Find 'Real Life' Learning in The Cityįor example, maybe your local college offers a basic small engine repair course. And while you're at it, take a look at this Mother Earth News post on generator basics. Online, Solar Power World has a huge library of free articles on all things solar including charge panels and inverters. Or check out his Off Grid Solar Power for Dummies videos on YouTube. But it has a simple, easy-to-understand introduction to the basics of how an off grid solar system works. Read Will Prowse's book Mobile Solar Power Made Easy! Yes, it's about installing solar panels on an RV. If you don't know much about this stuff, start learning about solar power basics while you're still on the grid. Solution: Start Learning About Off Grid Living Power Now Pin And how to troubleshoot our generators when they wouldn't start.

How to read the digital messages on the charge panel screen. Not to mention off grid toilets or water systems. Solar panels, off grid electricity, inverters, charge panels, batteries, generators, and how they work. If I'd planned and prepared to live off the grid sooner, I could have read up on the basics. And I don't think I'd even heard of an inverter, which converts the DC (direct current) output of a solar panel to an AC (alternating current) output in order to power an off grid set up.

Or the importance of batteries for off grid living. I didn't understand the concept of a battery bank. And I sure didn't know what to do when a generator won't start. I didn't know a thing about off grid home systems. Yet I'd never given any thought to how solar panels actually worked. I was vaguely aware that somehow the sun's heat was converted to electricity. The sad fact is that when it came to living off the grid, I didn't even know what I didn't know. Yet that knowledge wasn't going to help me much on a -40-degree afternoon when it was dark at 3:00 pm, and there was no electricity. Then I worked all day and studied at night to get financial planning designations and promotions at work. Years ago I earned a university degree as a mature student with two kids in tow. I've always considered myself a can-do, resourceful kind of person. Didn't Know Enough About Off Grid Power Systems Learn from my own errors - prepare before you move! 1. Here are the five biggest mistakes I made when we first moved to our off grid homestead in 2013.

Learn What You Can to Minimize Making Needless Off Grid Living MistakesĮstimated reading time: 13 minutes 5 Big Mistakes I Made Living Off The Grid Pin.

Solution: Find or Create Your Own Support Network.

Solution: Start Working Out Now to Mimic Your Upcoming Chores and Activities.

Solution: Research, Budget, & Build Emergency Savings.

Solution: Learn Homesteading Basics BEFORE Going Off The Grid.

Solution: Start Learning About Off Grid Living Power Now.

Going Off Grid by S.J.D. Peterson