree down and ready to chop up
into smaller pieces. 

I was surprised to discover that papaya trunks are hollow. 

Trunks were solid down by the base. They oozed
a very slippery sap for several minutes. 

About 2 foot above ground, the trunk
became hollow. 

While I finished cleaning up after the tree removal, hubby started laying out the materials for the ground rack. This time we were building it out of treated lumber, which the vog won't destroy.  And after a bit of contemplation, checking the angles of the sun, and determining where tree shadows will fall, hubby settled on a plan of attack.

The frame almost completed. The rest of
the bracing needs to be made. 

After a brief lunch break, we started building in ernest. The sunshine had disappeared and rain threatened. Geez, what else? But we plowed onward. To our surprise, we lucked out. Although it spritzed a time or two, the rain held off. And after much sawing, drilling, hammering, and squaring up, a ground frame started taking shape. By the end of the day, the basic frame was complete.

Yes, we're not the fastest carpenters around, but we work for free. Wow, I can't ask for more!

Replacing a Simple Metal Roof -Day 1

Old rusted roofing that we removed. 

Brand new roofing to be installed. 

Our electrical shed (it houses the solar system controls and some of the panels are mounted on its roof) has an elderly metal roof. The previous property owner built it out of salvaged materials, and although the building itself is holding up quite well, the metal roof has succumbed to the vog. Over the past few years we have been patching spots as they appear, but the acid rain has been eating away at the channels. Last week one of the cats was up on the roof and it's weight punched numerous new holes. Oh my, time to replace the roof.

If we didn't have the solar panels mounted on the roof, changing the metal would have been a fairly straight forward job. But alas, things don't go all that simple for us. We made the poor choice (in hindsight) of putting the panels on the roof, something that everyone and everybody said to do. Now I'm wondering why? Why do they have to be on the roof? Now that the roof needs replacing, we have to remove the panels. A simple afternoon job is now going to take days plus disrupt our electricity. Hmmm, we have to think about this.

New roofing on the right. Solar panels and rack on the left
still need to be removed so that we can get at the old roof.

We initially thought we could simply disconnect the solar rack, move it over a couple feet out of the way while we removed the old roof panel a slid the new one in place. Wrong! The stainless steel screws used to make the rack were all very badly corroded. Not simply corroded, some were crumbling. The entire rack was in danger of coming apart. Next, many of the screws holding to roof panels in place were impossible to back out. They too were in bad shape. This was looking more and more like a big job.

Well, the solar panels and rack simply needed to be dismantled and totally removed from the roof. So we ended up spending half the day getting that done, being very careful not to damage the solar panels themselves. We salvaged all the aluminum angle so that we could use it again. Of course, the electrical wiring needed to be disconnected. All the stainless steel screws were beyond reusing. So on day #1 we took care of one solar rack and we have to look forward to repeating this process tomorrow with rack #2. Gee...so much fun.

Next we removed half the old roof, having to use a sawsall to cut off the roofing screws. Once the old roof was off, it was simple to lay on the new panels and screw them into place. This took no time at all, so it seemed.

With the shed roof now half done, and our arms too tired to tackle the second rack, we turned our thoughts to a ground rack for the solar panels. Looking around, the most logical spot to put it would be right where our Costco storage "shed" was located. Ok then, empty the shed, disconnect it from the lumber foundation, pick it up and move it over 15 feet. Since it was only the two of us, picking it up wasn't exactly what we did. We sort of walked it to its new location, moving each of its six vertical posts (we called them legs) a few inches at time. But in no time it shuffled over 15 feet. Once pegged down in place, all the stuff we emptyed out had to go back in. Boy, it was a long afternoon!

Our Solar Update

Hubby lining up the new batteries in the box. 

We ended up replacing the battery bank. The batteries, L-16's, were 6 years old. Everyone was telling us that 6 years was average lifespan for them.  Well, we guess that 6 years is ok since we are still learning about caring for batteries, but we hope to do better with this new bank of batteries.

The new batteries starting to be wired. 

When we went to Interstate Batteries to buy a good quality hydrometer, we had the opportunity to talk briefly with the battery tech. We learned quite a few things. First, check batteries with a hydrometer right after they have had a good charge. Second, we will be able to recover, thus use, the four best batteries of the old array. We plan to use them on a different project. The four lesser quality batteries most likely not worth putting the effort into them because of the amount of power that would be needed to recover them. We plan to give them to a friend who has a very large solar array and thus has the capacity to shock them good. Maybe he will be able to recover them enough to use them for something.

We ended up replacing the battery bank with 6 volt golf cart batteries, instead of L-16's. Reason....they are a lot lighter and easier for us to handle. Frankly, we are just too old to tote around L-16's anymore. We purchased 8 batteries because we will be moving the Stecas off to their own system (4 batteries). We already have the right number of solar panels up, so we don't need to change that. The system for the Stecas will have their own four panels. By the way, we use unisolar panels. We opted for them because of the sun situation we have here. We live in a forest (thus panels can get partially shaded during the day) plus the days are often bright-overcast rather than clear sun. the unisolars are better under these conditions.

