The Solar Saga
So….. This post has been a long time coming.
NO, IT'S NOT BAD, I SWEAR!
This is the final post of the Solar Panel Saga, a grueling process which took far longer than it should.
SO.
Let us.
BEGIN!
For those of you that do not know, I'm homeless, living in a van. Not by choice, but hey, what can you do?
As a normal adult in the 21st century, I need power.
As a normal adult in a van from 1998, I can't rely on the engine to do it. So I had been thinking of something like this even since I first ended up homeless. but I believed all the solutions for this were impossibly expensive.
then, in February 2024, I found the BOX!
for just ten dollars plus shipping, I could control a solar panel. it seemed like magic! like a Sign! so I purchased it. Along with what proved to me a dramatically inadaquate solar panel, although I didn't know that at the time.
this led eventually to the search for a batter system that would work, and I already had the perfect idea in mind.
in my local (unnamed for legal reasons) big box store, in the marine section, was a battery box with a built-in system of outlets. TWO 12v DC automotive ports! TWO USB Connections! one USB-C and one USB-A! a BREAKER! and a HIGH-POWER EXTERNAL WING NUT CONNECTION DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY!!!
It was perfect. and only 30ish bucks. the problem, was the battery.
Batteries are expensive. the battery I needed was a Deep Cycle battery, a type of lead-acid battery designed for long charge and discharge cycles. such a battery is a fairly niche item. I didn't and in fact couldn't find one in my big box store. so. I waited for my next paycheck, and went in search of a battery.
turns out ten seconds of googling found a battery store, like, a half mile from my usual parking spot. lol.
with much consternation and a great deal of money ($160is all told) I had my battery. Extensive testing would confirm its functioning in the box.
Now, a PANEL!
In days of Old, when Men were Bold, and whiskey was far, FAR cheaper: solar panels sucked. and were really expensive. when last I had looked into the idea a decade or more before, the best panels were hundreds to thousands of dollars and, while they generated useful power, were finicky about light conditions. then I discovered Mono-Crystal panels, and was amazed. 50 watts for 64 dollars. just over a dollar a watt. larger panels were even cheaper: 1000w of panels came to barely $800! incredible! said I, this would be no problem at all! Until i membered. I'm homeless.
Fuck.
While technically I have a mailing address, that address is at a homeless support place (where you can shower, and do laundry, and get meals, rather than sleep), which is infamous for questionable support staff, long wait times, and not the best service in the world. so.
Shipping a large, expensive, fragile piece of equipment there was a no-go.
then I saw the hardware store I was buying it from had ship to store.
YAY, COVID! (bout the only good thing to come from the Plague. or maybe before? idk.)
So I shipped it there, picked it up, and now was the time to Mount it to the roof!
And this, is where my troubles Truly Began.
At first, I thought to magnet the thing to the roof, so I bought some magnets.
NOPE!
Fiberglass
Then I thought to screw it in.
NOPE!
Couldn't get a drill in the panel
Suction cup?
NOPE!
not strong enough
Glue?
NOPE!
Wasteful, infective, and long cure time
fuck the whole business?
NOPE!
Still need power!
So. after weeks of waiting for money and days off to try shit, I decided on a plan:
Get some Plywood Glue it to the roof get some metal glue it to the board magnet panel to metal.
easy, simple, I need a stepladder, but I can just go to the hardware store, buy then return one. so I got to work.
the glue didn't hold the metal. or the wood very well, for that mater.
so, I relented, bought some screws, a drill, and some drill bits, and on the evening of May 28, 2024, finally saw my dream of solar power through.
it's the end of June now, and my little panel has done well. the metal is rusted orange, the wood is curved and warped, the magnets hold steady, and duct tape keeps the wires out of the doors.
But.
I'm typing this on a laptop powered by solar. and that's Damn Good.
The Panel, Herself.
I’m poor, Homeless, and jobless, please give me money, so I don't starve!
