If you want to produce renewable and free electrical power using solar energy, here’s a list of things you absolutely need.

1. Solar radiation

It’s obvious, right? No, it’s not! Not for many people!

Solar radiation is everywhere, but not everywhere it’s enough to produce electricity using solar photovoltaic module. All the modules are described by one most important parameter — output power, for example 200 W_p — 200 watts (peak). The peak subscript is used to specify that the solar module won’t produce that power at all time, but only in specific conditions. Those conditions are:

• solar radiation intensity — 1 kW/m²,
• radiation spectrum similar to the one reaching ground at 35°N lattitude in summer,
• temperature of solar panels equal to 25°C (77°F).

Without using solartracks you won’t have that solar radiation intensity except for a very brief moment during the day. So you shouldn’t expect your solar module to produce the peak power during the whole day. (more…)

In some areas od Poland people are disconnected from the electrical grid by the weather. A lot of hard rime covered electrical lines and caused some pylons to break.

It is not uncommon in Poland to have temperatures below -20°C (-4°F). But such weather with very high humidity is not something we would expect. (more…)

Though I believe that at this time wind turbines are way to expensive to buy (especially in Poland, as I explained here), not every off-gridder is also a DIY-enthusiast. Because of that some of you may be forced to purchase wind turbine, instead of making one by yourself.

If you consider buying one, I’d suggest trying to find one as cheap as possible, as it’d make it easier for you to get a return from this expense. Buying used one may be a good idea, but only if you can measure if the turbine is working properly. (more…)

If you want power your off-grid home by yourself, you need to look at this idea on three levels:

• producing the energy in any source,
• reducing the energy use,
• storing it for future when supply exceeds demand.

There are only two ways to deal with this problem with one simple solution. But none of them is a good one. (more…)

This is the first post in a series of how to live off the electrical grid. In the series I will answer the following questions:

• how to make electric energy from various sources (photovoltaics, wind turbines, internal combustion engines, fuel cells, etc.),
• how to store electricity to use it later,
• how to save electricity, in order to reduce the home energy usage and reduce your off-grid power plant operating and investment cost.

As I mentioned before, we are addicted to electricity as it’s the easiest way of supplying energy to different home appliances. (more…)