I bought my first solar panel in 1989, a 50-watt Solarex photovoltaic module. Along with an old motorcycle battery, some DC car lights, and a small radio, I created an off-grid room in the house I was renting. When the power was out, and even when it wasn’t, I had lights and music operating on stored solar energy.
When I built my home in the 1990s, it was far enough from utility power that an off-grid system made economic sense, in part because I could do the work myself. Solar panels were more expensive back then, and the only accessible, affordable battery technology available was leadacid. I’ve had to replace my battery bank about every seven years since, despite different brands, sizes, and configurations. Meanwhile, improvements in chargers, inverters, and…
