Activities this week focused on the off grid solar electricity systems here. Sometimes, you just need a little bit more energy – especially over winter.

You’d think that a shop selling high technology solar electric equipment would be like walking into a mad scientist’s workshop where there are all sorts of unexplained high technology looking items hanging around, perhaps a few computer displays providing readouts for who knows what. However, the shop that I have been frequenting for a few years now is actually run by a bunch of lovely hippies – who are all very helpful! The hippies look like they’ve spent the weekend blockading forest roads from miners and loggers or possibly they were just in an inner city park fire twirling and playing the bongo drums. However, they really know their solar stuff and are pleasant to deal with.

This week, I’ve installed three new solar panels. 

Solar electricity is great, however, I am not connected to the electricity grid and have no desire to rely on a fossil fuel powered generator. Therefore, I have to be able to reliably produce enough solar electricity from the panels under the very worst weather conditions. These worst conditions are usually found in the depths of winter. If the system itself does not produce enough solar electricity, it simply shuts down. The shutdown occurs to protect the batteries which would otherwise be permanently damaged if they were completely depleted.

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