Have you ever seen some of thos spectacular lightning bolt pictures in books? Ever just watched a powerful lighning storm a night. I it is awe inspiring at a distance as a spectator, and terrifying if its too close. If you live in a lighting prone area, its best to study up and know about proper grounding and basic protections you can add to your off grid building projects.
Yesterday afternoon, July 31st will be burned in my memory as I prepare for a large, high pressure technical task.
Doh! hate when that happens
Off grid, or at work, its always important to be conscious of your safety in whatever activity you do. You must watch out for the rationalizations and shortcuts, because eventually you will get bitten! What happened to me this week is a prime example of how a short two hour task can turn into a six hour ordeal.
I was working in the field preparing to setup a new customer’s Internet service. I did the usual pre-install walk around with the customer to determine their needs, and to select the best location for the outdoor equipment and where to run Ethernet cables. This one should be easy I thought, I only have to
solar panels and chicken palace
Moving off grid is different for everyone. Knowing if it is right for you and your current situation is important. How will you determine what your power needs will be? What are the best energy sources available for your move? There are many questions to consider, but the more quickly you get answers, the faster you will make progress towards your new goal.
First, lets define what is meant by “moving off grid”
Too often we run through life and make plans. And we make more plans, then we revise them and still make more plans. The plans I’m thinking of are those big goals you may have, like moving off grid someday. I was just pondering how Jackie and I ended up here in a remote area off grid. It started with the purchase of some remote “vacation” property that had a little 12×16′ cabin or shelter.
In this second part of our deep cycle battery series, I provide detailed measurements for our 12 battery array that is due for replacement. From these measurements, we will eventually try to reconfigure the array into a smaller set that provides better performance. I’ll also try to use a special charging technique to restore some of the weak cells. The series started with, Deep Cycle Batteries [1] Living in End of Life.
“eennt! eennt! eennt!” The inverters warn of low battery voltage. It still happens every day around here since our battery bank is in the end of life. Its difficult considering replacing our beloved 12 deep cycle batteries. The details and measurements will help others in evaluating the usefulness of their older battery systems. This once mighty battery bank could store 1000 Amp Hours of usable ‘juice’ at 12 volts! Now, as configured, it goes from full charge, to inverter shut off with a paltry 150AH!
All too often in life we go along doing what we do, and rarely think much of it. We pour our heart and soul into a project that should be really big, and some positive attention only to find it doesn’t. The rule I found in the corporate engineering cubicles was the 10 / 90 rule. That is 90% of what you do goes unnoticed, even though you’re good. Its the 10% that didn’t take much effort, that gets the great reviews!
I enjoy using WordPress in operating the genverters.com site, and
I was just thinking about life changes over the years. I guess when something significantly good, or bad happens, its only natural to to move into a reflective mood. Want to be your own boss? You do, and so does everyone else. Deep down, no one aspires to work for someone else. Why? Because it will involve giving up some of your choices. You give up your power to direct the ship. If the boss can say do this or do that. He may say, “do it my way”. What can you really do?
Here is the solar panel array we’ve been using to power our home.
Before moving my office here, we got by mostly on this power. Now, however, we use a genverter and solar to meet the needs of our growing family(teens) and power needs. The bird noise in the background of the video is from my son’s flock of guinea fowl.
