I call it mix & match of whatever I could find/afford/figure out how to cobble it together.
I had exactly zero experience, no idea what I was doing but the closest power lines were a mile away, 17 miles from a town.
Keep in mind I'm a 'Boomer' and solar was a joke/gimmick according to all the propaganda, which I believed.
I started in a field of weeds & scrub brush and use a '73 Jeep to mow and plow with, dead broke after buying the land. I couldn't afford the $15,000 for a transformer the Rural Electric company wanted to get started, and they were going to tack $118,000 over the next 20 year to the bill for poles, wires, whatever it took to get power back here...
A second mortgage before the first mortgage since I paid cash for the land (couldn't get a loan on it).
I am NOT an expert in anything, not even a talented amateur, I have some basic education, but everything I know is trial & error.
17 years as a farm kid, 16 years as a US Marine, seriously disabled and therefore virtually unemployable, I started my own business, something I could do (sitting down)...
I understand basic circuits, always have, and I learned the electro-magnetic link about 1st grade, so I started rebuilding starters, alternators, generators, making wiring harnesses, etc.
When the business grew a little I started selling batteries and took a welding class.
Ignition systems, starting/charging systems, mechanical & electro-magnetic stuff comes easily to me (makes sense), I do have an issue with people (don't make sense), so if I come across gruff or seemingly topic please forgive that... I do have a point, it just takes a while sometimes...
I backed into solar butt first, and I mean that literally.
I planted gardens starting a homestead like my grandparents had, and my first build was a 'Latrine' (privvy) with a shower. After 16 years in the Corps, I was VERY familiar with latrines!
I bought battery powered tools, and if you remember in that time it was Ni-Cad or nothing, so the batteries were soon dead, and that's if I remembered to charge them...
So I bought a gas generator, extension cords, 110 vac power tools and it took about a month before I realized 5 or 10 minutes an hour power tool time, 50-55 minutes rattling my brain noise wasn't going to work for me.
I gutted the non-functional batteries and attached cords, used the second battery from my Jeep for power.
I'm now officially battery powered, but I have to run the Jeep to charge the second battery, but it does last mostly all day.
I bought an inverter for the power saw, and ran the Jeep when I needed it (other than the chain saw).
I got another battery, which I hooked a cheap solar panel to for charging through the week so I didn't cycle the life out of my Jeep battery, even a 1 or 2 amp charge will bring the battery back to full charge over a week's time since I only got out there on weekends, holidays, vacation, etc.
And that's how I backed into solar....
