Installing my solar system has been a long project! I began Bartering years ago with a friend who is a solar installer and we finally completed the system last month. 
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Above is the solar arbors I built last year (pic on left near the well rig). You can see it's not ideal for sun as its in shade often. The location was a compromise since the best spot was hundreds of feet away. In addition wire had become very expensive and hard to find last year. I had used recycled wire for some of the project. But in retrospect I don't think collecting wire for ten years (and then finding a few pieces not good enough) was the best choice. I would probably just buy as-I-go if I had to do over.

The bulk of the equipment was bought from www.backwoodssolar.com.(BW) They designed the system for free after I send the specs for distance and what my power needs were. They provide incredible customer support, a must for a novice like me.

SYSTEM: 24v-1000w of panels, 200ah battery

• (10) Renology 100watt solar panels (bought from Home Depot a year before)
• BW:Victron Inverter charger: multiplus 3000
• Rover solar charger 40amp (replacing with a victron)
• BW:200ah Eclipse lithium battery
• BW: midnight solar combiner box, and mini box
• BW:solar PV cables and a cable for using with a laptop to program.
• BW:BMV (battery monster), lighting arrester, fuses/relays?
• Panel boxes and circuit breakers from Home Depot
• 7000 watt Honda generator(too big!)

I had almost no experience with solar. However I have wired up three houses of my own and did some panel work. Being a novice,  I still haven't figured out the programming but its getting there.
Here are some details you might find interesting:
MANUAL GENERATOR CHARGING: I added a sub panel at the generator: 30amp breaker for a cable and plug I recycled and made to fit into generator. This allows me to just 'plug' in the inverter when it needs charging in winter. It also allows me to run another wire from subbox/generator plug to the well. All I have to switch between the two circuits is to toggle the off and ons (the Honda generator also has a switch at plug site which is turned off and on loads to protect demagnetizing at generator).
You can attach a remote wire switch to this honda model but the switch kit was over 400$.
DESIGNATED GENERATOR connect ADDED: I ran a wire from sub-box to a small panel near house to connect generator and my well direct for manual charging. Though I planned to use the gene. to pump the well it wasnt necissary in the end. When we drilled it was only a low flow (100g per day) so I bought a 400 DC solar kit from RPS Pumps. The oversized generator will be a back up in winter to pump well when the new DC well designated system is in.
THREE BUILDINGS ON SYSTEM: My energy needs are small so the system is small.....1000w of panels, 200ah of battery. It can't handle all three building at once running a lot of devices and lights. But so far I power my art studio, guest house and cabin with the system and it works great! UPDATE:In the summer there is endless power, however I run my generator to charge battery about every 3 days from october to march.

INVERTER TOO BIG?? I am still trying to figure things out and can only get so much help from others. I think the inverter is big and seems to use 22w of energy(?). My neighbor claims its better to have smaller inverters. But I do love the Victron durability. I was told by backwoods that it has an eco mode to program so will do that asap. 

DAILY USE: My daily use seems to average 90 watts. This amount is used by the following: mini fridge, inverter draw, a few lights carefully used, and movies at night. I use a lot of power tools right now so a few days a week I use more energy....But It is saving me $ on gasoline! I find myself charging every four or five days in April.... and it only needs an hour to charge system. The huge 7000w genie is underused as the inverter only uses about 1500w. Luckily the Honda has a gas saving inverter mode. But a 3000w Honda would have been better for this system.

​So far: WITH low use...(1000w, 200ah system) it takes maybe $40 in gas a month. With ethanol free gas getting more pricey, I hope the summer brings more sun and saving.

**MISTAKES:
-big generator might be overkill, though its mentioned on internet to use double your inverter charger #(ex: 3000 w inv/ch then use a 6000 w generator) I found this unecissary and other off grid neighbors who use oversized generators waste a lot of $. 
-solar panels maybe should have been in higher light area (but wire cost would have been high)
-saving old wire for jobn(didn't save that much and wasn't always right wire)
​-using solar charger from a kit I had leftover didnt make me comfortable so ended up buying a victrom model enabling me to double panels down the rd.

THEY aren't pretty but they were free.... And they are deer proof and extend our PNW food growing season.

