Journey to create a Solarpunk future. Pun(k)s welcome.
Starting with a critical issue: Lawn Care. What’s more resource consuming than having a non-native, mono-culture lawn complete with synthetic fertilizer, pesticides, over-watering, and all maintained by polluting lawn equipment. My first move is to face the problem head on by creating a solar powered electric lawn care service. As I build trust with my clients (reducing pollution along the way) I offer them better solutions: native landscaping, native lawn alternatives, organic fertilizer, energy efficiency... a solarpunk future.
@solarpunksteve what's the best way to get in touch with you? I live in Brevard also. Came across your account and have a few questions for you. I wrote you on instagram but haven't heard back yet. Hope to connect with you soon!
Why are you doing it the hard way dude ? take floor jack , jack up front of mower , use your impact driver to remove the two blades replace with new and done , 5 minutes and back to mowing .
Just a note to anyone seeking the all-electric route: A lot of people note the quiet operation to get those extended hours of operation. Some jurisdictions have hours-of-service restrictions for ALL groundscare/landscaping operations. You might want to apply for an exemption in jurisdictions that have not updated their regs.
I think it would be great if you could find the time to do a followup video to breakdown (roughly) how much money you saved in a year on "off-road" gas (since the Tesla was not included in the startup estimate) and then estimate how quickly you recouped the extra expense of electric equipment and how long it will take to pay off the investment
Also, I think it would be great if you discussed the long term health benefits of not being exposed to Benzene all day (A well-known, documented carcinogen). That's actually my main motivation for switching to electric as soon as I can sfford to
All right this is going to be simple. Series and parallel amperage does not change what goes into one spot goes out that same spot. Series if you have 5 amps going in you have 5 amps going out that same spot. If you have 5 amps going into a parallel spot. With equal resistance on each leg. (Aka-A balance load) You will have 2.5 amps coming out on each leg. So on the fact that you have two 20 amp breakers. If you have equal resistance on both those breakers. You would have 40 amps going into them. But you put a 30 amp breaker before it. That 30 amp breaker should have been a 40 amp breaker. When you start to have a problem if you ever do. The 30 amp breakers going to go first. Let's say you have 15 amps on each leg that would be your 30 amp breaker popping before your 20 amp breakers ever go. When the military taught me electrical breakers. The weakest breaker in the system will always go first and the other ones won't ever go. A 40 amp breaker there will backup the 2 other 20a breakers and let the them also do there job. And I say all this is true. unless the inverter specifically calls for a 30 amp breaker. Then I would have done 2x 15 amp breakers instead of 2x 20 amp breakers.í
When you use conduit you are supposed to use bare wires (no cover, just wire insulation). So heavy duty wire is fine, conduit is fine with just the wire. Do not combine both.
My whole day. Car with trailer has about a 100 mile range on the highway, and almost 150mile range around town. My typical route for a day doesn’t go beyond 30 miles.
Fantastic video and lots of great nuggets of "Lessons Learned" in here. I see @WillProwse in the comments below, but I wanted to ask: What do you do in the off-season? Do you just buffer your summer cash flow and live on that through the winter? Switch to interior jobs? Pick up a seasonal winter gig?
I have a solar panel on my work van. I have a small fridge/freezer in there like van life people do. It’s a game changer. Being able to have a popsicle and cold drinks on a hot day and keep healthy food on hand.
I've built a few systems similar to this one (although none in a trailer, yet). You did a fantastic job - very well conceptualized, explained, and executed. Great editing as well. My only concern is that you coiled up excess wire rather than trimming it in a couple spots. This probably won't cause issues, but any coil of wire will act as an inductor to some degree. Unwanted inductance will decrease efficiency and can theoretically have undesirable effects on nearby equipment such as the inverter.
So I tow an enclosed trailer often with my model Y and there are places I go where it’s cutting it to close. I was thinking about doing a gas generator, I would much rather go with batteries and eventually solor . what would it cost me for a setup that could output 32 amps 240 volts and hold like 10 KWH if I built it myself, not counting any solar
Have you ever thought about doubling the onboard battery and having more capacity. Maybe to have extra power for the Tesla or whenever weather is bad…?
I have 1000w of solar on my cargo trailer, but really like the way you mounted them. My trailer has ladder racks, that sit 9" above the trailer, and the panels bolted to that. The way you did it makes a much cleaner look, and probably more aerodynamic. (going to be doing some rebuilding of the inside, and might just have to rework the panel mounts as well) My setup is a construction trailer, that converts into a camper, and/or toy hauler, with full kitchen and air conditioning. Running all stranded cables allows for more flex, and less breakage than solid core. So going forward you may want to use stranded only cables.
The fact that you were contacted by the Tesla Cybertruck development team speaks volumes about the impact you're making. You're proving that electric power isn't just about cars, it's about a whole new way of living. I'm excited to see how your business grows and how you continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with electric power.
Neat! Shouldn’t the first thing discussed be an analysis of how much Power the equipment uses per hour vs how much Power the panels produce? I’d like to know that formula. Thx.
