#diy #gyo #garden #gardening #sustainability #selfsufficience #selfsufficient #offgridsolar

OK, here we go! #SelfSufficientMe

#oilCrisis #climateCrisis

What you can do:
#growYourOwn #solarpower #rainWaterCollection #medicalCare #community #skills #communication

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JZFN9Qn5LI

#diy #gyo #garden #gardening #sustainability #selfsufficience #selfsufficient #offgridsolar OK, here we go! #SelfSufficientMe #oilCrisis #climateCrisis What you can do: #growYourOwn #solarpower #rainWaterCollection #medicalCare #community #skills #communication www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JZF...

Now Its Time to PANIC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@clim8_solutions/116189711930694672

Tagging for #SolarPunkSunday!

#OffGridSolar #Vanuatu #InternationalWomensDay

Was asked to look at a small off grid solar setup today. The lead acid gel battery is dead / high impedance and I was told that the inverter alarm was active at some point due to overvoltage (15 V) so I am not surprised that the battery is dead.

The charge controller is the usual cheap blue PWM charge controller. Settings are correct (max voltage 13,7 V).

I was looking at the thing at night without measurement tools and the PV module is mounted in a way that figuring out the exact type means some ladder/roof climbing...

Any similar experiences with those things?

#pvbuddies #OffGridSolar

#canada #offgridsolar #UninhabitedIslands Tough to beat this view from my camp. ~100km from nowhere.

@pluralistic Thank you for helping solar power get to people. As you share, the fossil fuel and technology sectors are trying to add choke points to solar power systems. #solar, #solarpunk, #offgridsolar, #balconysolar, #growyourown,#solarpower, #solarpanels

Getting no meaningful solar today. Camp's 7kW of panels are only producing 540W. so my measly 2kW in less than ideal locations are probably producing less than 100W.

I'm at 58% because I was only able to get up to 90% before sunset yesterday. Smart shunt says I've got 2.5 days at current consumption before my battery is drained. I can't supplement from camp's system, because it is unlikely to get up to 100% today unless there are some breaks in the weather. I could supplement from Camp's backup system if I start to get too low.

Definitely need to get my other panels up here, and get them in better locations so I can at least produce enough in cloudy conditions to offset daytime usage. And I'll probably need to get another battery before winter.

#DIY #OffGridSolar

Anyone have an electric burner element? I'm ready to start experimenting with a #SandBattery to store excess solar as heat to radiate into my space at night.

I have a water heater element, but I understand those can burn out easily because they're intended to be submerged in water all the time.

#OffGridSolar #DIY

#microgrid #solarsystem #offgridsolar #renewableenergy

My two cents: Folks, stop waiting for actions from politics and governments. Organize your neighborhood, put up microgrids, wind or solar, what fits your circumstances best.

(EU)Cost of an off-grid or hybrid on/off-grid solar system 3.2 kW peak incl. 10kW LiFePO4 batteries around €4500-€5000 without any government support. Sole on-grid systems are way cheaper. Work at least 30 years. No more electricity bills. Independence: priceless 😎

I've messaged both the Solar Panel and the DC compressor fridge sellers.

Ready to order my 2k Renogy inverter too, but kind of waiting to see if I get any recommendations for a quality battery monitor from the #OffGridSolar group.

The cheapo one I got, just displays SOC based on voltage. And the Ah is cumulative regardless of whether current is flowing into or out of the battery, which is quite useless information. I need one where you can tell it the battery bank is 600Ah, and it keeps track of the remaining capacity based on both charging and discharging.

#FYI #OffGridSolar #solarpower #renewableenergy #climate #climatecrisis #klima #klimawandel #klimakollaps #klimaschutz #erneuerbare #balkonkraftwerk #Widersetzen #NoAFD #FckAFD #gegenRechts #NazisRaus #AntiFa

Netter Werbeclip ^.^

Stimmt aber: Der größter Feind ist die eigene Trägheit. Rumdiskutieren ist immer einfacher, als den werten Hintern hochzukriegen.
Mund zu und Action!

https://energiewende.social/@ews/114471749229898409

Would LOVE to find someone who manages an off-grid Outback Solar system.

Our non-profit's system was installed by someone who then kind of disappeared. It was supposed to come with Outback training for 2 people, but that never materialized.

It has run surprisingly well without any attention to speak of for nearly 6 years. But probably at a steep cost to the health of our batteries.

I have an electrical engineering background, so am a fast study. But a lot of the terms and setting names don't immediately make sense.

Would be helpful to be able to ask questions, or explain my understanding of something and get confirmation or correction of my understanding.

