There’s a fast growing amount of social media doing the rounds about Going Off the Grid. What’s bewildering is how most of these people have zero idea of what they’re doing and don’t have the knowledge either. Experience comes with practise, but failure due to bad choices caused by this lack of knowledge can be expensive. Like THIS…:
They haven’t failed, yet, but I could instantly tell these two have no idea…. 20 to 24 panels? How did they work that out? Mind you they’ll probably need more on a south facing block of land in Tasmania that clearly gets no sun…!! It was -2°C here this morning. 19° inside Mon Abri. That cabin in the video will be FREEZING cold. AND done properly, on an appropriate NORTH facing block, you only need 8 panels… Luckily, I already knew that before starting because I educated myself FIRST and then seeked ‘the perfect block of land’. Knowledge is definitely power…
I was prompted to write this after watching this video someone posted on a FB peak oil group…
The problem lies, I think, in that the vast majority of people live in bubbles of modernity. Anyone who thinks they can move from Sydney to Southern Tasmania just like that is in for a rude shock…
Unless you’ve been doing this for 25 years like us, there’s no way you could begin to know how much has to be done, not know you’ll never do it alone…. Before the pandemic, we had lots of wwoofers here to help. Our Tasmanian Project would never have got off the ground without them, and I clearly acknowledge this. Especially starting aged 63 as I did. Mind you, I just can’t imagine doing it with a couple of toddlers in tow either.
Then this SBS video turned up on my feed…
The million dollar house in this video is very good (AND it should be…) but I think our $265,000 abode is even better. Yeah I’m biased, but we never had a million bucks to start with. True sustainability is doing more with less. My very wise friend Bruce from Mt Glorious once said to me “we do what we do because we can” and I’ve never forgotten it.
So many people in this video want their cake and eat it. Charging EVs with an off grid PV system? How much does this cost? In New Zealand? Good luck with that in winter…
Before the halfway mark of this good video, the millionaire consumerist BS suddenly ends when it exposes the fact going off grid doesn’t solve OVERSHOOT…
Piles of waste caused by modernity, a looming water crisis thanks to climate change, and overpopulation on the island soon becomes obvious. The over-romanticising of off grid living is there for all to see…. I can’t unsee the spaghetti bolognese of pipes in the creek feeding the water overconsumption of nearby residents….. A crisis is looming, no doubt about it. Right near the end, someone who’s lived on the island all his life actually says “there are no solutions”. Something I’ve been saying for years..
The reason we went off the grid wasn’t to save money or the environment, it wasn’t because of any ridiculous romantic idea it would be easier, it was because I’m absolutely convinced one day, as soon as fossil fuels go away, the grid will go down. And eventually, our power supply will too when the lack of fossil fuels means it becomes impossible to replace components ..
NEVER forget Jean Marc Jancovici’s words of wisdom…. 250 years ago, EVERYTHING ran on 100% renewable energy. That’s where we’re heading back to…
Damn the Matrix 