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My solution for the winter blues is to have a ridiculous amount of solar panel capacity. I currently disconnect 3 arrays in the summer. I can still eke out 1000 watts on cloudy/snowy days sometimes for a few hours. Panels are cheap and I have the land. I actually don’t have that much storage...

I’ve got three backup generators, 5 spare panels, a brand new Sol Ark 12K sitting in a box as a spare, and a full 1000 gallon propane tank, and I still don’t feel prepared. The medication is helping a little, however.

Why haven't we nuked the moon yet?

I’m a little over 1 year into my solar journey. I am 100% off grid and writing this via the miracle of satellite internet and solar. I can’t believe that I once had a generator, propane, and and bank of LA batteries. Now I have a 20kwp array and a 30kwh battery bank and have eliminated propane...

You will love it. I was a rank beginner too when I installed my 12K. Compared to all the other things you need to know to successfully design and build a system, reading an inverter spec. sheet is the least of your challenges. I would argue there are other characteristics/specifications on the...

For my Trophy batteries... The issue with them is that they are tall not as deep as server racks and I wanted to minimize floor space.

This what you want: https://www.absolutegenerators.com/cummins-onan-qd-5000-commercial-mobile-diesel-generator-5-0hdkbc-2861-5-kw-prime-single-phase-120-240-volt-liquid-cooled No, it's not cheap, but if you change the oil, it will last longer than you.

My Netflix account was disabled for a week due to a billing issue and my 16 and 17 yo practically divorced us.

In my case, I was fortunate in that I had parents that valued education and hard work, they were never successful in their business ventures but they always worked hard at it and never gave up and I think that is the trait that parents need to instill in kids these days. The truth is, that a lot...

I have 5 acres and an excavator and decided it would fun to try a low-tech geothermal heating and cooling system by burying 600 feet of plastic water pipe down 8 feet and connecting to radiator/pump/fan in my shed that has my lifepo/inverters. I'm in a cold region and I figure I can stabilize...

Just received 6-48v 110ah server batteries from Trophy. Bit of a risk buying from a new vendor, but several things sold me on them: The owner, Dan, seems like to stand-up guy (but I’m a pushover) The batteries have heaters! My cabin is at elevation and gets pretty cold and unattended They had...

My DIY Sol Ark is definitely in the very boring category. I haven't looked at in several months.

My feeling is that they are a young company run by young, inexperienced people who think they know everything and will learn some very hard lessons in business.

Yes, well I'm a selfish bastard, I grew up dirt poor, borrowing and working my way through two graduate degrees. Something about growing up really poor that motivates you never to go back to that.....;)

This is sort of a joke at this point, but as more people adopt EV’s how knows: I have a very large (too large for my actual usage, (but I overbuild everything) solar array at my off grid location that is far from gas stations and recharging locations. I recently helped a hiker recharge his Tesla...

I called them several times about several of their products. I was so put off by the gruff, indifferent 'salesperson' that I think I'd have a hard time purchasing anything from them. The attitude I got was 'are you going to buy it or not? I've got better things to do than waste time answering...

Damn. I bought a Xantrex Freedom 458 expecting to get Freedom and 458 and got neither.

My estimation process: Estimate Need Estimate Cost Talk to Wife Decide to bag the whole thing Re-estimate need Arrive as original cost Triple the cost estimate

As someone who employees 265 people, I can attest that finding responsible, competent technical staff is not something that comes cheap. Young people these days have very different work ethic expectations..

I finally got solar assistant working with my Trophys, so now I can do proper remote monitoring. The thing to rememberer about the heaters is that in winter, if it’s really cold, it can take awhile to get them to charging temp, at which point the sun has sunken away. i have my 6 batteries in an...

I hate the act of travel, but I love seeing how other people live in radically different cultures. 30% of people suck, 30 are ok,, but the 30 that are good can change your life. There are 5% that pure evil, and 5% that solid gold. Seek them out.

It’s rarely that simple. In my area, once I did down 8 feet, I hit ground water, now i would have to build a water proof structure to house he batteries /electronics and deal with high humidity environment. I have a root cellar, its great for storing potatoes and cabbage, but i don’t want my...

Just reviewing this thread, it sure looks like Jakiper needs to hire a competent US-based support agent. For reference, I ordered 6 120ah bats from Trophy and they came in nice wooden boxes/palettes.

What’s this ‘grid’ thing people keep talking about?

Yes, absolutely right. This is why I massively over-invested in panel. I can eke out enough watts on even snowy days to usually put enough charge in a battery bank. Today it's snowing heavily, and my panels are covered and I'm generating 1500 watts..

My best purchase was adding 80kwp of panels to my 20Kwp array. Just to greedily grab these winter photons on the shortest day of of the NA year...

I was in Bosnia in 92/93. Guns didn’t solve anything there except seeing my teammate’s arm ripped off by a sniper and seeing little girls raped by armed gangs in the name of “armies”. The strongest weapons is the strong rule of law, civic institutions, and you own respect and care for your...

My shed is 14x18 with a high ceiling, so I built a partition around the batteries and inverter that I can remove in the warmer months. I get regular long stretches of -20F. I installed a Mr. Cool 12K in the shed and it has been fantastic so far this summer. It just sips watts. I keep it at 80...

Mo battery. Mo betta