THE BOXES: For years I collected wood no one wanted. In 2020 and 2021 I used the entire pile to make 8 planter boxes. Though they are not pretty they work well. The bottoms are mostly 24" tall, and they are 4x8. I added 2x4s and scrap 4x4 to the corners and centers to secure the boards to. Some are lined with weed blocker fabric to see if they extend the life of the wood. 

THE GREENHOUSE TOPS: Using scrap cedar I built the tops frames and added precut wire fencing to make deer proof domes. I used reclaimed greenhouse plastic stripped off commercial greenhouses from a friend. They roll up and clip to the cage tops in the early spring and fall- extending the season by a few months.

TALL TOPS: Some of the boxes only have side pieces to protect from deer so one can grow tall crops like tomatoes and herbs.

THE HINGES: I even made funky hinges from bent rebar bits and plastic pipe I had around. But this was clumsy so eventually I just bought galvanized hinges.

GROW OVER WINTER: Last year I left stuff growing in one closed off section and it survived until summer! giving me a head start on usually annual herbs that die off like cilantro, Italian oregano and fennel.

USING THEM ALL: I made 8 4x8 boxes which seemed excessive, especially when I bought over ten yards to fill them. That took a long time!! But I found that I use all the boxes even though I am feeding only myself and give a little to friends. It makes it easier to rotate crops and leave veggies to go to seed collection.

OFF-GRID HOT TUB
How great huh????A  HOT TUB after a long day in the art studio....and it cost about $400.

While waiting for my well to go in, I decided to prep the off grid hot tub. For about 100$ I bought the water trough, $40 for concrete pavers, and used scrap cedar siding for the lid and seat. The lid was then sealed with outdoor sealant to prevent warping.

The inside has a cedar seat with curved back. But I ended up taking it out often because I could get more submerged without a seat.
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Above right is the Nomad heat exchanger I was planning to use.....
UPDATE: Nomad never returned my calls when I went to order so I switched to a 2 system option:

1. MADE a HEAT EXCHANGER MYSELF: I bought two rolls of 3/4" copper tubing($200) braised fittings on ends and inserted in tank fittings  -all bought at home depot.**

2. BACK UP HEATER: a propane eccotemp + pump + filter. This change added about 300$ to the project. One needs a small inexpensive propane on demand heater like eccotemp or Marey. Then you need a 5 gallon propane tank, a small booster pump (mine plugs into electrical plug) then be sure to add an inline filter. So a pipe from hot tub leads to filter, then pump, then heater, and back to hot tub. I manually turn things off and on at this point. The tub water gets hot enough I turn it off. (will post pics soon)


Finally a year later I got the systems going. Here is a picture of the heat exchanger at work! Tubing might be too narrow and I added ball valves** at juncture to tank fittings which was probably a bad idea, since both things limited the syphon flow of water through tube. It rattles and shakes a little making an obnoxious noise so will remove valves and try that way.

WORKED GREAT!
It took 2 hours of heating and it was ready! I love it.

ADDING PROPANE
if you live off grid it's likely you use propane. It's a fossil fuel and I suspect it will eventually be phased out.
I just added a 500 gallon tank after placing the gas lines myself with help from my father (that saved a lot) If I had bought my tank, supplies and propane fill a year ago or more I would have spent a lot less. It was about $4500 for everything!

The moment that tank went in I was planning its camo job!!! Using green and brown paints I had around...I used spray cans to add a few layers, and then cut ferns and branches with leaves to create the foliage effects. Working fast and loose, it only took 30 minutes to do. And it is so invisible that friends walk by without noticing!!! well almost....

The best thing about it is that now I have steady heat for the house AND the studio (almost more important). (UPDATE: I only fill up once a year! Because I only have heaters and a cookstove attached, and due to my conservative heater usage I spend about 500-900$ a year.

