Live Off-Grid with Free Power. Now Off-Grid Systems Can be Built for 1/10th the Cost

Off-Grid: Green Homes, Yachts, Vans and Cabins

How to live off the power grid.

Off-Grid living, (not using a power company) is a requirement for some remote locations like a cabin at the lake, hunting lodge, campsite, barn, field station, mobile home or a yacht. To live Off-Grid you need to make your own electricity. Conventional ways could include a gas or diesel powered generator that costs $1,000 – $5,000. The fuel cost alone to make energy will be expensive as much as ten times what a Power Company charges. What if you could make free power? Consider the Sun, Wind and Magnetism as free energy sources. 

Living Off-Grid can be a way to save cost but that would require no cost power. Making power with solar panels, wind turbine generators or magnetic powered generators is how you can create free energy to get Off-Grid. You need to know-how to put these free energy generators all together for a reliable system. Concern for reliability may still include a gas or diesel generator but need a much less significant size and cost. 

Evaluating Your Energy Loses and Improvements Needed

This is the most cost effective step. Any cost you have hear will pay you back 300% to 500% in the first year. Finding improvements in you energy consumption such as heat loss through windows door, ceiling, walls etc. 

DIY Home Energy Audits

Think about replacing lighting with the new LED lamps. Appliances need to be Energy Star compliant an the list goes on and on. You can do the evaluation in a day. Develop a plan and do the most important first. In the next step you will define the amount of power you will need and that translates to the size of you off-grid system. The smaller the system, the less it will cost. So you see this step is very cost effective. See Easy-Energy-Audits 

Evaluating Your Electrical Load

Your main electrical loads are appliances, cooking and lighting and in a few situations hot water heater, heat and air-conditioning. All have a calculation and a duty cycle. For an illustration a refrigerator consumes between 350 - 550 watts while the compressor is operating. The compressor “ON” ratio to compressor “OFF” is the duty cycle. In a day the 350 watts multiplied by the duty cycle of say 30% would evaluate to 24 x 350 x 30% = 2520 watts per day or 105 watts per hour average. Your energy source and power storage would need to be big enough for this load. Repeat the calculation for all the loads and you will determine the size of the Off-Grid scheme. 

Power Sources for Electricity

Solar

If you enjoy a lot of sun you ought to consider Solar Panels. These devices can deliver 70 - 175 watts of free energy for each panel for a portion of the day. By having several panels, 1,000+ watts of free energy is feasible. 

 Wind

DIY Wind Turbine

Wind turbine generators  can create 450 - 1,000 watts of energy the entire day. How much free energy they produce can vary with the wind patterns. Wind turbine tend to be more efficient for the installation dollar when the weather conditions are favorable. You need a minimum 10+ MPH and 20+ MPH is ideal. In addition you need space for a tower and a zoning permit.

Magnet Generator

Magnetic generators are allot smaller devices in the order of 24 - 100 watts. Their advantage is making free energy at a regular rate 24 hours a day, each day regardless of the weather. Several magnetic generators should be considered. A standard gas or diesel powered electric generator can produce energy also but not free energy. 

Solar Hot Water and Solar Air Heaters Reduce Electrical Load.

These two devices are a good way to reduce the burden of electricity. Electrical heat is the most power hungry use of electricity. Getting heat from the sun will reduce the electrical load by over 30%, thus the cost of electricity power installation. 

Solar Hot Water

Solar Hot Water

systems can use the sun to heat water that is stored in a well insulated tank. The temperature of this water can exceed 140 degree fahrenheit. If you choose an active system you can plumb the heated water throughout the home as primary heat. As a passive system it would augment the hot water heater. 

Solar Air Heater requires no moving parts yet it will heat a room with just air currents, of course only during the day. It need not be a cloud free day for it to work.  The construction cost is very low, cheat even.

Energy Storage

All the above electrical energy sources need to store up their energy supplies to get totally Off-Grid. Power storage is in the form of deep cycle storage batteries. 

Power Storage

Deep cycle batteries are unlike your car batteries. Car batteries convey a lot of energy for a few seconds then get re-energized. Car battery’s chemistry will be damaged if they get strongly discharged. Deep cycle batteries can supply power for hours by design an are not damage by strong discharges. Deep cycle batteries approximate cost each is: $129 @ 33 Amp Hour to $200 @ 450 Amp Hour. The battery Amp Hour rating should be two times the anticipated load. The batteries last longer that way. Battery maintence and renovation is important and can be costly. See How To Recondition Batteries 

Battery Charge Controllers

To correctly charge a battery from the above energy sources you need a charge controller (regulator). The controller will take a variety of energy source voltages from 14 volt to 48 volts and regulate it to charge the batteries safely. Over charging protection circuits are included. Charge controllers cost from $24 to $84 for 4 - 30 Amp models. 

Battery Power Inverters

2000 Watt Power Inverter

To use the free power that you have stored you need to take the battery voltage and direct current up to household voltage and alternating current with a power inverter. Household voltage of 110 Vac or 220 Vac are electronically made with a device called an “Power Inverter”. Inverter power output rating (watts) is important to consider. This power output needs to exceed your peak power load. Inverter cost range is at $36 @ 400 Watts to $852 @ 2,000 Watts. Having more than one inverter gives you built in backup. 

Backup Systems

2,000 Watt Gas Generator

Backup systems are mandatory for Off-Grid living. By definition you do not have access to the Grid energy. Your stored power is your primary line of backup. That should be designed for a 24-hour load. What do you do after that? If your solar, wind and/or magnetic power sources no longer work. You will need a gas or diesel generator. Because you have battery power storage, you just need to refresh the batteries and that will take a much smaller generator. A 400-watt gas generator will cost $102 and a 3,750-watt gas generator will cost $500. Don’t forget these generators have a fuel and service cost and don’t provide free power. 

Conclusion

Off-Grid living is an exciting idea and can have free power. Live or play anywhere without a Power Company. If you purchase Solar Panels @ $5 per watt or Wind Generators @ $1 per watt you will be paying 3 to 10 times what it would take to make your own Solar Panel or Wind Generator. Magnetic Generators are near impossible to buy. To make your own power sources buy a guide. The guides will show you how to make these power sources at home. Free power is the way to go Off-Grid. 

If you want my critical review of two of the best guides Go To: www.ResidentialEnergyKit.com