The Do It Yourself World – Blog

Living off the grid – with no outside source of electricity – means that you may need to count amps and watts. When solar or wind energy is your only source of electricity then you must watch your energy consumption every day to ensure that you do not drain the battery bank.

Right now I only have two 65 watt solar panels and two 200 AH golf cart batteries. The solar panels are running my LED lights, a laptop, cell phone and some occasional fans. That is all. And the batteries never seem to get fully topped off. It has rained for the better part of three weeks now. That is a good test of a solar energy system’s limits. When the sun does not shine for days on end, you need to have enough reserve energy to get through.

Fortunately the batteries are not getting drained either. I am sort of hanging in there, replacing daily usage without topping off the batteries any higher. Another solar panel will help a lot. I have a Coleman thermoelectric cooler just waiting to be hooked up in the trailer when I have enough solar power to run it. But it takes a full 70 watts full time on its own. I will rig up a homemade thermostat inside it later when I start to use it.

For now, this means no cold food. No cool drinks, no fresh foods, no dairy products. I use powdered milk in my coffee instead of fresh.

I charge my laptop when the battery bank voltage is higher. Normally that means after a long day of sun shining. Actually, contrary to what many people say, solar panels do generate electricity on cloudy days as well. Just not as much.

Living off the grid with just a few small solar panels means watching energy usage closely. I count watts and amps in everything that gets used. For morning shaving a small inverter gets turned on, which powers all of the 120 volt outlets in the trailer. Then after shaving, the inverter gets turned off and unplugged from the power supply. The LED lights use about 1.7 watts each. I use no more than two at any time and shut them off when not needed. The laptop gets closed when I take a short break. The cell phone display gets blacked out. Every single watt counts at the end of the day.

Living fully off the grid is an experience that shows the real numbers in solar energy output. Solar panels are rated at a certain wattage, in full direct sunlight. But normally we only get a few short hours of full direct sunlight each day. That means that a solar panel is only putting out a small fraction of its full capacity most of the time. Tests have shown that, averaged out throughout the day, a solar panel puts out about 65 to 70 percent of its rated capacity.

So a 100 watt solar panel can safely be estimated as providing you with about 70 watts of total energy output during peak daylight hours. You still get some little bit of energy in the mornings and evenings, but not much.

Solar tracking modules and special solar charge controllers can help improve these numbers a little. But these devices are very expensive and not easy to make for the DIY-er.

So until I get that third solar panel up and running, its back to counting my watts and amps.

I finally got running water in my off grid camper. It may be something you never think about and take for granted on a daily basis, but go without it for a while and you really learn to appreciate the nice comforts of modern living.

The trailer has a 40 gallon fresh water storage tank and a 12 volt water pump. You can turn the pump on and off with a switch over the kitchen sink. Turning the pump on for one minute pressurizes the lines enough for for a while, if you are sparing with your water usage.

I have a spare camper water tank and tossed it on the back of a lawn mower trailer (I know, I cheated). It was too heavy to carry by hand. But anyway, being off the grid does not need to mean living like cave men. I will one day convert a gas engine to run on home brew alcohol.

Anyway, I filled up the spare tank and ran the water into my trailer tank. Turned on the pump and I have fresh, running water. Now that I know it works, I will start working on the rain water collection system. That will simply be two 55 gallon drums buried in the ground at the base of a hill. A lot of water runs down that hill when it rains and pools at the base of it. A screen will filter out any junk and then another fine filter will keep out the smaller particles. Another 12 volt pump will bring the water to the trailer storage tank.

To have running water is so nice after being so long without.

The next project will be to make a solar hot water heater. The original 120 volt hot water heater is still in the trailer. Useless for now with solar power. But I will use it for a solar hot water heating system for showers and washing.

There is a lot of talk on the net about either solar energy or wind energy. Many homes decide to use one or the other. Most choose solar energy for their home. But have you ever considered using both? If they could both be installed affordably, for the average family, then why not? Here are some of the advantages of having both solar and wind energy to power your home.

