Cheap Solar Power - Get Off The Grid & Grind Your Grain

I believe that expecting the unexpected helps you deal with the inevitable turmoil that plagues daily living.  Productively expecting the unexpected requires a kind of optimistic pessimism that makes you plan for the worst while fully expecting the best.  It is one of the great keys to happiness in this life.

Symptoms of this attitude in our lives include:

• We keep a substantial emergency fund in the bank--that's what we're living on during the 14 months between my early retirement and the beginning of my pension stream next January.
• We store food and water--this is another way we are able to live for a long period with no income.  There were times when I was young that our large family's food storage is what got us through periods of underemployment.
• We continually learn and develop skills that empower our self-reliance--these include the ability to prepare nutritious food using mostly our food storage, being able to do first aid and meet our family's normal medical needs, having the skill to do basic home and appliance repairs, having adequate education to earn a good income etc.
• We have acquired tools to enable self-sufficiency--these include food and water storage containers, a good grain-grinder (nice alliteration eh?), a durable kitchen mill/blender, a large food processor, a gas-powered generator, gas cans, camp stoves, a solar oven etc.

One of the self-reliance tools I've developed recently is an inexpensive stand-alone solar power system with sufficient capability to provide emergency power for things like grinding grain, providing light, powering communications equipment etc.

My solar power system is simple, small, and relatively inexpensive, but those characteristics actually enhance its affordability and usability.  It is a completely stand-alone system (not connected to the grid) with only 5 basic components:

• Solar Panels to convert sunlight to electricity - I bought a small three-panel set at Harbor Freight for $179 that generates 45 watts of power
• Landscape Cord to connect the solar panels to the voltage regulator / battery / inverter - this looks like lamp cord but it can be buried and is sunlight resistant.  I bought the 25 feet I needed at a local hardware store for around $20.
• Deep-Cell Marine Battery to store the electricity - I bought this at Costco for about $60
• 2000 Watt Inverter (continuous wattage) to convert the direct current from the battery to alternate current - I bought mine for $129 at Harbor Freight
• 6-Foot 300 Amp Inverter Cables to carry the power from the battery to the inverter (these are special heavy duty cables because the draw of a large inverter from a deep-cell battery can be significant and could melt thinner wires) - I bought mine at Harbor Freight for about $40

Here is how I assembled the components into a complete system that I can use to maintain out basic nutritional, lighting, and communication needs if we have a prolonged loss of power:

The first job was to mount the solar panels on my roof.  The kit comes with mounting brackets, and a box called a Voltage Regulator (see the middle right hand photo in the collage).  I followed the instructions in the box and used the mounting brackets to set the panels on my roof.  The key here is to set them in a sun-facing position (I live in the northern hemisphere so in my case I put it on my south-facing roof) at an angle that will maximize the amount of sun they will receive.  That angle depends on your latitude so check out this link to get more information on the best angle for a fixed installation in your area.  The further you are from the equator the more the angle of the sun will change with the seasons and these will remain in a fixed position so you'll never get it precisely right.  I wouldn't worry too much about squeezing maximum efficiency out of these panels.  You're really just using them to trickle charge the battery so you can periodically grind some wheat or use a radio.  If this is all too confusing just put them somewhere where they won't be shaded and make them face the sun as much as possible.

Next I connected the panels on the roof to the voltage regulator in a cupboard in my kitchen, which is where I decided to install the voltage regulator / battery / inverter (so I'd have easy access to plug in my kitchen appliances).  I connected the three positive wires from the panels together and attached them to one of the two wires on the landscape wire by clipping off the ends  stripping the wires and then connecting them with a wire nut and sealing it all up with electrical tape.  I then connected the three negative wires together  and hooked them to the other of the landscape wire.  By the way, each panel generates 15 watts so wiring them together combines the output into 45 watts.  You can get away with using the thin landscape wire because this cable is only carrying 45 watts--enough to power a dim lightbulb.  I then ran the landscape wire off the roof and down the side of the house (thankfully I have ivy growing up this wall so it camouflages the wire).  I used a long masonry bit to drill a hole through the brick wall (I went through the mortar at one of the seams because its softer than brick) and into the cupboard in the kitchen.  I threaded the landscape wire through the hole and sealed it up with silicone caulking (see the picture on the bottom left in the collage above).  The next step was to hook the two leads from the landscape wire into the inputs on the back of the voltage regulator that came with the Solar Panel Kit.  At this point, if the sun is shining you should have 45 watts flowing into the voltage regulator.  You could now plug in any DC device into one of its several inputs (e.g. a cigarette lighter slot, a USB slot etc.).  If all you needed was 45 watts of continuous DC power you'd be done, but if you want to store your power and then use AC appliances you need the next two components (i.e. the battery and the inverter).

The next step is to connect the battery to the inverter with the heavy duty inverter cables.  These are bolted onto the battery posts and then onto the back of the inverter.  Make sure you connect the red cable to the positive battery post / positive inverter input, and the black cable to the negative battery post / inverter input.  Mount your inverter where you want it--I screwed mine to the side of the cupboard wall--and slide your battery into it's place.


Now the only thing left is to connect the two output wires from the back of the voltage regulator to the battery posts.  These wires have clothes-pin-like clamps on the ends which you clamp to the battery posts.  Once again, make sure that you connect red to the positives and black to the negatives.  So long as the sun is shining and the battery needs charging the voltage regulator will trickle charge the battery. When you switch on the inverter and plug something in (e.g. the wheat grinder I used to grind wheat) it puts a big draw on the battery, but then that builds back up when you're not using it so you have ready power whenever you want it.

When you're not using the system (make sure to switch off the inverter when not in use) it just sits there quietly maintaining a fully charged battery.  No need to think about or maintain it.  When you need it, or want to use it (I like to grind my wheat with it just to ensure that it is periodically tested and operational) it's available and ready to go.

By the way, it's tax return time in the US.  If you are getting a tax return consider using some of it to make yourself more self-sufficient.  Check yourself against this priority list:

• Food, Water, and Fuel - add to your supply of water, canned foods, fuel and other staples including whole grains
• Grain Grinder - make sure you have something easy to use and durable so you'll actually use your grains--your body will thank you
• Bread Mixer and Blender and a good Food Processor - these tools help you use the food you store and buy more efficiently

If you have adequate supplies of these things consider getting off the grid with a cheap stand-alone solar power solution!