The 48' Reefer Trailer Experiment Off Grid

Don't try this yourself I am responsible for my own actions and not that of others

Be prepared to be jacked with by the authorities, thieves, nosey neighbors and the downright curious. 

The mission 1 year totally off grid with zero incoming utilities,  and in total poverty! This is home make the best of it!

 Using off the shelf products from Harbor Freight and chain brand lumber stores this will be your home for living and lab work/research on solar, battery banking, dc to ac inverter power.

The refer part of the refrigeration system has been removed inside and out with plywood attached that a tilt out vinyl double pane window can be installed for emergency escape access. Dividing the lab and living quarters with a insulated wall capped off with OSB in the center giving 2 24' sections mechanically room and living quarters with insulated 36" door. The only heat source is a lp vent free wall mount heater.

By now you are either totally curious, confused or wondering what the hell is this all about? 

This is total survival and quick fixes will either save your ass or you can freeze to death in a polar vortex winter, The research that was being conducted was dc 7/24/365 emergency power, load testing modified sinewave inverters 12 dc parallel battery banking to 120 volt ac. Testing was being conducted into running dc lighting circuits with QO Square D breaker control. Using NMB romex cable with ac single, 3 and 4 way switch types but all on DC voltage. 

Being a retired master electrician and retired volunteer firefighter I was always told this was not possible and was very unsafe. So I conducted 1 year of hands on research into this and did not find any problems or faults. The dc wring was home run to Square D QO and was true series circuit connected in plastic boxes to switches using ac keyless plastic lights on 12 volt with screw in bulbs all on DC voltage in round plastic boxes. I found no errors, fires, overheating or faults

 The biggest complaint was 6 solar panels 15 watt each could not keep the battery bank going for long. It would keep up with with light fixture load that was it for the solar panels.  As for the modified sinewave inverter were that loads like household appliances (refrigerator, upright freezer, coffee pot, New WAVE Ovens, Microwaves, vacuums, tv sets, ect)  took a lot of power and would drain 10 semi style new deep cycle batteries quickly. A gasoline 8000 watt generator would run 3 different ac to dc battery chargers paralleled connected going at once for rapid recharging, each battery charger on its own amp rated charge controller. 2 hours of generator run time would give 8 hours of battery life usually. Inverter dc to ac power that set low voltage will trigger complete shutdown of the entire inverter leaving all ac lights, outlets without electrical power. A fully charged 12 volt battery is 12.8 volts and the tripping would encour around the 11.9 volt range.

 By having the dc lighting circuits QO controlled meant that even if the inverter went offline from low 11.9 voltage that the lights would remain operating even below the 10.0 volt range with no visible dimming of the dc light bulbs.

David Blume, owner
D B Electric
www.offgridpowerdbelectric@gmail.com