Complete independence from the power grid does not have to remain a dream, as a DIY enthusiast shows. His approach: old batteries, solar panels, and a Tesla.
What has the DIY enthusiast built? The user Glubux reports on the website Second-Life-Storage in a forum post about his passion project: hundreds of old laptop battery cells in a specially constructed shed to power all his electronics. Solar panels are used for charging.
“I started collecting and already have more than 650 [batteries],” he explained at the start of his project in 2016. At the end of 2024, he got in touch again – and quite a lot has happened in the past eight years.
A construction game centered around renewable energy supply is Solarpunk:
Independent from the power grid
How is the system set up? With solar collectors, he captures sunlight, which is ultimately stored as electrical energy in batteries. For this, he built a special shed in the garden of the family home.
Regarding the batteries, as he describes, they are old laptop battery packs that he has disassembled and tested. He then arranged the cells in large configurations and soldered them together accordingly. Additional electronics regulate and control the charging and discharging of the storage.
A few years ago, according to a post in the forum, he also acquired a Tesla, which is charged along with an older Nissan electric car through the system. They also serve as an additional buffer to store even more electricity for gloomy weather.
Is he really powering his entire house with this? According to his statements, yes. The load of the constant power flow is apparently excellently distributed across all cells, so that none are overstrained. In the case of heavy cloud cover, the solar system obviously delivers much less power. To ensure there is always enough electricity available, he has now increased his stock to more than 1,000 batteries.
In an update from the end of 2024, he announces the purchase of new, more powerful solar systems. Everything is reportedly still running smoothly. He has not had to replace a single battery cell so far. The energy supply for him and his family seems to be secured.
If you are interested in the topic, be sure to check out the forum post linked above. Glubux also responds to questions from interested users who want to set up such self-supply systems.
Solar energy is, of course, also a topic of the future beyond individual houses. If we want to switch our energy supply, a clever mix of energy suppliers is needed. Some pioneers for the power grid of tomorrow are already in operation today: The largest solar park in Europe supplies 2 million people with electricity – Although it is not really located in Europe
