Daily Log Entries

November 21, 9:36 PM: Last night, I disconnected my solar panel, removed the platform from the balcony and repacked the panel for shipment. This morning, I wheeled the 42 pound, 65x28x4 box 3/4 of a mile to FedEx Kinkos on a hand truck I borrowed from UVM Rescue.
While I'm still running off stored energy in the battery, the 20 day challenge is nearing an end.

The experience has allowed me to reflect on the ways in which we are all grid dependent, as well as how effective the grid is at doing its job. One of the main problems I ran into during the project is that I spend most of my time away from my room, giving me little option but to be dependent on grid connected outlets and lighting fixtures. I quickly began to develop an appreciation of how the grid distributes electricity wherever it is needed - if I need 20W for my powerbook in Billings Student Center or at the Bailey-Howe Library, the grid allocates the power there - if I need it in my room, the power sent there.

Additionally, the grid allows for energy to be transported from areas of production to areas of usage - there were many times where Burlington had several sunny days in a row and my battery was completely full - energy that could have been sent to another area of need was instead being wasted.
That being said, the current electric grid is centralized. What I envision as an ideal situation is a primarily decentralized grid, where each consumer of power also owns personal means of electric production. If an individual uses more energy they produce in a month, they must pay for that energy through an electric utility, and if they produce more than they use, they will receive a check from the utility (i.e. net metering). The grid acts as the mediating factor, distributing energy where it is needed.

Taking individual responsibility for power production will allow the grid to be less prone to failure and force each individual to deal with any negative externalities of their chosen method of production - just as no one wants to be situated near a coal or nuclear power plant, few will want a polluting structure on their property. A decentralized grid distributes the cost of equipping our nation with a clean, domestic source of power. Additionally, making power production a primarily individual responsibility will put individuals more in touch with their power usage and cut down on waste.

Of course, there will still be centralized power plants - they will work to make up for the slack of individual production and supply power to facilities that may consume more than they can produce (a factory with a large electrical demand, for instance). But with a system with individual production as the rule rather than the exception, the grid can act not as a single flow system, with power moving from power plants to sources of demand, but as a two way allocation system that allows everyone to distribute their excess power and in turn, receive power as they need it.

Will such a system ever see reality? I think that as fuel prices continue to rise and oil production peaks, a decentralized grid will become more and more a reality, as individuals invest in renewable energy systems to hedge against rising prices. We will remain dependent on utility-scale power production for a long time to come but with the depletion of the earth's oil, we may see many domestic changes, with the structure of our power distribution likely among them.

Other lessons from the experience include how much one can cut their usage in the face of resource limitation. There were multiple instances where I was simply running out of power and had little choice but to curb my usage dramatically, dispensing with activities that were power intensive. Even as I make the transition back to on the grid living, I will continue to look at every device I power on in terms of the energy it uses, for I remember having to partition the 400W my battery allows over the course of several cloudy days.

Living off the grid is most certainty an eye opening an experience - I would imagine anyone who attempts to put themselves through it will quickly learn the art of conservation and when they return to the grid they will likely consume a fraction of the energy they once did.
I appreciate the many people who followed the course of my off the grid adventure over the course of twenty days and hope I have inspired a few to do the same. On Wednesday I plan on connecting my panel to the grid back home in Connecticut - stay tuned for updates on this site documenting my experience.

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November 15, 1:07 AM: I apologize for not updating this page for more than a week. So far, I've been able to stay off the grid, except in applications where I have little choice to use grid power. There are restrictions - some nights, I've desired to watch an hour of television, but without the available electricity I simply had to find something else to do. There have been other times, though, when I have had something critical that needed to get done and I had to make a decision about whether I would potentially put stress on the battery or get my work done. Most of the time, I've gone with the former, or occasionally rescheduled what I needed to do. Off the grid living is all about limits, priorities and conservation - as much as I long to be able to plug my monitor into a household outlet, I know I simply have to conform my usage to set supply of electricity.

I'm excited, however, about the next phase of my solar panel project. I will be returning home on November 23rd and will set my panel up as a small scale utility intertie for a month and a half to offset the household's usage. As much as living off the grid is a wonderful experience for the sake of learning conservation, I have also come to appreciate how the electric grid has made power (for the most part) easy, accessible and reliable. To be able to contribute energy onto the collective electric infrastructure is a very exciting idea: for once I can also put back something on the grid, as opposed to constantly leaching from it. I would like to envision a day when all consumers of electricity also own infrastructure that produces power - a primarily decentralized grid (I still see a row for large, commercial generating facilities to regulate the supply of power on the grid) in which everyone takes and receives.

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November 7, 9:36 PM: Today was a day of moderate usage. I was away during most of the daylight hours between classes and a trip with the Eco-Reps to the local recycling facility. When I finally returned to my room, I plugged my laptop in to charge, went to a meeting with my academic advisor, and returned to find it fully charged and the battery topped off (again, today was a day that rain was predicted but ended up being mostly sunny).

