Wisdom of underground shed/shelter instead of above ground shed for the off gridder?

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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,894 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #32
    Very nice! There was a wood in the desert that was very dangerous to burn, I can't remember it but some people were taken to the ER and barely made out.

    The Copper Canyon is on the mainland BTW. Not southern Baja!  It is the Grand Canyon of mexico and has the Tarahumara indians.
    They are the fastest runners on the planet and even the females will knock off 40 miles runs in a day. The males basically taught people how to run barefooted. Most people have all of these running injuries from their expensive running shoes. A really great book on them and the pro long distance running racers is "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. Funny to listen to audible version!

    I still have an old SW4024 and SW4048. They are on the wall at a neighbors if you need one. have to come get them though...

    Be well!
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • littleharbor2
    littleharbor2 Solar Expert Posts: 2,102 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 2018 #33
     I wouldn't know what wood that would be. The Tamarisk (salt cedar) which is all over down there may not be toxic but it sure smells awful when burning. I made the mistake of burning some in the fireplace once and stunk up the whole house.
     Going to have to put that Copper Canyon trip on the bucket list. Sounds like you absorbed and retained all the info from that trip. 
     I appreciate the offer of the SW's. I'm getting saturated with inverter equipment lately. I do have a 4048 sitting on the bench, waiting to be installed. My system is working so well with the SW4024 that I cant justify changing it out. It was in a factory sealed box when I installed it in 2015. If I get down there permanently in the future, maybe I'll expand my system and can justify going to 48 volts. 

    2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old  but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric,  460 Ah. 24 volt LiFePo4 battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.

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  • wayneworkman2012
    wayneworkman2012 Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭✭
    #34
    I'd like to build an earth home not visible from the surface. I heard someone at work talking about how some places detect construction via satellite imagery? I think that is a little far fetched to think a city or town would pay for such a thing but who knows. I am now considering putting in a large metal building without a floor first, and construct my earth home under it, and eventually pouring the metal building floor on top - because I want my earth home to be a secret if I can manage it.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,615 admin
    #35
    In California,  yes some cities use satellite and aircraft photographs to find unpermitted construction  (additions, swimming pools, etc.).

    To enforce code and collect additional taxes and fines.
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #36
    Cities use sat data for all sorts of stuff (flood/fire risk mitigation, insect control, etc.), so I don't think using it to catch unpermitted building would be a costly thing to do.

    Assuming you got away for some time without paying added property taxes though, there may be a risk they make you tear it down when they find out. I'm pretty sure my city requires such buildings to meet current code (not just code in effect when constructed). It could also complicate insurance and eventual sale of the property.

    At my cabin, nobody cares about code, but the city is different. At a commercial property I owned which I planned to rehab, I had some loose exterior masonary work temporarily repaired for public safety reasons. A smallish job which took about 2hrs to do. Within an hour, I had 5 different city officials in my face about it. If I tried to do what you suggest, I'd have to do it like The Great Escape... take the dirt out in pant legs and secretly dump in flowerbeds ;-)
    Off-grid.  
    Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,894 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #37
    And your neighbors off the grid may turn you in unless you are really, really remote!  Nobody wants tweakers, squalor, or drug lords and their crime.

    We are very lucky in our county that the sheriff supports the county ordinances/Laws and we are not one of the counties that is pro marijuana.

    Most of the Sierra are against it and you can drive to the big cities and get all you want. 

    I have some clients in the really high mountains and they follow code for the reason that most of it is in your interest and as Estragon said it will complicate the sale if there is value. It concerns me when someone wants to live offgrid and not build something of value. If you do not love this, you probably should not be living offgrid, INMHO  ;) 

    Well, maybe today under a 4 day Blizzard warning the big city looks better than my normal view of city life...
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #38
    I'd rather be at the cabin than many big cities in a blizzard. Going through Birmingham Alabama a year or two ago the day after a couple inches of snow, it looked like zombies had arrived, with the interstate littered with abandoned cars, a McDs down to a couple of menu items. In a real blizzard, I'm afraid people might be eating each other :#
    Off-grid.  
    Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,894 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #39
    Well why don't you move offgrid full time? I definitely agree with the scenario you describe, it is just I have a favorite Italian Restaurant up where the Moderator lives.
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #40
    If it was only up to me, I might well move off grid permanently. S.O. still likes some city life though.
    Off-grid.  
    Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
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