Initial off grid calculations and rain, at last!

We had a very dramatic thunderstorm last night with several close lightning strikes. We certainly needed the rain. As it was forecast I decided to unplug my computer system before we went to bed. I've been measuring the power usage of my computer setup so I had to take the reading before unplugging. We've used 1.14 Kwh in 103 hours of measuring. That works out to a little over a quarter of a Kwh per day. According to the solar calculator at FindSolar.com I only need 70 watts of panels to provide all the electricity to power my computer system. I have 120 watts of panels so will be providing ample charge to the battery to cover my needs. There will be some losses in the system but I may be able to offset them by manually turning my panels, I plan to mount them on a moving cart, throughout the day to stay at best orientation to the sun. I have a deep cycle battery and am ordering a charge controller so this blog should be solar powered soon. The next system to add will be the telephone and cable modem that we need to get our phone service and then on to the fridge. I'll keep you posted.