Prepper Solar Fantasy WRECKED!

How hard can it be to bust out a SOLAR PROJECT? I've got panels. I've got an inverter... The dudes on the TV show The Colony steal a CalTrans solar panel and bang out a solar charging station in half-an-episode. Seems simple.

Wake up call (for me):

Unless I have prepared to specifically build the thing I'm planning on building (or unless I'm only planning on recharging my iPhone and my DeWalt), I will not be able to "slap together" a solar power solution in the Apocalypse.

Over the last two weeks, I set myself to building a remote water pumping station (to broadcast sprinkle the trees and berries around my trout ponds.)

Step One: stare at the interweb for three days trying to match the sprinklers to the pump to the panel to the timers to the valve timers... Then: buy the right pump. (In my case, I found a way to do it all solar-direct without a battery. It complicated the project a little, but I don't have to house a battery on-site.)

Step Two: stare at all the parts on the floor, read all the manuals, and realize that I'm still missing circuit breakers, circuit breaker boxes, the right wire for the size of draw, crimpers, the right volt-meter, another line current booster, a bunch of filters for the water intake, two layers of line current protection, an additional small solar panel (to run the timers on 12vdc), and sprinkler valves that will actually run on 12vdc since all the valves at Lowes run on 12 volts AC, not DC.

Step Three: put it all together, read all the manuals again, check every step with the voltmeter, and still wonder and struggle for two days trying to get it to work right. Then figure out that very few voltmeters can reliably read over 10amps DC. Buy a new voltmeter

Step Four: go back to my preparedness list and buy $3,000 worth of additional solar stuff that I would need in order to have ANY CHANCE of completing the solar projects I envision for the Apockylypse.

Step Five: We have water pressure!

(On the upside: what a blast! This is what I love about prepping -- learning entirely new disciplines!)

I guess the point is the same with every other prepper discipline: if you haven't actually DONE the thing now, during good times, forget about "figuring it out after the flag goes up."

What kinds of solar projects have you guys put together? Pictures?

Here's what I envision needing from solar. What am I missing?

- Water pumping stations (to get ground water up to where it has head pressure)
- Water pressure boosting for my home
- Charging re-chargeable tools
- Running ham radio station
- Powering a hot fence to protect a greatly-expanded garden from critters
- Powering grow lights for winter greenhouses
- Powering a circ pump for my fish ponds
- LED lighting for the workshops

What have you guys built? What do you think you'll need?

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Prepper Solar Fantasy WRECKED!