You can now make your own solar panels for about a dollar per watt. Even cheaper if you buy in bulk. I recently bought 600 watts worth of solar cells for $50 on the internet. They were broken in half. But some tape and soldering and they produce every bit as much power as new, whole solar cells do. 65 watts worth of B grade chipped or broken solar cells cost about $15. Then you need to make the frame and glass or plexiglas cover for the solar panel. But it is now very affordable and easy to make your own solar panels at home.

Some auto parts stores now sell high powered golf cart batteries at a very affordable price. Add in some electronics and you have a very affordable solar power system that anyone can make at home.

But you only get maximum solar energy output when the sun is shining. When it is cloudy or raining, you are not charging your batteries very much. So you need to have more solar panels and more batteries to be able to make it through three to five days of clouds or rain. That adds a lot to the overall price of your energy system.

What about a windmill? Usually when the sun is not shining much, we have higher winds. Cloudy or stormy weather usually brings wind with it. When the sun is not shining and your solar panels are not producing much power, a windmill can take up the slack.

What about at night when the sun is not shining at all? In some northern states in the US, in winter we get a maximum of about 5 hours of usable sunlight per day for solar panels. That is not much. That leaves 19 hours with no energy output. With a windmill to supplement your energy supply, you should have a lot more usable energy, year round.

DIY windmills are also becoming more affordable. And if you do not want to make one yourself, look on the internet. You can often find very low priced windmills. Factory made windmills are now running about 50 cents to a dollar per watt online. Check ebay for some of the best prices on the internet.

You can make your own windmill at home as well. See our article here: How to make a windmill from a table fan. Of course, you can apply this article to larger motors and get much more energy output. The theory is the same. Open up an AC motor, add some magnets to the rotor, put it all back together and you have a wind turbine or generator. Add some windmill blades and you have a windmill. That simple.

So, the bottom line is that you can power your home cheaper with a combination of both DIY solar panels and wind turbine energy. And you can have power output during most hours year round.

I have been converting my off grid trailer to solar for the last few months now. The last step in the process was to remove that old, bulky power converter and the 115 volt power cable that was normally used to plug into the grid at campgrounds. I am installing a simple fuse box instead of that unit.

If you want to go off the grid and go fully solar with your camper, RV or trailer, you will not need that bulky, heavy power converter anymore. All it does anyway is convert the 115 volt AC power from the campground to 12 volt DC for your light bulbs and water pump inside the camper. For a solar powered trailer, that is useless. Pull it out and get a power inverter that converts 12 volt DC to 115 volt AC if you want to run any appliances.

Below is the photo of the power converter with the cover off and the 120 volt cables pulled out already.

Below, you can see the box with all the fuses and wires removed. Instead of labeling them, I removed them each one at a time and fastened them to my new fuse box. I kept them in the same order as they were in the converter box. Later I can label them on a piece of paper and keep it by my new fuse box.

Now I have freed up about 3 cubic foot of space where the converter was. That space will be nice to have for storage as anyone with an RV or camper knows. Storage space is valuable.

Here is a view of my new fuse box.

The new fuse box is from the local auto parts store (napa, they have a lot of options) and has 6 fuses, which is exactly what the power converter had for my 12 volt devices. I kept the original fuses as well. Made converting the camper easy.

Later I will screw the new fuse box onto the side wall permanently.

I got a few meters off ebay, coming in the mail in a few weeks. I cant wait to get them installed. They are all digital and each a different color. One will be for battery voltage, one for current coming from the solar panels and the other for voltage from the solar panels. Later I will add wind energy as well and the meters can help monitor the voltage and current.

I guess I did my part on Earth Day 2012 by staying out in the Off Grid Trailer. I have no connections to any utilities. Everything is fully off the grid. I must provide my own water, heat, electricity and waste management.

Using the old wood stove with homemade water boiler made it a cozy 75 degrees inside while it was 45 outside. The stove barely needs to be burning to keep it toasty in here. Actually, if the stove burns too hot, the water can get quite hot and I dont want to damage the heat exchanger or the pipes.

Solar energy powers the 4 fans and water pump for the heating system.

I am typing this on a laptop which gets charged up on solar power. A cell phone provides internet connection.

