Mountain Cabin

    Well I have decided to move up to the mountains at 10,200 feet and live off grid.  My location is remote, and requires a 7 mile snowmobile in during the winter.  It is an approximately 45 minute drive to the nearest town with a store.  I have over 11 acres of land, and use wood from it to heat my cabin.  The cabin has both a small solar system for 12V usage and lighting, as well as a micro-hydro system for providing 110V that I designed and installed last year.

The Cabin

This is the cabin from both the front, and the rear.  It is located at 10,200 feet.  The continental divide is right above me where the peak can be seen.  There is easy access into the higher country (over 14,000) that lies above.

There is also a barn on the property, as well as several storage sheds.  The barn currently has a wood stove in it, but almost no insulation.  I have already added electricity to the barn, and will be insulating it so it can still be used in the winter.  This will be both my rec room and my computer lab.

When I bought it, the cabin had a small solar setup consisting of only 3 solar panels.  I am keeping this system active to provide 12V service for ham radio and lighting.  I have begun to change over all of the 110 service over to a hydro system with a much more advanced inverter setup.  The large satellite dish you see is the two way internet connection I have through 'Direcway'.  This gives me high speed internet even though I am so remote.

The Hydro Project

I am documenting the progress of my hydro project and will be presenting it in parts.  Basically, there is the inverter and battery system, the pipeline, the turbine, and the dam.  I will post pictures of the projects individually to give it a better flow.

Follow on to The Power Shed construction