Solar Power

 

Until recently my propane generator was the only source of electricity for the little cabin. Now I have a small solar setup that reduces the need for the generator although it is still needed from time to time.

 

First, I bought a meter that tells me how much power I am using at any give time. With TV, lights, computer and internet all working I am using  132 watts.

 

 

 

I have two 100 watt solar panels. I will be adding one more panel soon. The panels are about 2 feet by 3 1/2 feet each. 

 

 

 

 

Here are the electronics and battery box, attached to the wall behind the shower enclosure. Inside the box are two 6v deep cycle batteries. They are wired to act as a 12v battery and there is 220 amp hours of capacity. The batteries are not supposed to be discharged below 50% so that means there would be 110 amp hours available to use when fully charged.

 

So a little math... 110 amp hours x 12 volts = 1320 watt hours.

Since I use 132 watts, theoretically I could run 10 hours on a full charge. I usually only turn everything on for 2-3 hours per day.

 

The 200 watt solar panels would need to be in the sun for about 8 hours to recharge. This time of year, they won't get more than 2-3 hours of good direct sunlight per day.

 

The batteries are in a sealed box with a vent pipe that goes to the outside. This is needed because batteries can generate hydrogen when charging and it needs to be vented outside.

 

The big silver box in the photo is the inverter/charger. It turns the battery power into household current and also works as a battery charger whenever the generator is started up.

 

Last is the solar charge controller. The solar panels put out voltage ranging from 0 to 20 volts. The controller sends the right amount of voltage to the batteries for charging. It also displays some info such as the % battery charge.



Slideshow Video of Little Cabin Build

I put together a little video of the cabin build and posted it on youtube...

Elk Hunting

Elk have been really scarce this year. I usually find some each time I go out but this year I didn't see any at all for the first month of the season. I did see a wolf track which is something new. Soon there will be more wolves around and even less elk. This has already happened in other parts of the state but it has taken a while for the wolves to move into this area.

 

Saturday, my friend Matt and I hiked way up into the wilderness area and used the horse to pack our backpacks and guns. I hiked about 15 miles- the most I have hiked in a long time! We got to the place where Terry got her deer last year and saw a big heard of elk. Probably close to 100 elk!

 

They were higher still so we had to circle around and climb, climb, climb, until we got to the top. We were just getting there when someone on the other side spooked the herd and the elk came running at us. The sound of the herd running was a continuous rumble and soon elk were running by each side of us. Matt only could shoot a branch antlered bull with his license so he was waiting for one to come by. The two big bulls in the group went another way so he never got a shot. I had drawn a cow license this year so I was able to shoot the last cow going by. We packed it out on the horse and after a very long day we were very tired. After church Sunday we cut up all of the meat and each will take half. Lots of steaks!

 

It was a good day in the high country!