SOLAR PANNELS UP AND WORKING!!!!

Storm damage at the end of November, unexpectedly took me off grid earlier than expected (as stated in previous posts).  Since that time, I have been using my computer, battery chargers, etc., at my sister's house until I can get solar up and working.

Refund of my deposit from the power company was enough to purchase a 100 watt solar kit from Harbor Freight, but it could not be installed until the tree was off the house.  With that task finished a few days ago, it was time to install the solar.

Since the main thing I am using electricity for is the office, the most logical place for the panels would be on the roof near enough the office for the wires to reach.  This leads to the first real challenge.  The roof slopes to the east and west, while the panels need to face the south.  A platform would have to be built for the panels, so they could face the proper direction.  

To make the platform, I built two stands to match the angle of the roof, one for each side of the ridge.  After sealing underneath       them with roof cement, they were attached to the roof with screws.  An old door attached across the stands serves as a platform.    

With the platform up and solid, the solar panels were assembled according to instructions.  They were then attached to the platform and the cables were hooked up.  With the charge controller hooked to the battery, the input wire was hooked up, completing the circuit.  Even though the sun was almost down by this point, the panels started charging. 

I hooked it up with two batteries to add power, and with the rising sun, they began to charge nicely.  Yes, I was excited!  At the rate it was charging, the batteries would reach full charge long before evening and I would be able to use the computer at home again. With this in mind, I arrived at home with my computer later that evening only to find that my batteries were not fully charged.  I thought perhaps the panels had not put out enough, since the day had been a bit overcast.  Pushing down my disappointment, I resolved to wait until the next evening. 

Morning came and the sky was clear.  Surely there would be fully charged batteries by evening.  Not so!  Turns out that one of the batteries was bad making it impossible to charge them.  Unhooking the bad battery, allowed the good one to reach full charge quickly.  Now, I could certainly use the computer.  OR NOT!!!

The inverter I hooked up was one I had purchased a few years ago and used for a while.  It had been stored for a couple of years but still worked (or at least it seemed to).  It seemed that everything 

worked fine, except the computer and the router.  Neither of them would even come on.  Turns out that though my inverter comes on and puts out the correct voltage, it is not putting out enough amps to run anything that pulls much power.  It will now be a little while before the budget will allow for a new inverter.  Meanwhile, my computer is back at my sister's house until I can run it at home.  At my place, I simply have a little light and an expensive phone charger for the time being.  Wish me luck!! 

OFFICIALLY OFF GRID, SOONER THAN EXPECTED!!

As those of you who have been following already know, I have been slowly working toward the day when I can tell the power company to pull the meter.  The expected time frame was at some future point, due to things like the need for a few power tools, welder, air compressor and computer.

On night of November 30, the time frame dramatically accelerated.  There was a large oak tree leaning slightly away from the house and I hadn't considered it as a potential problem.  Weather patterns here in Oklahoma, however, had other ideas.  A small tornado twisted up the tree top and uprooted the tree, placing it squarely on top of the house.  In the process, it took down the power drop cable and damaged the wall where the meter was, to the point that it could not be hooked back up.  

The house was no longer livable and used mainly for storage (the back room serving as an office) prior to this event.  Roof damage was extreme, and with termite damage below, there will be no repairs, only tree removal and eventual demolition.  With these considerations, I had the power company close my account and remove the meter.

This brings me to the point of being totally off grid.  The refund on my deposit was enough to get a solar kit at Harbor Freight, which I will install on the roof of my office area.  My computer is now at my sister's house so I can have at least limited use of it until the solar is set up.

The next step after the solar setup will be the purchase of a portable welder (ASAP) so I can weld, and run the air compressor and other tools.  This damage and lack of power tools will slow progress in some ways, and there will certainly be quite a bit of loss of storage items. 

There is an up side!  Several projects and goals are greatly accelerated.  In addition to being off grid ahead of schedule, I have greater motivation to get the portable welder that has been on the list for several years.  The process of sorting and downsizing stored items is now an immediate necessity, and the eventual demolition of the old house is a much more immediate consideration.

In short, since nobody was injured, there is some serious good even in this negative event.  I will write a post on the cleanup later.

