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  • MOTHER EARTH NEWS

    Portable Solar-Powered Generator

    May 08, 2020 5 minutes
    Story and photos by Kerry W. Mann, Jr.

    Over the past five years, my wife and I have built many outbuildings and tackled numerous projects around our homestead. First came the chicken coop, followed by a greenhouse, a garden, a dog kennel, and even a small ice-skating rink! Each of these projects has one thing in common: They need electricity. We had been using a small gas-powered generator, but it was loud and expensive to run. For a more sustainable option, we decided to build a portable solar-powered generator.

    Our solar generator provides us with 115 volts of power that can be moved anywhere on our property. We built it using an old garden trailer, so we can simply hook the trailer up to our ATV and relocate it as needed. We’ve used it for several months now, and it’s performed flawlessly. So far, we’ve used it mainly to power our dog kennel, which includes four lights,

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