Winter cometh...

softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
Feels like it is just around the corner. Went from a light summer sheet to two heavy sheets in three weeks. This time - I do not feel ready. Last winter was long and cold. Perhaps explaining my reticence. Anybody else feeling reluctant? 

It hits 0F in November here. To me - that is winter. October is usually pretty nice. 


First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • EstragonEstragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Yup, I really don't like the Nov-Dec period.  As well as cold, short days, and long shadows, it tends to be gloomy weather here as well.  

    I'm seriously considering going south for those months.
    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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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    December was hard on me for a few years. "Ingsoc" told me I was being watched from Dale St (street behind me) so I closed my curtains. The consequent darkness took its toll. Now I have a giant sunroom that allow in all kinds of light so the problem went away.  But this year I have a foreboding feeling - which isn't unusual for a guy who constantly studies and assesses various disaster scenarios. 

    Our government is plenty large and powerful enough to go "full creepy" apparently without noticing. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Estragon said:
    Yup, I really don't like the Nov-Dec period.  As well as cold, short days, and long shadows, it tends to be gloomy weather here as well.  

    I'm seriously considering going south for those months.
    I have five lots in southern Arizona that you can use if you have a suitable trailer. I have not been in years. Four are 1/4 acre adjacent building lots close to Bisbee, Arizona. The other is a few acres just a little north of Nogales, Arizona/Mexico. Community called Rio Rico. 

    Very sunny for sure. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • Marc KurthMarc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 953 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Now through November is a great time of year around here. 79F is our average for October. We take the boat out every couple of days to enjoy the weather! It will be 89F today, so guess where I will be?
    Our average temp for November is 68F, 60F for December and 58F for January. There are always warmer days between cold snaps, so we boat all year when the air climbs closer to 70F under a clear sunny sky.  This last winter, it was 24F at noon on a Monday, but it was 70F on Thursday afternoon.


    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    You folks that talk about your easy winter weather tend to be quiet come July and August.  :)
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • Marc KurthMarc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 953 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Oh heck no! We head out on the boat at 100F without a problem.
    The trick is staying wet and keeping the boat moving. Lots of airflow across wet skin, jumping in and out of the water, and onboard misting works great with a Bimini top for shade. If it get too hot, we just pull into a shady cove and put our chairs in the water. You can feel downright chilly semi-submersed in 83F to 85F water for awhile.  
    We've only seen 100F one day this year, but lots of 96F to 98F afternoons. Don't forget about sunset booze cruises :-:smile:  Between the lake and air conditioning, summers are great here.
    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • EstragonEstragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #8
    Thanks for the offer!  I don't have a trailer though, and the admiral isn't likely up for me getting one. 

    Arizona is a possibility at some point.  Have been going to the Florida panhandle in Feb the last few years.  Haven't seen a lot of Arizona, but did take a bit of a drive out of the big city years ago and liked the area.  Nevada too, didn't care for Vegas, but loved a drive just north of there.
    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 AngeliniDave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,148 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #9
    https://www.arizonahighways.com/  really nice. Yea Vegas sucks unless you want to catch a big show. Great for that and then get out.

    We have a dingy dock up here at 3,000 feet for when the ocean comes in. Beautiful winter weather but cooks well here in summer. Below my favorite vehicle and electric chainsaw from my Dad.


    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Mountains near Mariposa/Yosemite CA
     http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
    E-mail [email protected]

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  • Marc KurthMarc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 953 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2019 #10
    What a great way to live, Dave. I am envious.For 20 years, my plan was to take the big equity from the beach house and buy some space to breathe in the foothills.
    You won't meet too many people who have seen more of California than I have - up close and personal. But then the state that I loved so dearly, was twisted into the pretzel that is today's California. I said what I never thought that I would: It was time to go.
    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #11
    I'd give everyone an earful about what I think of their politics but it doesn't fit the scheme here plus BB and DA live there. Wasn't that long ago that Reagan was governor and it was truly a marvel of a state in so very many ways. Still is geologically, I've taken a LOT of trips there. A lot. Now many normal people are plotting their escape. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • icarusicarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #12
    October 11th last year. We usually see snow before now, but haven’t this fall...
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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #13
    Nov - April of last year. 