The old L-16 batteries. 

Back to the action.... we managed to lift four of the L-16's out of the battery box and into a storage shed. After that we were pooped, so we left the other four in the box for another day. We still had plenty of room to install the 8 new golf cart batteries.

Our system is set up for 24 volts, so we wire 4 batteries together in a series. Then the two groups of four are wired together parallel. All that use to be a foreign language to me, but I'm finally understanding that stuff! 

Our First Solar Battery Problem

Two weeks ago we helped out a friend with his solar battery array. His battery readings had started going a bit wonky, then a couple nights later one of the batteries exploded. After analyzing the problem, he temporarily disconnected one third of the battery bank and stopped using electricity at night as a bandaid repair until he could purchase new batteries.  We lent a hand installing the new batteries and wiring the new battery bank.

Hubby and I had felt fairly smug that our batteries were doing so good, so we thought. Our group were two years older than our friend's and still charging and discharging fine, so we thought. We cared for them attentively, giving them a thorough going over monthly, keeping them in the prime, so we thought. Well, after 3 "so we thought's" you must know by now that we were clueless. A few days ago we started getting wonky readings on the batteries. Oh brother. We borrowed the new hydrometer our friend had just purchased and were really surprised what it told us about our own batteries. The side of the battery bank that we suspected was aging the fastest actually was in decent shape, though not great by any means. Right on the lower readings in the "good" section. The other side was in horrible shape with numerous cells practically dead or real dead. Oh my, oh my, oh my.
The bad cells were dragging down the whole system.

I guess we wouldn't have noticed the aging if we weren't in a sunless weather pattern right now. We've had very, very little sun for the past three weeks. We've had to run the generator a few evenings to top up the batteries. But suddenly that batteries weren't holding the charge. 

For more than a year we've been talking about moving the dc appliances to their own solar panels/batteries, but we never got around to really thinking it out. It wasn't a pressing issue. But now we have the opportunity to do the job, since we are looking at a major battery replacement job. So over the next two days hubby will be planning out the strategy. We already have the solar panels. We will need a simple charge controller. Four of the decent batteries in our current bank should be usable for the task, as starters. 

As we work our way through this job, I'll show you what we are doing. It will be a learning experience for us too. 

Unrealistic Approach to Solar

This week I participated in helping a family to work on completing their solar system. After watching and not really having anything to do, I saw this as a potentially doomed effort. These people are ill prepared for a life of solar electric. If I were in their situation, I would sell the equipment and use the money to hook into the grid.

So here's the story. Pre-retirement couple who have lived in large cities left their jobs and moved to Hawaii. Bought a house, with a mortgage. Although they have some money, they are not well especially well off. While on the mainland they attended a large solar show, where they purchased a rather pricy, high end solar system. That was one year ago. Since then the husband suffered some medical issues and can no longer think well enough to figure out how to  finish installing the system himself. Due to financial concerns, they are very reluctant to hire someone, especially since there are no permits in place. The house wiring is complete. The inverter, controller, and batteries are in place. The solar panels are mounted on a ground frame, but quite a distance from the house. They are not wired together yet and no wiring going to the house. I'm not sure why they were installed so far away.  No combiner boxes yet. And no wiring system to tie a generator into the system to charge the batteries.

Luckily they still have the complete manuals for the system. The other volunteers are reading them, working to figure it out. Since no one's willing to trust the husband's work to date, all the wiring will have to be inspected and traced.

So here's the gig......husband can no longer deal with a solar system. He can't figure it out. Has no previous experience. Never had solar before. And won't be able to deal with any problems the occur. Wife has no interest in stepping up to the plate. Has stated that she doesn't intend to learn. Plus she fully expects that once the system is up and running, it will be just like being on the grid but without monthly bills. She can't believe us that the system could fail or go offline for any number of reasons. She fully expects a house that will operate like it were on the grid, running all her appliances whenever she wishes...and including a four person spa! The system is big, but it is going to need to be monitored. And she doesn't understand the concept of system maintenance. All she knows that she wants is "to be green"!

I see a family that has too little knowledge about solar and either can't or is not willing to learn. They are not willing to give up any of their usage or dependency on electrical appliances. They currently are running things off of the generator, but not using this time to learn to live with less. They are eagerly looking forward to using more!

Once the volunteers get the system functional, I don't know how long it will keep going without maintenance. I wish them luck. They will need it, plus a miracle.

Living on Solar

panel pointing to the morning sun

panels for midday sun

We live totally off grid.....by choice. When I tell my friends on the mainland that we live with solar, they often console me, have pity for me. No way! We're quite happy being off grid. No need to feel sorry for us at all.

So many people think that if you are on solar, it means that you can only have dim lights, no modern conveniences, can't have saws, TV, a freezer. Not true. Sometimes people think that we have to run a generator at night. Again, not true. Our house runs like a normal house, just with a few differences. One big difference involves a lifestyle change. It means, no wasting electricity. It means weaning yourself away from all those electrical gadgets that nibble current 24 hours a day. It means becoming aware of what items are energy hogs, then doing something about it.

