how efficient is solar energy
Off Grid Solar

How to Build Your Own Small Solar System-How Efficient is Solar Energy

This is the first post in a blog series Titled “How to build your own solar system, for the beginner on a small budget.’

This series is for the person who wants to move off-grid in a small living space such as a cabin, tiny home, RV, Skoolie, camper or truck camper, etc. and, as a novice without a lot of money, wants to produce their own electricity through a small and simple solar system that is easy to use and maintain.

If this describes you, then follow along as I take you through the basics of solar energy in a step by step fashion and walk you through the basic fundamentals, design, and installation process in a simple and easy to follow format designed specifically for the beginner. My goal is to show you how to design and install a solar system that meets your basic living needs in an off-grid lifestyle.

If you would like to be notified when each module of this series is released just fill out the information below.

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How efficient is solar energy?

When it comes to the efficiency of solar there are a few things to consider. We will discuss the inherent drawbacks of using the sun for energy production, photovoltaic cells, the efficiency of solar system components, and the efficiency of system design.

The sun as a source for energy

The most powerful aspect of solar energy is the massive amount of energy that reaches the earth’s surface. According to the University of Tennessee Institute of agriculture, 1 square meter at sea level will be bombarded with 1000 watts of energy from the sun on a sunny day. That’s a lot of energy, and the sun isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So, in regards to efficiency, the sun itself is extremely efficient.

The sun bombarding the earth with solar energy

The downsides to using the sun as a source for energy are obvious. First, not every day is sunny and a long stretch of cloudy days can severely lower our ability to produce electricity. Finally, the sun doesn’t shine 24 hours a day.

The current efficiency of the photovoltaic cell

At the time of publication of this information the highest efficiency rate of photovoltaic cells is as follows in the chart below.

This information is credited to https://www.cleanenergyreviews.info/blog/most-efficient-solar-panels

The efficiency of solar cells has come a long way in the last few decades and continues to get better. It’s worthy to note here, since this solar system guide is written specifically for a low budget, the difference between the highest efficiency rating and the lowest efficiency rating is only 5%.

This represents a 20% difference in efficiency respectively between the panels, but in the larger picture of a photovoltaic solar system as a whole, when taking the cost of the solar panels into account, the difference isn’t worth the cost unless you have a larger budget to work with. That being said, the cost isn’t the only factor when customizing a system.

A more efficient panel is smaller. If space is a consideration in your situation then a more compact panel may be worth the extra cost. We will go into greater detail about this in Later posts.

The efficiency of solar system components

The efficiency of solar panels is not the only thing to consider in your solar system. The other components all have their own efficiency levels also. The charge controller, inverter, and battery bank all need to be considered.

In a perfect world where money was no object, we would just install the most efficient component at every stage of the design, but this Blog series is dealing specifically with a low budget and simplified system. We will have to be choosy about where we spend our money to gain efficiency.

The Charge Controller

The charge controller is what takes the current from the solar array and converts it to a voltage that the battery bank needs to charge. It also controls the voltage to the battery bank so that the battery bank doesn’t overcharge and damage the batteries. We will discuss charge controllers in more detail in future blog posts. For now, we will briefly talk about the two main types of charge controllers and their efficiency.

MPPT charge controllers

MPPT stands for Maximum Power Point Tracking. MPPT charge controllers can have an efficiency rating of up to 99.5%. Saving the details for chapter 12, which is dedicated to charge controllers, I will mention that the main reason to spend the extra money for an MPPT charge controller when designing a budget-friendly system is if your solar array has to be farther away from your battery bank.

PWM charge controllers

PWM stands for Pulse Width Modulation. PWM charge controllers have an efficiency rating of 75% to 85%. For a small solar system where battery voltage and solar array voltage are equal, a PWM will work well and can be an area where the DIY solar design can save some money.

The Inverter

The Inverter will convert DC electricity to AC electricity. The difference between DC and AC electricity will be discussed in chapter 5. For our discussion here just know that AC electricity is what almost all household appliances use. The simplest solar system designs do not require an inverter. More on this later.

