One of the mornings in April 2019, in a tropical mountain jungle, it was about 5.30, I opened my eyes underneath my humble shed, still half awake. The view right in front of my eyes was so stunning that I jumped out of my bed, trying to inhale every pixel of the scene breath by breath.
The violet horizon is holding up the cherry blossom pink sky. Gold clouds are flaring on the top. Even trees can’t help posing in front of such breathtaking scene. Every element of the universe is waiting for the sun to rise.
That was our first morning living on the Kep mountain in Cambodia, the beginning of an off grid living journey.
No electricity, water, sewage system or really anything other than the tropical plants and aboriginal animals living here. Getting and solving everything is a project itself. Research, look at neighbor’s case studies, experiment, A/B test and more research.
Every step is a challenge. Every step, we encounter something that we have never done or even thought about before. But every step, we learn something about the tropical nature and animals, wisdom from the locals. Every step, we know ourselves better.
Where to Buy Off Grid Living Must Haves
In this post, I’m going to share with you the essential equipments and tools that we use to start living off grid.
Our shopping cart will be up shortly. In the meantime, to purchase any of the items below, just send us a quick message here. We ship to most of the places in the world.
Heavyweight Leather Work Gloves
Cleaning weeds, planting trees, building and crafting things, a pair of strong gloves are essential to protect your hands. Especially in the jungle, you never know what’s hidden in the weeds or stones, it could be scorpions or snakes.
Work Gloves Product Specs
- Length: 26cm
- Palm Width: 13cm
- Material: Second layer cowhide and cotton
The gloves are unisex. Quite sturdy and comfortable. You can wear them for welding, building, bike or car maintenance, moving large objects, and of course any type of land and farm work.
US$13.50 for 3 Pair Combo Pack
Free delivery within Kep, Cambodia.
Delivery to other provinces or other countries, ask me.
Solar 4 Led Outdoor Lights
When we first moved to kep, everybody we know warned us “watch out for snakes”. Especially at night, always walk with flash light and a stick.
That’s why LED solar lights are on the top of our purchase list. Soon, we came across this compact 2-in-1 LED light. Cute and stylish. Effortless to use.
Simply stick it into the ground. That’s it. No tool needed. When the sun goes down, the light goes on automatically. In the morning, when the sun comes up, it turns off and starts charging itself.
You can mount it onto wall or pole as well. At night, it really jazzes up our place like a fancy resort.
Product Specs
- Automated Switch: Auto on at night. Auto off at sunrise
- 2 Modes: high, low
- LED Bulbs: 4 bright, 3 Watt
- Light color: Cold white or Warm white
- Solar panel: DC5.5V 1.7W
- Batteries: DC3.7V 220mA
- Water Proof Level: IP55
- Solar Charging Time: 8 hours
- Working Time: About 12 hours in low level, 8 -12 hours in high level mode
You can use it on your patio, deck, yard, garden, driveway, pool area or any outdoor space. They have gone through storms and strong gusts with us in the tropical weather and they are still working just fine.
US$16.50 for 2 Pack, specify cold or warm light.
Free delivery within Kep, Cambodia.
Delivery to other provinces or other countries, ask me.
Off Grid Solar System
Going off grid on power was a no-brainer decision for us. Setting up poles and pulling power lines for hundreds of meters is quite expensive here in Cambodia. It’s not even stable. Power shuts down a few times a week.
In the photo above, the solar panels are now laying on the ground. We are designing and working on the racks. Everything works very well. It even charges when it’s stormy.
The system is surprisingly simple and efficient. We have a 2.88KW system. It includes:
- 9 Solar Panels
- 1 PV Combiner Box
- 1 Off Grid Solar Inverter with Built in MPPT Controller
- 4 Lead Acid Batteries
- PV & DC Cables
- Ground Wires
- MC4 Connectors
- PV Tools
Off Grid Solar Power System Price
Price starts at $1,800 for a 1kw system.
To calculate your power needs and prices, send me a quick message.
Living off grid, you need to organize everything, setup everything yourself. You quickly start to realize that everything takes a good amount of work, effort and time to just exist to serve you and your life. Even getting a refrigerator to our place is not easy. We celebrated for weeks and are still in awe.
Living off grid is not easy but good. Besides of all the environmental and economical benefits, it’s actually good for yourself, for your physical and mental health. I truly hope we can help you do this more efficiently, at least avoid some of the mistakes that we made.
Next, we are working on a composting toilet and a natural water filter system, super exciting. We are also building a small house for our office and yes, we are building it by ourselves. It’s going to be a combination of Khmer and Japanese style. So stay tuned for more. 😉