    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • Marc KurthMarc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 953 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2019 #14
    One of the truly great things about this country is that people get to live where they want to. Sure, some will protest with long lists of "why they cannot" - but it boils down to what is important!
    My youngest daughter was born and raised in So.California. She now lives in Anchorage and she never wants to leave because she loves the Alaska Winter Wonderland so much of the year. They are getting frost now and she needs to get her studded tires installed soon.
    No thank you.......
    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • Dave AngeliniDave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,148 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #15
    Honey I'm home.
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Mountains near Mariposa/Yosemite CA
     http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
    E-mail [email protected]

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  • Marc KurthMarc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 953 ✭✭✭✭
    #16
    It was 89F today here, so I grabbed two cold one's and went for quick 10 mile run. It's an attitude corrector for me.
    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • MrM1MrM1 Registered Users Posts: 487 ✭✭✭✭
    #17
    I just wished someone would leave the time changes alone. 

    REC TwinPeak 2 285W 3S-3P 2.6kW-STC / 1.9kW-NMOT Array / MN Solar Classic 150 / 2017 Conext SW 4024 Inverter latest firmware / OB PSX-240 Autotransfomer for load balancing / Trojan L16H-AC 435Ah bank 4S connected to Inverter with 7' of 4/0 cable / 24 volt system / Grid-Assist or Backup Solar Generator System Powering 3200Whs Daily / System went Online Oct 2017 / System, Pics and Discussion
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  • BB.BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 32,641 admin
    #18
    Politics is OK in the "in the weeds" forum... Just keep it "clean and respectful".

    I was born and raised in California... And had my family here.

    I just wish all I had to worry about was what life threw at me--Vs politicians that think I cannot figure out how to live my own life--And want to spend my money on their programs.

    My argument has always been, if you don't like the state, move somewhere else. But it is sad when your state changes right underneath you.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • EstragonEstragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #19
    It probably boils down to politics at some level, but it seems to me people actually living off-grid have already made the jump from expecting a government to provide water, power, etc., to doing so themselves.  If we have a problem, we have to solve it or live with it for the most part.

    There's an election going on in Canada just now, with pols of all stripes falling over themselves telling us how they're going to make [insert large interest group] lives better, with [insert tiny group] paying for it.  Fuzzy math lives everywhere.
    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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  • billybob9billybob9 Registered Users Posts: 141 ✭✭
    #20
    Here's a winter haven that most people think of Gated Communities and high prices. Not so in my case as I have 20 Acres in the Coachella preserve that is legal Parcel, paved road, and 15 minutes from shopping centers in Palm Springs. This land is not land locked but the many lots that are, are dirt cheep. I could build here as this once had a structure and well but my daughter and I like it for camping. This photo was taken in January. On the left side of the photo down the river is Palm Springs....
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  • icarusicarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #21
    BB. said:
    Politics is OK in the "in the weeds" forum... Just keep it "clean and respectful".

    I was born and raised in California... And had my family here.

    I just wish all I had to worry about was what life threw at me--Vs politicians that think I cannot figure out how to live my own life--And want to spend my money on their programs.

    My argument has always been, if you don't like the state, move somewhere else. But it is sad when your state changes right underneath you.

    -Bill
    Everywhere changes all the time...

    Let us not devolve into a pissing  contest political forum.  It feels like a few threads are treading quite close.  Political “conversation” on forums such as this has ruined amany. 

    T
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  • garynappigarynappi Registered Users Posts: 96 ✭✭
    edited October 2019 #22
    softdown said:
    You folks that talk about your easy winter weather tend to be quiet come July and August.  :)
    Not me, and not a LOT of others... When life gives you lemons... I'm out fishing / boating, gardening, bicycle riding, playing around with my cars, sport shooting, and motorcycle riding. My son went and grew up so I don't camp any more and the beaches are for tourists. 

