Mike and I talk a lot about how living in a skoolie or a tiny house is very much like any other house. There are always projects, things you want to upgrade, or finish work that needs to be done. There have been times when we have had the best of intentions and bought supplies for a project and the timing for completion wasn't quite right. Ever since we bought the bus, we had intentions of installing solar panels. We even bought a whole solar kit a little while ago. We bought batteries quite a while ago (and that is when I found out that lead acid batteries are HEAVY) and now they are all finally installed and put to use.Â
The whole idea behind solar for us is to lessen the load all around. Our mission in living in Asa the skoolie (we finally named the bus, but more about that later ) is to live more with less. Mike has talked through the whole solar power system with me countless times and I have mostly nodded and smiled. I remember learning about AC and DC in physics? but nothing really stuck. I'm mostly afraid to work with electricity and Mike is mostly not. He is unafraid to be on the bus roof and I am....terrified. I'm really good at hanging out on a ladder on the side, handing Mike screws, and getting whatever tools he needs. So finally, one sunny early fall day, we installed our Renogy solar system.
Here's what I know. I'm pretty sure there isn't much Mike can't figure out between brain power, research, and YouTube. We currently have lead acid batteries, with a plan to upgrade to lithium ion for greater capacity. Since the solar has been installed, our entire 12V system (lights, composting toilet fan, etc) have run off of our battery bank. It's amazing! When we drive, we can have lights and eventually our fridge will be able to run off the battery bank as well. This is part of our electrical plan for the bus to be able to run off of shore power, solar power, or generator power all with the flip of a switch. And I'm still amazed at all the things Mike can do.
