Five days of no more than peek-a-boo sun, capped off with a day that would have been at home on a bad day in the Pacific Northwet. Yesterday my input voltage did not exceed 12.2 volts, except for one period after 3 when it briefly stopped raining and the voltage increased to 12.5. I don’t remember a day like that ever in the desert, and after such a long gloomy period I like to think we’ve tested this little vestpocket solar power system as well as it will ever be tested. And it so exceeded my expectations.
Yesterday, counting my blessings that I had gotten Big Brother’s 12-volt lighting system installed less than a week before, I just switched the inverter right off and left it off until this afternoon. And this morning before sunrise I was still reading 12.0 volts. At no time during this whole cloudy period, using care and moderation, did I ever even stress the system.
And yesterday during the gloomy rainy nasty afternoon I was baking cookies and thinking about Frederick, the generous soul who donated the money for the two new batteries I installed last winter after my scrounged pair gave up the ghost. I’ve been careful to take good care of those batteries in the hope that they’ll give me several years’ good service, and this past week they took good care of me. Not even down 50%, though they hadn’t seen even a momentary full charge for three days! I was impressed. That’s nearly 200% of the service performance I expected out of two batteries, two panels, and some scavenged RV parts. I understand from a recent Claire post that Frederick’s wife is having a time adjusting to life without him. I never met either of them and rather doubt that she reads this little blog, but if she does I’d like her to know that her husband’s so-timely gift keeps on giving, and I haven’t forgotten him here.
“installed less than a week before”
For a hermit, you have a remarkable sense of timing.
🙂 Not usually.