It isn’t possible to convert DC electricity to AC electricity without losing some power due to heat that is produced in the process (this is similar to friction). Efficiency ratings for inverters are somewhat complex because they are affected by the Load or the amount of power being consumed at any given time. Because of this, the efficiency of an inverter can vary throughout the day where efficiency is typically highest at around 80% of maximum load, but every inverter is different. When choosing an inverter it is very important to choose the right one for the specific parameters of your system design in order to maximize the efficiency of a particular inverter.

Inverters are either PURE SINE WAVE or MODIFIED SINE WAVE. Their differences and which one you should choose will be discussed in more detail in chapters 14 and 15.

The Battery Bank

There are four main types of batteries for solar use. Lead Acid, Lithium-Ion, NICAD, and Gel. To be honest it’s not really worth going into all the different types because for small, budget-friendly solar systems AGM/Lead Acid batteries are the only reasonable choice. We will go into more detail about the different kinds of AGM batteries in chapter 17.

The efficiency of system design

The most important aspect of efficiency is the system design as a whole. Every system will be different based on the particular energy needs being met by the system. There are many variables to consider even for a small solar system. I will walk you through each step in determining which variables will have priority in your system and help you design your system based on those priorities. In a small budget-friendly system compromises will have to be made, but with the help of this blog series, you will know which compromises to make.

Why should I choose solar?

When it comes to small off-grid residential energy production systems, there are three choices. You can go with solar, wind or hydro. All of these choices are good and each has specific advantages, but solar is the one to go with if you’re a beginner and you’re on a small budget. Wind is more expensive by around 35% more expensive and has a substantially higher degree of difficulty because of the installation process. Hydro can be about the same price with only a slightly higher degree of difficulty, but it requires a year-round water source in close proximity to your living structure.

Solar on the other hand is the least expensive of the three because large amounts of cooperate and government money has been poured into decades of research and development. Solar is also fairly simple for the DIY’er to install with some guidance. Solar is also the easiest to expand if your energy needs grow.

For these reasons, I’ve written this series. I want to help people gain the confidence to tackle a solar project and finally realize their dream of living a simpler life off the grid.

If you would like to be notified when each module of this series is released just fill out the information below.

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Check out module 2 of this series “Why you should choose 12-volt solar for your DIY energy”

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Checklist for off grid planning free pdf
Off Grid Mindset

Checklist for Living off the grid

The following is an outline formatted checklist of the things you need to think about when you’re planning to make the move to an off-grid lifestyle. This checklist isn’t a guide. It’s meant to simply stimulate thought and help you avoid forgetting important considerations.

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. This means offgridmaker.com could earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you, on the things you purchase.

Download the PDF file at the end of this post.

Finances

Many of the decisions you make will be heavily influenced by your finances so it’s important to have a realistic picture of what they are.

planning to budget for off-grid living
Get a handle on the money to make your off-grid journey easier

How much money do you have to start your journey?

The length of your journey to move off-grid can be shortened with money. This money can be used for land purchase, equipment purchases, supplies, books for learning new skills, courses you can take to learn skills, the purchase of a temporary structure to live in while you build your off-grid home and much more.

Set a monthly savings goal to build up an Off-Grid Fund

A nice little cushion of cash will be nice to have when you finally make the move to your off-grid property. No matter how much effort you put into planning your move it is inevitable that you will forget something. This little stash of cash will give you a little security when you need to make a quick purchase. Just twenty dollars every week will be over a thousand dollars in a year.

How much debt do you have?

Ideally, you want to be debt-free when you go off the grid. Get an accurate accounting of all your debt so you can start eliminating it.

How much debt can you eliminate before you go off-grid?

This is the area to get really serious about your planning. Debt is an anchor and it will make your progress to living off-grid harder and harder. Unpredictable hurdles will feel impossible to get over with the weight of debt on your shoulders. Attack your debt with ferocity.

How much income will you have when you move off-grid?

When you have finally made the move, will your income be the same? Will you keep the same job or will you have to find a new one. Now is a good time to consider different types of income that fit well with an off-grid lifestyle.

Self-employment

Being self-employed is far more conducive to living off-grid than being an employee. Time freedom makes off-grid homesteading more enjoyable. If you’re interested in starting your own business You should download this FREE PDF. It contains 131 different business ideas you can start using agorism and counter-economics and it’s perfect for the off-gridder ooking for more freedom.

free pdf - 131 ways to make money by utilizing counter-economics

Online income

I would argue that online income is by far the most suitable for people living off-grid. There are so many different ways to earn a living online nowadays that there is something out there for anyone. As an example, this simple blog earns an income for my wife and me.

