March 2015

Solar system balancing act

Life with a small solar system is a balancing act. We have lived 8+ years now with our small solar system, tweaking it, adding to it, improving it, trying to balance our system vs the power load. Of course we are running a small load most of the time, a couple of laptops, the wireless network for said laptops, a few lights, a 12 volt water pump, a small radio, and the fridge, THAT is what takes up the most power at any given time.

Our fridge is very efficient, it started out life as a small chest freezer, we use an external thermostat (originally designed to turn small chest freezers into kegeraters), we set the temp on refrigerator temps, when it detects the correct temp inside of the box, it cuts off the power to the unit, you can read more about that here. This last winter, we pushed the fridge outside to the front porch, which meant the box didn’t have to work as hard to keep the cold temps inside.

The biggest balancing act for us is the day length vs the outside temps. During the winter, we have shorter days, which means fewer hours in which to charge our solar system, but since the outside temps are cold, the fridge doesn’t have to run as often, sometimes not at all.

During the summer months, it’s warmer outside, making the fridge run more often, but with the longer day length, there are more hours of sun to charge our batteries, so all in all, it works out pretty well, as long as we pay attention to the upcoming weather and moderate our power useage as necessary.

With the warmer temps usually come our rainy season or monsoon season, a few months where we tend to get rain nearly everyday, having overcast skies also limits the amount of solar power we get, though our panels do get some charge even with clouds present, just not the full amount of charge as a sunny day.

I have some exciting news, I have been given the opportunity to review another battery desulfator, I did a review last year on the Whizbang Plus battery desulfator (part one and part two), they worked, but were small, you pretty much have to have one per battery, this other company’s claim to fame is their second generation battery desulfators are designed to work in off-grid situation on larger battery banks, there is much more to this system. I’ll keep you in the dark about it for now, but be looking in the next week or so, as soon as I get the desulfator, which is on its way here now, I’ll do a first impression review, hook it up and let you know what I think about it, I will say that it has many more features that are going to …

March 27, 2015 2 Comments

Community

Mobile, stealthy, off-grid, vandweller

I think I got all the descriptive words covered there in the title, I am talking about Brian, also known as AdventureVanMan on YouTube. In his late 30s, single and hard working, he became disillusioned with life as he was living it and decided it was time to make a change.

Brian left his 2 bedroom apartment, sold most of his possessions, bought a cargo van and began living a life that makes him smile. He designed the inside of his cargo van to be simple, almost spartan, but it’s genius is useability and functionality. He lives in town, using a gym membership and friends & family for showering and other bathroom functions, so he doesn’t need a shower or major toilet system, he does have a backup toilet just in case, but doesn’t use it for the most part. All he really needs is a place to sleep and hang out when he’s not working.

Brian, being nowhere near retirement age, still works, so during the week, he stealth parks near where he works to save on fuel and time, on the weekends, he stays closer to the ocean in California, where he can catch a wave when he wants to, or just wake up to a beautiful sunrise glinting off the water.

I really appreciate his solar system setup, he put a lot of thought into it, utilizing the roof of his van to mount a RENOGY 100 Watt solar panel, he is able to tilt it to catch more sun, he uses two 6 volt deep cycle batteries wired together to make a 12 volt system, he uses a small inverter to power his laptop and other goodies, he also has some items hooked up directly to his batteries (12 volt goodies) so he isn’t losing power by converting from 12 volt to 110 watt. Some might deem to call Brian “homeless”, I don’t think that is the case, I feel like he made a reasonable and responsible decision to downsize and simplify his life, he wasn’t forced onto the streets, he chose to live this way.

You can view more about his solar system here:

You can learn more about Brian here
https://adventurevanman.wordpress.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/TrueBypassTheory/

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March 24, 2015 1 Comment

Community

DIY as much as possible

…and truck update.

A few weeks ago, I had a chance encounter with an elk, an animal of much height, girth and weight. After looking up the average weight of a female elk (also referred to as an elk cow), this is the info I found:

Elk cows average 225 to 241 kg (496 to 531 lb), stand 1.3 m (4.3 ft) at the shoulder, and are 2.1 m (6.9 ft) from nose to tail. Bulls are some 40% larger than cows at maturity, weighing an average of 320 to 331 kg (705 to 730 lb), standing 1.5 m (4.9 ft) at the shoulder and averaging 2.45 m (8.0 ft) in length.

