About done off-grid

During this time (and still now), I thought about how it would be the perfect place to be if there were a zombie apocalypse, civil war, or any type of anarchy. I would imagine using boreholes for water, farming animals, planting fields, setting up wind turbines and solar panels—everything. Thinking about those kinds of things still fascinates me to this day and has inspired me to create something similar for myself… minus any unhealthy social exclusion and general conspiracy theories.

Beyond just spending a small fortune on getting your house equipped with a complete solar or wind turbine setup to achieve complete self-reliance and continuous power, there are other smaller and cheaper ways solar energy has helped. From solar chargers and solar LEDs getting us through hour-long blackouts to solar geysers keeping our showers hot.

This boom seems to be heading in a direction where South Africans could be entirely responsible for their own home power. As daunting as the extra responsibility sounds, the growth, time, and money that solar and other sustainable sources of power have received have shown that it is entirely doable. More and more power is being harnessed for our homes, and in the long run, it will prove to be the more cost-efficient option. It may sound corny, but the power is in our hands. I honestly believe that the notion of “needing” to have a home connected to the grid is outdated and that new technology is helping us evolve beyond that. Even South Africa’s big banks, such as ABSA, Standard Bank, FNB, etc., are providing programs to support their clients in funding solar projects at home.

But besides my ranting about a bad situation, there are other more exciting aspects of off-grid living that excite me. From being able to power a whole camping trip with a single foldable solar panel or wind turbine to witnessing full-on van conversions (the true off-grid nomad), my interest in this kind of life has taken me down the rabbit hole of homesteading. Creating a completely off-grid life has always been a thought in the back of my mind, but I’ve always been scared off by the magnitude of what that entails when fully realized. However, I do want to delve deeper into the worlds of rainwater harvesting, drilling for boreholes, composting, green housing, and much more that I want to explore and share on this blog.

The main purpose of this blog hasn’t fully revealed itself to me yet, with the primary goal at the moment being to try and find some of the best solutions for South Africans combating load shedding. Whether it’s helping those who want to completely outfit their mansions or assisting someone who just wants to keep their Wi-Fi on with an inverter, I will help you find the best solution to that problem. Exploring some of the new gear emerging in the world of solar and renewable energy is when I’ll geek out a bit and hopefully be the first to introduce you to something new. And finally, the only other direction I see the blog going, at least for now, is delving deeper into the world of off-grid living, which is probably the thing I’m most excited about going forward.

Please feel free to comment or get in touch if you have an idea you would like me to research. I would truly appreciate any feedback on the work I do, as it helps me improve and is exceptionally helpful to me. Thank you!