    Oops, forgot shopping with the GF :-) It's all about acclimation, sunscreen and dressing right. Then comes the GLORIOUS winters for fishing / boating, gardening, bicycle riding, playing around with my cars, sport shooting and motorcycle riding and yup shopping with the GF!

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  • PluckaPlucka Registered Users Posts: 129 ✭✭
    edited October 2019 #23
    Weather in mid coast Western Australia.Spring warm to hot--Summer hot to hotter--Autumn warm to hot--Winter cool to warm.We get about 6 rain days a year when we have rain showers [not steady rain ] in the late winter.Every other day it is clear blue skies with a breeze or windy and in the summer the only shade is created by the millions of flies trying to get a drink from your eyes. My solar works best in the winter.[ fully recharged by 11am ] 
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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #24
    Kripes - even the flies are nasty sounding. Many jokes about all the Australian animals trying to kill you. You folks have some serious snakes down under. 
    You folks just finished winter over a week ago - right? Gregorian calendar I think? 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • icarusicarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #25
    This morning..10/3/19
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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #26
    Time to drain the campers. Fell to 32 this morning. Seems like we go from hot to cold in a month in a desert type environment. Clouds are earths insulation blanket and we usually don't have many clouds. Solar paradise though - there is that. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • PNW_StevePNW_Steve Registered Users Posts: 79 ✭✭
    #27
    Marc Kurth said:
    Now through November is a great time of year around here. 79F is our average for October. We take the boat out every couple of days to enjoy the weather! It will be 89F today, so guess where I will be?
    Our average temp for November is 68F, 60F for December and 58F for January. There are always warmer days between cold snaps, so we boat all year when the air climbs closer to 70F under a clear sunny sky.  This last winter, it was 24F at noon on a Monday, but it was 70F on Thursday afternoon.


    Looking at this while my furnace is running to keep 67F in the house.....  Can we ban Mark for torturing us?  :):)
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  • Marc KurthMarc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 953 ✭✭✭✭
    #28
    About two years ago, my wife and I totally rearranged our lives and re-scaled the company in order to be able to live full time on a lake. We saw friends and family aging, getting sick and/or passing away and decided that "someday" just might never come.
    We are not retired, but the kids are grown up and have their own families. We sold the big custom home and bought a smaller 1970's house in a decent area. All told, we ended up cutting our personal overhead by 48% - to live a more relaxed lifestyle. Sure, we gave up a lot of niceties, but it only takes 45 seconds to lower our pontoon boat into the water - it's like pulling a car out of garage.
    We live on a 1.5 mile x 5 mile branch off of the main lake.The bridge in the picture is over two miles out and the main lake is another two miles. It's been running 85F to 90F daytime, so I often take the boat out for a quick run before work. Even a quick 30 minute cruise is an attitude corrector for me. And of course after work cruises requires an appropriate adult beverage! (Another attitude corrector :) )
    Sorry we didn't do it sooner, but I had convinced myself that I just HAD to have all the stuff, and do all of the stuff that we did. Wrong......







    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • Marc KurthMarc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 953 ✭✭✭✭
    #29
    icarus said:
    This morning..10/3/19

    OUCH!! No thank you, Sir. But I am glad that some folks thrive on it - just not me.

    Marc
    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #30
    Marc Kurth said:
    icarus said:
    This morning..10/3/19

    OUCH!! No thank you, Sir. But I am glad that some folks thrive on it - just not me.

    Marc
    Now you are just rubbing it in!

    Congrats on making what seems to be the right life choice while still young enough to thrive on it. I'm so deep down the prepper rabbit hole that I've lost a lot of options. Moving to better scenery would be very difficult and I built a huge specialized place - for me and my idiosyncrasies. 

    Ever see decent sized sail boats about the lake? Say 22' - 30' in length? I've got a classic S2 with only 600 hours on the diesel engine. Colorado mostly has mud puddles compared to others. Would have made a nice state park for Texas. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • softdownsoftdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,609 ✭✭✭✭
    #31
    Almost 11:30am - my "office" has already warmed up to a toasty 63F! 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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