Living off grid in rural Fiji

I’ve had some questions sent to me about if I’ve been able to do any quilting yet. The simple answer is not yet but it got me thinking about writing a blog about how we are managing our power requirements.

Firstly our location is approximately 30 kms away from the nearest power grid in Nabouwalu. This doesn’t sound that far away but it takes about an hour and a half to drive that distance along a rough dirt road that winds up and down some pretty steep hills. The government has been promising to bring power lines down the coast but it will take years before it reaches our location.

Without a steady supply of power we have to be very aware of what we do that uses power. Lighting and communications are our main priority followed by construction. Unfortunately my sewing machine and iron are not supported by our very basic off grid power solutions at the moment. That’s not to say that’s the way it’s going to be for the long term.

Currently we have a basic solar system with one solar panel and a 12 volt battery. This allows us to use up to 4 lights although we usually only use 2. And this system in combination with a small inverter allows us to charge our cell phone, ipad, laptop, pocket wifi modem, kindle, rechargeable batteries, morphie (portable battery back for cell phone charging) and flashlight.

In addition we have a couple of inflatable solar lights that are fantastic. They fully charge in about 7 hours of sun and provide about 12 hours of light. I purchased these from Lee Valley and I recommend them for every camper, boater, or outdoor enthusiast.

We also have a large generator that Arthur brought from Canada. Once our house is built we will have a full off grid solar system integrated with this back up generator. In the meantime we use the generator when we need to use Arthur’s power tools. When Arthur fires it up, I connect everything that needs a charge to make best use of fuel. In retrospect a smaller generator would have better meet our needs right now.

We’ve also tried a couple of smaller solar charging systems that have not worked as well as the one we are currently using. The first system we tried was the Power Monkey, also sold by Lee
Valley. This system is supposed to charge a lithium battery in 2 days of full sun and have up to 5 cell phone charges through a 5 volt USB port. But after many days in the sun we still do not have a full charge. Overall I would not recommend the Power Monkey and it was definitely not worth the $180 price tag. The only good news is that its lithium battery can be charged by AC current so I’m going to try charging it using our current system and inverter. That way I’ll have an additional portable backup battery for our small electronic devices.

The second system we tried we purchased in Suva for $120. It includes a LED flashlight, 5 volt battery, 4 light bulbs and 2 USB ports for charging cell phones. The lights are not very bright and the battery does not hold a charge for very long especially if you have to charge a cell phone and use the light. It can’t charge a laptop and ipads/kindles drain the battery pretty quickly. It might be good for camping but doesn’t meet our needs.