I have been staying on a off-grid, mainly self sufficient farming community, called Living Energy Farm, for the past couple months and thought it might be useful to share their approach and see what the group thinks.
They use strawbale construction, rocket stoves, passive solar, solar water and air (directly heating air and water without the need to create electricity) and thermal mass storage.
They also use a unique DC solar electric system that is far more durable and cheaper than comparable solar systems and doesn't require inverters. It has nickel-Iron solar batteries that are less toxic, don't require rare earth metals and can be discharged without degrading over time. The need for excessively large battery banks is avoided with most things being direct daylight driven (plugged directly into panels with fuses or breakers), they just only use these appliances during the day or store energy in heat form through thermal mass. They have been living with these systems for 10 years with very few issues and near zero maintenance costs.
I think this is a model with much potential and superior to anything I have seen aid and development organizations proposing. In developed countries it would take a bit of a lifestyle change but is ready-made for off-griders, homesteaders, transition initiatives, intentional communities, etc. From my research, there is a good amount of disinformation or lack of knowledge about this, especially the Nickel-Iron batteries.
I am interested if anyone has experience with similar systems, feedback or suggestions for groups, NPOs, businesses, etc that might be interested in this tech package.
Here are some videos explaining the systems:
The basic battery box systems and direct drive solar fridges are now available for purchase at:
I have deleted your weblinks due to them not being approved.
They use strawbale construction, rocket stoves, passive solar, solar water and air (directly heating air and water without the need to create electricity) and thermal mass storage.
They also use a unique DC solar electric system that is far more durable and cheaper than comparable solar systems and doesn't require inverters. It has nickel-Iron solar batteries that are less toxic, don't require rare earth metals and can be discharged without degrading over time. The need for excessively large battery banks is avoided with most things being direct daylight driven (plugged directly into panels with fuses or breakers), they just only use these appliances during the day or store energy in heat form through thermal mass. They have been living with these systems for 10 years with very few issues and near zero maintenance costs.
I think this is a model with much potential and superior to anything I have seen aid and development organizations proposing. In developed countries it would take a bit of a lifestyle change but is ready-made for off-griders, homesteaders, transition initiatives, intentional communities, etc. From my research, there is a good amount of disinformation or lack of knowledge about this, especially the Nickel-Iron batteries.
I am interested if anyone has experience with similar systems, feedback or suggestions for groups, NPOs, businesses, etc that might be interested in this tech package.
Here are some videos explaining the systems:
The basic battery box systems and direct drive solar fridges are now available for purchase at:
I have deleted your weblinks due to them not being approved.
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