I live offgrid and rely completely on solar power and battery. A 200w portable solar panel charging a high quality (If a little poor in capacity) powerstation provides enough power for most technological luxuries I have found.
The panels and power station I got cost 400$ total. They can be placed anywhere in your yard that gets direct sun no installation required and you jut fold em up when you mow or whatever.
This system provides me enough power to get by in my technological convinences without much interruption. Its definitely possible to run out of power but I can adjust my usage accordingly when power availability becomes limited.
Also my mind has been opened up to the world of DC appliances meant for such systems. USB heating blanket and chair, cigarette plug electric kettles/coffee makers, cigarette plug ovens, portable washer+dryers, portable USBC charged monitor displays. Do they work as good or fast as their AC wall outlet equivalents? No, but they work and won’t eat into your limited power nearly as badly. You would be surprised at how much a 10 watt electric blanket can keep you warm when its cold.
Its only when people want heavy appliances and big power hungry TVs/computers that you need stupid huge power demands. I don’t need a fridge I just stock up on nonperishables, I don’t need a washing machine + dryer when a tubs, clothing scrubbers, and drying racks exist (also they make small plastic washer+dryers for RVs and apartments/college dorms). I don’t need running water when I have a hand pump sprayer or battery powered pump or just take a farmers bath. I don’t need electric heat or AC when smartly placed popane heaters and box fans are a thing.
Guess how much my electric, heating, and water bills are? The only thing I still pay for now is propane which comes to around to 1-2$ per night in heating depending on conditions.
And I still get to enjoy many luxuries and conforts of modern life. Coffee in the morning, YouTube, video games (on a laptop, god I want a steam deck) music, reading, and a comfortable bed.
So many people live just below their means paycheck to paycheck unwilling to give up the tiniest bit of conivnence in order to save big $.
The most power hungry (modern) TV I’ve seen was 100W. Most fridges nowadays are similar, 100W but intermittent.
A fridge is not “the tiniest bit of convenience”.
Box fans don’t really help when it’s 100F+ and 90%+ humidity. Where I am it you leave a house without air condition for even a month during the summer you’ll have mold and the ceiling will be falling down.
For anyone that reads this and thinks that cheap solar setups leave you barely scraping by, I’ll giv e acounter example. I helped my parents do solar on their RV. It’s 720W of panels, 3000W inverter output and cost a little under $3k but could have been cheaper, the cost is due a bit to us being inexperienced at the time and also overbuilding it to allow for more panels. It can run all the modern conveniences (for up to 3 days with no sun) except the big airconditioner, but can run a window unit that conditions the bedroom and dries the rest of the RV. If we were to do it again though we could make it run the big one with pretty much no increase in price.
I live offgrid and rely completely on solar power and battery. A 200w portable solar panel charging a high quality (If a little poor in capacity) powerstation provides enough power for most technological luxuries I have found.
The panels and power station I got cost 400$ total. They can be placed anywhere in your yard that gets direct sun no installation required and you jut fold em up when you mow or whatever.
This system provides me enough power to get by in my technological convinences without much interruption. Its definitely possible to run out of power but I can adjust my usage accordingly when power availability becomes limited.
Also my mind has been opened up to the world of DC appliances meant for such systems. USB heating blanket and chair, cigarette plug electric kettles/coffee makers, cigarette plug ovens, portable washer+dryers, portable USBC charged monitor displays. Do they work as good or fast as their AC wall outlet equivalents? No, but they work and won’t eat into your limited power nearly as badly. You would be surprised at how much a 10 watt electric blanket can keep you warm when its cold.
Its only when people want heavy appliances and big power hungry TVs/computers that you need stupid huge power demands. I don’t need a fridge I just stock up on nonperishables, I don’t need a washing machine + dryer when a tubs, clothing scrubbers, and drying racks exist (also they make small plastic washer+dryers for RVs and apartments/college dorms). I don’t need running water when I have a hand pump sprayer or battery powered pump or just take a farmers bath. I don’t need electric heat or AC when smartly placed popane heaters and box fans are a thing.
Guess how much my electric, heating, and water bills are? The only thing I still pay for now is propane which comes to around to 1-2$ per night in heating depending on conditions.
And I still get to enjoy many luxuries and conforts of modern life. Coffee in the morning, YouTube, video games (on a laptop, god I want a steam deck) music, reading, and a comfortable bed.
So many people live just below their means paycheck to paycheck unwilling to give up the tiniest bit of conivnence in order to save big $.
“tiniest bit of convenience”. “I don’t have a fridge, I don’t need it”. “I heat with propane”.
Man, you’re living a cyberpunk life already.
The most power hungry (modern) TV I’ve seen was 100W. Most fridges nowadays are similar, 100W but intermittent.
A fridge is not “the tiniest bit of convenience”.
Box fans don’t really help when it’s 100F+ and 90%+ humidity. Where I am it you leave a house without air condition for even a month during the summer you’ll have mold and the ceiling will be falling down.
For anyone that reads this and thinks that cheap solar setups leave you barely scraping by, I’ll giv e acounter example. I helped my parents do solar on their RV. It’s 720W of panels, 3000W inverter output and cost a little under $3k but could have been cheaper, the cost is due a bit to us being inexperienced at the time and also overbuilding it to allow for more panels. It can run all the modern conveniences (for up to 3 days with no sun) except the big airconditioner, but can run a window unit that conditions the bedroom and dries the rest of the RV. If we were to do it again though we could make it run the big one with pretty much no increase in price.
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