4.8KW Off-Grid Solar Rack | Full Build and Total Cost Breakdown

[@joancherrier1409]

Off grid doug n stacy mention u guys... they are great to watch

[@CJLeTeff]

It’s always easy to sit back and be critical of the work others are doing. Thanks for being real people doing unreal things that 99.9999% of us wish we could do! 👍👍🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@anthonycampbell4534]

Great seeing Jess participate a bit more

[@flicksby3930]

I have seen people spend more than $10k on a rack system. You did it the cheapest way imaginable. The extra additions make it far better than most of those $10k setups. You did a fabulous job here. Love these types of videos. 💯♥️

[@martykennedy3962]

True South for sure! It looks great, much better than the original (no offense). The rock baskets makes sense. Keep up the good work. Take care and be safe!

[@omegaroyal]

In Australia I get these videos on Sunday morning. I watch as I eat a casual breakfast. Ritual.

[@hubertwebb9869]

Good choice Jim and Jess.❤❤❤❤

[@affordabledesertliving3487]

Jim/Jess It was super to have you folks over a while back and show you my solar rack. As you know I am such a huge fan of sturdy and your new rack definitely is all about sturdy. Super nice! I am also impressed how you made your super struts precisely spaced apart so the cone nuts holding the panels slid up nicely. Mine? not so much LOL. Buy as you know I made it work. I think mine cost about $800.00 and perhaps like you checked out metal solar racks and was stunned by how much they cost. Building a wooden one was much smarter economically and should last a long time! Way to go!

[@Dr.Gunsmith]

It’s been a while since I seen any of your videos and I must say all is looking great.

[@ourselfreliantlife]

Thank you! You got to check in more often.😉

[@rosaolbera8768]

Hello my so lovely couple what a great video I enjoyed watching what all you both did you both are such hard workers and your dogs are so adorable take care of yourself and stay safe and blessed and warm outthere Rosa

[@dawnjones8804]

Uva cutie😍😍 Crue has the sweetest bear face 😍😍 good job guys 👍🏽

[@chandrasutton4669]

Great work guys!!! Whoot Whoot

[@feliciaobryan6156]

I just drove into Benson yesterday from Lafayette, LA. My husband and I will be shopping at the gem and mineral shows. I was talking about y'all for the two day drive. I feel like y'all are family. Take care and can't wait to see you what is coming up next.

[@brusselsprout5851]

Staying warm is a good thing. 👍🏻

[@probablynot1368]

Thanks for breaking down your costs for the rebuild. Your videos continue to be informative.

[@richardsolomon8076]

Awesome recap 👏 $1k to do it yourself, kinda leaves a scary thought of how much it would cost to get someone else to do it 😀 stay safe team 🙏 💙 ❤ 👍🏻

[@ZonDog]

Very economical, it will pay for itself.👍🙂

[@jvan6360]

Love your progress and that you share it. As disheartening as the collapse of part of second basement must be, I look forward to watching you overcome this obstacle, as I know you will. Sunshine and warm weather are coming. If you have winter blues, consider putting at least one large sunlight replicating fixture in your dome. This was proven scientifically to help with winter blues.

[@HalsPals]

I'll be referring back to this video as a cheat-sheet here in a bit. Thanks. :)

[@MelissaMalzahn]

That's a great deal on this build looks pleasing to the eye also.

[@MarkoPola]

It’s a beautiful rack. Something to be proud of. Nice job

[@doricohen5014]

Wow just wow! You have done a very professional solar plate form! May it serve you well!

[@doug1olson]

Looks pretty sturdy. It may be overkill but I think I would put some cross bracing on the back side in case you get some strong winds to cause lateral force.

[@ericjohnson1008]

Great seeing it all together as one.

[@chetnash5991]

What a beautiful rack! Enjoy it!

[@chetnash5991]

I wonder how much rain you can catch off them

[@bondpaz]

That is a nice rack. Y’all did great!

[@ourselfreliantlife]

Thanks Pam!

[@FoodForestPermaculture]

Well done

[@hombredeacero3131]

Great explanation of the solar panel rack build

[@jangrahame4891]

What a magnificent construction! Your skills have really grown. Congratulations!👍

[@garyamos5799]

Hi Jim, I was wondering the reason why you don't use rammed earth to build the other portion of your home? I watched another KZbin video which you were helping out with and it turned out beautifully. Keep up the good work and try not to get overwhelmed with the scope of your project. 👍

[@jimh4167]

What do you do with your extra electricity... When not needed Have you thought about storing it in sand batteries. Storing heat

[@sarahfulenwider8940]

Your videos are great. It is helping me visualize ideas for my own future house. Thank you for posting your journey!

[@dennisbishop3842]

You did a great job on that build.

