Off Grid Power & Water - How Everything Works

[@Solar-42]

Living partly off grid since the mid 90's when a 40W panel was $400. Trojan 6V 200Ah golf cart batteries were the best $/Ah back then. Selectronic Oz made inverters were the pick of the bunch. The SE2100 I bought in 1998 is still working fine. Lithium batteries (Kings) and old house 200W panels were the game changer for experimenters. All that said I am now switching to plug and play EcoFlow power stations. So far so good.

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

Yes I started with the GC2 six volt batteries running a modified sinewave inverter when I lived full time in my bus back in the early 2000's. The 64 watt uni-solar shade tolerant solar panels cost me $750 each back then and I bought four. $3,000 for just over 250 watts of solar and those panels still run today although they are pretty beat up. When I set up my off grid house system around 2007 - 2008 I went for the L16 size, Rolls Surrette brand, six volt flooded lead acid batteries charged by a Plasmatronic PL60 PWM controller and a Latronics 1800 watt inverter, yep 1800 watts ran my entire house. I still have the old solar controller in my cupboard and the Latronics inverter I have used on my 24 volt test system testing the Kings batteries which I did a video on. Since the invention of MPPT controllers, Lithium batteries and the price of solar panels dropping, it has become more affordable for people to go off grid. If building the right size system they also miss out on the challenges we had 20 years ago like.... water batteries, acid build up on battery terminals, acid burn holes in your cloths, voltage sag during high current draw, running generators in winter, running the generator when you put on the kettle. ........ Ahhh the good old days 😁😆

[@Solar-42]

My original PL20 Plasmatronics is working fine. It has a 200W old house panel charging the Kings 200Ah in parallel with another old panel charging the same battery via a Victron reg. Set it to Gel mode with no issues so far. Kings 3kW inverter died just short of one year old so refunded. On my 3rd Allpowers R600 in 12 months so switched to EcoFlow which look like they are very Victron like in quality and function. No cabling fuses rules to comply with, just switch on and use them. Old house panels plug in or connect to the Kings batteries for fully configurable charging.

[@GoodenuffCollective]

Awesome video mate. I plan to transition this place to off grid one day. Love your setup. Simpley awesome. 👍

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

Thanks mate.

[@arthur3578]

Glen You have done it again another excellent video you are the only Australian you tuber i watch looked at the others but not a patch on you keep up the good work.

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

Thanks mate

[@muller135]

I think the diesel heater pumping co2 onto the plants might help 🤷‍♂️

[@ScottyMac71]

Good video.. I appreciate the conversions.. I dont know why the U.S. doesnt swap over

[@zarkov2324]

thanks for sharing!

[@MichaelJole-g2e]

Excellent and informative Glen. Now you need is a large pergola or shed for protection of your vehicles and caravan. Due to your extreme heat conditions. Are you looking to build pergola or shed for the future. Cheers Mike

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

Yes I am. I'm gonna be building a carport where the caravan is to put the car and van in. Just waiting for my savings account to build up some more. I don't believe in debt so I have to wait until I have saved up for it. Hopefully sometime mid next year I should have something sorted. It also be more roof space for water collection 🌧💧

[@Chris_Z.]

Just wondering if you have a done a video on how to clean the solar panels and what cleaning products are safe to use on them? Thanks

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

I don't worry too much about cleaning my panels, I let the rain do that. My batteries are charged usually by around 11:00 am so a little dust on the panels doesn't bother me. Besides, out here, as soon as you clean off the dust, it's back again. Safe products is a hard one as there are so many products available. I use well known brands that have been proven over time, like Victron. There are other brands out there that I haven't used so I can't comment on them, so check their reviews and give them a try.

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

Woops, sorry mate, you ask about cleaning products, I was thinking products in general like solar products. For cleaning products, if I do clean my solar panels I use water and a broom.

[@TechStories79]

Hey Glen, great vid! Just wondering if you've shown what's going on over at those blue containers? Is that on your property too?

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

Are you meaning the blue sea container ?

[@TechStories79]

@@TheSimpleLivingAussie yeh i think so, seen it behind you at the pond

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

@@TechStories79 you meaning the blue sea container as shown in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZCsZqh_jLOHhqs Or the little blue filter housing on the side of the fish pond?

[@TechStories79]

@@TheSimpleLivingAussie yeah the container in video. Just thought you could have a great solar shed in that and make an adjustable solar mount on top. Seen it done a bit on containers.

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

​@@TechStories79 yeah you could do for sure but there are a few issues with using a sea container. The main one in my area is the heat as they get incredibly hot inside during summer, they can get over 60 deg C inside on a hot summers day. So insulation and air-conditioning is a must which would be expensive to set up. The other thing with my sea container is it's location, more shaded by trees and then I have to run the power across to the cabin. All of the above would be nice but would cost me a lot of money to set up. Considering the panels are already located on the roof of the cabin, it's in the best location for sun with no daytime shading (except early morning and late afternoon) it's not financially viable to shift it across to the sea container.

[@TheColbysChannel]

38c here where i am but look at next Friday 41c here

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

It got to 45 today but I was down in Perth at work so it only got to 41 in Perth today.

[@nealpennison735]

Why wouldn’t you set your system up so its all automatic and not have pumps, change your configuration to use the head of your high tank to provide water to the cabin and wind to pump water from 2 4500l tanks to the larger (high) water tank, no electricity required at all and do not have to worry about filling tanks manually. I am totally off grid and am set up like this, no power required for water must be an advantage. I have windmill located next to a 27,000l tank which is approx 50m lower than shed, pumps water to another 27,000 tank located at shed which is approx 10m higher than house then house has a further 2 tanks of 125,000l each near house, no proper required to pump water to any of these tanks. Been off grid since 2012 and never without water or power.

[@TheSimpleLivingAussie]

The 25,000 litre storage tank is around 4 meters (when full) and around 2 meter when empty above the ground level down at the cabin. So that means when the tank is full I will get around 6 psi at ground level but once the water moved up the pipes to the height of my shower rose in the bathroom I will be down to around 3 psi at the shower so not enough pressure. I am not worried about power consumption of my water pumps as I am off grid and have heaps of power to run pumps. I would like to have a header tank on a tank stand so I could gravity feed the water but that's another expense I would have to find money for and I will still need pumps to pump the water up to the tank on the stand. My large pump gives me around 60 psi at the taps for watering gardens and so on, which equates to 42 meters of head. So I would need a tank stand 42 meters high to get the equivalent. A windmill would be a big investment especially the height I would need to clear the tree line to catch any wind. It would also require permits from our local council. So yeah it is a good idea and one I would like to do but the cost of doing it is just not viable in my area.

[@Paul.Kenna-Law]

I was thinking the same thing as the poster but then I realised that i was doing the same thing as glen. I have a couple of 1100 tanks next to the main water capture from the house roof and I manually pump uphill to a 25000 lt. Tank. I use this 1m head to feed my 240 v pressure pump for the house. My focus is more on storage of scarce water than the use of it - i couldnt cope with your 500lt storage tank but understand your thinking. I have duplicated this system on my 90m2 workshop/ brewery and can pump from 1 tank to another if required. I have one extra water source - a 7m shallow well which produces slightly sandy water that doesnt kill the garden. With This as a source im looking at installing a semi commercial reverse osmosis system capable of producing 1500 lt per day (800 lt. On solar) as the demands of brewing beer out strip my catchment. Investment is about $5k for the RO. Plus filters about $500 per year. A much smaller system would suit a domestic user. Great Video paul from Loch Sport On Bass Strait Vic