Solar Baby

A Grid-Tied Solar System Will Run Your Whole House

katlupe — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:41:22 +0000

Solar panels on barn roof.

Solar power has been providing our electric for going on fourteen years now. Does it mean we have never had a power outage? Absolutely not! I should explain myself here. Our system is only as good as our equipment. I mentioned in a previous post, Independent Grid-Tied System, that we had been having problems with our generator. We are now having problems with the new motor. It is not as good as the one that originally came with the generator kit. I am thinking we will need to buy the exact same model as we had.

NY does have sun in winter!

When you are completely off-the-grid, and the winter months are pretty much sunless here in the northeast US, you really need a generator. Our system is pretty small by most people’s standards, but usually works for us. As we get older though, I’d like to have life a little easier. That is where a grid-tied system comes in to play for us. Solar electricity has become pretty easy to add to your home. There are many government incentives and grants available depending on your state.

Cleaning snow off the solar panels.

What I like about this idea is that your home can be like any other house. Just like what you were used to before you moved off-the-grid. I also like the idea of the solar rebates offered. Our house here will be off-the-grid probably forever, but we don’t have to be. We are considering moving to a bigger piece of land, in a more private area, yet connected to the local power grid. Setting up a grid-tied solar system with a battery bank, insures that we should have power no matter what. If the utility power experiences an outage, then our battery bank will keep us from losing our power. The best of both worlds, I say!

Hook Up!

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Alternative Energy System On A Budget

katlupe — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:11:35 +0000

Solar Baby’s Solar Panels

Building your alternative energy system can done on a budget over time. The biggest obstacle we had in our off-the-grid homestead was having enough money to enlarge our solar system. Two years ago we bought our wind turbine and it still is not up. We bought all our turbine’s tower parts and had a friend weld them together. Now it just sits waiting to be finished. The battery room and cellar stairs have to be done before my house can go onto the turbine. It all works together and some projects have to be finished before you can go on. We were able to get some used guide wires from a friend. That will help, but I think we need more.

Our Road

It is easy for someone who can afford to install a big system to run a whole house from the start. We didn’t do it that way. Obviously, we could not afford to do that. Then my husband was hurt in a work related accident and things were tough. We were able to build it little by little. Adding the solar panels and various components. So it didn’t cost us a lot of money at once. More affordable that way for us. But you must have patience to do it this way.

Stairs to the pantry.

The first thing on the agenda is to finish our stairs that go down from the pantry to the root cellar. And second is to close in the battery room. Cap it off and we will have a front porch again, which I badly missed. Just those few things will make such a difference here. Using the front porch means that we can start using our front door again, which is another thing I have missed. So has our dog and cats. I find it is best not to overwhelm yourself with making plans to do too much in a short period of time. Or more than you can afford at one time. One little step leads to another one!

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Peaceful Forest Homestead Covered After A Fresh Snowfall

katlupe — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:41:38 +0000

Out in the snow this morning!

Our Peaceful Forest Homestead is a whirl of activity after getting up to a fresh snowfall. Shoveling was the first order of the day for my husband. Making sure we can get out of the driveway in case of an emergency or that we just want to go somewhere. Cleaning off the solar panels is another job that my husband makes sure he has done.

Battery room filled with snow!

Paths are shoveled so that it is easy to do chores, or walk to the barn, the shed, the mailbox, etc. It makes it so much easier. Snow is pretty, but it does come with some hard work. We do not use a snow blower. My husband does not think they do that well of a job. He said that by the time he gets it cleaned out from being clogged up, he could have shoveled the whole area out quicker. Maybe so. I remember everyone complaining about having to fix their snow blower.

Our generator seem from above this morning.

The generator runs just about every day now. In the winter, we do not get enough sun here in upstate New York. So that means spending money for gas. As our system is built bigger it will mean less use of the generator. I can’t wait for that! Not only is there the cost of running it, but the smell of gasoline and the sound. And don’t forget the repairs and maintenance! Yes, gasoline motors will always have some work involved.

Solar panels covered with snow.

After the chores are finished. The snow is pretty and the quietness of snow falling is a soothing calm that surrounds our homestead deep in the forest.

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Our January Thaw Is Here

katlupe — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 19:17:49 +0000

Solar panels in the fog this morning!

