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Roaming chickens

We finally let the chickens explore their whole area. We kept them pretty close to their coop for a while so they’d learn where home it. We’re getting better at this this is the most seamless chicken integration we’ve had. No loose chicken, no running around in the forest, no stubborn roosting habits. We know how to foster good habits now and it’s making everyone’s lives a lot easier. They now roam around all day and go home on their own at night. It’s a pleasure to open their door in the morning and see how happy they are to satisfy their instincts. They are still fenced in for now but on a large area that we’ll rotate. In a few weeks they will probably be ok with no fence but then the predators might be an issue.

Go my minions, keep that grass down for me.

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Solar – little steps forward

It’s been hard to finally get to wiring what I have for a solar install. I’m still fuzzy on some of the science and I want everything to be perfect for the big launch. Necessity and having all the gear sitting there is making me reconsider. This afternoon I decided to wire the basics and deal with the imperfection.

What we have now are 2 panels in parallel, a charge controller, a 35Ah deep cycle battery and the load. No inverter, no clean wiring, no fancy instrumentation to measure everything.

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What this gives us is the ability to use a 12V DC socket and 3 USB ports, even when the sun is not shinning 🙂 This isn’t much but as I said earlier, when starting from scratch everything is a huge victory. It sounds trivial until you realize how much everything we do now is either 12V DC or USB powered. The charge controller comes with its own USB port with which I tested powering a Raspberry Pi.

I’m so exited about generating my own electricity. Solar is really beautiful, much more so than I thought it would be going in. I’m really amazed that these panels just sit there and make electricity. I’ve always known that but I’m actually using this electricity, I find myself contemplating the system for a lot more than its function. It feels like getting something for nothing, while not burning fossil fuels, while going straight to the source, while being independent, while drinking a beer. I’m a fan.

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Getting ready for a small solar install

With a couple of panels given to us and $190 worth of equipment remaining. We should be able to get enough power to keep things charged and and modem running. First housing is needed, I’m green at this and if it’s going to burn down, it won’t take the house with it. This “shed” will also be where the phone line terminates for our internet needs. This way no need to run unsightly wires to the house, and power is right there for the modem.

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The research I’ve done shows that there are many ways of doing solar and way too many variables to keep track of. It really seems like everyone has got their own way of going about it. So for now I’m keeping it small and simple, then I’ll develop my own way given our circumstances 🙂 Who knew “terroir” could be applied to solar energy?