Hello from Arizona!
- Thread starter jepaz
- Start date
DesertDude
New Member
Hello and welcome to the forum!
Since no one has replied as of yet, I thought I'd be the first. And in doing so, this will be my first comment/post as well. I joined back in December when I became aware of the new LiFePo4 technology, but so far have just been reading and researching all I can being so new to this latest technology. I'm, so far, in the process of upgrading my solar system and have purchased a LiFePo4 24V / 200 Ah battery, and soon to buy the charger/inverter once I'm out of the hospital.
Anyway, I've lived completely off-grid now coming up on 8 years in the southeast corner of the Arizona desert - about in the middle of Cochise County at the base of Chiricahua Mountain. So again, hello from one Arizonan to another!!!
Actually, I've lived in a tent that entire time. Really!! But it's a big tent, so it's not as bad as it might sound. And though I've not had heating or cooling, not to mention running water, I've had solar power for well over 7 years of that which makes it tolerable.
When I started back in 2014, my research led me to and install a system based on 12V AGM batteries, which has served me well ever since. My first set lasted about 4.5 years, which I considered successful, and now of course I'm guessing I'm halfway through the life of the 2nd set. Wanting to get a good jump on things before my next purchase is when I discovered LiFePo4, which was just back in December of 2021. Within 2-3 weeks I made my first purchase, the 24V 200Ah EG4 battery... all based on videos and the awesome knowledge and advice of Will.
Sorry to have carried on so...
...let me know jepaz what it is you have in mind in the solar arena and I'm sure there are countless of us willing to help.
Good luck!
Since no one has replied as of yet, I thought I'd be the first. And in doing so, this will be my first comment/post as well. I joined back in December when I became aware of the new LiFePo4 technology, but so far have just been reading and researching all I can being so new to this latest technology. I'm, so far, in the process of upgrading my solar system and have purchased a LiFePo4 24V / 200 Ah battery, and soon to buy the charger/inverter once I'm out of the hospital.
Anyway, I've lived completely off-grid now coming up on 8 years in the southeast corner of the Arizona desert - about in the middle of Cochise County at the base of Chiricahua Mountain. So again, hello from one Arizonan to another!!!
Actually, I've lived in a tent that entire time. Really!! But it's a big tent, so it's not as bad as it might sound. And though I've not had heating or cooling, not to mention running water, I've had solar power for well over 7 years of that which makes it tolerable.
When I started back in 2014, my research led me to and install a system based on 12V AGM batteries, which has served me well ever since. My first set lasted about 4.5 years, which I considered successful, and now of course I'm guessing I'm halfway through the life of the 2nd set. Wanting to get a good jump on things before my next purchase is when I discovered LiFePo4, which was just back in December of 2021. Within 2-3 weeks I made my first purchase, the 24V 200Ah EG4 battery... all based on videos and the awesome knowledge and advice of Will.
Sorry to have carried on so...
...let me know jepaz what it is you have in mind in the solar arena and I'm sure there are countless of us willing to help.
Good luck!
WYtreasure
It's not happy hour, I'm just like this.
Hey, a twofer!
Welcome to the party jepaz & DesertDude
Read the fine print TWICE before buying stuff. There's my two bits worth.
Thanks, I already bought a bluetti with 5 pv200 panels, but having learning curve issues, hence my finding this groupHey, a twofer!
Welcome to the party jepaz & DesertDude
Read the fine print TWICE before buying stuff. There's my two bits worth.
I did post something in the Beginners CornerThanks!
WYtreasure
It's not happy hour, I'm just like this.
Inserting a link to another thread which you are referring to REALLY helps.Thanks, I already bought a bluetti with 5 pv200 panels, but having learning curve issues, hence my finding this group
There's more info here than you can shake a stick at. Enjoy the ride.
7yrs in the az desert with no cooling or running water??!! That's impressive.
Sorry about that, I dont use forums very often
Bluetti AC200MAX and 5 PV200 panels
Not sure if my setup is working right, with the following Bluetti AC200MAX and 5 PV200 panels in Serial: I get 40w and then it just goes to 0w. If I remove a panel, it goes to ~220w, shouldn't I be able to run all 5 panels in serial? If not can I run 3s2p? Any help appreciated!
diysolarforum.com
DesertDude
New Member
Yeah, you got that right! Thanks!
Needless to say it hasn't been easy.
Absolutely no cooling or heating - when temps can get over 110 in the summer and down into the teens at night during the winter!. They tell me I nearly died (literally) from severe dehydration and my kidneys were shutting down back in 2016.
I've now been in the hospital for over a month with osteomyelitis and a 6 week regimen of I/V infusions of antibiotics, all that coming from falling off a ladder while trying to put a solid roof over the tent. They inserted some hardware in the arm which brought about the bone infection, so as you can see... I'm just having tons of fun out there!!!
Anyway, if all goes well I'll be out of here at the end of the month and hope to finish up the roof by the end of the summer.... at which point I'm switching over from my 12V AGM 1000Ah battery system to my newly planned 24V 400Ah battery system with Growatt 3000 controller/inverter and hopefully up to 8 200 watt 24 V panels when time, and mostly money, permit.
...and the operative word there is money!! I'm now 70 - actually 71 years old at the end of this month, and live on nothing but Social Security, henceforth the reason I'm living as I am. But down right proud I'm self supportive and have done every bit of this on my own!
Anyway LywWyr... thanks for the compliment and I'll look forward to jumping in fully once I have more of the components needed to convert to the newer LiFePo4 technology. For now I'm still just researching and learning as much as possible.