Off the grid does not mean leaving behind all of your comforts. I have music, video, movies, internet, light and anything else I want. But the main point is that this old trailer is out in the middle of the forest with no wires from the utilities.

That is what I call Off The Grid.

I am staying in the Off Grid Camper full time now. I am still improving the trailer every day, making it comfortable for long term living. There are a lot of life changes to be made when moving off the grid, but it is a satisfying feeling when you sit back and look at all of your accomplishments.

I am writing this blog post, fully off the grid. My cell phone provides an internet connection for my laptop. A pair of golf cart batteries are kept charged by a homemade solar panel. Later a second solar panel will be added. Then I can run a small fridge in here. For now, it is all canned food or small quantities of fresh food. Just enough that I can eat in a couple days so it does not go bad on me. No milk or dairy products for now. Not without a fridge.

Except for the rain outside right now, it is totally silent and peaceful out here. I am far from any other houses or neighbors out here on 90 acres of wild, wooded land.

Just got the bathroom closet finished today. It was totally ruined from water damage. My clothes are hanging up in there now. I will post an article about it later.

It was raining hard a little bit ago. Reminds me of my childhood, staying in the tiny little camper we had. When it rained, it meant a long, sleepless night. It is not so bad in a 32 footer, but you can sure hear the rain pounding on the metal roof. Much louder than in a house. Wish I had the rain water collection system built already. It would be nice to have the water tanks full. Tomorrow I will probably fill up from the creek. I have a spare trailer water tank I will fill up and then hook up to the trailer for a fresh water supply. For drinking I will filter it well first. It is torture to hear all of that fresh water pouring down and no way to catch it yet. Soon….

I will keep you all posted on updates and improvements to the Off Grid Camper.

Here are two survival fire starting methods that require no work or effort and together can provide a lifetime of fires. There are many tools, ideas and techniques out there that claim to help you start a fire. But some of them are too expensive. Some are too fragile. And some are just too much work. If you are ever caught in a survival situation, be sure to take these two items with you.

No rubbing sticks together for me. I will never be sitting around in the cold with blisters on my hands while trying to make a fire.

On a sunny day, use a magnifying glass to start a fire. Even the cheapest dollar store childs toy will start a fire. Simply hold the glass over your tinder and direct it into the sun. Concentrate the focal point on the tinder while gently blowing on the smoking point. Within seconds, you will have a nice roaring fire going.

Keep your magnifying glass in its original case, if it came with one. Or keep it wrapped in a soft cloth or material to prevent scratches. Project it from being broken in your backpack or survival kit. Keep it clean and free of sand and grit when not in use and it will last a lifetime.

A magnifying glass can even work on partly sunny or cloudy days. It depends on the strength of the sun and the magnifying glass and tinder quality.

On rainy days, use a cheap cigarette lighter. Yes, a cigarette lighter for survival. Forget about one time use expensive water proof matches. A single cigarette lighter can light between 2,000 and 3,000 fires before the fluid runs out. That equals about 6 – 9 years of rainy days folks. If you use your one, single cigarette lighter for rainy days only and your magnifying glass for sunny days, you have a lifetime of fire for two bucks. The dollar store often sells cigarette lighters in 6 or 8 packs. That equals multiple lifetimes of fire, if used sparingly.

You often find lighters laying by the roadside or lost along forest trails. I always pick them up. You can repair lighters and keep them going for many years. Often either they run out of fuel, (it takes years), or the flint gets damaged or broken. Sometimes just the wheel comes loose from its mountings. No matter the case, you can usually make a good lighter out of two bad ones.

If a lighter gets wet, simply take the top apart and dry off the flint and the striker. Put it all back together again and it works.

After your lighter runs out of fuel, keep it for fire starting. The flint and striker will still ignite fires. No bruised, bloody knuckles while trying to smash two rocks together in the hope that a spark will fly.

I highly recommend adding these two survival fire starters to your survival kit right away. It may save your life.

Or you can rub sticks together for hours if you get bored.

Watch the video:

The Off Grid Project has begun. I am staying in a 32 foot trailer while working on projects to make life more comfortable, such as solar and wind energy, running water and heat. I will be staying in the trailer for the whole summer season, until the project is finished. Afterwards, I will write a book about how to get your home fully off the grid for under $5,000.