Today I had to get my laundry done. With careful management of my clothes, I've been able to reduce my loads of laundry to about one every one every one and a half weeks (down from one per week). Obviously, I have little choice but to use on grid electricity to power the washing machine. I suppose I have an option of hand washing my clothes, but there comes a point where the amount of time required for an activity simply makes it impossible to do. Additionally, I have no funds to purchase a hand-powered mechanical washing unit. On the fortunate side, UVM's washers are all energy star rated.

In general, I air-dry my laundry each week to reduce power. This week I had to make an exception, as I was washing the sheets from my bed. Given the relatively small space of my room, I have nowhere to hang the sheets to allow them to dry with any reasonable amount of time. Therefore, I really have no choice but to use the dryer once a month. In a true off the grid situation, I would be living off a larger system that could power a clothes washer and I would have amble area to spread out my laundry to dry.

Power usage during the later part of the day included the energy required to power my computer to post the Eco-Rep pictures online and to power a light from which I could work by.

Another issue has come up with regard to the solar panel. After returning from my Eco-Rep meeting today I ran into the Resident Director for the building I live in. He pointed out that "my solar panel had grown" and that someone (I forget who, they worked for UVM) was driving by and expressed concern that it could fall. They wanted it removed immediately. My RD expressed to me that he didn't want to tell me to remove it immediately (and I am very thankful that he took a reasonable position on this issue, otherwise it would have jeopardized the entire off the grid project). I explained to my RD that I'd be glad to work with anyone from UVM if they wanted to examine the mounting situation and make improvements where they needed to be made. He said that the appropriate person would be the building maintenance director whom he would contact. He said he and the director would likely need to come and inspect it.

To me, the whole issue is another just another hump that any unconventional project like mine encounters. I am never one who likes to put up with needing official approval, if only because I fear that a simple review will turn up a load of unrelated and unnecessary issues. For instance, if I submitted the project as a proposal and asked it to be approved by UVM before constructing the panel (or upgrading it) I likely would have had to sit through hours of meetings and would likely have to needed to wait months for it to be approved, if it ever was. The wind turbine that UVM erected is an excellent example: it must have taken at least a year and a half to two years to get the idea from the meeting room to the turbine in the air. Granted, with a wind turbine that's very close to a helipad, there are very real concerns that need to be addressed officially, but my point is that projects take much longer to get out of the planning process than they should when they need to get officially approved. However, so far everyone's been very reasonable about it, and I have no problem with allowing UVM to inspect it: it is in my interest to keep the panel from falling, also - if it fell it would mean the loss of a $400+ investment.

That being said, I have no funds left to continue to modify the project. If UVM would like to supply me with the materials needed to make any changes they suggest, I'd be glad to make them. But I really have no ability to do anything else without their assistance. Additionally, I worry that maybe they will take some issue with some other aspect of the project (I can't see why, but I worry), which just presents more things that require my time in addressing.

The other possibility is that this might be a non-issue. I know most UVM staff have very busy schedules and there is the chance that by the time they come to inspect it, I will have sent the solar panel home for its two month net-metering stint while I'm on vacation. Another option might be to simply avoid the whole issue of the panel being extended from the balcony by me receiving permission to put it on the roof (where it would get more sun anyway). The only issue with this is I would need access to the roof on an on-demand basis: to clear snow from the panel in the winter and to remove it and replace it during major vacations. I have a distinct feeling that I would not be given a key to the roof.
Regardless, I'll update this site as things progress. Hopefully it will not interfere with the 20 day off the grid challenge.

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November 6, 3:58 PM: With a full day of sun, my battery is topped off and I have plenty of energy going into the week. One of the most effective energy conservation techniques is simply working during daylight hours. Given the relatively large output of my panel and the relatively small size of my battery, I tend to have much more energy during the day. After my battery is full, everything else I collect is energy that if left unused will simply be wasted. Additionally, working during the day avoids the need for artificial lighting at night. Of course, during the week, I'm in class during most of the daylight hours so I end up working off the battery much more than the panel.

I've also found that one of the hardest problems with living off the grid so far is that I am in a grid surrounded environment. If I need to work somewhere other than my room, I'm working off grid energy. I question how we will be able to support all this infrastructure once we can no longer depend on fossil fuels for a source of generating electricity - there will obviously have to be a major scaling back of excessive infrastructure and an overall efficiency improvement of all structures: waste will simply be far too economically costly.

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November 5, 7:23 PM: No entry last night as I was out at UVM Rescue. I spent much of the day sleeping in (as a result of the previous night's shift) and then attended a Catamounts basketball game, so I really haven't needed to use any energy off the battery today, save a little for lighting and my laptop. I'm going to try and conserve as much as possible the next few days as its looks like the weather will be mostly overcast. I think tonight, though, I'll watch an hour of TV or so (35-40W).

