Hi!

Talking about hoophouse, in case you have not seen it already, the Kerr Center have a good document on building low tunnels.  They have a PDF complete with full photo instructions, and a BOM.  It comes down to a little above 1$ per square foot, which is fairly reasonable IMHO.  Check it out: http://kerrcenter.com/publications/hoophouse/index.htm

Hi Angela!

We built the second one because the first was so easy.  It really is a matter of building a shallow box, painting it with deck paint (to protect against the UV), soldering some cells together on a piece of Masonite, and covering the top of the “box” with a sheet of Lexan or Plexiglas.  It comes out heavy like furniture, but we’re getting 120 watts off the pair at 18 volts.  That will produce about 33 amp hours per day, depending on the weather and time of year.  That’s enough to run some CF lights, an iPod with 2.1 speakers, that cursed cell phone booster, and some moderate power tool usage.

It is really satisfying to have the juice there when we need it.  We still turn on the generator for the well pump and big, long running power tools, but this takes care of over 80% of our regular needs.  And if you have the guts to run a farm, you can make one of these things. 

Drew