Greenhouse and solar power

I finished the greenhouse today. The greenhouse is made from mostly recycled materials. I used discarded sliding patio doors for the glass, a screen door from Freecycle.com, 4" stone floor, concrete patio planters for containers. The soil is 100% organic and my hopes are to provide at least a salad a day for the rest of my life, organic of course. The music playing is Wayana (sp?) on a rummage sale CD player that's running off of the sun through 3 solar panels into a car battery, then through an inverter. It's the first day for the solar panels. If I used an Ipod, I could power 50 -100 of them with what the old CD player is using. That would leave lots of electricity to power a laptop, the router, cable modem and printer and 12 volt florescent lights. Even the batteries in the digital camera can be recharged by using the solar panels. I've just discovered LED flashlights with batteries also rechargable off of the sun.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• greenhouse
• solar
• power
• Florida
• backyard
• tropical

[echobiosys]

that's an awful lot of concrete and rock for such a small greenhouse. Have you found this to be a cost effective method of growing veg?

[vaughn1111]

all of the materials were either given or left overs from jobs. In hindsight I think the concrete containers were a lucky find. the rock floor still isn't allowing weeds to grow.

[ChooseCarefully]

So, update us.

How is your garden doing?

A salad a day?

Good story...

[vaughn1111]

I am getting a salad a day and more. There were dry periods though when I was between plantings. That won't happen anymore (I hope) because I'm more familiar with how the greenhouse functions along with the cycles of the growing season. I am changing my entire yard into an Urban Garden. I'm more than half way to that goal now. I've planted around 50 Papaya plants with the intention of having a Papaya smoothie every day forever as well. I've also deleted animal protein from my diet.

[vaughn1111]

(cont.)That means that I should have control of the integrity of that which fuels me.

The solar system sadly failed all around. I replaced the controller twice and now the panels aren't producing any power at all. Rechargeable batteries I purchased from Harbor Freight also have failed so I won't use them as a source of reliable solar products sad to say.

[breyes63]

I have just started to explore my interest in solar energy. In your video I see you (with the radio) are directly connected to the battery,am I correct? Where can I learn more about this? as I mentioned I am just starting to learn about the solar energy possibilities and I Could use some direction. Thanks

[vaughn1111]

There is an inverter that changes the voltage from approximately 12 volt D.C. off of the battery to 110 volts a.c. to run the CD player. I have made so many improvements since then to handle my music needs that a new updated video is in the works.

[iLOVENATURE2011]

i like the idea....=)

[DD826]

u are going to starve

[CelticSouthland]

This greenhouse looks very beautiful, yet the construction looks very simple.

[solarcellsforsale]

Intersting vid..still im not sure i understand what its all about...

[bigmike50471]

go to lowes hardware. harbor freights arent too reliable

[imdanhoover]

great vid,like to know after this time? the harbor freight solar kit,would you recommend it now?

i've been thinking about purchasing one? more so for my garden shed,providing light/heat...possibly for a fan in my greenhouse for in summer months? right now my greenhouse has no heat,just thermal mass,no flooring,dirt till spring...works ok,salad all year round too..nothing like a fresh salad w/4 ft of snow.. your response is greatly appreciated,cheers,dan