Rustic Cyberpunk

Solving small problems is the proverbial thread-pulling of DIY.

For the past few months, I've been back in school. I already have a degree, which has nothing to do with my actual interests, but I thought I'd study something that would help me along the rough spots on my cabin journey. As I'm figuring out systems and doing what I thought was rudimentary engineering, it became impossible to ignore the encroaching penumbra of my own ignorance.

I know just enough to be dangerous.

Over the years, I rarely bothered to learn the proper procedure for technical things, or verify instinctual approximations, or reassess habitual shortcuts to a finished project. Not Earth-shattering in most aspects of my life, but dangerous when I'm forced to rely on my machinations for actual survival. Especially out in the remote area where I'm planning to build the cabin. There are huge gaps in my knowledge, wider than the plotholes in an action movie.

When I started looking into developing my own MPPT solar charge controller, the thought of designing my own seemed like the natural first step. Until I understood how slippery these subsequent steps would be and how dangerous it would be to ascend this pyramid of my hubris without the handrails of adequate knowledge. Things like power supplies and solar chargers have a myriad of deceptively innocent-looking terminals and tolerances, any number of which are potentially fatal.

Which leads me to where I am now. I'm half way to being marginally well-versed in safe practices for these sorts of things and I'm getting a good understanding of why things work. I'm still taking it slowly, between work and life, so I hope to be done with this degree sometime in the next couple of years. As somewhat of a school project, I might get into a finished solar charger and power storage solution, with my own battery system, along the way.

Update: Sunday, 11th

I managed to procure some additional tools for the electrical work. I normally abhor collecting tools for the sake of them, but power-related technology requires the testing be as complete as possible since the systems are installed and running in all weather conditions.

I'll probably have more time to write about these in the coming days.