Make a budget for finances you will have when you move off-grid.

Try to have an idea of what your income will look like when you make the move to your new off-grid lifestyle. Most people won’t be able to get it exactly right but at this stage close is good enough.

Decide what expenses you have which are unnecessary that you can eliminate when you go off the grid.

Living off-grid and becoming self-sufficient requires an honest assessment of the things in your life that aren’t necessary. We’ve all had things in our lives that we argued where things we needed, but we knew inside where just things we didn’t want to do without.

Where will you live off the grid?

Do you already own the land you’re going to move onto?

What type of climate do you prefer?

Thinking about this now will help eliminate unnecessary work later. There’s no reason to look for land in North Dakoda if you want to live in a warm climate. You won’t have to waste time looking up laws regarding off-grid living in areas that you don’t even want to live in because of climate.

living off grid in remote areas
where do you want to live out your dream

How remote do you want to live?

Do you want to start with raw land and build your off-grid homestead or do you want to find land that has already been improved to some degree or another?

Choose 3 areas you would like to live and rank by preference.

This needs to be done in case there ends up being some reason why you can’t move there. Maybe the land prices are outside your budget or the area has restrictions that make living off-grid in the way you want to live unattainable.

Research local laws for compatibility with off-grid living.

There are no outright prohibitions on living off-grid by state, but there many local governments, especially city ordinances, that make living off-grid either difficult or impossible. Unincorporated county areas are usually the most off-grid friendly.

Check land prices to determine the affordability of the area for your budget.

Choose an area to focus on.

Now that you’ve prioritized 3 areas, researched local laws in those areas and research land costs in those areas it’s time to choose one and start looking for a piece of property.

Begin to visualize, dream about and research what kind of off-grid lifestyle you want.

How far do you want to go off-grid?

It’s important to define what living off-grid means to you. Living off the grid can mean different things to different people, but what it means to you is the only definition that matters.

Do you just want to live without public utilities?

for most off-gridders living off the grid just means that your home isn’t connected to any public utilities.

Use this Solar System Calculator to find out what size solar system you will need.

What about Financial institutions?

Some people say Financial institutions are part of “the grid” This could include banking accounts, the use of credit cards, and even using checks.

What about the Government

There are even some that remove themselves from the system of government. This would mean getting rid of government identification. refusing to pay certain taxes and refusing government benefits like SSI checks and any sort of government handout.

Is your goal to grow or raise all your food or just a portion?

Answering this question will influence how deep you’ll have to go in your self-education and how much land you’ll have to buy. It will also affect the level of income you’ll need.

Will you produce your own electricity or live without it?

My wife and I started our off-grid journey living completely without electricity. We added solar as we could. It isn’t that hard to live without electricity, in fact, we made some unforgettable memories in our tiny little wooden tent with no electricity.

cheap 600 watt solar system
You gotta read this article about how to do solar on the cheap.

How will you have water?

This is a very important question and it will influence many other decisions. I highly recommend reading this article specifically about the many different off-grid water options.

  • Live stream
  • Hand-dug well
  • Drilled well
  • Artisan well
  • Rainwater harvesting
  • Water hauling

How will you deal with human waste?

Without a public sewage system, you will be responsible for human waste treatment/disposal. There are a number of solutions and some will influence land purchase decisions.

How will you heat and/or cool your house?

Some climates won’t need household heat, some climates won’t need household cooling and some will need both.

Is there cell/internet service available where you plan to live?

Most people won’t want to give up cell service or internet service so this will need to be considered when you’re looking for land. It is possible to get internet service with a satellite internet service provider in some of the most remote areas, but this will alter the monthly budget because it is quite expensive.

Check out this article about 8 things you can do right now to prepare to move off-grid.

Start researching the things you need to actualize your vision of the off-grid life you want.

What type of structure are you going to live in?

