Anyway we couldn't afford to get a power line to our place, so we were basically forced to live on Solar Power. We had a shed which stood next to the panel and housed the transformers and batteries, connected to the caravans by a long cable underground. It wasn't luxurious by any means, at that stage (and with our budget) solar was a high maintenance source of power. The solar panels were mounted on an angled panel, that could rotate in any direction to face the sun. So at noon every day we had to head out to the solar shed and adjust our one solar panel to face the sun again, and then at night we'd head out there again and rotate it back so it would face the sun in the morning.
We had 1 battery that was about the size of 2 car batteries, and it was enough to power our fluorescent lights and listen to music while we had dinner. We had a gas fridge and our shower was heated by black pipes on the roof, or in the mornings we just heated up a kettle and mixed the water. Once we saved up some money we eventually got 4 solar panels and 4 batteries, along with a generator, so I could now use my Amstrad Computer to play Commander Keen, which was an enormous luxury for us!
So that's my solar experience! We didn't do it because we wanted to save the environment or stop global warming, it was more of a neccessity but in doing it we learnt that it can be quite an amazing experience to know that you're supplying your own power, even if it's barely enough to power a few lights and a PC for 30 minutes a day!
These days I live in a flat in Brisbane with Air Conditioning, 700W speakers and a microwave. "One day" I'd like to live on solar again, and maybe the next time I do it we'll live in a world where we don't have to cut down on the luxuries just to be independent.
What's left of our 'solar shed' all those years ago:
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