All Solar Articles
A complete collection of solar, energy, and backup power articles.
This page contains every article published in the Solar & Energy section of the site. Here you will find how-to articles, product reviews, resources, lessons learned, system documentation, and practical discussions related to solar power, backup power, energy independence, and preparedness. Together, these articles provide a broad collection of knowledge, experience, and insights gained through nearly 20 years of learning, planning, building, and operating real-world energy systems.
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SOLAR : My biggest mistake…by far!
Not all goes well on the glamstead, sometimes I make mistakes…sometimes BIG mistakes. Last month was one of those BIG mistakes. I cured it last week. Back in JanuaryI got a call from my wife.…
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MCB Interlock
My experience with an MCB Interlock device has been a total success so far. I needed to build a control box for my solar well. My solar well pump can directly accept AC or DC…
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Wireless Float Switch Review
Introduction – Okay, I’ve written a whole lot about our solar well and lightening problems; some here, some on a DIY solar website/forum. Bottom line…twice in 4 years we were hit with lightening transient voltage…
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MCB Interlock
My experience with an MCB Interlock device has been a total success so far. I needed to build a control box for my solar well. My solar well pump can directly accept AC or DC…
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Well Control Box Schematic
I am including the well box schematic below. Anyone’s input would be greatly appreciated…ANY! Yup, that means questions, concerns, issues, warnings, safety problems…and even compliment 😉 I am actually in the process of building the…
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Off-Grid Problems/Issues/Challenges…Part #1
I really want to write a little series of articles that, when combined, show a couple points that bug the crap out of me. But…I’m really not sure on where to start. Let me touch…
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SOLAR: Does it ever end? Is it ever enough?
If you remember I upgraded my entire battery bank in the spring (2025) and increased battery storage from 32kWh to 41kWh (630ah – 800ah) < click here >. I also went with a “closed loop”…
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MidNite Solar Battery Review & Install – Part #1
If you watch it on youtube please do me a favor and “like” it. And you can even subscribe to my channel there as well 🙂 Related Articles – Trouble in Solar Paradise Update on…
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SOLAR: New Battery Bank – Part #2
I already explained in painful excruciating detail about the ‘needs’, ‘issues’, and ‘resolutions’ of the new battery bank in Part #1. I also explained why the change/upgrade, but for those of you who missed it……
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SOLAR: New Battery Bank – Part #1
Thought I would reach out to the solar tech-heads today. I wrote previously that I thought I had a problem with one of my 3 LifePo4 batteries (1x230ah + 2x205ah). Turns out that it wasn’t…
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Trouble in Solar Paradise
Twenty-two months ago I added a new 230ah 48v Trophy battery to our solar system. That coincided with a major upgrade to the entire solar system we have here at the glamstead. The system seriously…
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SOLAR: More burned-up wiring…
Last November I wrote a ‘Tip’ article regarding a fuse of mine that heated up and I had to replace it. Along the way I noticed that the problem was the connections on the fuse…
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EMP, CME, & Lightening Surge Protection – Part #2
If you haven’t read Part #1 of this 2-part series you probably should. < click here to read Part #1 > My Protection Strategy – So how do I protect my off-grid home? First off…I…
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EMP, CME, & Lightening Surge Protection – Part #1
Time to go technical…’high-tech’ to be exact…let’s talk surge protection. For this discussion surge protection will include the concepts of lightening strikes (LS), Coronal Mass Ejections (CME), and of course, Electromagnetic Pulses (EMP). While they…
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Great Solar Upgrade – Day #9
Day #9 come and gone! Oh Boy! What a day #9 was…bitter/sweet. I started in Saturday morning wanting to jump on first the circuit breaker upgrade that I talked about in my Day #8 post.…
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Great Solar Upgrade – Day #8
Day #8 come and gone! Man, I’ve been busy trying to finish this upgrade…but the little details and finish work are killing me. First thing I did was “load balance” the main breaker panel. Yeah,…
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Great Solar Upgrade – Day #7 – IT WORKS ! !
Day #7 come and gone! Started working this morning about 7am trying to figure out why I couldn’t get the Victron Quattro inverters programed correctly. On Saturday I did get the system up and running…but…
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Great Solar Upgrade – Day #6
Day #6 come and gone! Whew!!!!! 2:45pm and there is quiet at the Glamstead! Yup, the generator turned off. Oh, the generator is not running because I turned it off 🙂 The system is back…
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Great Solar Upgrade – Day #5
Day #5 come and gone! One of those days! So I slept in a little and got a late start…6am building cables. About 2 hours later I realized that I no longer had the right…
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Great Solar Upgrade – Day #4
Day #4 come and gone! OK, yesterday I was whining about it getting old, me being ready to move on…and especially getting rid of the generator sound. Well, it is the morning of Day #5…