A BIT OF SHELTER FOR OUTDOOR COOKING

Outdoor cooking is a wonderful thing.  The open fire (or as is now the case, my Grandmother's wood cookstove), the fresh air and smoke, it is all quite wonderful.  As I am sure you know, even the most wondrous experiences have a downside, and in this case rain falls into that category.  I can't bring myself to complain about rain, but it does present challenges.

Most of my cooking has been done outdoors for a few years now, first on a cooking ring made of car rims, and more recently on my Grandmother's old cast iron cookstove.  Last winter, I made use of a crock pot when the weather was bad, but I really prefer a real fire.  This brings us to the need for a cook shelter.

Recently, I had the opportunity to do some bartering.  Through this bartering, I acquired (among other things) a portable garage.  You know the type, the kind with a metal tubing framework covered with a heavy fabric covering, like they sell at Harbor Freight.  The covering is pretty well worn, but should hold up for a while longer, then it will be replaced with a decent tarp.  It doesn't look like much as a pile of components, but will be good once assembled.

With the framework and back end cover installed, it begins to look a bit more like a shelter.  This is only 2/3 of the frame I traded for due to the space of my cooking area as well as some terrain issues that exist near the back end of the framework that you see in the second photo.  The only real option would be to move my cook stove to a larger flat area, which would not only be quite a bit of extra work, but would also be further from my food storage and living area.  The added space would be nice, but not necessary.  The remaining components will be stored for future use after my cabin is built and I no longer need the cook shelter.


Due to circumstances beyond my control, this little project took longer than I had hoped.  My plan was to have it up before it started raining again.  That did not happen!  I found myself after work on Friday, working frantically in the rain to install the front end and the cover, thoroughly soaked in a slow steady rain.  

With the shelter up, the lack of dry wood and kindling created the next challenge.  As you can see from the smoke, the challenge was met, and I cooked the first meal under my new shelter.  I must say, it was very nice cooking in the dry while listening to the rain falling on the shelter.  With the addition of a table, it will be a pretty nice little kitchen.

With winter coming soon, the walls will also be great.  Nothing takes the fun out of outdoor cooking like a cold wind, or worse yet, a cold, windblown mix of rain and sleet.  This will be good now, with the fall rains, and even better for winter.

I hope this post gives some helpful ideas, and as always, I look forward to your questions and comments.  Now on to the next project:  making a replacement oven rack for the old stove so I can start baking again.

RANDOM UPDATE

It has been over a week since my last post, and though it has been a busy time, there have not been any earth shattering developments here at HareBrainFarms.  Progress has been made on several long term projects, while maintenance and time with grandkids (the youngest only a couple of weeks old now) have taken up time here on the farm.

With my daughter and son-in-law living 2 hours away, a couple of trips to see them and the grandkids took time and money away from farm projects, but well worth it.  One must have priorities and spending time with my kids and grandkids pretty much tops my list.  I only wish they were closer so I could see them more.

Truck repair and maintenance has also taken a toll on the budget (both time and financial) recently.  The power steering pump has been on its way out for a couple of years and finally bit the dust.  There have also been a couple of tire replacements.  The truck being a necessary item, these things also end up high on the priority list.

On a more productive note, the deep canyon in part of my driveway, left over from the flood over a year ago, has received lots of rocks to fill the void.  Still a lot more work to finish the job but it is progressing.  I will make a post on it when it is finished, with photos and explanations.

Clearing of brush in some of the overgrown areas has been slowly happening, as well as necessary garden work and harvest (such as it is).  Hopefully next year will be a better year for the garden.

Cooking outside can be a hit and miss proposition in regards to the weather, so I have been working toward a shelter for my little cook area.  I recently traded for a portable garage, one of those that consists of a tubing frame with a covering stretched over it that they sell at Harbor Freight.  The cover is pretty worn but the frame is good and can be covered with a big tarp for my purposes, when the cover no longer keeps the rain out.  It has now been taken down and moved to my cook area and will soon be up and functional.  Another post with photos and explanation soon.

All in all, it has been a busy couple of weeks and though nothing significant got finished, several things are in the works.  Always plenty of things on the old to-do-list, but things are gradually being marked of and others added.

Also, I have finished retrieving all of my old posts which had originally been posted on another blog and will begin posting them here.  The first will be a 6 part series on self-sufficiency that I hope you will find informative and enjoyable.