How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It

by James Wesley, Rawles

  I use an AccuManager 20 battery charger. It is a “smart” charger—so it will not overcharge your batteries. It comes with both a twelve-VDC cord (with cigarette-lighter plug) and a 120-volt AC (VAC) adapter. The charger has six channels, so it can simultaneously hold four AAA, AA, C, or D cells, and two nine-VDC batteries.

  You can recharge at least twenty AA cells from a jump pack that is fully charged. With a five-watt photovoltaic panel it might take two or three days to charge your jump pack. A ten-watt panel (or two five-watt panels wired parallel) works much better, and a twenty-watt panel works even better still. Your ability to “make do” with a smaller panel depends on your budget, how many batteries you need to keep charged, and your time available to reposition the panel to keep it in full sunlight throughout the day. To keep your jump pack charged, I recommend the small PV panels available from Northern Tool and Equipment.

  Solar Battery Chargers

  Depending on your budget, battery-charging solutions can run from micro to mini to maxi. The inexpensive solar chargers sold by Ready Made Resources work fine as a micro solution, but be advised that they are not waterproof. I recommend setting these up on a windowsill inside a south-facing window. In my experience, it is best to buy at least two of these chargers, since they charge slowly, via “trickle charging.”

  Moving up to the mini solution, there are 6.5-watt flexible (amorphous) photovoltaic (PV) panels. Even modest-size PV systems with a small deep-cycle battery bank can make a huge difference in providing small-scale lighting and battery charging for crucial security measures such as radios and night-vision equipment. There are so many LED lights, battery-charging trays, and various pieces of electronic gear available that will run directly from twelve VDC or from a DC-to-DC converter that you might be able to skip the expense of a full-up system with a large AC inverter.

  If you have a bigger budget, Ready Made Resources and other vendors can also supply larger prepackaged PV power systems, either with or without an AC power inverter. (Without an inverter, PV systems will provide only twelve- or twenty-four-volt DC power.) Ready Made Resources even has experience designing maxi systems—six-kilowatt or larger.

  Keep in mind that grid-tied PV systems will be eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit in the United States. Many states also offer their own tax credits (dsireusa.org). In some states, such as Florida and California, the combined federal and state tax credits may reduce your expense by as much as 70 percent when all is said and done.

  Photovoltaic Power Systems

  There are essentially three types of photovoltaic power systems:

  1. Stand-alone

  2. Grid-tied

  3. Grid-connected but stand-alone-capable

  Of the three, the only type that I do not recommend is grid-tied. These systems—typically without a battery bank—leave you vulnerable whenever the power grid goes down. If you want to sell power back to your utility yet still be self-sufficient, then I recommend that you install a grid-connected but stand-alone-capable system. The same would apply to wind-power and micro-hydro systems. For details on alternate-energy-system hardware, siting/exposure, and system sizing, contact Ready Made Resources. They graciously offer alternate-energy-system consulting free of charge. They can design a true turnkey system for you that will require no upkeep other than periodic battery maintenance. You can also design a system that will allow you to sell power back to your utility depending on your local laws and power-company policies. There is nothing like the joy of watching a power meter run backward—knowing that for more than half of each year the power company will be paying you for power. Selling power back to the utility company is possible throughout the United States. However, most pay you only the “avoided cost” rate—typically two or three cents per kilowatt hour—rather than at the same rate that you buy it from them. The latter is called “net metering” or “net billing.” The utilities that presently pay at the net metering rate are in the minority, but I predict that it will be legislatively mandated within a few years.

  If you do opt for a grid-tied system, it can be set up to provide “automatic failover”—meaning that there will be a very limited interruption of power to your home or retreat in the event of a power failure.

  All of the major brands of monocrystalline weatherproof photovoltaic panels are essentially comparable in terms of their rated output, service life, glazing strength (impact resistance), and ability to withstand the weather. Most have similar warranties, although some are slightly better. For these reasons, PV panels should be considered a commodity, and as such, the price per watt should be the main determining factor in picking a brand.

  Batteries are another commodity, at least if you buy traditional lead-acid deep-cycle (“golf-cart” type) batteries. Because of their high shipping weight, I strongly recommend that you buy the batteries for your system from a local vendor, such as your regional Interstate Batteries dealer. Be sure to do some comparison pricing before you buy. If the dealer offers a “core” credit and you are buying an entirely new system, be advised that dealers are often not particular about what you provide them for your trade-in. They are essentially just looking for a source of lead plates for recycling. If their core-refund terms are based strictly on battery weight or the combined amp-hours capacity, one trick is to ask around locally at venues such as Craigslist for free used car, truck, and tractor batteries. Part-time mechanics often have a dozen or more such batteries available, free for the taking. Depending on the size of your system, if you have a strong back and aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty, this can save you several hundred dollars.

  Mobile Solar Power Systems

  A portable photovoltaic system such as the one produced by Mobile Solar Power (mobilesolarpower.net) is ideal for either someone for whom mobility is key or someone who wants backup power but can’t have solar panels visible on a day-to-day basis because they live in a community with strict covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs). After TSHTF, your problem will not be your development’s Homeowners Association—it will be chaining the system down to keep someone from stealing it!

