SHEESH! Nothing But BIG MPPT Panels?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

My new roof "wrack" measures 4' x 6'

I think I'm hosed in finding excellent value MPPT panels that'll fit inside the rack. Then to top it off I have to look for panels that render an efficient amount of production per square foot. The smaller roll-up and foldable panels trouble me as far as durability and value is concerned.

I called home during a blackout there. A great reminder to keep on track. Wotta phone, Niner! Jesus was standing next to the yammering Kubota and I could hear and speak! He sold 220kg of lobster yesterday and returned with two drums of diesel and one of gasoline. An hour's worth of gen run time today @ 450 amps charge rate. Tomorrow the Lambordini gets a workout - three hours spinning a 385 ampere 24-volt 50DN Delco alternator. The Kubota is powering compressor to jam 175 lbs of air into a pair of old 83-gallon LPG motor fuel tanks, as well as the big chargers.

But I want panels on the roof to keep a PAIR of 31 Lifelines charged up. This would make my life a lot easier. I just have to find those odd-size panels without incurring a punitive price tag.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I uz tryin to x-plane, I can't have solar panels and eatum too.

Sides I love it having to raise the toilet seat to see what's hiding under it.

But I am working feverishly to convert every lamp to LED. The place is going 100% panels. I found some neat 60 SMD 50 plaques so the old ones in the rig get ripped out by their roots.

Where I live GO GREEN takes a whole different dimension. Means Clorox and a brush.

STILL LOOKING FOR PANELS. This is a tiughie.

[MrWizard]

Hey guys...You want a thread on where to live
Start one in around the campfire

The topic is solar panels, Not where to live or move too

[mena661]

I can live cheaper in a city of 2 million close to all the amenities, including a nice beach, in southeastern VA than anywhere in CA. I can go out and have fun, eat out, shop, etc. All pretty cheap. Taxes, cost of gas, cost of entertainment, etc kill living cheap in CA. I've tried it, the only way to live cheap here is not do much or go anywhere. Makes for a very boring life. When I lived in VA, I made just under $1000 a month. It was PLENTY of money. Would it have been nice to have more? Yep! But the little money I made was still enough to have a good time with.

[pnichols]

mena661 wrote:
... although CA is the next to the LAST place I'd live if I were to live modestly (New Jersey would be the last).

Have you tried certain areas of Santa Cruz County, yet? :B

Northern CA has plenty of cheapee places where one can get by, too.

Stay out of Southern CA, the Bay Area, and certain foothill areas ... and CA can be a whole nuther place.

[09FLSTC]

smkettner wrote:
Convert the system to 24v and use PWM....

Didn't need to read further. Boy gets it

[mena661]

I don't know MEX. Some places in the US are just cheap and you don't have to drive a 100 miles for medical stuff either. In Norfolk, VA, I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment for $400 a month and it wasn't in a crime infested neighborhood either. And it was a good sized place too. Walk-in closet, decent kitchen, living room was actually too big for me. Insulation sucked so my electric bill was high but everything else was cheap (including gas...98 cents a gal back then...$2 a gal now) so I didn't worry about it. This was in the mid to late 90's. Hell, you can still get a one bed there in the $600 range that's not in the ghetto.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Just to clear the air...

Yep. Got family 5-days hard driving from Nogales. I am stuck with Social Insecurity. About 1/2 the income of what a furnished apt costs in the states. I'm a pretty fartsmeller when it comes to finances and it would take moving to the badlands of Texas or worselands of Mississippi to make things "fit". It would still mean driving many hundreds of miles for medical care. Small US towns offer cheaper rent and pricier everything else.

All sarcasm aside, yeah it ain't easy. My medical bills before I attained Medicare sent me backward over one million dollars. A person can whimper, sell drugs, or carry a chip on their shoulder. Stupid alternatives. On Treasure Island as a young boy with his dad I heard speeches by Admiral Nimitz, and Ernest J. (Blowtorch) King.

A loud bellow by King caught my attention "Losers are full of excuses -winners do the best they can with what they've got".

I just spent the third day stripping out, washing and coiling 17 pounds of electrical wire out of newer wrecked cars. Lengths averaging 9 meters. A fantastic assortment of different gauges, colors and color codes. I swapped some labor for the wire. When it comes time to use the wire, it's all solder, and dual wall heat shrink.

Thete are few things in life more depressing than encountering a "Can't Do" person. Got a bad disc? Can't sit? Whining doesn't do a damned bit of good. On the other hand getting Martin to strip out a bucket seat from a Nissan Maxima allows me to sit for hours.

Brenda teases me when I go "gulp" and make a budget killing purchase. My response is (Spanish) "Mexican poverty this month - tortillas, salt, and music"

[mena661]

MrWizard wrote:
He retired down there many years ago, ( although he never quit working)
He has family..kids..maybe grandkids...I don't think he's moving back

This, although CA is the next to the LAST place I'd live if I were to live modestly (New Jersey would be the last).

[MrWizard]

He retired down there many years ago, ( although he never quit working)
He has family..kids..maybe grandkids...I don't think he's moving back

[pnichols]

David,

I'm curious .... are you absolutely certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is NO PLACE in the U.S. that you could move to and enjoy the Mexican lifestyle but without the Mexico?

(For instance, we have a friend with very, very modest resources who is living real nice only a few miles from us in Aptos, CA.)

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Small remote towns doors get locked at night now and when shopping. My views on drug sales and use would be most inappropriate for this forum. I will write this - fence chargers are unknown down here and I bet many a borrowed spare tire or generator in the USA would end up with a different fate...

Ever see a dog and his neighbor's favorite rose bushes and...whatever bare wire works. A little leagage through the foliage but it only takes once...

The Mega-Joule is going to keep goats, iguanas, rats and dogs out of my garden. That and a 12 watt 20 kHz piezo siren and motion detector. I fired that puppy up yesterday and had every dog in town yowling in agony. My neighbor has a yapper - 100,000 yaps a day. Tonight after dinner I aimed it out the kitchen window, hit the switch and that overstuffed sausage screamed and ran
Not a bark since.

[JiminDenver]

It's been 6 years for us. I'd love to go whaling in Baja. This is in the Bay of Banderas.

[landyacht318]

I used to spend a couple cumulative months a year down in Baja, camping in remote areas with few around.

The Crystal Meth infiltrated the small coastal fishing villages.
Been 8 years since I returned. I miss what it was, and feel sorry for those affected by this evil drug.

[mena661]

JiminDenver wrote:
Go for it Mex. Here are some more from that trip.

Cancun

Wow Jim! What a gift!