Average PV power: 3kw.

 Rain overnight, very cloudy all day.  

After noon, I decided the PowerWall batteries were not going to get recharged by the end of the day.  The charge level declined to ~65% after a dawn level of about 80%.  The problem is that the PW isn't configured with CT "clamps" on all sources of PV power and was allowing some of my PV power to make it to the grid.   My PW will charge the battery with only about half my PV power.   Peak sunny PV power in this season has been about 20kw though it goes above 25kw during the peak season.

So, around 1pm, I told the PW  to disconnect from the grid.

With three 5kw batteries, my PW can charge at about 15kw.  Though I have not seen more than 7kw in the past.

At about 3pm, the charge level is about 85%.  And I hope it will be about 90% when the sun fails me.   That should be 4-5 pm.  With more clouds than sun, PV powers have been less than 10kw except for a few seconds when it went to about 18kw.   I'm heating the house with a 18 kbtu mini split which is using about 2-3 minutes near 2kw about every nine minutes.   So, most of my day time use is less than 1kwh each hour.  At that rate, the total capacity of a fully charged battery is 40-45 hours.  Over night, I typically keep the bedroom only warm for about 1/2 kwh/hour.  So, during "hard times" I can likely hunker down in the bedroom for ~90 hours if I can not charge while the sun is out.  "Hard times" means grid down for a long period with a long period of cloudy days.

With grid up and nice clear weather, it typically goes like this:

1) I start each evening with a fully charged battery.  6-8 pm depending on the season.

2) If I need modest heating or cooling overnight (in bedroom only), I get up in the morning with a charge level of around 80-85%.  

3) With good sun, the battery is usually fully charged around 11 am - noon.

Salton Sea

Small "take aways":  Slab City is an abandoned WWII military base.   Salton Sea was formed in 1905 due to flooding of Colorado River water.  Were it not for the Colorado River delta, Salton Sea would be the northern end of the Gulf of Califonia (Sea of Cortez).   Current lake level is about 230 feet below sea level.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8vwXFwlIys&list=WL&index=19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2TGqGSvS8s

He mentions by-passing a "factory" which he apparently considered ugly.  In fact, he shows one of eleven geothermal plants that are in the area:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Buttes

This from Bombay Beach, not far from Slab City.

For more detail:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/931Zd4Bobu8E8tq46

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Ship_of_the_Desert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombay_Beach,_California

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California

"Waste Land"?

When I was a youth, "waste land" might be had for around $40/acre.  With the value being determined by grazing lease value.  I imagine west Texas grazing value of this place might be $5 (or less) per acre per year.  Cheap land used to be available in Arkansas, west Texas, New Mexico, Arizona.  In Arkansas, it was primarily recently harvested timber that was ~30 years away from producing a new crop.

In west Texas, land without irrigation prospects values has been supported mainly by oil production prospects.  Now, it is being held up due to sun and wind power production prospects.  I understand royalties paid on wind and PV land can be around $1k/acre/year.

But, this is an interesting project!  In an area that with which I am familiar.  

https://youtu.be/D6fl8dap5nk

Los Algodones

i recently visited and was impressed at the easy access to a border town.  A large parking lot is adjacent to the border crossing and is well suited to crossing the border on foot.  Parking is owned by an Indian Tribe which has no competition.  $6/day for supervised (and presumably 'safe")  IS reasonable, though.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Algodones

As the article probably says, the town is popular with USA citizens seeking low cost medical care.  The plastic surgery, dental, eye care, and prescription drugs are good examples of business thriving there.

I was shopping for prescription drugs.  During COVID, I had trouble seeing my doctor in order to renew prescriptions.  So, I made several trips, over a year or so, to buy in Mexico.  One of my four blood pressure drugs was hard to find on the other side of the Texas border.  A pharmacy in Los Algodones was able to supply that drug.  Total time in doing the Los Algodones crossing was less than two hours.  Los Algondes has the reputation of being one of the safest of the border towns.  My observation supports that.  When I went, a year or so ago, to Matamoros (across from Brownsville), I was astonished at the business stagnation.  Rumors are that the town is mostly controlled by Mexican criminals.  To a lesser extent, that seems true about many other Texas border towns.  Nuevo Laredo is still a very nice place to walk across but the tourist business is very poor.  I intend to visit Reynosa in the next year or so.

If a reader knows the meaning of "Algodones", please comment.