Okay, so let me start by saying, I know what you’re thinking. If I stumbled across an article like this on the internet, my first thought would be “Seriously?! A DIY rain barrel?? Step one, buy barrel, step two, collect rain. How hard can it really be?” While that would be a perfectly adequate rain barrel, hear me out, 'cause I guarantee you can do one better. So what more … [Read more...] about Rain Barrel DIY
Projects
Rain Barrel Benefits
Go to almost any homestead, and you’ll see something interesting. Many of them seem to have a bit in common with a New York City apartment building--they feature a rain barrel (or three) to catch water. Now on the first glance this seems to make sense. After all, water is essential to human life, so why wouldn’t you want to capture rain? Upon further investigation though, most … [Read more...] about Rain Barrel Benefits
Solar Power Finale: Inverters
I realize at a few points in this solar-power series, I have said a component is absolutely essential to the system. While this may seem hyperbolic, in actuality, it is because most parts of the system I outline are truly essential to its success. While this next component may not be technically essential to collect and store power, it does serve the purpose of making that … [Read more...] about Solar Power Finale: Inverters
Battery Types for your At-Home Powerplant
If you’ve stuck with us this far concerning solar-powered setups, congratulations! If not, perhaps consider going back to review the other articles on solar systems that have brought us here. This week, we’re continuing the series with a discussion of batteries, the primary source of power storage for your system. While they’re heavy, expensive, and can be a real pain, … [Read more...] about Battery Types for your At-Home Powerplant
Charge Controllers
So, you’ve selected a sunny place, laid your panels and fastened them down. Next, you ran all the wiring and hooked them all together into one clean, combined unit. From here, you decide all you need to do is wire in the battery! After all, sun shines on panels, panels emit energy, energy is stored in the battery, right? While that is in some senses true, unfortunately it is … [Read more...] about Charge Controllers