[@joshuanicholsjr5327]

well yes we have seen this twice now god bless from the eastern shore of MD

[@ourselfreliantlife]

But the cost breakdown is included. 😉👍

[@beachlife9419]

Glad it's working out , super clean work on it too

[@Highshinobii]

Amazing work! 🙌💪👏

[@freymagicbus5806]

Great job Jim! Your best project to date. Good to see you slow down and start to pay attention to detail, made a difference. 👍

[@chuckspeer2163]

I am impressed don't loose any sleep over HATERS you by doing and mistakes

[@curtk8715]

like it- you could fence in under it for some storage. For a second I thought possibly screening in the underside for a chicken run or dog kennels. Just a nice shaded area. Add a 12 in wide board between the post as a work surface and a few barstools would have a good place to do some krafting or painting.

[@creinicke1000]

What about covering the higher tops of the super sruts? You blocked the bottom.. that looked great, but can't water from rain get into the top and water then pool inside the channel? Also.. how did you figure out true north?

[@rickmunson8317]

Can't wait to see what you have coming next. Love you two.

[@Blindhomesteader]

Awesome work!

[@wadeprior5203]

Good morning you guys how you going to snow today hope you guys are doing great keep on working on the house you guys just keep going I guess all right make sure the sun is shining on your side and God bless you guys 🍟🍔😊👍🌺🥀🌹❤️😍♥️🍓

[@ingridbond3432]

nice job!

[@everettplummer9725]

Finding true South, can be found many ways. the magnetic North pole is approximately 1,200 miles from the true rotational axis. A good compass, and a little math, simple. Also, smart phones have GPS built right in. Magnetic declination can be figured out with lát and long. Optimum angles to the sun, can be figured by lát. The Northern hemisphere seems to get closer to the sun during our winters. Because the Southern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun in our winter. Imagine if our planet wasn't tilted, and traveled in circles around the sun, instead of elliptical. Poles would get, really cold.

[@leethebee1560]

great rebuild.

[@Julie-yh1sq]

Hi guys just watched the rebuilding of solar station. You did great ! I want to let Jess know how wonderful the new painted door looks ! Unknowingly she painted layer over layer starting with the darkest color and gradually adding lighter colors . The grand finale was the addition of the "doilies" painted white over all the layers of colors & I see it expressed as her life... Jess you are truly an expressionist artist... Love all the work you do. Hugs J

[@greengregs]

Awesome!!!

[@KarlaHafdahl]

Can you put solar packs on the reverse side so you pull in more sun from the opposite side? Sunshine can reflect off things, just asking for your advice

[@jimtran93]

They actually make bifacial solar panels exactly for this reason. They have cells on both sides of the panel

[@patchurch1677]

See thedouble sided ones at Lumnah Acres YT channel. It is in New Hampshire. They put in that double sided kind to harness solar reflecting off the snow. They have a huge metal rack. They are also clearing some trees near the rack to improve earlier sun on the pannels in the morning. A great off grid homestead. :-)

[@426superbee4]

That why Jim, I don't use my 240v central air and heat. It cost to much! I cut my electric bill down from 500 a month >> 👀to 75 to 100 dollars a month. By using 110 v window units, and Space heaters. My backup heat is Propane

[@jdcjr50]

thank you.

[@ellentaylor4351]

Lesson being you improved on your original builds. Week done on yout improvement. 🔈🔉🔊

[@gayle4804]

Is worth every penny of it!

[@Earthmadegarden]

That is a damn good rack!

[@jackpalmer5067]

Curious watts of panel. Please. How many batteries Ty great job

[@1944chevytruck]

awesome!

[@marymccowan6629]

Good investment on the solar rack

[@stanleybest8833]

Do youse have a 12 volt system somewhere or did you completely surrender to 120 AC?

[@deannagray4305]

Jim - what panels are you two running you system on? Manufacturer and wattage/amps/volts?

[@allennolden8735]

I forgot what solar charger are you using. I am running some midnights and am considering getting some tesla batteries.

[@MySwatteam]

East west configuration will give you more power when you need it with less batters needed

[@drabacal65]

I noticed two mobile homes what is the second one used for

[@Itsaboutthejouney]

Hello, great job. We need to redo our rack as well. We are outside of Show Low. Can you tell me the height of the back posts and the height of your front posts to get you the 30° angle?

[@BR1967FE]

Very nice

[@judythymian3469]

Good job!

[@olderolderman4603]

Double DD rack would look nice.

[@markethridge42]

I have a serious questions.. have u had any issues with trespassers threw ur property in the last 2 years

[@ourselfreliantlife]

Nope!

[@everettplummer9725]

Have you ever heard of Earth batteries? Rods in ground. Wind turbines would probably have to be placed very high, since you don't ever get wind at ground level.