  Inverters

  An inverter is an electronic device that converts DC power into AC power. Inverter technology varies considerably, depending on maker. The Trace brand inverters are now sold under the Xantrex Technology (xantrex.com) name, and they still control a large portion of the market. Their major competitor in the United States is OutBack Power Systems (outbackpower.com), an up-and-coming company that was started by a group of former Xantrex engineers. The OutBack brand holds a slight margin in inverter technology.

  Charge-controller technology is still advancing, but all of the major brands are roughly comparable. Just be sure to get a controller that can handle your anticipated needs, even if you eventually add a few panels. Also keep in mind that more bells and whistles on a charge controller equals greater vulnerability to electromagnetic pulse (EMP). They are fairly inexpensive, so it is wise to keep a spare, stored in a faraday-cage enclosure, such as a steel ammo can.

  Running a Laptop from a Jump Pack in a Short-Term Emergency

  An inverter of proper size can run a laptop computer. A laptop can be powered by a jump pack with a twelve-VDC power port. The jump box can be recharged by a hand-crank twelve-VDC generator. In a short-term disaster, during which phone or wireless service is still up, this can allow you to stay connected for business and Internet access. In my experience, running a laptop (and/or charging a cell phone) from a twelve-VDC car adapter (DC-to-DC) plugged into your jump pack is far more efficient than using an AC inverter and then a DC power-cube transformer. That way you are just changing one DC voltage to another DC voltage—instead of a DC-to-AC-and-transformed-back-to-DC proposition, which is very inefficient.

  To keep your jump pack charged, a hand-crank generator does, indeed, work—even one MacGyvered from an electric-drill motor. But I’ve found that is labor intensive and time consuming. I’m more a fan of photovoltaic power panels, such
as the small panels available from Northern Tool and Equipment. Jump-pack variants are available with either 110 VAC (U.S./Canada) or 220 VAC (UK) utility power charging cords.

  Natural Sources of Power

  You should consider buying a retreat property with its own source of fuel: A natural gas well or a surface coal seam on the property would be fantastic (although of course quite rare), but at the very least consider buying land with a good stand of hardwood timber. To supplement your PV system, you might start shopping for a large yet easy-to-maintain steam engine with a power takeoff to run a generator and to handle other stationary-engine tasks. Another option is buying is a steep parcel of land with a fairly large creek running through it, for a penstock-fed Pelton-wheel micro-hydro generator. These are offered by several makers.

  Wind-Power Generators

  Because of their high maintenance and the risks associated with tower climbing, I generally don’t recommend wind turbines. But if you live in a very windy area with lots of cloud cover, a wind generator might be a viable option.

  Small wind generators are generally more trouble than they are worth. They tend to fail in high winds, usually in the dead of winter. If a wind generator’s automatic prop-feathering mechanism or its tail-vane-flipping mechanism fail, a generator can run over speed during high wind gusts and tear itself apart. This happens with alarming frequency. Who wants to climb a tower and work with hand tools to swap brushes or other parts at a time like that? For the past twenty-five years, the cost per watt for PV panels has come down steadily, but meanwhile both the cost per watt and the reliability of wind generators have remained about the same. Also consider the safety factor: Raising or lowering any large wind generator from a tower is a tricky operation. In the present day, I would recommend hiring a crane company to do so. In the event of TEOTWAWKI, when no mechanized help would be available, you would have to do it yourself, and that could be a real risk. And of course there is the OPSEC factor if there are any public roads with line of sight to your property, which could be an issue if you are trying to lie low.

  If you do decide to buy a wind generator, I recommend the Hornet series, from a company called Hydrogen Appliances (www.hydrogenappliances.com/Hornet1000.html). Essentially, the company took a standard wind generator and beefed it up. They just built everything another 20 to 50 percent thicker, wider, etc., than they had to. These generators are little beasts. For any maintenance issues that might come up (which is rare), the best bet is to install them on a tip-up tower. These can be lowered and raised if necessary.

  Most alternative power systems use large deep-cycle batteries. Rather than using jumper-cable clamps for connecting your deep-cycle batteries, for safety it is best to attach heavy-gauge battery-cable and terminal lugs. Use a detachable high-amperage-rated twelve-VDC polarity-protected pigtail block connector, in parallel with your vehicle battery cables. That way you can quickly disconnect and still be able to drive your vehicle without a time-consuming cable-unbolting procedure. Ideally, your battery bank will be the heart of an alternative power system that will also—as your budget eventually allows—include some photovoltaic panels. (This online primer is a good starting point: snipurl.com/hrhfm.)

  Having a generator that can provide you with power during a grid-down situation will be valuable albeit not as reliable in the long term as photovoltaics. I prefer propane or diesel-engine gensets, due to the longer storage life of their fuels. Low-RPM diesels last the longest, by far (roughly twenty thousand hours for a diesel versus only three thousand hours for a gas genset). Looking at things from a big-picture perspective, you pay a lot more for gas engines in the long run, because you’ll be buying one every four or five years. In contrast, a diesel may last you twenty or more years. And, in fact, if you shop around, diesels don’t cost any more than a gas genset with the same output. You might also consider getting one with an extra coaxial twelve- or twenty-four-VDC winding, so that you can charge a battery bank more efficiently. Plan ahead for the future, when you might have a PV power system.

