Energy Independence
Panels, controllers and inverters sized from your real bill — not a sales worksheet.
Is Solar Still Worth It in 2026? Honest Post-Tax-Credit Payback Math
Real 2026 payback numbers on three quotes after the residential tax credit expired, plus the three DIY paths that recover the lost 30% without cutting corners.
14 minBeginner
How to Size an Off-Grid Solar Array From Real Load Data
Skip the rules of thumb. Meter your loads for 30 days, size for your worst solar month, and build an off-grid array that carries the house through January.
12 minIntermediate
LiFePO4 vs Lead-Acid Batteries: Six Winters of Real Data
Cost per kWh cycled, cold-weather performance, maintenance hours and voltage sag compared across six years of flooded lead-acid and three years of LiFePO4.
9 minIntermediate
Matched packages
Lights-On GuaranteeRenewable Energy
4.9 · 63 reviews
Eight 415W panels, a 60A MPPT controller, 5 kWh of LiFePO4 storage and a 3 kW inverter — the exact stack running our workshop.
“Sized it Friday, mounted panels Saturday, ran the house off it Sunday. Our January outage lasted 19 hours and we never noticed.”
$4,890$5,290
Water-Flows GuaranteeWater
4.9 · 41 reviews
Helical rotor DC pump, controller, safety rope and drop pipe sized for deep wells with no grid connection.
“Five days without power and the taps never stopped. The pump just runs whenever the sun is up and the tank stays full.”
$2,140
Bill-Drop GuaranteeRenewable Energy
4.7 · 18 reviews
Two evacuated tube collectors, an 80-gallon exchange tank and the drain-back controls for freezing climates.
“The sizing worksheet told me I needed half the array the installer quoted. I built it myself over two weekends and my last twelve bills total $214.”
$3,260
The newsletter
One letter every other Sunday: what we built this week on the mountain, what failed, and the numbers behind it. No fluff, no sponsored filler.