Our local deer out here average in at around 100-200 pounds, quite a difference, I have always been concerned about hitting a deer, never thought I’d hit an elk.

The damage to my truck was minimal considering, I was able to drive home. Now came the fun part, figuring out how much actual damage had been done and what needed to be fixed or replaced. This is where PB came into play, while he is no expert on Ford F150 trucks, but he has worked on his other vehicles, gaining the experience necessary to keep all of our vehicles on the road over the years.

I looked at my truck and figured I would end up at the Ford dealership, nearly 100 miles away, or at the very least at one of the local body shops, some 40 miles away. Looking at parts, labor, downtime and such, that all equals expensive!

But instead, PB took his broad vehicle knowledge and applied it to my truck, a few parts (from Amazon) later, and my truck nearly looks as good as new… well not perfect, but it’s looking much better than it did the day after my elk encounter.

Bottom line here is if you are wanting to get yourself out of debt, into a better financial situation, then you need to figure out as many DIY things you can do as possible, the more YOU can do, the less you have to pay someone else to do it. In my case, we are talking thousands of dollars, 2-4 thousand depending on how far I wanted to take this truck back to perfect. Instead, I have spent less than $200 on parts, the labor costs were a few dinners cooked for PB. There is one more part I plan on buying, a grille guard, now that will be expensive, no getting around that if I want something that will actually do the job of protecting my truck, it’s going to be well worth the money to protect my truck vs having to get another truck if this happens again, and with my job, I do a lot of driving in the early morning and late evening, prime critter time.…

March 21, 2015 No Comments

Laura Ling Launches New Web Series

Laura Ling is producing and hosting a new series called ‘Going Off-Grid.’

It highlights people who have decided to disconnect from the everyday world.

In 2010, Ling co-wrote a memoir, Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home, with her sister Lisa, based on her experiences in North Korea.

Fun facts about Laura Ling (Source: Wikipedia)

Ling’s career as a journalist began when she became a correspondent for KCET’s SoCal Connected and producer at Channel One News. She co-created Breaking it Down, a documentary series on MTV that aired between 1999 and 2001. Afterward, Ling joined Current TV, where she reported on issues about Cuba, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, the West Bank, and the Amazon River, as well as about shantytowns in Sao Paulo, Brazil, gangs and homeless teens in Los Angeles, and underground churches in China. Prior to her detention, she had been reporting about the Mexican Drug War.

Ling hosted a one-hour news show on E!. The show premiered on Dec. 8, 2010.

Ling has received a national Edward R. Murrow Award, and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year in 2009. In 2014, she won an Emmy Award.

In the last week of March 2009, North Korea announced that two American journalists were detained and would be indicted and tried for illegally entering the country. On May 3, 2009, it was officially announced that Ling and fellow journalist Euna Lee were the journalists that had been detained, after they attempted to film refugees along the border with China. In June 2009, they were sentenced to 12 years in a labor prison for illegal entry into North Korea, and unspecified hostile acts. Many in the media called it a show trial. The United States government made diplomatic efforts to oppose this sentence before their release in August 2009.

Lisa Ling stated that when they left the United States, her sister and Lee never intended to cross into North Korea. She has also revealed that her sister requires medical treatment for an ulcer from which she is currently suffering.

Ling was pardoned along with Euna Lee, and they have both returned to the United States following an unannounced visit to North Korea by former US President Bill Clinton on August 4, 2009. Some human rights activists in South Korea have accused Lee and Ling of needlessly placing North Korean refugees in danger by not being more careful with their tapes and notebooks in the event they were apprehended.
You can check out ‘Going Off-Grid’ with Laura Ling on seekernetwork.com.

Follow Laura Ling on Twitter: @lauraling

Check out Laura Ling on Instagram: @iamlauraling

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March 16, 2015 3 Comments

Community

Snowboarder plus tiny home equals cool!

Each time I see a new tiny home, I think it’s the coolest one I’ve seen yet, and this is no exception, pro-snowboarder, Mike Basich, shows us his version of his tiny home, one he built himself in the middle of his 40 acre, snow covered mountain playground near Truckee CA.