After a period of snow and cold since about the first day of winter, we are now getting some relief from it. Warmer temperatures. Snow is melting off a bit. Fog this morning! See my photos today. Lots of fog and some rain over the last few days. Not enough to melt off all the snow, because we had a bit.

Foggy throughout the forest.

It has gotten a little brighter than it was when I took the photos earlier this morning. We had to run our generator because it was not enough to charge our batteries. If we did not have a generator or chose not to run it, we could get by. We would not be able to be on our computers though. Since there are three of us computer geeks here, that could be a pretty trying day for us to not be on the computers. So it is worth the money in gas.

That is thick fog!

This time, is what we, in NY state, call “the January thaw.” We don’t get it every year. Everyone looks forward to it and when we don’t get it, everyone is bummed out. Especially my husband! Everyone should be happy this year!

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Self-Reliance eBooks For Your Kindle

katlupe — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:30:22 +0000

Since I got my Kindle Fire last year, I have been reading self-reliance eBooks like crazy! What I didn’t realize until I had one was that the variety of eBooks on Amazon in the Kindle store is HUGE. Not only that, but there are many offered FREE, when they first are published on Amazon. I started browsing and saw that there was many self-reliance eBooks and they were quite popular. I am going to list some weekly so you can find these great sources of information too. These may not be free since they are only free for a short time.

There is a FREE app for anyone who does not have a Kindle or other reader. This app is offered from Amazon so you can start getting books for FREE or buying books in the Kindle store to read on your computer.

FREE Amazon Reading App.

Simple Emergency Water Storage - A book about how to set up a simple water storage system for your small homestead or in a prepping situation.

Bug Out Bag - This is an eBook about how to put together your first bug out bag or BOB, as it is known, of essentials. It had great reviews and sounded like a good one to have in your library.

How to build an Emergency money Fund - This eBook is a good start on how you can build up an emergency fund. Now I KNOW this is not an easy task! This little book will get you started in the right direction.

Build Your Own Small Solar Power System - An eBook written by Gavin Webber explaining how to set up your own small solar system for those power outages.

Basic Solar Component Guide - A small guide to a basic solar set up.

Solar Electricity Handbook - The guide to generating electric using solar photovoltaic panels.

Surviving Off Off-Grid - I loved this eBook! It is written by Michael Bunker and he has quite a following. As well he should, he presented many facts to me that I was not aware of, even though I have lived off-the-grid for over thirteen years now. Check it out!

The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, 2nd Edition - A valuable source for the beginner as well as the experienced gardener.

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables - This is the book I read on home storage and learned how to utilize my own root cellar. The BEST book on the subject as far as I can tell. If you want a good quality root cellar that really works, this is the book to read.

A Guide to Canning, Freezing, Curing & Smoking Meat, Fish & Game - This is a very good source of how to preserve meats on your homestead.

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Solar Collectors On Wordless Wednesday

katlupe — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:16:16 +0000

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Independent Grid-Tied System

katlupe — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 18:29:33 +0000

I have to admit, the thought of a grid-tied system has been crossing my mind more and more lately. For the past two months our generator has been down. My husband worked on it, bought some parts and worked on it some more. Then it’d run a few days or so, but finally coughed its last cough. We were done. Had to rely on the sun for power. Not easy to do at this time of year in New York state! That is why I have not been keeping up with my blogs.

Our generator is a special made kit that is designed for charging DC only, by using a car alternator. He finally bought a new motor that did not have a gas tank, but the tank on our old one would fit. It was an electric start one and that is something he wanted on it. So it finally came the day before yesterday. It is now hooked up to our system and charging our batteries today. Yay! I am really a computer person and was really missing unlimited power.

Living off-the-grid sounds exciting to some of my homesteading friends. To tell you the truth, after awhile, it isn’t really that much different than living on the grid, with the exception of not having an electric bill. Of course, if I lived on the grid, I’d be “grid-tied” for sure! If you don’t know what that means, it means you are hooked up to the electric utility grid and you have an alternative energy system. So when you make more electric than you use to run your house, you are selling it to the electric company. Instead of money, they subtract it from the amount of electric you use from them. In other words, your electric meter runs backwards!