  • Log cabin
  • Camper/RV
  • Shed to cabin conversion
  • Earthship
  • Sandbag structure
  • Rammed Earth
  • Yurt
  • School bus conversion
  • Cordwood

What skills do you possess, what skills do you need to learn and what skills will you pay for?

Building skills

  • Carpentry
  • Plumbing
  • Electrical

Alternative energy skills

  • Solar
  • Wind
  • Hydro

Gardening

  • Traditional gardening
  • Permaculture
  • Straw bale gardening
  • Greenhouses
  • Cold frames
  • Raised beds
  • Food forests

Food preservation

  • Canning
  • Pickling
  • Dehydrating
  • Smoking meat
  • Root cellars

Hunting/fishing

Here’s an article I wrote about hunting with a slingshot.

  • Tracking
  • Trapping
  • Stalking

Animal husbandry

  • Animal health
  • Animal breeding
  • Dispatching, Processing, and Butchering

First aid

Survival skills

Bushcraft

Foraging

Household

  • Soap making
  • Home remedies
  • Candle making
  • Homemade detergent
  • Homemade whiskey
  • Medicinal herb skills

Check out my Recommended Books page for a list of some great books about off-grid skills.

Now that you’ve researched and learned about new skills it’s time to start practicing them.

There is a big difference between learning a skill and being proficient at it. Practice makes perfect and many of these homestead skills can be practiced where you are now. Check out this article about 4 of the most important skills to learn if you want to live off-grid.

Click here to download the pdf version of this post

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off grid cabin in the woods
Off Grid Mindset

What does it mean to live off the grid and what are the advantages and disadvantages.

What does it mean to Live off the grid?

Merriam-Webster defines Off grid as \ ˈȯf-ˈgrid  \: not connected to or served by publicly or privately managed utilities (such as electricity, gas, or water), but this isn’t the whole answer. What it means to live off grid can have many different meanings.

Contents

  • What are some reasons to live off the grid?
  • Is living off-grid worth it?
  • What are the advantages of living off the grid?
  • What are some disadvantages of living off grid?
  • Is it legal to live off the grid?

The dictionary definition of off-grid seems to be the basic minimum of what it means to live off-grid. If a person doesn’t buy electricity or gas from a power company or water from a water company, then they live off-grid.

Some off-gridders would also include the banking system as part of the grid and others might say you’re not off the grid if you have a cell phone or an internet connection.

Some might even say if you buy food at the grocery store you’re not off-grid.

A person’s definition of “off-grid” will have a lot to do with the person’s reason for living off-grid. Most people who live off-grid do so because of some view they have about the world they live in.

Reasons for living off the grid

There are many reasons to live off the grid ranging from religious to criminal, but I will discuss what I believe to be the main three reasons people choose to live off-grid.

Living off-grid can be a political statement

government corruption protester

You may want to live off-grid to excuse yourself from a system of government you feel is oppressive, corrupt, and materialistic.

This could include trying to live without a regular tax-paying job or trying to keep your personal information as private as possible by not using the internet or banks. It might mean living as primitively as possible to minimize the influence of the outside society.

Living off-grid can be a preparation

Maybe you have a world view that foreshadows an impending doomsday scenario and you want to be prepared for a coming apocalyptic dystopia brought on by war, natural disaster, economic collapse, electric grid failure, or a complete meltdown of the political system.

Living off-grid can be a philosophy

one world save the earth sign

It might be that you feel it is better for humanity as a whole if we all live more simplistic and sustainable lives, using minimal resources and not abusing earths natural resources. Trying to produce more than we consume might look like a viable solution to many world problems.

For me, it’s easiest to use the dictionary definition for off-grid and everything else is a spot on the off-grid spectrum.

All that to say, what it means to live off grid is subjective.

Start with the dictionary definition and expand on it from there if you want.

If you’re thinking about living off-grid here are some other questions you might be having.

Is living off-grid worth it?

I think living off the grid is worth it for 3 main reasons.

  • Living off-grid if done frugally allows for more disposable income.
  • The off-grid lifestyle will simplify your life.
  • You can’t help but become more self-reliant when living off the grid.