I love his touches, the rock work, the beautiful woodwork, the oven, his running water from one of the two creeks that run through the property. It’s very primitive, no real plumbing (aka bathroom), I did see a few solar panels mounted outside so he does have electricity.

Basich is a very talented and creative person who clearly loves nature, he feels that he is closer to nature living this way.

Watch and enjoy!

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March 16, 2015 1 Comment

Energy

Microgrid trade fair, Barcelona

(PRWEB) – Microgrid technology developers and business leaders from around the world will gather in Barcelona, Spain, May 19-21, 2015, for the Microgrid World Congress (https://www.microgridworldcongress.com). Through a series of in-depth presentations and discussion sessions, expert speakers representing a range of microgrid deployment scenarios will closely examine the business models, latest technology advances, and success strategies for operating microgrids in remote, off-grid, island, and grid-tied environments.
Worldwide investment in microgrid enabling technologies is expected to total more than $155 billion from 2014 through 2023.
Additionally, the industry estimates that worldwide installations of microgrid capacity will grow from 866 Megawatts in 2014 to more than 4,100 Megawatts by 2020.
“This is a rapidly expanding market opportunity, especially since the commercial business model for microgrids in grid-connected environments is taking shape,” says Daniel Coran, editor of the Smart Grid Observer. “Speakers and attendees will be discussing the latest thinking about utility distribution microgrids, as well as maximizing the efficiency, performance, and ROI of renewables-centric, off-grid systems.”
Presenting organizations include ČEZ Distribuce, ERDF, Freqcon, SunEdison, Lux Research, Trama TecnoAmbiental, Gommyr Power Networks, HSB Engineering Insurance, CENER-CIEMAT, Gildemeister Energy Solutions, Aalborg University, ABB, the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), SMA Ibérica Tecnología Solar, QiDO Energy Development GmbH, Smart Hydro Power, RVE.SOL, Aquion Energy, CPG Advisors, Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI), Hatch Electro-Technologies, Boeing Research & Technology Europe, Tecnalia Research & Innovation, and others.
Co-organized by Trama TecnoAmbiental and SGO, the three-day Congress will address topics such as:
Sustainability and innovation trends for microgrids
Refining the microgrid business model for grid-tied and off-grid environments
System design, modeling, forecasting, and implementation
Energy storage innovation and advances for microgrid applications
Investor perspectives on renewable energy microgrids
Developing world case studies
Microgrid performance factors from an insurer’s perspective
Optimal power planning, control and management in microgrid systems
Integration and operation of flow batteries in micro- and macrogrids
Flywheel-based microgrids
Stabilizing small isolated grids: creating a compelling business case
Application of energy storage and wind to power remote mine microgrids
PV integration in large genset grids
Hydrokinetic turbines for microgrids in remote areas
And more
“This will be a unique opportunity for industry professionals to share deployment experiences and best practices,” Coran adds. “Our goal is to provide an industry-open Forum in which project managers and planners can benefit from each other’s expertise and advance the potential of microgrids worldwide.”
Organizational supporters of the event include the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE), EUROBAT, EUREC, Grid4EU, Svensk Solenergi, Swissolar, CanaleEnergia, APESF, Lux Research, Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA), GTM Research, Microgrid Knowledge, Electric Energy T&D Magazine, Navigant Research, Utility Horizons International, FierceEnergy, the World Alliance for Distributed Energy (WADE), SmartGridNews.com, and others.

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March 16, 2015 No Comments

Community

Keyhole garden

It’s so nearly spring, I am itching to get out and do some gardening, I’ve been getting seed catalogs, the siren song of the gardener. About a year ago (+/-) I discovered another method of raised bed gardening, it’s called a keyhole garden for obvious reasons, it looks like a keyhole from above.

From what I can see, you make a round raised bed with a notch in it that goes to a central basket that holds compostable materials, kitchen scraps, fruit & veg, egg shells, coffee grounds (including the filter), paper, cardboard, grass clippings and the such. The garden is watered through this middle part, transferring the nutrients from the decomposing material in the middle to the garden that surrounds it.

The notch is important, it allows easy access to the central basket to add more compost and water, you also need to be able to reach every part of the garden area, so don’t make it too large, you can always build more keyhole gardens as needed.