Many people who are grid tied do not have a battery bank. I definitely would have a battery bank if I chose to be grid tied. It gives you the independence that if the power grid did go down, and there was no sun or wind, you’d have power stored. Then you can charge those batteries with a generator and not have to run the generator for your power. There would be a possibility of running out of gas for the generator. It is best to be prepared for all possible situations. That way you have independence even if you are connected to the power grid!

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Appreciating My Off-The-Grid Electric System

katlupe — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:58:35 +0000

My Parents’ Home

My father passed away in August and I am the executor of his home. My responsibilities include cleaning his home out and getting it ready to sell. There is no one living there. The only electric we use has been for the refrigerator, a few lights (not all the time and not every day), washed and dried some laundry and of course, now the fan to the furnace runs if it gets below 50 degrees. Today we turned off the refrigerator, so that will be one less thing. There is no more laundry to do. I will be sure not to turn a light on unless it is absolutely necessary.

Electric Poles

The electric bill, from NYSEG (New York State Electric & Gas) is $179.94 from June to September. I paid part of it yesterday but didn’t know it wasn’t the whole bill. When I called about the bill, the representative asked if I’d like to put it in MY name! Absolutely not!!! Now I remember why I was so happy to do away with the electric bill in 1999!

Our Solar Panels

There has been times lately where I have complained about not having the freedom to run more electric items due to low power. These last few weeks our generator was broke down and we were extremely low on sunshine. I couldn’t even write on my blogs and that is my therapy. It was a hard time for me. Now that I have had to actually write a check for an electric bill…………those old feelings of how much I hate doing that, come back to me!

New Solar Panel

Living off-the-grid is so much nicer. Even if I have to pay for gas to run the generator. Soon we will have our wind turbine up, and hopefully, six more Solar Panels
in the near future. That means less gas for the generator! Best of all, no electric bills! Instead of electric bills, I like to put that money into our alternative energy system. I buy the best energy efficient appliances and items. Build a small, but affordable system, little by little!

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Saving The Wick On Your Kerosene Lamps

katlupe — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:24:56 +0000

We used 14 kerosene lamps and lanterns when we first moved here in 1999. Yes, it was a lot! But at that time the kerosene was pretty cheap and we were not concerned with the cost. In this photo, unfortunately the chimney of the lamp needed cleaning. The key to good lighting with your kerosene lamps is to clean the chimney daily or close to that. The other key is to trim the wick! A wick that needs trimming will make it smoke, stink and give less than optimal lighting.

One of the problems of wicks is that they become short as you trim them. Pretty soon the end is not in the kerosene or lamp oil unless you keep the fuel topped off. Sometimes we found we were throwing away good wicks. Being the frugal people that we are, my husband started sewing the new wick on the end of the old shorter one. Since we had saved all those old short wicks from past times, we started using them in this way.

As the wick is turned up and trimmed, the sewn part will come up to the top. Then you can just sew on another one. We went to a homesteading class once, where they attached a rag to the wick to keep the kerosene seeping into the wick. It worked. I find this method works better. Easier and cleaner.

Eventually you can clip off the sewn area as it may have a problem going through the wick winder. It is a good way to make the wicks last longer and you will have no waste.

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Charging Batteries With A Generator

katlupe — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:06:29 +0000

Our Generator

The generator is a very important part of any off-the-grid system. Especially if you live in a state that has periods of low sunshine. New York is well known for that. Once fall hits, we know that the sun will soon be scarce for a period of time. With a small system, we need them to charge our batteries when our solar panels do not receive enough sunshine to charge the batteries. So we rely on our generator.

Our Early Set-Up

Our generator is part of a kit that was made special for off-the-grid systems. We bought it in 2004 from Backwoods Solar. Unfortunately, I see they don’t offer it anymore. I was sad to see that, as I have recommended it to many people. We love our generator kit and have used it a lot. Even though, they say to use your generator as little as possible. We have no choice, since we only have five solar panels presently. Increasing the panels will help with that. We are planning on adding more panels soon, as well as get the wind turbine up and running.

The Generator Torn Apart For Repairs

Recently our generator broke down. It has been down for weeks, as my husband rebuilt the Briggs & Stratton motor. He had to order parts. It took him quite awhile. But he did it! Today it is finally up and charging our batteries. So for the present time, we are able to use our computers for a longer period of time. Whew! I was worried.

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