When the grid goes down during and emergency blackout, it is very difficult to do anything without electricity in your home today. If you already own a solar system did you know that in the event of a power outage your home solar system will be disconnected from the grid? This is all the more irritating because as we move forward and our utility infrastructure continues to mature with more demands being placed on it, we will have more blackouts in America. [continue reading…]

The Enphase MicroInverter is a grid tied utility interactive inverter that has been on the market since 2009. Consistent upgrades and strong engineering support has made this product an affordable alternative for the DIY homeowner over hiring and paying for the labor and overhead of a solar company to do the complete installation. Our MicroInverter home solar kits are scalable from 230 watts to 20kW (STC-DC rating). You can potentially save thousands with these simplified home solar kits. Less cost = faster pay-back. Fast and simple to install, Blue Pacific Solar will provide all the documents as well as the permit services (Permit Service Optional), or you can do-it-yourself. [continue reading…]

2820 watt (2.8kW) off-grid AC bimodal solar systems is manufactured, pre-wired and pre-tested in the factory, ready to power-up on delivery to your site. A bimodal solar unit works in sync with the utility grid until the grid goes down. Once that happens the inverter on a bimodal system takes over and draws electricity off the batteries. When the batteries are full the solar panels are shut off automatically waiting for the solar equipment to signal when its time to wake up. The complete prepackaged solar, called “SunPods”, are delivered by truck and lowered into place with minimal on-site construction required. [continue reading…]

When the stuffy noisy bustle of the city starts to close in its time to escape. That means either the Sierra Mountains or Grand Canyon and it also means going off-grid with my favorite portable solar charger. As the years passed the romance of the West Coast big city life has grown old. Travel in the desert brings a sence of peace only heightened by a hike or a camp under the stars. In case you were wondering, the picture was taken at Deer Creek in the Grand Canyon with one of my BFF. [continue reading…]

Here is a compact 1350 watt solar kit that is the perfect size for quick dependable home emergency back-up power. Don’t let another utility blackout leave you in the dark. This is a fabulous small solar backup kit is completely plug-n-play with a 90 watt solar panel ready to power a wide variety of electronics. [continue reading…]

We had an interesting conversation about home plug-and-play DIY solar kit with a customer from Florida this week. The Floridian was asking about our DIY home solar kits with micro-inverters and could he just rig a plug that just connects via an outlet. This is not an uncommon question and when the inquiry was directed to me to answer I wrote him back and told he no, we would not recommend him to do that but rather, he has to run conduit etc according to National Electric Code (NEC) with an AC disconnect, get a building permit and secure an interconnect agreement with his local utility. [continue reading…]

It does not really matter what device you want to charge off-grid using portable solar. These days there is a charger available for your cell phone, iPad or iPod, laptop or CPAP. Portable solar can give you the power when you are backpacking, hunting or just on a weekend campout with he family. Our portable solar product of choice is Goal Zero. These guys and gals really know the outdoors and walk the walk.

Most solar off-grid power systems will require a battery bank to store energy for use later when the sun is not shining. A battery bank is like the gas tank in your car. The larger the tank, the longer you can go between fill ups. However, a larger tank also means it will take longer to fill up when you do stop. Also, the larger the car’s engine (electrical load) the faster you will drain the gas tank (battery), which means you will need to stop more often for gas (recharge). [continue reading…]

It seems that nasty weather is becoming more the new normal these days. Unusual hurricanes, snowstorms, floods that cut off whole towns are increasing in number and ferociousness. From lights in your home to powering hungry electronics it is very difficult to do anything without power these days. Power blackouts can have very serious economic consequences for homes but even more so for a business unless the home or business has a backup power source. [continue reading…]

Those of us who live to get outside of the confines of the cubical, it’s pretty much a given that autumn’s the best time of year to be on the trail. My feet arch aching this time of year to put some distance and get off-grid. My portable solar charger is a big part of each of my escapes. [continue reading…]

We are seeing a growing trend of customers who are asking about going off-grid with solar and battery backup for their home in the city. Until just a few years ago when the decay of our countries infrastructure and dysfunctional Congress, they would have been a small fraction of the off-grid solar community. [continue reading…]