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People keep telling new off-grid folks to start with solar and I think that's backward | Off-Grid Life - nhfree.com

People keep telling new off-grid folks to start with solar and I think that's backward

Been living off-grid for going on 12 years now up in the Appalachians, and I keep seeing this advice online that bugs me. Everyone says buy solar panels first, but I've watched THREE neighbors start that way and quit within a year because they ran out of money for batteries and inverters. The real basics people miss are water collection and wood heat. When I started back in 2013, I spent $600 on a good used wood stove and $200 on a rainwater catchment system before I ever touched a solar panel. That setup kept me going through my first winter when I couldn't afford the rest of the electric gear. Solar is great, but it's a luxury compared to having clean water and warm shelter. Why do so many folks push the expensive shiny stuff first instead of the actual survival parts? Has anyone else seen new people burn out this way?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettywilson4mo ago

Oh man, I still joke that my first year off-grid I was basically a very cold cave person with a fancy rain barrel. I blew my whole budget on a tiny solar panel and ended up eating cold beans by candlelight because I forgot batteries cost more than the panel itself. My buddy down the road did the same thing, bought a big flashy array and then had zero money for the inverter, so for three months he just had this expensive patio decoration. Meanwhile I had my $300 wood stove roaring and could actually cook and stay warm, and he was freezing his butt off staring at his useless solar setup. It's like buying a fancy sports car before you've got gas money, you feel real dumb real fast.

morgan_butler4mo ago

And don't even get me started on the battery math, because I'm pretty sure I paid more for my first set of deep cycles than my truck is worth, and they still died on me mid-January during a cold snap. Talk about a wake-up call. I had a buddy who spent like six months planning this super fancy solar setup, drew up diagrams and everything, then forgot to account for the fact that his cabin faced north. He spent the whole first winter running a generator just to keep his phone charged. I guess we all learn the hard way that you gotta prioritize the basics before you start dreaming big.

oscarb714mo ago

Whoa, wait - three months? That's brutal. Like staring at a sun-powered lawn ornament while your beans freeze. I've heard worse though, there was a guy over in Butler County who dropped 11 grand on a whole pallet of panels without even checking if his roof could hold them. Roof collapsed, panels shattered. He was living in a tent for two months sorting out the mess.