Adventures on the Journey
February 26th was the first day of 2025 that I produced more energy than I consumed.
I typically start producing surpluses in late March, but an unseasonably warm (55°F) sunny day combined with the new panels moved the timeline forward.
Update (March 23rd): despite every day of the past week being mostly overcast, I have still produced 8% more electrons that we consumed over the past week.
I recently obtained this lovely new yard ornament named Yak.
Yak is 1/3 of our snowmobile fleet at Meany Lodge. Our main winter transport for the 3 miles from Crystal Springs Sno-Park to the Lodge is Tomcat which can haul 35 people + gear. We use the snowmobiles for the many smaller transport tasks such as hauling large sleds full of groceries and gear to and from the car park.
This machine suffered a mechanical failure and the cost of repair exceeds the machines value. Instead of disposing of Yak, I intend to strip the 4-cycle ICE powertrain and replace it with an electric motor and a DIY Li-Ion battery pack. The project is just getting started as I’ve purchased a box of battery cells to experiment with and started searching for the lightest and most efficient 100HP motor I can find.
When it is complete and we have demonstrated a minimum viable product (the ability to drive to and from the Sno-Park with sufficient reserve capacity), I hereby promise to impersonate the canonical “It’s Alive” scene.