Hey @jacobpeacock
I'm new to steemit and found your post while searching for people to follow. My wife and I were in the same situation with solar and no sun. I found a simple solution. I built a gas powered battery charger from a used truck alternator and a 5 horse preditor engine from harbour freight. Works like a champ to supplement the lack of sun. I just signed up today and haven't written any articles yet. Maybe I should start with "how to build a gas powered battery charger"
Hi @offgridmaker. Welcome to Steemit! I have definitely looked at building a gas based battery charger but utilizing a 12 or 24 volt DC generator instead of an alternator. As tempting as it is it would contradict my resolution to only invest in electricity generation methods that do not rely on fossil fuels. Last winter I did use a small gas generator a good bit but it eventually went haywire and fried some of my gear. After that I tallied up how much I had spent on fuel and oil from it and realized that I could have afforded a small hydro-electric rig, some more solar panels or larger deep cycle batteries. I have been very tempted numerous times to absolve my resolution to not invest anymore in fossil fuel powered electricity generation (and at some point I still might do it just so I can run certain power tools) but so far I am holding firm and although it means going without electricity occasionally the truth is that having or not having the stuff really is not all that vital to my day to day existence. It is all just my personal preference there and not something that I think is suitable for everyone but that sort of 'freedom' from fossil fuels for electricity sure is a good feeling.
A few folks on here that you may enjoy connecting with are @makinstuff and @jackbub, Cheers and have a great day/night.
It is interesting how our brains work. Before I made the battery charger we just went without certain things when the batteries were too low, but no we seem to get close to a state of panic when we get too low on our gas supply.
I think it's great that you're standing firm on you're convictions. Good luck