solar power Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How long can used solar panels be expected to last?

Posted on August 23, 2026

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Question from Blaine: I was reading through some of the past “Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletters” and noticed one was sponsored by a company selling used solar panels.

I’ve actually been pricing solar panels for a while with an eye towards taking a small hunting cabin that I own off-grid.

I checked out the used panels offered by your advertiser SanTan Solar and their prices are only a fraction of the cheapest prices that I’ve been able to find for new solar panels.

I have a couple of questions for you if you don’t mind: [Read more…]

Q&A: How do you take just part of a house off-grid to go solar?

Posted on October 29, 2025

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Question from Keith: I just finished reading your post about taking your home office off-grid and I found it very encouraging because I’d love to that for just a couple of rooms in my own house.

My question is how do you take just part of a house off-grid while leaving the rest of it connected to the power line? [Read more…]

Q&A: Will light bulbs make solar panels work at night?

Posted on April 8, 2025

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Question from Mark: I have a small solar power setup (about 400 watts) that’s powering the lights and the TV in the small off-grid cabin I built for weekend getaways.

I tried running a portable refrigerator and a couple of other small appliances off the solar and they work fine during the day, but my 12V/100Ah battery is dead by morning when I leave everything running overnight.

My question is will solar panels work with artificial light? [Read more…]

How (and why) I took my home office off-grid and went solar

Posted on December 29, 2024

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If you work from home you know how important it is to have a dependable power source to run your computer, printer, modem, router, lights and other essential work-related gear.

That’s why power interruptions are such a hassle, even when they are relatively short-lived.

Our local power grid isn’t the best so my neck of the woods experiences frequent outages that last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. And every now and then, an outage can literally last for days.

This post explains what I did to avoid that inconvenience and aggravation in the future. [Read more…]

Review: PowerUrus 12V 200AH LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Rechargeable Battery

Posted on July 18, 2024

A couple of years ago I made the decision to take my home office off the grid and start powering it with a small solar power generation/storage system.

Simply put, I grew weary of not being able to work during the outages that frequently shut down the power grid in my rural neighborhood.

I procured the parts necessary to build that first solar setup and I was so impressed with the results that I decided to take my entire home (mostly) off-grid, one step at a time. [Read more…]