OFF GRID CLAY SCULPTOR
     Yes its odd to be an off grider and a ceramicist. If you really make a lot of clay work you need a kiln of your own....I have 6! One installed at a family members home(my big one), two installed at my job  while taking care of my grandparents...and one in my new studio off grid.
    Last month I began a series of tests to see what kind of kilns my 7000 watt generator can handle. This little mini 120 watt kiln seen on left above, did a splendid job! Though I can only do one of the three temperature firings so far that I need for china painted porcelain work, its a relief that the most common firing, the 018 one for painting works like a charm. 
​     The mini glass kiln has only a 48 sq inch place to hold wares but its perfect when making a series in components like I am now. These parts of porcelain might take 2-5 layers and firings to finish.
     This kiln fires at aproxiamately one hour for a cone 018 china paint fire so its very cost effective to run a kiln on generator. Eventually for higher fires I may need to buy a gas kiln if I want to work from home only.
    If you fire higher temps, like to bisque ware or glassware, those firings are long...4-8 hours. I really don't want to hear a generator for that long, but could probably do it if I wanted.  Its been hard to find precedent on the web. I actually found no evidence of anyone regularly firing off a generator, so it must be rare.

UPDATE 2024:
After settling my kilns back home (7 years they 'lived' at my second studio at my grandparents house in CA.) I hooked up my 120v medium mini kiln to my off grid system. Worried at first that it's draw would be too much, I carefully did the following.....
1. Plugged kiln into a 20amp outdoor plug at studio
2. Turned on my Honda 7000w generator
3. Turned on the 240 plug on honda to inverter to charge it while running kiln
4. turned on kiln for its 018 firing: a low fire as its a china painting one (dont dare to a long firing as in a 06 bisque as it would be too much generator noise for too long)
5. monitered closely the kiln, the inverter, the battery moniter
6. Kiln fired to 018 n 1.5 hours, so turned off 240 plug toggle(the load), then turned off generator and unplugged kiln.
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OOPS! one big mistake later in second firing, I used a vacumn and other appliances in house while firing kiln and charging system through inverter.....the generator went into overload and though still running it had stopped charging the solar system. I never noticed, as I was not monitering it. The kiln proceeded to drain the battery fast. I caught it at 15% which is not good, but since it was a lithium battery it recovered.

     Without a well for ten years had forced me to get creative. I originally used a 1200 hundred gallon tank in the ground that was already here and put in by previous owner. It is about 80 ft above my house so I could attach some pipe and valves (lots of valves!) and rely on gravity feed for basic cold water. My learning curve was in one bad winter I had a cracked metal valve because I put water line in only about 12-14 inches deep. After repairing the valve with an amazing fiberglass foaming product at Home D- I better insulated the box the valve was in.
     In 2018 I added my first hot water heater in a set up I call the cowboy shower. Using a 1.5 GPM Envirotemp heater that comes with most of what you need including the shower head handle, I began to finally take mini showers at home. But 1200 gallons wasn't much and the gravity is barely enough to make hot water more even. I also find it a bit cold to shower outside in the winter, though I do do it now and again.
     I fill my tank from a neighbor who lives above me since there is no buildings nearby the tank to use a gutter fill method. For a small fee my neighbor attaches a very long hose to my tank to slowly fill it about once a year or less(I use very little water with one person and a waterless tiolet).

THE NEW 800 Gallon Retrofited Tank:
ADDIONG MORE! Though I have since added many 55 gallon tanks under the eves of my house for garden watering, I just acquired a used 800 gallon tank from a neighbor. 
After camoeing the exterior, so I don't have to look at brilliant blue blob on the side of my studio, I began to retrofit the tank. It had sat in the sun and though I paid only 200 for it I think it was too much. 
​Every orifice, the lower feed, upper overflow, and the two that lead to a plastic see thru pipe monitoring the levels was busted. The small nylon fittings were easily broken out and I found similar nipples at Ace hardware and used epoxy to insert. The bigger fittings were unusual and I used a hodge podge of plumbing fitting to place with epoxy. Unfortunately I used a epoxy putty to attach a valve below since I could not find the size locally to junction the used valve to my piping......Oops! won't do that again. The tank filled in a month and then drained after the stiff epoxy putty failed.
     I want to mention that there is no laws in Washington state that prohibit you from storing a couple thousand gallons of water or so. In some states there might be. But around here folks like to gossip about some imaginary restriction on storing water. For residential users in our rainy washington state this is simple not true.

 SO When all said and done,
I really liked my homemade compost toilet. It was cheaper, pretty easy to make and it matches my 1800's  'cowboy tub' which I restored last year. When fan is running its completely odorless and the urine is moved outside. A great improvement on the bucket method.