[@sierramantrvlnus]

Yay!

[@Johnny-mo8qv]

Get your house complete while while you’re young !!

[@KarlaHafdahl]

why don't the solar panel manufacturers make spherical solar panels? Seems it would be a much better idea; and possibly rotating as well, ideas?

[@ourselfreliantlife]

They have rotaing set ups, but the more moving parts means more things can go wrong. I don't think spherical would be the most efficient.

[@johnwolf1475]

jessica looks like she in alaska!

[@danduval1157]

🐝 Javelina Gabion Racks.

[@everettplummer9725]

Heard you're studying for a gun carry permit， 80% lowers is a great way to start a collection， AR-15 in poly 80 Glock

[@KarlaHafdahl]

SOLAR SPHERES!

[@lionelcox9119]

Rammed Earth movie

[@ericjohnson1008]

Y'all need a pergola with gabions. Hehehe

[@davemeraz5117]

“QUESTION “ How long will your batteries last before you have to buy new ones? And how much of an investment is that?

[@ourselfreliantlife]

These will probably last another 15 or 16 years.

[@mcooper5929]

👍👍🐾🐾❤️❤️

[@alternativebuilding]

Cement is not concrete. Cement is but one ingredient in concrete. Concrete Mix is cement and aggregate and you and the water to make concrete. Just like you don't call a cake, flour. Cement is like the flour in your concrete cake :)

[@ourselfreliantlife]

You are correct

[@jamesbietau9701]

Two things I e joy dogs & ryobi tools

[@omedina2011]

Say "we" not "I" cause your beautiful wife is helping you and I'm sure she's bringing good ideas to the table as well. 2 smart people not just 1

[@olivhay4929]

Jessica is more and more depressed living in the scrapyard you create video after video. The only smile we see is on thumbnail...

[@GoJolli]

🥳👍

[@timestamp.]

🐾🐾💞💞💞💞

[@GoJolli]

💞💐👏

[@Sinksalot1]

fyi, I was subbed here on 3 of my channels and all three were unsubbed. The Tube is pulling something

[@426superbee4]

You do get hail storms. THAT WILL PLAY HELL WITH YOUR SOLAR PANDELS That is 1 plus with wind power? The wind blows Day and Night. That 1 building material. You got is? ROCKS. I would stock up on bags of cement and Rocks. That would be what i would build from

[@lionelcox9119]

Come guys you all are close ,put the whole system indoor use two drums, one of which you turn into a Drum pump ,,^ iit must above the other drum which would have both the ram pump and generator above it,, way it should work,, Drum pump should pump the water from the lower drum to the ram pump to generator, having all the water falling back into the lower drum,,,. Or am I just crazy,,. Please fill me in with how it goes,,,.

[@shahlatavakoli2084]

👋👋

[@armidaperez5360]

🙋❤️👍

[@joannecooke5309]

Who are the people that have also moved on to the land? Are they also building earthbag homes? Do you know them or are they friends you just haven't made yet? Can anyone just move there??

[@ourselfreliantlife]

There's no one else currently on our land.

[@joannecooke5309]

@@ourselfreliantlife ah my mistake

[@omegaroyal]

The opposite of handy work is footy play.

[@andywright1342]

This is getting a little stale with nothing new happening. Sorry for the downer

[@Highshinobii]

I think they're doing fantastic. Can't please everyone.

[@ourselfreliantlife]

What are you looking for exactly? We just installed and painted a new door.

[@jayc3319]

@@ourselfreliantlifeI guess the house being made completely livable. The walls and flooring done. The outside completed with protection from the elements. Practical first art next. I like Jessica's artwork but for content we'd like to see progress in the actual build. It might mean getting some help from family, friends or part time help. It is a lot for 2 people to do with weather being so harsh. Hope this helps as I enjoy watching your channel.

[@ourselfreliantlife]

@jayc3319 well, this particular video meets all that criteria. The door is necessary to make the house livable and the painting is necessary to protect the door.

[@johnwolf1475]

YOU ARE A FEW YEARS BEYOND YOUR PERMITS=- DO A VIDEO PLEASE

[@paull1954]

Boy oh boy I wish you would measure twice and cut once... See so many issues with your plans all along the way of working so very very hard to only see lack or forethought and redoing what you just completed. You need to get into that dome and start a growing operating for food.... Your progress is so very slow and I am beginning to lose focus and interest in your channel and I watched you for several years..... Please dont get me wrong I have always enjoyed watching your channel.

[@ourselfreliantlife]

This rack came out perfectly measured.

[@norbertschauer3537]

Que no mamen, parece que están en el polar norte

[@rebekahwells3737]

Good job!