I have seen many materials used for the outside, from bricks, to pavers, rocks, some are cemented in to make a permanent structure, others are just dry stacked so they can be removed later, it can even be made from wood, metal or plastic. I watched many videos on how different people make theirs, some do it very simple, others more elaborate, one I saw this evening looks pretty good, but I saw the builder do something I probably wouldn’t do, after marking out the circle, he used a fork to dig up the soil, the reason I wouldn’t do that is because you aren’t using THAT soil to plant in, you are placing layers of cardboard, paper and mulch type materials in the base, you don’t add soil until the last foot, so disturbing the base layer of soil is not necessary and it seemed to me it would be counter productive.

Here are a few videos you can watch to get a better idea of how this is done, enjoy!

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March 11, 2015 No Comments

Community

Don’t try this at home

Last Sunday afternoon, I decided I would do some work in town to get ahead of my work week, it wasn’t a lot of work, but doing it early meant I would be able to do more and larger jobs the following week. I had finished merchandising in the second store, decided I wanted to get some dinner and head home. It was a quiet evening, the sun was long down, there were only a few other cars on the rural mountain road between towns. There had been some fog in the town I had just left, but that cleared out and it was a beautiful evening.

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March 8, 2015 No Comments

Community

2015 – the year of antitech backlash

Government spying, corporate prying, virtual sex, so-called freinds you never met …no wonder we are sick of it.

A London PR agency says this year people will forsake gadgets, social networks and other technology in favour of the simple life. And there are plenty of examples – from declining numbers on Facebook and Twitter, to a planned new phone called The Runcible – which is made of WOOD.

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March 4, 2015 No Comments

Mobile

Free calls and wi-fi – forever

If you are not paying rent or a mortgage then your cellphone bill is your biggest expense, right?

Wrong.

Remember the early days of Internet wi-fi?

You could go just about anywhere with your laptop and find a wi-fi hotspot with no password – because most people did not bother with passwords. Remember sitting outside offices, libraries or homes checking email?

Now that era is coming again – but with passwords this time – and using your smartphone instead of a laptop – and able to make calls, as well as send and receive data. There are even maps of the free wi-fi hotspots online – such as Wifimap – with free apps for your smartphone.

The phone companies should be scared – very scared – because its quite possible to live off free wi-fi connections permanently – and legally this time around.

You still have to buy a smart-phone – or use the one you got from AT&T once your phone is out of contract – but with a mixture of free wi-fi in bars and other public places, plus a bit of help from friends or even strangers,there is no need to ever pay a phone company bill again.

You can send texts via Whatsapp, do your voice conversations on Skype or Google voice – paying them, not the phone company, for the occasional call direct to a phone. And if your connections and timing are mission critical yet you still don’t want to pay for them – there are a host of free services springing up. The majority of mobile data traffic flows over Wi-Fi, and more access points are being built daily. There are commercial efforts to build cellphone businesses on Wi-Fi, too, from companies such as startup FreedomPop and pay-TV heavyweight Cablevision Systems Corp.

Tens of thousands of people in the U.S.are already doing it.

The most important thing when choosing a wifi calling app is voice & video quality without any lags. Choose one of these free wifi calling apps to voice or video chat with your loved ones for free.

Tango (Voice & Video calling)

A very popular wifi calling app for android and iOS, besides from voice and video calling, users can send cool fun animations in IM and also video messages. The voice call quality is great and Tango has the best cross platform compatability, its available for computer, android, iOS, and even windows phone.
Vtok enables voice and video calls to google contacts, you can use it as an alternative to google talk client on android. Works on Wifi & 3G, select the front or back camera and you can also choose to enable or disable video call anytime continuing with voice. The best part is you can even talk to other person who is using google chat on mac or pc.

Nimbuzz (Voice calls only)

This free wifi calling …

March 2, 2015 2 Comments

Solar system balancing act

Mobile, stealthy, off-grid, vandweller

DIY as much as possible

Laura Ling Launches New Web Series

Snowboarder plus tiny home equals cool!

Microgrid trade fair, Barcelona

Keyhole garden

Don’t try this at home

2015 – the year of antitech backlash

Free calls and wi-fi – forever

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March 2015

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