If I would do it over I would only change the urine diverter to a bigger back hole one. And I might add a second compost tumbler.
Remember, its more work and your closer to your poo, but it saves over 6500 gallons of water per year!!!!

​Happy pooping!!

In the woods you have.....DEER! Pretty though they are and charming their prolific children be, they are GWA, Garden Wrecking Animals!

And thats not all, in the northwest we enjoy the slimy presence of slugs and rabbits and other gwa's!
But in the years I have been gardening in the woods I have found tricks to growing flowers, herbs and food.
Even then, to make things even more difficult, when I just started here I had found that though it was a clear cut forest, the soil was mostly clay with water washing over it most of the year.

I had my work cut out for me.

1. SLUGS BE GONE!
get a duck....or two.

Though they are the first to be eaten by scavengers, if you have a strong coop (mine is even rat proof) they will be safe. Be sure if mixing chickens and ducks that you use nipple waterer systems. AND THE BIG DEAL IS that they eat every slug on you property. After two years my free range ducks ate them all! Even my neighbor brought buckets, yes buckets, of slugs over for them to eat. And though at first I was afraid they would spread and ducks would not get them all...well... my laura and lynn ducks did!

2. NO EATING MY PLANTS, DEER!
​get cages!

Yes deer eat almost everything, including the plants your lovely local nursery owner claims they don't. When things get lean in the forest, I found deer even eat iris. But they don't like most herbs, so thats a plus. I use cages. I buy 4 ft and 6 ft fencing for my flowers, unroll it into cylinder shapes about 3-5 ft wide, and attach with cut end twice-bottom and top for easy opening. I use the 2x4inch hole kind ,as its stiff for making cyclinders and it has less visual distraction as the chicken wire or small holes make. They also work great with a piece of green house plastic (scavenged from nurseries who take old plastic off every 5 years) for longer growing periods up north.
Things like valerian or marchmellow are good for 6 ft/5ft. And I use the 4 ft for daylillies and lower grow plants. With experiments you can figure out what works for you. BUT warning, I make sure the 6 ft is around young fruit trees (a deer favorite) and I 'stake' bottom with stickers (4 ft wood from lumber yards) for first few years. Smaller holes for this is better in later years before tree is too tall to eat from...as the deer might use bigger holes to 'climb' up.

3. GOODBYE CLAY! 
Amending the soil on the cheap, alpaca & cardboard

I was working fulltime and had very little cash when I started out, so I improvised! 
Gathering alpaca manure (which is not 'hot' and can be added right away to plants) I put it in the garden. It did two things: with cardboard on top to block weeds, it began to change the soil chemistry, worms ate through the poop and cardboard churning the soil. ANd the stench of the alpaca pee made the deer disappear until the next application or rain.
PLANTING: using comfrey and irises, daylillies and mint, I was able to start the garden even in the worst conditions- broke/deer/slugs/clay/excessive water. And now as soil has changed I can add other plants like, bee balm, golden rod, herbs and more. (though lavender,sage, rosemary have hard time with all the water still).

   Sometimes we lose something to find something...or maybe I should say a bad thing can turn out out be a very good thing! I've learned to be patient through hard times, as they seem to clear the way for something better.

   When I moved to my current home in the woods, on a clearcut, and totally off grid, I had no idea I was about to start one of the most rewarding and pleasurable parts of my life. It was starting all over again with a new home and very big project, but it was a perfect transition from one life to another. Things were about to get much simpler.

In the picture to the right,  I am helping my friend Pete lift a couch off my truck and into my new 350 sq ft home.

   It was a rush to leave the old place to a renter (so I wouldn't lose it) and quickly finish up this shell of a cabin to live in. I didn't even have a source of heat for those first few years and my family was very confused as to why I would leave a perfectly good house with hot water and a refrigerator to live in this very basic place.

   Well I would have to admit I must have had a set of mental blinders on to get to the point I am now. If I had really thought about the work it would be to live this way and to start over I may not have done it. But i have always trusted my instincts and my passion to create. Being on my own for most of my life, I have never had a partner or spouse to help get things done or paid for. Its made me very independent and able to make, build, fix and sort out most things folks do with someone else in their life.
The off grid - maker experience is perfect for folks like that. 

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