How to Live Off Grid in Reality
SOLAR POWER ROCKS! You know the saying. "Your back-up power is only as good as your heat-aged batteries." Or, wait, probably you have never heard that tidbit of wisdom. It only applies to people living in the tropics. Prior to owning a home in Caribbean, my understanding of electricity is that it looks really cool during a storm and precedes booming thunder. Oh! And the story with Benjamin Franklin and the kite. Since buying the casa, I have had a crash course in electrical systems. I understand so much more, but it is also very clear that I know practically nothing that would assist someone in putting together a solar fed back-up battery system. But, I know things like: We have a 24-volt system which means we can only add 4 x 6-volt or 2 x 12-volt batteries. But, they can't get added at different times because of the rule of thumb I started this post with. Batteries age in the heat and humidity faster than I would ever have believed. Each 6-volt 200 amp hour bat...