#OffGridSolar #Outback

So now the weirdness. That was pure battery voltage. And using charts for State of Charge SOC depending on resting, no load voltage of a 48V AGM battery bank.

If I look at the computer generated SOC. It's all topsy turvy. Says the batteries were at 90% and steady until the sun went down, at which point they magically fill to 100% overnight.

Then they start draining when the sun is out. But popping back up to 100% as soon as a heavy load was added.

And thus our system crashed from low voltage while also saying our batteries were at 100%

🤷‍♀️

#OffGridSolar #Help #Batteries #Outback #Solar

I kinda wish I had a couple days of normal system data. Instead, I see a couple 1hr absorb cycles. Then the water heater kicks in.

I'm guessing it was drawing more power than the panels were producing, so that cut all charging off. Batts immediately drop to 48V. That would normally mean the batt was at 50% but I don't know how much of a heavy current draw voltage drop we have. I'd guess that at best the batt only got charged to 75%. And the heavy draw rapidly drained the batts.

I think the heater then kicks off and battV recovers to 50%, but there's no sun so no more charging. When the heater kicks in again, voltage drops below cutoff and system crashes.

#OffGridSolar #Batteries

Ok. Going back to Dec 17 when I was in camp & could get pics of graphs right after a system crash while using a 4.5kW water heater.

I see the Absorb Charging Voltage followed by a Float Charging Voltage then sunset. Looks like batteries settled at @ 50.8 V or 85%. Right off the bat, I think our Absorb time needs upping. currently set at 1hr, should be 2-3hrs to really get batts fully charged. Voltage should settle at 52 when charge voltage is removed.

The gradual voltage drop overnight looks reasonable. But I don't understand why it takes so long to start and Absorb charge once it's light out.

Absorb is basically a fast charge. Float is more like a trickle charge.

#OffGridSolar

Need help figuring out a few things with our completely off-grid outback solar system. Starting with the batteries. We have a 48V system with 3 parallel channels each consisting of 8 6V AGM batteries in series.

We have these Centennial Batteries: https://www.batterysystems.net/amfile/file/download/file/24/product/546/

1st Question is what should the absorb charge time be? Our system was set up by and recently checked by an Outback tech, but the absorb time is set at 1hr. And that seems too short to me.

#OffGridSolar

Happily nomming sunrays from the roof ^_^
(actually canned sunrays from the solar battery, it's a bit cloudy.)
Welcome home Smarty! 💓 For the very last time I'm afraid 😟 Ol' Smarty - now 23 years with a battery of 11 years - managed to get home 29 km from the winter quarters, slowly but safely. The retirement this autumn will be well earned...
#OffGridSolar #solarpower #renewableenergy

First camping trip of the 2023 season! It was cold, wet, and very windy spring weather for most of the week. There was only 1 evening we could have a campfire. 😞 The new solar setup & expanded battery bank on the camper worked great. The new Thule awning worked great also, but I didn't have it up much due to the wind.

There was lots of work and cleanup to do after the long winter. Picked up downed tree limbs. Chainsawed & removed some fallen trees in the cornfield fence perimeter before they plant the field for the season. Also worked on cutting & removing invasive honeysuckle as part of our timber rehab plan - a never ending job. I took the pups for long hikes and they loved exploring the trails thru the timber. It felt good after a hard day of work to settle down for the night in the warm camper.

Looking forward to doing more!! :camp_caravan:

#camping #nature #dogsofmastodon #offgridsolar #cargotrailercamper #lovethemchessies #springfinallyhere #iowatimberfarm

TinyHouse 2/2
1) find out where it is allowed.
2) lease a place where to put it.
3) get an empty shipping container for a few bucks & building material/appliances second hand
4) get some help for works you are unfamiliar with.
5) In any case get some solar panels and batteries (if the place gets any sun)! It's worth the effort, off-grid solar is REALLY cool ^_^ <3 (well, right now not cool but cozy warm for zero bucks ^_^ last night was -2C outside)
#TinyHouse #DIY #OffGridSolar

TinyHouse 1/2
Hey! To the folks, who want a TinyHouse but can't afford the high price of a ready made: Stop complaining, will ya? Just scroll the pics of the ads, get nice ideas as how to, then build one DIY, so you can have your own for the 10% of the price.
Advice (due to really bad experience) DO NOT buy a ready made "insulated container" ISO whatever! Do the insulation yourself, you spare yourself a lot of money and annoyance.

#TinyHouse #DIY #OffGridSolar #SustainableLiving