Winter is here. Much of the country is experiencing windy bitter cold days that can sap the energy right of not only you – but your home as well! But on the bright side, you can actually take advantage of these frigid days to conduct your own DIY home energy audit. And it can cost you nearly nothing once you know where to look!
Continue reading Do It Yourself Home Energy AuditCategory: Preparation
What is a Solar Generator & How Does it Work?
A Solar Generator is a term for a device that can convert solar energy from the sun into electrical AC power. Most Solar Generators use one or more solar panels to generate DC electrical power. The DC electricity is then converted to AC electricity with an AC power inverter.
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Digging Storm Ditches & Driveway Culverts
I am using my Kubota B20 front end loader to cut in some new storm ditches and install culverts alongside my driveway and access roads. I made a custom tooth bar similar to the Piranha Bar out of scrap steel, and it has been working very well.
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Solar Golf Cart!?
Can you realistically run an electric 48 volt golf cart on solar panels? Well, we plan to find out!
I picked up a super cheap Yamaha electric golf cart (48 volt G19) to tinker with. First we need to get it fixed up and running. I came with two new 8 volt batteries, but will need 4 more in order to reach the required 48 volts the controller needs.
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Groundhog Instant Pot Soup Recipe
We live in an area that is home to lots of groundhogs, also sometimes called woodchucks, whistle-pigs, or land-beavers. They can be a nuisance in the agriculture world because not only will they eat crops, but they also dig large tunnels for a burrow. Their burrow can be up to 50 feet long and usually have 2-5 entrances. These holes are generally cleverly hidden in tall grass right along road and paths, and big enough to injure people or animals that accidentally step into them or even damage equipment.
The result is these critters are often shot to control their population.
I had mentioned to one of the neighbors that we might try eating one sometime. I had read that they are pretty good.
Well the other day, the neighbor brought one up to the porch that he had just shot. I wasn’t going to waffle now, so Groundhog was what’s for dinner!
Continue reading Groundhog Instant Pot Soup RecipeHow to Cut a Timber Frame Mortise & Tenon – Part 1
We use a variety of tools to see what works best for cutting Mortise & Tenon joint into some old timber beams.
I have been working on a building a new base for an old pool table to put in our basement. The table was picked up for free because the original base had been ruined. We decided to cut some timber frame beams and build a new base for it with Mortise & Tenon joints.
Continue reading How to Cut a Timber Frame Mortise & Tenon – Part 1
Solar Generator – Final Version and Final Design Updates
The finished large solar generator featured in our DIY How To Build a Solar Generator series. If you are getting ready to follow our video tutorial and build your own solar generator, make sure you watch this video first so you know about the design updates!
In the video below we go over the solar generator features, solar panel kit specs, and our DIY battery bank expansion units. In addition, we show how to upgrade / improve several aspects of the original design including a higher power AC power inverter (3,000 watt continuous, 6,000 watt peak), fully waterproof external switches, mounting improvements, and a better way to store accessories inside the solar generator main case.
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Solar Generator – New Updates
Our DIY solar generator how to series has been really successful with lots of great feedback! I have had at least 20 – 30 subscribers mention in the comments or emails that they have built one of these units and are very happy with it. Even several people that initially were not sure they would be able to build it, have later told me they successfully built one. Thanks for the great feedback, I always love hearing from the people that have built them!
I just posted another video to YouTube with some additional updates based on my own usage of the solar generator, as well as a couple changes due to parts availability. We needed to switch to the 3,000 watt inverter, as the 2,000 watt version we originally used in the how to videos is no longer available. I also will be upgrading the external switches to a water proof version. Finally we will be reinforcing some of the higher stress mounted components, such as the high current quick connector with epoxy instead of hot melt glue.
Adding Solar Power to a Camper or RV
We purchased an ’86 Travel Villa 29′ fifth wheel camper as an inexpensive means to travel out west with our dogs. The camper is an older model, but it has served us well. After building the solar generator, I have found that I always want to bring it with us when we travel as we typically boon-dock without hookups.
I have decided I would like to add a dedicated solar power system to the camper. This way the camper will always be ready to go, and the dedicated solar panels will also keep the camper’s existing deep-cycle battery topped off when not in use.
Solar Generator – Battery Bank & Solar Panel Expansion
This is an update to our DIY How To series on How to Build a Large Solar Generator. In this follow up post, I will show you how we can use the quick connects designed into our solar generator to expand both the solar charging capacity, as well as the battery bank for increased run times.
A lot of the feedback was asking how to expand the solar generator to an even bigger capacity system. When I designed the base unit, I wanted it to be very easily expandable using quick connects. There are two areas where we can easily do that with our system:
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