Electricity

The Tesla Generator

I haven’t tried it, and this link may go dead, but as I type you can see a promo for instructions to build a “zero-point energy” electricity generator here.

Wind Power

Archimedes wind turbines are 80% efficient and if you have enough wind may be better than solar.

Check average wind in your area: Global Wind Atlas

Solar Power

Autodesk Instructibles has a complete DIY guide to sizing, building, and installing a solar system.

Tin Hat Ranch has an excellent series of videos explaining solar power systems and their components. Meanwhile…

If you want to run a refrigerator–All of a sudden, you are looking at much much larger and more complex system. A full off grid cabin or very energy efficient home is probably in the range of 3.3 kWH per day.

A very useful device is a Kill-a-Watt type meter. Plug in each of the 120 VAC devices you plan to use during an outage–And find out how may kWH per day they really use. (from the AZ Wind & Sun Forum)

And also meanwhile: Your system has to be able to handle the surge associated with starting of equipment. First of all include some circuitry that suppresses the surge that these items cause. Then size your system to handle the remaining surge effects.

Solar Assessment

Energy Sage gets a good recommendation and looks like a good way to get quotes for your solar installation.

AC (Keep up with AC unit and fridge during hot sunny hours)

2000 watts AC = 120 volts x 20 amp circuit in my RV (volts times amps times 0.85 = watts)
65 watts Fridge (comparable “Apartment Size” unit on Amazon, about 9 cubic feet)

A 4 ton central AC system for a home will use more like 15-30 kW for an 8 hour day if it has to run a lot (~2-4kW per hour of use). Sizing power generating capacity is complicated by the AC compressor surge requirements. You really want to have a soft-start system for your compressor to reduce the surge. Surge varies depending on conditions, and your power generator needs to be robust enough to flip the breaker if the compressor freezes up. Using a power inverter that can draw on both your batteries and your panels at the same time is probably the best way to handle the needs of a system this hungry. If you will power multiple devices that produce surge, you will want a time delay system so they do not all try to start at once. NARKIVE has a good discussion on this.

Solar Assessment Worksheet

Factory Direct prices:

Mona-Lee Solar (not pictured above): Get a quote.

Solar step by step
How to Build a Solar Panel – Part 1 of 3 (New) – YouTube
How to Build a Solar Panel – Part 2 of 3 (New) – YouTube
How to Build a Solar Panel – Part 3 of 3 (New) – YouTube

Another How to Build a Cheap Solar System

Same guy with water or could be wind
Working home made hydro Generator/ Runs two refrigerators free electricity – YouTube

Best batteries for solar
Offgrid Survival says, “When it comes to setting up an off-grid retreat or home, one of the most important decisions you are going to have to deal with is figuring out the right battery system setup for your homestead. … If you’re first starting out, the best advice I can give is to bring in a qualified expert … . But if you are dead sent against using outside help, you need to start out slow and start with some cheapo batteries because you are inevitably going to fry them out … during the first year. … It’s quite common for first-time offgriders to kill their first set of batteries.”