Interrupting Sauna to Clean the Solar Panels
Sometimes when you realise that you’re not generating enough power, you gotta do what you gotta do.
solar power
Total Teardown of our Solar Power System – Switching from Flooded to AGM L-16 Batteries
Our solar power system has been working very well for us for the past five or more years. It has washed our clothes, cooked our food, boiled some of our water, kept the lights on, charged our devices, powered our internet connection and, occasionally, even thrown off some heat here and there. Of course, so … Read more
First Electric Water Boiling of the Year!
The other day we finally reached a nice, solid float voltage on the batteries with a few hours of good sunlight left in the day, so I opted to plug in the induction stove and warm a full kettle of water using the power of the sun! Whistling merrily along here, but hard to see … Read more
…And First Snowfall of the Season!
Yesterday we attended the NOHE to help us have a better background in the ins and outs of being a small landlord. Afterwards we dropped by on one of our tenants to put up some blinds for them and have a bbq (as well as to enjoy their shower!) They mentioned once or twice that there … Read more
Yet Another Clothes Line
When you live off-grid and don’t have easy access to gas or electric services, you start to really miss some things, and others, not so much. One thing I’ve not really missed – especially since even when we had one, we didn’t use it terribly much, was our dryer. Even back in the city, I … Read more
Solar Power’s Back Baby!
Yes indeed, this morning marks that momentous time of year when I can get up in the middle of the night and our batteries have enough charge to make me a litre of tea to drink, and then another half litre of boiling water for my ramen. Life is good! Mmmm, ramen!
Canning Potatoes the Lazy Way
We’ve been excessively blessed with sunlight the past couple of weeks. I haven’t had to run the generator for at least a week, and everyone just feels a bit more peppy. After canning the chicken last week, I was enthused to replenish our pantry with meals in jars, so I set to work doing up … Read more
Sunrise!
Yesterday while waiting for the sun to rise enough to power the canner, I was treated to sunrise directly in line with the driveway! It was a beautiful view from the kitchen sink while I prepped the ingredients. Almost there! And BOOM!
Addendum to Warming the Batteries (Including Bonus Addendum)
While it’s been hard to quantify how much the heating pads on the solar batteries have helped, I can say that in spite of frigid temperatures, we haven’t lost power due to overvoltage, and the batteries have been ranging between 6 and 10 degrees in spread between their temperature and ambient. Twice since the installation … Read more
Using A Jump Starter/Power Box As A Power Supply
As I discussed a few days ago in my blog entry about heating my solar batteries to prevent power outages, I contemplated using a UPS to provide internet service while the inverter was off due to overvoltage. A day or two later, I was at the store after having had to jumpstart the car using … Read more