For now, I am working on getting some solar panels up and running. I am making a brand new 65 watt solar panel to add to the pitifully small 65 watt one I have now. There is currently enough power to run my homemade LED light bulbs, a couple computer fans and keep my laptop charged up. But I need more power to be able to have running water and some other comforts. Another two solar panels will be needed in order to have a small fridge.

I am waiting for funding to come through for The Off Grid Project as I live in the trailer out in the woods, fully off the grid and isolated from everything else. You need to drive 1/2 mile down a dirt road to even get to the property. After that it is a few minutes further into the woods to get to the trailer where I am staying during the project.

Follow The Off Grid Project and get your home off the grid: The Off Grid Project

I just got The Off Grid project started tonight. The countdown is ticking. On May 1st, the Off Grid Project experiments will begin. In early Fall the project will be completed. The final goal of the project is to show you how to get your home fully off the grid on a budget. Anyone can get off the grid with very little investment.

Some of the projects will include how to make a windmill from things you may already have laying around the house, and it really works. How to make a solar panel for about a dollar per watt – yourself. How to make passive solar heaters with household materials that really work. How to make a dollar store solar oven. A dollar store solar distiller. And many more budget projects that really work.

You can get fully off the grid on a budget. You can be independent from the electric company, water company and sewage.

You can get an average home fully off grid for about $5,000 or less. Do it all at once, or take your time and get off the grid piece by piece. No matter how you approach it, the goal is attainable.

Follow The Off Grid Project here:
The Off Grid Project on Indiegogo

Become a part of The Off Grid Project and get your home off the grid!

I am moving into an off grid trailer full time for The Off Grid Project, which will start on May 1st. So I am doing some upgrades to the trailer in order to make space for all my stuff. These upgrades include adding some more shelving. The kitchen cabinet over the stove was huge, but seemed like wasted space with just a single shelf. The shelf is shown below. (You can click on any image for a larger view).

So I had a piece of plywood laying around waiting to be put to use. I got out my battery powered circular saw and jig saw and measured the cabinet space. If you look at the photo above, you can see a frame halfway up on the right and left side, sort of like they wanted to put in a shelf, but changed their minds at the last minute.

With a couple “C” clamps and a straight piece of wood, you can make a nice guide to make a straight cut in a board.

My battery powered jig saw came in handy to cut a notch out of each side of the board in the back to fit around the frame. These are Black and Decker Firestorm 18 Volt tools. I love them for my off grid projects because my camper only has a single homemade 65 watt solar panel right now and I can slow charge the batteries off solar and then use the tools later when needed. Normal power tools would drain my camper battery bank in minutes. These cordless power tools can be charged by plugging their normal plug in wall charger unit into a power inverter hooked up to the battery bank of the solar power system. This drains much less at one time than the power tools would directly.

In the photo above I am trying the shelf to see how it fits. Perfect. You can see the original framing better in this photo. But, notice the lack of support all across the bottom of the shelf along the back wall. I want to put dishes up here, so it needs to be strong.

I used a “C” clamp again to hold a piece of wood in place that I cut to fit. I first pre-drilled some pilot holes to make the screws go in easier. Then put the shelf in place with the new frame piece and screwed it all together. Again, my handy cordless tools were used.

In the photo above you can see my new heavy duty shelf above the stove hood. Notice the extra 2 inch thick board across the back of the shelf for a support. And the 2 inch thick legs underneath the back for extra strength. There was no frame behind the paneling in the back wall of the shelf, so I had to improvise and make sturdy legs underneath the shelf. And it looks pretty good too.

Now comes the real test. Can it hold up to all my stuff?

It looks great and now holds double what it could before. And it is very strong. This was about a 30 minute job. Not bad.

Anyone can upgrade, renovate or repair a camper with ease and a bit of skill with tools. Campers are quite easy to work on and because everything is so light, it is very cheap as well.

You can read more about camper and RV repair, waterproofing and severe water damage repair on The DIY World main page. READ MORE. This is a multi part series about camper, trailer and RV repair and patch ups.