Gain more disposable income by living off the grid

Pile of money

When you live off the grid you will have fewer bills. This has a benefit other than the obvious of just not having to pay out so much every month in bills. It means the money you would have normally spent on bills is now available to upgrade your off-grid homestead with tools, equipment, materials, etc.. You also could use that money to buy courses to learn new skills. Maybe you would like to use the extra disposable money to invest. Whatever your reason for wanting to go off-grid a little extra cash every month will help.

A simple life from living off the grid

Living off grid will inevitably lead to a more simplistic life. Your path to living off the grid will lead you to self-sufficiency and self-reliance. These qualities are difficult to achieve without cutting loose excessive baggage in your life. The more you cull out these inessentials the simpler life will become, and I don’t recall anyone ever saying. “Man, my life is so much simpler now. I really wish it was more complicated.”

Self-reliance is a byproduct of off grid living.

Moving off the grid will require a person to learn new skills; gardening, animal husbandry, food preservation, land management, energy conservation, energy production, construction basics, and many more.

I can’t really think of a situation where knowing how to be self-reliant is a bad thing. Click the link below to check out my list of recommended books for learning all kinds of off-grid skills.

Recommended Books

Where do you place your value to determine whether something is worth it or not?

I think it should be said here that you need to know yourself and where you place value in your life. For most off-gridders, it seems they prefer to trade in the 9 to 5 grind where you rent your time to someone else for money that can then be used to purchase conveniences, for a more demanding life where the fruits of their hard work build a life with more freedom and simplicity. In this way of life, more value is placed on liberty, self-reliance, and simplicity than on convenience, consumption and cool stuff.

Keep in mind there’s no judgment here about putting convenience and cool stuff high on your list, but if you do then living off-grid is probably going feel like a waste of time to you.

What are the advantages of living off the grid?

The advantages of living off the grid are many and will be different for every individual, but some of the most common advantages can be put into these categories; economic, health, and spiritual.

Economic advantages of living off the grid.

First, I will say that living off-grid can be just as expensive as living any other way, but if your decisions are made with economics in mind then it’s pretty easy to do it in such a way that it is much cheaper than living on the grid. For starters, there are no utility bills.

You can calculate how much cheaper that will be for you by adding up your current monthly utilities.

Now consider how much you will save monthly if you grow all your own vegetables. There is a cost involved with getting started growing your own food, but if done wisely it is a one time cost. And, if you get really good at gardening you can grow an excess that can be sold at a farmers market.

If you’re not a vegetarian you can now consider livestock for meat production. There are ancillary benefits of raising livestock also like fertilizer for your garden, a source of income for your off-grid homestead by selling animals.

Health advantages of living off the grid.

Listing the health benefits of growing your own vegetables and raising your own meats would be a small book in and of its self, but just knowing where your food comes from and knowing everything that went into it is a very gratifying feeling.

The off-grid lifestyle is inherently less stressful and we all know how unhealthy stress is.

Living off-grid often involves living in rural or even remote areas far away from the pollution of the cities.

Spiritual advantages of living off the grid.

girl enjoying a spiritual view

You may define your spirituality as religious, non-religious, theistic, atheistic, humanist, cosmic or whatever. It really doesn’t matter because living off-grid and being more removed from all the hubbub of society will allow you more peace and time to contemplate this aspect of your life and add more clarity to your spirituality. Of course, a spiritual existence can be pursued in the connected city life of society but it is easier in the tranquil and often stress-free setting of an off-grid life.

Disadvantages of living off-grid

The list of disadvantages of living off-grid is much shorter in my opinion.

I think most off-gridders would agree that the biggest disadvantage of living off-grid is the inconvenience of living in rural or remote areas and not having a limitless supply of electricity.

Living miles away from town makes it difficult to just run to town for this or that. Trips to town for supplies need to be well planned so errands are efficient. You can’t just run out to the local ice cream parlor just because you have a hankering for something sweet.

home wind generator

Producing your own electricity means you have a limit to the energy that is available to be used. For most off-gridders, this is the largest inconvenience in the beginning of their journey. The production of electricity can get very expensive and so it’s usually done in a progressive process. You install a system that you can afford and add to it as you can, so in the beginning, you aren’t producing enough electricity to run certain household appliances most people take for granted. Central air conditioning uses the most electricity and so it’s usually one of the last modern conveniences added to an off-grid homestead. Other things some off-gridders do without in the beginning are clothes dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, microwaves, and even refrigerators. Most off-gridders don’t have televisions either.

