Severe Weather Preparations

[captain]

A little history on the topic. Every spring here in Oklahoma we have pretty severe weather and we spend a good amount of time without power or in a storm shelter underground. I had enough last year of going down into the shelter and not having good reception on my phone or having power issues.

This weekend I welded up a frame that would withstand high winds, hail and that could protect a solar panel from sides in those high winds. I ran wiring for an external Hi Def TV antenna, cat 5 for a camera or wireless AP and power for an external LED light to shine on the shelter door. All of the wiring is underground until it pops out and goes in through the vent fan down to a charge controller and a battery.

We have an LED tv on the wall now and are able to charge 6 usb devices and run two AC devices from an inverter. The goal was communication and to be able to be in the know and not lose connection with the world while we were underground. I hooked up the system today and it started charging up...

Project complete.

 

[WuzzaCBXRider]

My mother was born in OK in 1910 and would've been in awe of such a setup. Her parents lived out their lives in a 'little fart of a town' called Tuttle. She told me several tornado stories from her childhood. Congrats on your preparation!

 

[semi]

i'll give you two storms before you are upgrading it

way to be prepared though +

 

[captain]

My mother was born in OK in 1910 and would've been in awe of such a setup. Her parents lived out their lives in a 'little fart of a town' called Tuttle. She told me several tornado stories from her childhood. Congrats on your preparation!

Heh, Tuttle is the next town over and it's like my back yard been all over it.

 

[georgiabusa_05]

Nice set up Cap.

 

[WuzzaCBXRider]

Heh, Tuttle is the next town over and it's like my back yard been all over it.

All over it? I haven't been there since the late 50s. Except for the main drag all of the side streets were still dirt or gravel. Grampa still had an outhouse in the back but they had installed a toilet in a spare room...A cousin took me to Minco or Chickasa, whichever town had a theater. I recall the heat and the huge bugs all over the place. Grampa was friends with Frank James in the old days.

 

[captain]

Love it man, we have asphalt these days but still use outhouses......

 

[Lucid]

Looks awesome! I'm in OK as well. Will that solar panel (not the frame) hold up to our hail? Only think I think I can add is maybe removable cover?

 

[Blue Bayou]

Damn nice setup Captain..!! The weakest link appears to be the solar panel itself. As Lucid mentioned, the possible damage from hail and in a tornado, flying crap everywhere. Then if you cover it with something to protect it, you cut down on the efficiency of said panel. I guess ya just
have to take your chances.

 

[VIPER]

The panel is there to charge said batteries. During a storm if it gets broken, the batts still work as they are charged. Replace as need be if it gets broken.

 

[captain]

The panel can take the hail but I do have expanded metal cover that I can put over it when the weather comes in. The panels can take a beating for sure... we had tennis ball sized hail hit the panels that power my house a few years ago and not a scratch on them.

 

[captain]

I will post the parts list in a little bit, less that 75.00 in electronics. You choose the battery you want... so that would add to it.