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diy solar

What would your life be like without the grid?

upnorthandpersonal said:
We hit -32C in January; I think we'll be in for another cold winter this year. Summer overall was colder than usual with the exception of May. I prefer the cold though; last May was the hottest recorded with temperatures almost reaching 30C - can't do anything with that weather.
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The coldest it got here all winter was a freezing 8C in early June (and I stayed in bed with the electric blanket on instead of working on the house lol) luckily that was only for a couple of days and its usually in the mid teens
Even the overnight lows tend to be in the 10C range minimum, we had a couple of frost alerts for the farmers and graziers over winter but only a couple

30C is still 'nippy' but I'm in a teeshirt by then at least lol, 35C is the minimum I feel comfortable, with 40C is where I am feeling 'warm'...
45C is 'yeah, getting a bit hot, might think about turning the AC on'

Mind you, I used to work here a few years back... (up in the Pilburra) that was their top last summer just before Christmas...
1724784252753.png
 
Whats that stuff????
This is for my place last year- it was a VERY wet year, when we had the drought a couple of years ago, we went 8 months in a row with zero mm rainfall!!!
1724786145497.png
20-30mm a month is crazy wet...
(we had floods here- and in the dry season too... thats almost unheard of- in the wet season, sure- but in the middle of the year???? thats 'strange' weather indeed...)
Normally there would be nothing at all between April and November...

Weathers definitely shifting...
 
I've only been operational since May but with a little management, I think I could live offgrid. Hot water only on sunny days after the batteries are charged, etc. We have well water so I'm not concerned there.

Outside of actual power, as many others have stated, other people is what would scare me. I feel like there would be people that would just poke holes in my panels just so I couldn't have power like them. I'd try to poke back but you know how that goes.
 
Will Prowse said:
I would start my own utility and sell power to my neighbors 😂 all of my neighbors are anti government with their own livestock and gardens. Our hill would be hard to conquer. Lots of ex military and police. And I would do my job creating electricity.
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You bring up the primary consideration in my opinion. After 10 days or so many of us will have to hide the fact that we still have power. If your house is glowing everyone who sees it will be thinking "they still have power......what else they got?"
 
Bop said:
Apart from diesel for the tilttray (and even that I could make, we have a very good source here in Australia in the form of one of the local 'pest trees' (known locally as 'oil trees' lol) that gives about 5000l a hectare- (to give a comparison, corn as used in the US gives about 170l/hectare!!!) and I used to 'make my own' biodiesel in the past- it really isn't that hard- plus hopefully looking at an EV to boot soon... (Atto3 is the frontrunner there)

I'm completely offgrid for power and water, I'm growing much of my own veges, and buy much of my meat (beef and pork) from the locals (cheaper and MUCH better tasting than the supermarket garbage...) but roos are extremely common around here, and make good eating...

(hell, they self deliver to my door!!!- they come around practically every night for a drink from the dogs waterbowl...)

Wild pigs (a major nuisance) are also fairly common, I've had several turn up (including one that was inside the shed!!!)


Biggest issue for me would be- comms (we got family spread out around the world, although I've been into amateur radio for decades) and lack of the internet lol

Electricity- meh- I don't even know its off unless I to into town.
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Off Grid going on 13 years, power and water, fruit trees, vegetables, fresh eggs daily from the chooks, my wife bakes our daily bread because she doesn't like the store bought stuff.

I buy my meat locally, not from a supermarket shelf.
Roos in the backyard, I like a bit of Skippy on my plate every now and then.
Thousands of acre of Wheat, Barley, Canola and lentils all around me and don't forget the thousands of acres of grape vines in the Barossa and Clare valleys just up the road.
My mate Ronnie, a retired plumber, has a micro brewery, it's off grid, I put the power system in for him, brews 6 different types of beer, it's his passion and he's obsessed.

Diesel for the HiLux could be a problem, but I have a 48v scooter just for fun and because I'm too lazy to ride a bicycle.
Might need an EV for those trips to town, but there may not be much of town left by then.
 
Keith V. said:
Diesel for the HiLux could be a problem, but I have a 48v scooter just for fun and because I'm too lazy to ride a bicycle.
Might need an EV for those trips to town, but there may not be much of town left by then.
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Canola nearby- Hilux is set then...
;-)
https://www.thoughtco.com/make-biodiesel-from-vegetable-oil-605975

Making biodiesel really is easy if you have access to the feedstock....

draino, some old 20L drums, and a press, some time and 'bingo' fuel...
 
Always an interesting theme for a thread. And it is interesting how quickly many assumed a WW3 type scenario even tho that isn't what the OP started us off with; and which may or may not be behind the grid being down for an extended period.

It does highlight an important point, just how interconnected and dependent on the grid most of modern life's conveniences really are. Very little of the things we take for granted will still be functioning in short order. The internet, cell phones, most communications, food distribution, transportation, medical services, etc, etc.

We here on this forum, with varying degrees of PV systems will likely be in better shape than many. But depending on the details of the outage and associated circumstances, all but the best prepared and most isolated will be having issues.

On a personal note, we would be OK with some rationing with our current PV system. If the disaster could please just wait until the new system is up and running, well then we'd be sitting pretty, energy wise ;). But as always, a lot of side and complicating issues surround this, no matter when or how it happens...
 
cbisson said:
You bring up the primary consideration in my opinion. After 10 days or so many of us will have to hide the fact that we still have power. If your house is glowing everyone who sees it will be thinking "they still have power......what else they got?"
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I'm nice enough to share....all the free lead they want.
 
wpns said:
How do you get a 'benign' grid outage that lasts for a year and only affects electric power without all the follow-on effects of supply chain collapse and food delivery cessation?
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I don't think it will be benign by any means. Electricity touches almost every aspect of modern life. But it will be a whole order of magnitude worse if in addition to the grid being down and all the things electricity touches, we are dealing with massive destruction and radioactivity.
 
B-Mod said:
I always joke I am going to power up my neighbor's yard light so they go after him, while I sit in my well lit basement.
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Not a joke though to many, as it is often discussed as a means to attract people away from your location.
 
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