For those of you who read my blog for a while it won’t be a surprise when I write that I own a Volkswagen Vanagon Camper (RV) and spend some time camping in it each summer.

This year I had my first fully off-grid holiday. Last year I connected the camper to the mains on the campsites I wisited, while this year I didn’t and relied entirely on energy captured by my solar photovoltaic panels and stored in my two gel batteries.

The batteries have total capacity of around 80 Ah (ampere-hours) which is roughly 900 kWh (kilowatt-hours). That’s more than enough for my laptop computer, some chargers, water pump. Even lighting in my camper (two fluorescent bulbs) would get enough power if I finally connected them to the camping batteries (at the moment they suck power from the starter battery). (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…)

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…)

I just looked at the results of the poll I posted in the sidebar when I launched this blog. I ask there, what are the causes you want to live off-grid. One of the main causes is at the moment the “to reduce utility costs”. When I cast my vote in that poll I didn’t check this option. I simply don’t believe that living off the grid is a good way to reduce utility costs. (more…)

The most common public utility homes are conected to is the electrical grid, or simply the grid. 😉 Electricity is the most convenient way of transferring energy to long distances. Because it’s so easy to use, it’s become the main energy source for most home appliances.

Before I start getting deeper in the labyrinth of living off the grid, I wanted to post here an article about the grid itself. So here it is. (more…)