Is it legal to live off the grid?

The short answer is yes.

I’m not aware of any municipality or county in the US that specifically prohibits off-grid living. That being said, there are areas where certain aspects of the off-grid life are illegal. These prohibitions are usually local ordinances.

In some areas, it’s illegal to harvest rainwater which is a large part of many off-grid homestead plans.

Some areas don’t allow alternative energy systems that aren’t connected to the grid(also known as grid-tied systems). Some areas will have stringent building codes making it almost impossible to build structures with alternative building practices.

I’m sure there are many more types of restrictions on the off-grid lifestyle.

For this reason, it’s very important that you do diligent research in the area you plan to go off-grid in.

Summery

Living off-grid has different meanings for different people based on how they see the world. The reasons for living off-grid will have more to do with your own world view than how someone else defines living off-grid. Knowing yourself and how you place values on life will help you to decide if living off-grid is a worthy endeavor for you.

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Off Grid Mindset

Pros and Cons of Living Off Grid

People often ask me what it’s like living off grid. My short answer for this question is;

“Living off grid is a simple life, but it’s not easy.”

This is just my way of pointing out, like most things, There are pros and cons to living off grid. Here is the bullet list.

Pros

  • A certainty of self sufficiency
  • A more earth friendly lifestyle
  • Independence from infrastructures outside your control
  • immersion in nature
  • Generally less expensive land
  • Healthier living
  • Lower stress
  • Satisfaction of being self reliant
  • Low monthly living cost

cons

  • Less conveniences offered by modern society
  • Building energy, water, and waste systems can be expensive
  • Maintenance of these systems can be costly and tedious
  • Acclimation to conservation can be difficult for some people
  • There is always work to be done
  • Building your off grid homestead seems to never be finished

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. This means offgridmaker.com could earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you, on the things you purchase.

The above bullet list is a sample of general Pros and Cons. Everyone who goes off grid does it in there own way and will therefore have their own specific Pros and Cons.

For example: someone who purchases their solar system and pays to have it installed will have a high cost which is a Con. Their system will be fully functional relatively quickly which is a Pro.

Someone who builds their energy system themselves from scratch or from salvaged materials will have a very low cost which is a Pro, but it will take a relatively long time for it to be fully functional which is a Con.

Your specific Pros and Cons will differ from the Pros and Cons of other people.

Mindset

I have found understanding Mindset to be much more useful than understanding Pros and Cons. It’s very important to foster certain mindsets such as patience, planning, pragmatism, and stoicism. I wrote a more detailed article about these mindsets “The Most Important Mindsets For Living Off Grid” Click the graphic below to read it.

Essential mindsets for living off grid
Click the image to check out the post

Questions to ask yourself;

Do I enjoy learning new skills?

The more reliant you are on your own skills, the less you will have to spend money and resources having other people do things for you.

Am I comfortable doing hard work on a daily basis?

There are always things to do on an off grid homestead. Things always need fixing, building or maintaining.

Do I have the skills necessary for growing food or hunting food and preserving it for winter?

Food production and preservation is an important part of self sufficiency.

Am I able to push through discomfort?

There will always be uncomfortable situations in an off grid life.

Am I able to plan ahead?

It is very important to be able to plan ahead logistically when building an off grid homestead.

Can I practice patience when things aren’t happening as quickly as I like?

Things always take longer than you think they will.

Do I have or can I gain basic first-aid skills?

Most injuries on the homestead are minor in nature and can be taken care of with basic first-aid skills

Can I dedicate a large portion of my time to food, energy and shelter?

To become completely self sufficient will require large amounts of time devoted to food, energy and shelter.

Do I handle emergency situations with a cool head?

Living on the edge of society means in emergency situations when time is critical you have to be able to calmly asses the situation and make confident decisions.

The more questions you can answer yes to, The more suitable you are to an off grid lifestyle. There are many resources for learning the skills that are useful in an off grid lifestyle. If you would like to read my article about useful skills to practice now click image below

Important skills to practice on the road to an off grid life
click the image to view the post

If you would like to read the article “8 Things You Can Do To Prepare To Move Off Grid” Click the image below.

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