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November 3rd, 11:17PM: I woke up to my solar battery almost completely recharged from the previous night's worth of usage - however, that was a relatively small amount. I soon found myself showing in a bathroom that was practically pitch black - the only light being sunlight that entered through a crack under the door. I've found that I'm limited by not only the availability of solar electricity, but also that I'm surrounded by a grid connected world. In a true off the grid situation, my bathroom would have an opening for natural light or at least a light wired to a renewable energy system. I had neither, so I was limited to the normal amount of light that was naturally let in the room: practically none. Once I was fully clothed I could open the door and have plenty of light for putting in my contacts and brushing my teeth. To some degree, the experience pointed out how ill equipped our common everyday structures are to functioning in a world with scarce and expensive energy reserves.

I returned from my first class to find my solar panel bathed in sunlight and the battery fully charged. My external hard drive had arrived, which I was going to use to backup all the data on my laptop. I plugged in my laptop to charge for a bit, only because I wanted to tap into some of the free energy being produced by the panel - with the battery fully charged, it would otherwise go to waste.

After returning from class, I plugged in my laptop, booted up and partitioned my external hard drive charged my cell phone which was low on battery before Rescue. Even though the sun was beginning to set, I was still powering all my devices mostly off the solar panel - judging from the voltmeter, I was only minimally drawing off the battery, if at all.

When I returned from my Rescue shift, I went about backing up my entire computer. I set up my laptop on my 17" LCD and full size keyboard and mouse, powered up the external hard drive, turned on my lawyer's lamp. The copying attempt took several tries as I figured out how to most efficiently back up what I needed. A little after 8 PM the health and safety inspectors showed up. They were the same inspectors as last time, and this time took great interest in the solar panel system. They quickly passed my room and moved on.

As soon as they left, I checked the voltmeter - it was reading 11.6 which is VERY low. I shut off everything except my laptop and hard drive, disconnected the external monitor and when my data finished copying 12 minutes later, shut off the hard drive and the inverter so my laptop was the only load on the system. The voltage, which was negatively compensated because of the load, was now up in the area of 12.1, a much better but still low number. Realistically, the voltage was probably around 12.3, but after being used takes several hours to balance out.

In order to have enough power to finish writing my essay, I worked off my 12" laptop screen in a dark room for three hours.

The results of my conservation effort were tremendous - the needle on the voltmeter barely moved the entire time and I still had enough power to write this and send an e-mail to a friend.

Tomorrow looks like a decent day so the battery should recharge fully, but Saturday and Sunday are slated for rain, which will be my first two days without substantial sunlight, and also my first two week days that I will have to work off the system.

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November 2nd, 10:58 PM: An hour ahead of schedule, I'm off the grid! I've taped off my light switch (see below), flipped on the inverter, and turned on my lawyer's lamp (14W CFL bulb). I could have gone for the larger lamp since each day I've been producing tons more power than my battery can absorb, but I'm going to try and be conservative, at least at first. The weather looks good for the coming week, so hopefully I won't find myself trying to figure out whether I want light to read by or use my laptop.

I think I'm going to do a little reading and then head off to bed. I'll post another entry tomorrow with more of my off-grid adventures.

The taped off light switch

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November 2nd, 1:45 PM: With less than 12 hours left on the grid power, I've been making the necessary preparation to ensure a relatively painless switchover. My battery is topped off thanks to the new panel and excellent weather. I rewired everything in my room so my main surge strip is now connected to my inverter, not my wall. I moved a fluorescent, torchiere-style lamp that I had brought to UVM from the common room to my room, as I recognized that there are times when my lawyer's lamp with its 14W CFL bulb would not be sufficient for my lighting needs. The torchiere lamp's bulb is rated for up to 70W but is dimable, so I can regulate how much light I need.

I also have started to recognize some of the things I won't be able to do off the grid - I vacuumed my floor for the last time in 20 days. While vacuuming uses relatively little energy because vacuums are not left on for long periods of time, they use around 1,200W while in operation, which my 150W inverter simply cannot handle. Another big power user, the microwave (800W) will be off limits. I have yet to decide whether I will enjoy my last bag of microwave popcorn tonight.

I tested the lights on the modified sine wave produced by the inverter, they function fine, but emit a slight buzzing sound that I'll just have to live with. Tonight I will tape down my overhead light switch so it can no longer be used.
Health and safety is coming back for their monthly inspections tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what they say about the taped down light switch and if they will take issue with the battery and panel again (even though its been approved, this will be a different set of inspectors, so I might have another round of problems). However, this time, any issues with the battery will be more than just a mere inconvenience: they will be cutting off my only source of electricity. I'm preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.

Another debate revolves around powering my laptop. My current strategy is to use it as I normally would, plugging it in to recharge the battery after a day of classes between my last class and the start of my Rescue shift. However, that time period does not usually give the battery enough time to fully recharge. So, when I bring it to Rescue, the remaining part will finish charging off grid electricity. It could be argued that I should not plug it in anywhere but my room and when I'm at Rescue, I should run off the laptop's internal battery. I'm hesitant to do this as I don't like to rely on the laptop's battery when I can avoid it in order to improve the life-span of the battery. From an environmental perspective, I think it would be better to use a bit of grid electricity than to have to replace the entire battery, which will surely require a great deal of energy in its packaging, manufacture, and transport.
More tonight as the clock ticks down to the last of grid electricity.

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