Spun Muffler Bearings

Congrats dude! We just signed papers as well, it's out in the hills east of Reading. Good seeing you in Texas, hope to see you again before too long.

Yup. We use 6v golf cart batteries. Never found anything that beats them as far as availability, size, charging characteristics and total lifetime. We typically get 6-8 years out of them but we have had a few last as long as 14 years. When they get a bit weak I move them to the "b" circuit which is an isolated system for back-up lighting only, and we get a few more years out of them. The Trojan T-105 has proven to be the best bang for the buck in this type of battery. Big enough to be useful, small enough that we don't need block & tackle to move them in & out of the basement.

Currently use solar at the vacation cottage. Previously wind powered, and maybe again someday. No local grid to connect to. Changed from wind to solar due to the maintenance requirements in a beach/marine environment. The panels charge a bank of batteries in the basement, and an inverter supplies regular AC power to the house from there. Our oldest panels are 26 years old and still supply useful power. On the other hand, inverters haven't been so reliable and batteries require periodic replacement even in the best of circumstances.