Doing my part to keep the universe guessing…

I thought it was about time to finish a project. And no more than six months behind schedule!

Still a few things to do, like research what sort of ebook format is more appropriate. I think I’m likely to just save it as a .pdf and “sell” it on the blog for a few bux. It’s more a booklet than a book, after all. I’ve still got some formatting to do but it’s shaping up to be no more than forty pages.

Anyway, it should be available soon. Here’s the intro…

A Solar Electric System On the Cheap, On the Fly, and Off the Grid

In 2006 I moved into the desert, away from all the city’s amenities. I sponged off the infrastructure of some friends while building my own little cabin in the boondocks.

Since I’m no professional builder and had no money, the project took years. At first my plan was very simple: Basically just a private little shack with an outhouse. But the longer it took, the more elaborate the plans became. Running water became available, which made an actual flush toilet possible, which meant that in addition to buying and trenching a whole bunch of pipe I had to dig and build a septic system. It added months to the project, but hey! Indoor plumbing! What’s not to love?

See, when you pare things down to necessities you find that the most basic modern conveniences, while not strictly necessary for life, are each such improvements that they almost may as well be. Would you live without running water if you didn’t have to? Me neither. How about electricity?

You don’t realize how much electricity makes possible until you go without it. Lights at night, sure. But how about connectivity? Communications? Entertainment? Power tools? Do you even have a way to charge a cellphone battery? If not, you’d better be careful not to need emergency help.

Moving away from the grid doesn’t mean you have to join the Cult of Ludd. And it’s very satisfying to produce something for yourself that we all grew up thinking could only come from a giant utility company. I’m typing this in my cabin in the desert, several miles from the nearest power pole. I’m using a laptop computer, and will transmit the document over a modem to a satellite. Hey, I’m pushing sixty and I have to say That’s Just Cool.

So my original plan to go without electricity didn’t last long. But how to do it? Solar electric systems are impossibly expensive by my (completely broke) standards. Plus, I didn’t know anything about how to install one. If the Solar Power Fairy had dropped all the crated parts into my yard one night, I’d still have been stuck for how to put it together. And the Fairy doesn’t seem to make housecalls around here. So this is a story of learning curves, and luck, and finding out (sometimes painfully) what I’m willing to do without and what I’m not. If you have any ideas about off-grid living in your own future, you might be able to profit from my experiences and mistakes.

You see, my little cabin has gone through two completely separate solar electric systems. The first one I made entirely with scrounged and cast-off parts; just whatever I found lying around. It cost virtually nothing. It was quite a learning experience, but it didn’t work very well. I built the second system on the same philosophy (keep it cheap) but not so extreme. It has run for almost a year without a hitch as of this writing, and I’ve been very happy with it.

I’m going to show you both systems, and a few other things besides.