small relo, another solar test thwarted

micro relo

I would have moved further, but a logistical mistake on my part means a General Delivery package to the local PO is delayed.

Luckily on one of my hikes¹ with Muffin I spotted a site that could have improved solar harvest AND comfort.

solar test

The new spot has an E/W treeline, but the trees are tall enough that the mid-day sun throws shade the van can hide under. If I placed the van correctly it should get full sun until ~11am (see pic taken at 0930). That should give the mounted array enough time to do the heavy lifting. After 11am it’s shaded or mostly shaded the rest of the day.

The portables have a spot where I think they will have full sun all day. They’d been averaging 500Wh/day which one notable foray to 850Wh. I’d like to see it get 1kWh/day at this new spot.

But it will all have to wait. It has been 100% overcast since I set up here yesterday. Boo! The upside is I caught ~5gal of rainwater overnight.

Update: still 100% overcast but finished Absorption at 1438.

Update Jun 12: first sunny day in the new site. Getting good solar, the question is how much shade will I get in the hot afternoon. Yesterday had a bit of precip, got 1 more gallon of rainwater.

1. ok, these days it’s more of a slow clomping ↩