Off Grid in Spain
Hi I have lived off grid on my mountain top farm for 7 years now.
I have 1200 watts of solar panels and a 500 watt wind turbine feeding my 24v battery bank. Being in an area with over 300 days of glorious sunshine, I can lead a pretty normal lifestyle. it is very rare that i have to run my generator, usually only if i do a very hot wash in the washing machine.
My water is supplied from a communal well at the bottom of the mountain, which fills a 13000 litre (3500 gallons) cistern which in turn gravity feeds the house and the rest of the farm.
My waste goes into a homemade septic tank, which after 7 years is still working perfectly and i don't think will ever need emptying.
heating is from the prunings from my olive trees.
i raise my own meat and grow all my vegetables, everything organically.
I built my own house in the nude of course and live most days and nights totally naked.
That certainly is a great set-up :)
Ive lived off-grid in my little wooden cabin here in the French Pyrenees since 2008. I clearly have fewer electricity needs than you, since I have just 160W of solar panels (12V system). Its not such a hot climate here and I dont eat meat or fish, so I have no problem living without a fridge/freezer, which makes a big difference to ones electricity needs. I dont have a generator and have never run out of power.
Water for washing, showering etc comes from rainwater captured from the roof. For drinking and cooking I collect water from a nearby spring (there are lots of totally pure springs here in the Pyrenees).
I use a composting toilet system, so humanure ends up back in the gardens. I recommend The Humanure Handbook (which you can find free online as a PDF) to anyone interested in learning how to manage your waste ecologically. Its very simple.
Im not by any means as self-sufficient in food as you are. I do grow some vegetables and I planted a fruit orchard (although many of the trees are still quite young), but it doesnt provide for all my needs. Luckily theres a big weekly (mostly organic) market in my nearest town. This area has been attracting hippies since the 1960s, so you can find excellent local produce, including cheeses, bread, eggs, meat, and its cheaper than the supermarket :D
I work from home part-time, translating and subtitling movies and TV shows. And yeah, I get to be nude 24/7, weather permitting. Even in the middle of winter its hot enough to be naked inside the cabin, thanks to the wood burner.
(Edit: I swear the forum system here is stripping all the apostrophes out of my post. I know how to punctuate, dammit! What the hell is that about?)
Hi Victor
Your place sounds quite good. I would love to drop in on my journey through France to the UK.
I have a very large fridge freezer and also a chest freezer as I produce my vegetables and meat all year round I need some means of storing them.
In the summer here it can quite often reach 45 Celsius so it is lovely to have lots of ice for my drinks.
My pool pump runs off the solar as well.
I also collect rainwater for my vegetables, but I use the well water for everything else.
I am thinking of putting a large wood cabin all my land for hopefully paying guests to use this would also be run from the solar system I have enough land where I could put the cabin so that it will give seclusion from the house and the road.
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