  The right size for a home backup generator is 4,500 watts continuous and 5,500 watts peak, unless you have both a refrigerator/freezer and a chest freezer. You can always alternate between the two, with a little cord shuffling. However, if you live in a typical suburban housing development, I’d recommend that you get a ten-kilowatt unit, if you can afford it. Why? Odds are that the next time you have a lengthy power failure there will be neighbors tapping on your door—with extension cords slung over their shoulders. Believe me, they will hear your generator running.

  A genset that is over six or eight horsepower and on wheels tends to “walk” when operating, but you can overcome that either by strapping it down or by temporarily removing the wheels and bolting the frame to something solid. For a midsize genset at a fixed site, you might just skip getting a wheel kit if you have a strong back and a sturdy wheelbarrow.

  Because of shipping costs, you are probably better off buying locally, unless you live in a state with high sales tax, as the savings on tax would offset the freight charges.

  In my experience, recoil starters are generally the weak link with most low-priced midsize (eight to twelve horsepower) gensets. Be prepared to pay a bit more for one with an electric starter (and manual backup).

  Be advised that diesel has a problem with fuel gelling at low temperature. Typically, this clogs fuel filters when the temperature reaches the so-called cold-filter plugging point (CFPP). Fuel gelling can be avoided at temperatures as low as forty degrees below zero, with a diesel-fuel additive called Diesel Fuel Supplement, made by the same company that makes a popular diesel antibacterial additive. This additive also reportedly prevents gelling in biodiesel blends up to B20, which is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent “dinodiesel” (diesel derived from petroleum, rather than plants). There is also a product made in Germany, called Diesel-Therm, that preheats diesel fuel before it enters the fuel filter.

  Other than installations in arctic climates, where diesel-fuel gelling can be a problem, diesel gets my vote.

  Low-RPM Diesel Generator Availability

  Low-speed diesels such as the Lister and its listeroid clones are sadly no longer being imported to the United States. But listeroid engines do pop up on the secondary market here in the U.S. Watch for them vigilantly at Craigslist and in newspaper and “nickel” classified ads. Note that not all sellers will use the correct terms Lister or listeroid in their ad titles, so also do searches for “low-RPM diesel” and “one-cylinder diesel.”

  The tolerances and quality control seem to be better on the listeroids that are made in India. The Chinese engines, in contrast, were reverse-engineered, and some of the parts appear to be from the “file-to-fit” school of assembly.

  Secure Your Generator

  Anyone who has a portable (i.e., skid- or cart-mounted) generator that is not bolted down or locked in a generator shed with a sturdy door should consider securing it with a chain and padlock. You should preferably use a hardened bolt-cutter-resistant bike-and-motorcycle security chain and a large, stout padlock that is warded to offer little room for bolt cutters to be used. Short lengths of specially hardened chain are available from Nashbar.com. Longer chains are available from JCWhitney.com.

  Backup Power for a Well Pump

  One of the common questions that I get is how to configure a well pump to run from generator power. You will need to make a couple of inquiries: First, ask your well/pump man if your pump is 120 VAC or 220 VAC. If it is a 220-volt model, then you will need a special generator, or you will have to retrofit with a 120-VAC pump. Next, you will need to call several local electricians and get them to put in competitive bids for installing a proper bypass breaker panel and cabling it to your generator. I’ve seen people describe jerry-rigged male-to-male extension-cord generator hookups, but these do not meet electrical code and are potentially hazardous—for both you and the hapless power-company linemen attempting to restore power to your community.

  Can You Bur
n Home-Heating Oil or Kerosene in a Diesel Engine?

  Virtually all diesel generators will run equally well on off-road (dyed) diesel, road-taxed diesel, biodiesel (including waste vegetable oil and freshly pressed oils), and home-heating oil. In fact, up until the recent introduction of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) all three typically came from the same production runs at refineries. In essence, they are simply marketed differently.

  Home-heating oil burns fine in any diesel engine, but in many countries it is not legal to do so in a vehicle that is driven on public roads. This is a “road-tax” issue. Aside from a red dye additive, the formulation of home-heating oil is almost identical to the diesel that was made before the recent advent of ULSD. The only significant difference between the two is the federal standard on ash content. In the United States, Canada, the UK, and several other countries it is not legal to use dyed (untaxed) fuel in a vehicle that is driven on public roads. Of course if you are using the fuel in a generator set or in an off-road vehicle such as a tractor, you can’t be accused of cheating on the “road tax” levied on fuels for use in vehicles on public roads. (Fuels for use in stationary engines such as generators and irrigation water pumps, or for use in off-road vehicles, are exempt from this tax.) Enforcement of these statutes varies widely, but the fines can be substantial, so stay legal.