A couple of years ago we got our freezer and secondary fridge on solar. At the time, we only used three of the five solar panels we bought off Craigslist. That's left two panels that we've wanted to put to use. One of our miscellaneous spring projects was to make a start on getting those up and running. While the project isn't completed, we've made progress!
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| Solar panels on the roof and concrete pad for the battery bank on the ground. |
For the battery bank, what we've decided to do is to use the bank we originally set up for the freezer and fridge. At 705 amp-hours, it just isn't enough when we have a dark, cloudy spell. But it will be perfect for this system, where we plan to use it to power radios and computers, and for emergency auxiliary lighting if the power goes out. For the freezer and fridge, we will install a new, larger amp-hour batter bank.
For now, the project is on hold because "food first." We hope to make more progress as soon as planting season is over.
13 comments:
So exciting! Solar is a dream of mine! Congratulations!
Forgive me Leigh, I am a bit slow this morning: are you building a new bank to house the additional power or just more fully exploiting the bank that you have?
Step by step, little by little, we all keep trying to make our little homesteads better and more self-sufficient. Yay to you and Dan for working towards getting those couple of extra panels put to work for you. Our "sick" inverter is in the process of being "healed" and if all goes well, we won't have to contemplate the thought of coming up with $4,000-$5,000 for a new one.
I love to read about your solar exploits. Such self sufficiency.
Daisy, it requires some maintenance and tending to, but it's helped with our power bill and given some peace of mind that we won't lose food when the power goes out.
TB, I re-read what I'd written and agree it wasn't clear. So I've added clarification. We'll be moving the old battery bank to the new location, and replacing it with a larger capacity bank for the freezer and fridge.
Mama Pea, yikes! That's expensive! I hope your inverter can be fixed!
Boud, thanks!
Leigh, You guys are doing such a good job in re-directing water. We have to do that (at some point in time) to our GA property & buildings. Greg has talked about french drains to divert heavy rains around our building foundations. Will have too look into swales around the garden because our property is heavily tierced from prior large scale farming. It will take time & patience. Can't leave FL due to family commitments for a while. Love seeing progress others are making.
Deb, Dan used to talk a lot about French drains too, until we watched a Geoff Lawton permaculture design course. Of course, we want to grow edible stuff as well as protect building foundations, so moving water while keeping the soil hydrated is a top priority. The swales are a huge infrastructure project and so a lot of work at first, but should yield decades of benefit, so we think it's worth it.
The day when we all have solar is coming fast I think.
Congrats! Curious how much water cachment do you have? I'd love to get a tank that big
Ed, so it would seem. Except I'm reading that they won't be able to keep up with the demand for batteries soon, which will be a problem. :(
Nancy, the tank in the picture is 1550 gallon. We got it at tractor supply. We have two of those (one on the barn) plus eight 300-gallon totes. Dan thinks it still isn't enough. :)
Thanks Leigh! That makes more sense to me.
Yes, the battery issue is starting to raise its head. It does not intrinsically impact solar - unless, of course, you want to actually store your power.
TB, batteries are indeed handy for using electricity at night or on heavily cloudy days. We have a couple of vent fans (one for the attic and one for the crawl space) that don't use batteries, but then, we only need venting during the hot part of the day.
I love that you have solar. That's what I'm excited to some day do!
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