February 23, 2023

Cover of HOW WE WENT OFF GRID by Matthew Watkinson
Community|People

Off-Grid Authors Battle Neighbours

The authors of a book about how to live legally off the grid have been blocked from their home as revenge for writing the book. Charis and Matt Watkinson had used the book, HOW WE WENT OFF GRID, to blast the opponents of their planning application as selfish Nimbys.

Neighbours of the couple took control of a vital footpath leading to their Welsh smallholding, and now they fear they will be forced to sell up and move out.

“The impact could be devastating,” they said. “If we don’t have access to our home then we will have to leave and have to start from scratch.

“We will just have to start again. I don’t know what property prices are like at the moment but it will be hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“It will be emotionally and financially devastating. It would just be the worse case possible.’

“How We Went Off-Grid” is published by Vivum Media, which also publishes the off-grid.net web site. Matt and Charis, who quit jobs as vets to move to a zero-carbon eco-farm in Wales are facing financial ruin after neighbours ‘bought an unregistered right of way footpath just to cut off their access in personal vendetta’ according to their claims.

Their self-sufficient farm, described by Mr Watkinson as ‘a glorified recycling junk yard’, includes a person-powered washing machine and a gas cooker that functions on horse manure. They also have solar panel for electricity and a biodigester for gas, meaning they only have to pay for council tax.

Living on a zero carbon farm protected the family from soaring energy prices and the cost of living crisis, while its remoteness also provided a shield from the Covid pandemic.

A previously unregistered right of way, the access lane to their dwelling, has been purchased by a retired couple who are threatening to sue for trespassing and harassment.

The couple, who have two young children Elsa and Billy, were able to begin living their green dream thanks to the Welsh Government’s One Planet Development Policy.

The scheme allows families to build houses on green-belt land as long as they operate on zero carbon – a target they must hit within five years. HOW WE WENT OFF GRID provides the template that others can use to do the eact same thing.

Mr Watkinson said: ‘We have been here six years now. We are now living a very sustainable and low impact lifestyle. We have been shielded from energy price hikes, Covid, and the cost of living crisis.

‘We have been very glad to be up here. The house is a glorified recycling junk yard. We have a horse lorry, a camper van, but it is all perfectly functionable.’

‘There was opposition when we first moved, but once we received planning permission, we thought we would be left alone.

‘We were not being questioned just on …

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Map of the relationship between power sources, home and car battery
Energy

Your Car Will Be Your Battery

Petaluma, CA – 18th Feb. A new kind of car charger could unleash massive growth in off-grid living. Enphase Energy has announced plans to introduce a system to transfer power generated by electric vehicles and home solar systems either into the power grid, or serve as emergency power sources (i.e. off-grid power).

Company officials say its new two-way charger, or bidirectional electrical vehicle chargers, is “expected to work with most electric vehicles.” It successfully demonstrated the system earlier this month and expects to introduce it next year.

With this news, Enphase has joined a short list of manufacturers vying for a share of this vehicle-to-grid (V2G) market that is forecast to reach $28.12 billion by 2026, according to IndustryARC.com.

Bidirectional charging not only allows direct current to alternating current transfers from solar panels to batteries using inverters, it can also reverse the process using AC-to-DC converters to send power from EV batteries back to a residence to keep lights and appliances running in emergencies, as well as return excess power to the grid for credits or refunds.

“The market for ‘green charging’ options is growing, and Enphase’s bidirectional concept has been well received,” said Mohammad Alkuran, Ph.D., senior director of systems engineering at Enphase. “More new electric vehicles are being designed to include two-way charging systems.”

IndustryARC analysts predict the global V2G market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.28% from 2021 to 2026, based on data showing that adoption of electric vehicles worldwide is affecting demand for EV charging infrastructures.

According to Sam Fiorani, vice president of Auto Forecast Solutions, while “bidirectional charging is still in its infancy, once it becomes mainstream it could revolutionize how EV owners view their vehicles. Instead of seeing their cars and pickups as separate from their homes, they could become more integrated into owner’s lives the way the telephone has become over the past decades.”

He said this technology is also seen as an integral part of the next wave of EV evolution — called V2X, the vehicle-to-everything world — that would interconnect transportation and power systems to transfer electricity stored in EV batteries to the grid, buildings, homes and other energy sourcing destinations.

Bidirectional electric-vehicle charging is part of a home energy system that can pull in power from the grid or from on-site sources such as solar panels to charge the vehicle. Properly equipped EVs and chargers can both receive power to charge the battery and send power from the battery to supply the home (vehicle to home, V2H) or the grid (vehicle to grid, V2G).

Bidirectional electric-vehicle charging is part of a home energy system that can pull in power from the grid or from on-site sources such as solar panels to charge the vehicle. Properly equipped EVs and chargers can both receive power to charge the battery and send power from the battery to supply the …

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