Our house is wired for AC, like any other house that is on the grid. The only thing that  is wired DC is our water pump. It's a marine pump, thus DC. Situated out near the solar equipment, it is simple to have it wired directly to the DC system.

Our refrigerator and our freezer are Steca chest units. They are DC units, but being located in the house too far away from the solar array, they get their electric power via an AC to DC plug-in inverter. We could have them set up with their own solar panel and batteries, but we find the small plug-in inverter works just fine. Simple. Whisper quiet. Some day we might change this set-up, but for now it's ok. We used to have a propane refrigerator but it was so expensive to run. We upgraded to a small regular electric frig. But I wanted to have a chest freezer. Looking around we discovered the Steca and fell in love. I'm very pleased with them. The two units combined use less electric power than the small refrigerator did. Far less.

Our range is propane, non-electric. Finding a non-electric range is difficult nowadays! Ours is a Premier range.

All our light bulbs are compact fluorescents. No night lights. No outdoor floodlights. And that's by choice. We've progressed to the point that we dislike wasting power.

Clothes washer is a normal, small electric model with no bells 'n whistles. No clothes dryer. If I wanted one, it would be propane model, but I have no need for it. I use an outdoor clothes line.

House appliances are normal: microwave, vacumn cleaner, iron, blender, toaster, etc.  I just have to be aware not to have two energy hogs running at the same time. So if the microwave is running, I need to wait before using the toaster. Not a big deal. If that was an issue, our system could be expanded. But we don't need to at this stage.

We use iPads or a laptop for our computer needs. We have an old desk top the we use for watching movies. No TV, by choice. Anyway, they don't use much electric, so the system could handle a TV easily.

We've learned not to waste power. Lights are turned off when you leave a room. Appliances are unplugged when not in use, especially microwave, phone chargers, tool chargers, etc. We do not use electric clocks. Computers and printers are unplugged. Nothing that uses "ghost" power.

We have learned to use high energy users on a sunny day so that the system has time to recharge. Clothes are washed in the morning. Vacuuming done before noon. Power tools, like the saws, run before lunch.

Our hottub is heated by a submersible wood burner. What little heat we need for the house comes from a wood burning stove in the living area. Most cooking is done on a small wood burning cookstove on the lanai (roofed porch). We prefer using wood. It has nothing to do with being on solar, but it surely benefits the system. 

Hot water is supplied by a Paloma....propane fired. 

We find that living on solar has some good benefits. We still have power even when the grid goes down! Our neighbors are in the dark, but not us. We also like the idea of not giving our money to the electric company each month. 

Solar Electric vs The Grid

Our homestead is off grid with our electricity needs being satisfied via a solar system and back up generator. That's our final solution, though initially we had planned to go with the grid. There are lots of pros and cons involved, but it came down to personal choice.

Let me tell you the story......

When we moved onto our future farm, the house had a very basic, simplistic solar set up. Two L-11 batteries were being charged by a solar panel. There was the cheapest available charge controller hooked in. This set up ran three DC light bulbs and the water pump. The caretaker before us had allowed the batteries to run down repeatedly, so this poor abused system was barely functional. Often our choice was having one lightbulb on versus saving power to flush the toilet at night. We had to use Coleman lanterns for light at night just so we could take a very quick shower once a day. Something needed to be done.

Our first move was to look into hooking into the grid. Since our house was not permitted, the electric company refused to allow a hookup, even just a temporary pole for construction purposes. Therefore we ran a generator when we needed power. It didn't take long before the noise was bothersome and the rapidly consumed gasoline appalling. But our mindset was to hook into the grid so that's the steps we took. #1step- get a building permit. Not easy and quite expensive. It took us 11 months, really, to get a building permit! Egads! And all that time we're living with almost no power.

With new building permit in hand, we again approached the electric company. Ending up with a sheet full of calculations (number of poles, pole installation, SSPP--our "share" of the cost of the company's infrastructure on our road--, the electrician, the temporary service pole) the estimated cost the hook into temporary power was an incredible $30,000!!!!! We left their office in shock. By now we had been living here for over a year and our mindset was changing. We decided to ditch the grid.

Now we changed our plans and started thinking solar system. In the past year we had learned a lot about solar, especially what not to do. We learned to live on less, a lot less. In hindsight, living a year with an abysmal set up taught us how to use power wisely and not waste a "drop". A great lesson that we appreciate to this day.

Cut to the end of the story...... We spent $20,000 for a decent solar system. We have everything we want except for a jacuzzi. Yes, I even have a nice freezer! So when people ask us when we started saving money using a solar system, we honestly tell them we started the moment we turned it on. We saved over $10,000 on the very first day.

Our homesteading philosophy has evolved in the direction of self-sufficiency, self-reliancy (is there such a word yet?) We choose to live off grid. We choose to use less electricity.