Category Archives: Environment

Environment, Lifestyle

Residential Solar Power System Upgrade

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Last week we upgraded our solar power system for our home. Since we live off-the-grid in Hawaii, this was a major cause for celebration, which included dancing and lots of toasting well into the evening.

We now have a 48-volt system with 1600 Watts of solar panels on the roof. We also have 8 – 420 amp-hr batteries for storage and a 3 KW inverter.

With regard to how common off-grid living is in Hawaii, it’s mixed. On-grid is typical on Oahu, Kauai and the resort areas of Maui and the Big Island. Off-grid is more common on East Maui and the rest of the Big Island.

Here’s a run down of what we did:

  • Installation of two new 175W SW 24 Volt solar panel modules, bring our tally on the roof up to 1600 watts.
  • Connection of existing solar array strings to fused PV string connector.
  • New wiring to charge controller.
  • New MS60 Outback charge controller.
  • 8 L16 High capacity 420 AH batteries
  • New battery connectors 2/0
  • Concrete slab 20″x 55″ for batteries
  • Plywood enclosure for batteries
  • Plywood cabinet for Outback 3048 sine wave inverter. (SEXY describes it well!)
  • Indoor meter to monitor battery status and Voltage or Amp draw.
  • 110 Volt Flojet pump. This replaced our old 12 Volt pump, meaning we have better water pressure now, too.
  • All wiring below the string connector enclosed in conduit.
  • New conduit run with #6 wire to house in back.
  • Connection of house in back.
  • New main breaker cabinet next to inverter.
  • Removal of old batteries and equipment.

The total cost of the upgrade (i.e., ripping out then entire old system, save a few solar panels on the roof) was about $11,000. With the cost of grid energy in Maui hovering around 40 cents per kilowatt hour, this upgrade pays for itself in three years. If the price of diesel fuel keeps rising, the break even day will come even faster. There are also the environmental benefits of not spewing diesel fumes and CO2. And by not erecting power lines, we preserve the amazing ocean views. Here’s to solar power!

Environment, Family, Lifestyle

How To Choose and Use a Clothesline or Clothes Drying Rack

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Summer is here, and abundant sunshine makes it easy to save electricity and money by using a solar clothing dryer (aka a clothesline or clothes drying rack). Here are a few tips to get you started drying your clothes naturally and for free. In the process, you may come to love that fresh, out-of-doors scent that only comes with drying in the sun.

Line or Rack?

Clotheslines

There are many modern variations of the old-fashioned strung between two trees. If you have a large outdoor space and two trees, by all means go for a clothesline. This is a time-tested method.

Clothes Drying Racks

Chances you have an apartment, condo, deck or small yard and need to figure out how to use a tight space most efficiently. You may also need to adjust for season. If so, there are lots of great options available.

Racks are great for tight spaces and work both inside and out. There are many variations, but basically, racks consist of a wooden, aluminum or stainless steel frame with lengths of coated wire strung between the legs (or arms). When choosing a frame, consider where you’ll use it, indoors or outdoors, as well as cost. Stainless steel is typically more expensive than wood and more durable.

Racks can be freestanding, wall mounted, ceiling mounted or pole mounted; foldable, retractable or telescoping; and range in size from small enough for a single sweater mounted in a shower stall to large enough for a load of sheets in the yard.

Many excellent resources for clothes drying racks come from Europe and Australia, where apartments tend to be small, energy expensive and people more conversation minded. Shipping will be an additional cost, but one to factor into getting the right rack for your space that’s going to last. Here are just a few starting points (BTW, I have no commercial affiliation with or endorsement of any of these sites):

Pre-Drying

One handy gadget that I came across recently is a spinner (up to 3200 rpm) that dries clothes to slightly damp. It works like those machines at the gym, which spin down your wet bathing suit so you can take it home without soaking your bag. The same concept applies to laundry. A spinner could be very handy in tandem with indoor drying racks, in humid climates and during questionable weather. Treehugger.com has an informative post on these.

Hanging

There is an art to hanging wet clothes on a line or rack. They key is to strike a balance between the maximum number of clothes and the minimum amount of drying time. Here are some key points to keep in mind:

  • Don’t crowd the clothes. The more exposed each piece is, the faster it’ll dry.
  • Overlap the edges of shirts, towels and linens to save space (and clothespins)
  • Dry jeans upside down. The waist dries faster with more air flow.
  • Use a tie hanger to dry socks and underwear. You’ll save space and keep them from flying away
  • If indoors, open the windows for more air flow.
  • Take advantage of existing space, like benches, patio chairs, shower curtain rods and towel bars, to spread out the load.
  • Store clothespins in a bag inside to keep them clean. Dirty or rusty pins make for dirty or rusty clothes.
Environment

Termite Tenting Sucks Lots of Water and Electricity

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Homeowners beware:  tenting for termites requires huge amounts of water and power adding expensive, hidden costs.  Termite fumigation is standard practice in Hawaii and other places with termites before a property can be sold and for routine maintenance.   Our recent experience tenting our off-grid home allowed us to see firsthand how this resource-intensive process works, without any forewarning from the company.

Most home service providers, like carpet cleaners and yard keepers, bring their own tools, fuel and water, but not termite controllers.  We were required to provide them with water and electricity for 24 hours while our house was tented and fumigated for termites.  Little do we know how much of our water and power they would use.  Here’s the breakdown:

Water

Termite treators use water to fill bags that weight down the fumigation tents after they have staked the tents.  Each of these bags requires about 10 gallons of water.  A tent for an average-sized house could use up to 100 bags.  Our 1,000-square foot cottage needed about 50 bags, or 500 gallons of water.  Think kid-sized swimming pool.

They also needed water to blow across the fans.  They turned on our spigot and turned it off about 12 hours later.  This used over 3,000 gallons of water and drained our water tank dry.  This nearly burned out our water pump.

Power

They also required continuous 24-hour electricity to power the fans and blowers.  They drew from our 7,000-watt generator and solar power system.  All together, fumigation sucked back about 100 KwH of electricity.  This is equivalent to 3-5 days extra days of power usage for a typical household in the US.  It’s like adding another week to your power bill.