#1462 – Episode 1462: Off-Grid Living, Solar Systems, and Construction Tips in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started All right, just a little announcement before we get rolling here. This show first airs on Friday August 15th But the Sunday show that's what's going on the 17th the following show Well, there might not be that Sunday show because I'm having some dental work done

[00:48] And if my jaw hurts, there won't be a Sunday show. We'll see. All right. Let's get rolling You know practically everyone who's got a plan B down here in Latin America, especially long-term expat gringos We all eventually get involved in a building or remodeling project. In fact, it seems I'm always involved in one or the other Right now I'm doing a big remodeling project and adding an off-the-grid solar system It will be but my fourth off-grid solar system in case you're interested exactly what my solar system involves Send me an email to expat files at gmail.com and I'll send you the breakdown It's a complete system. You can have someone install or do it yourself. It's that easy and the tech support is fantastic Suffice it's to say since solar is so cheap these days You're nuts if you don't oversize your system

[01:34] That is make it able to handle 10 or 20 percent more than your monthly kilowatt hour usage in the old days People would undersize their solar system because the stuff was so damn expensive For example about five six years ago now I did a complete off-the-grid Tesla Powerwall system with two Tesla Powerwall battery and two SMA inverters from Germany I needed two at the time to give me 10 kilowatts of continuous output if I needed the power that would be the equivalent of Being able to handle a 100 amp circuit breaker panel Which is about minimum what you need to run a whole house and I had 29 solar panels Which gave me about twelve thousand watts of power when the Sun was up and in most of Latin America Especially Central America you get maximum power from the solar panels about five to six hours a day

[02:24] So what that system cost me about forty thousand bucks about five or so years ago now get this the system I'm putting in right now in a different house different location has fewer panels about 24 puts out more solar power about 15,000 watts when the Sun's up. I've got just one inverter that puts out 12,000 watts continuously Instead of having to have two in parallel like the previous system and three Equivalent Tesla Powerwall batteries. They're not Tesla's but everyone's making them now There are something like 20 different companies producing batteries that have all the equivalent specs that Tesla Powerwall batteries have Pretty much Tesla clones same guts same 10-year guarantee and same promise of 8,000 charge and discharge cycles

[03:11] That means in the daytime if you charge those batteries to full and then at night use all that energy to power Whatever your appliances air conditioning wherever they guarantee you can do that 8,000 times if you divide that by 365 days in a year, that means those batteries are guaranteed to last you 22 years Which I promise you is much more realistic than the 10-year guarantee They give you the fact is they'll probably last much longer than 22 years because almost no one Completely discharges their batteries every night in my last system when I checked the batteries in the morning Before the Sun came up and started hitting the solar panels. My batteries were never at zero They're almost always a third full around 30% So anyway, this system that I'm putting in right now

[03:57] This new system is about a third more powerful than my last Tesla Powerwall system and it costs less than half around 18 grand Oh, and the reason why I made it a little more powerful a third more powerful is because now it's equipped to charge any kind of electric car if I had tried to charge an electric car with the system I had five or so years ago, I Probably would have been pushing it too hard. So anyway, if you want the step-by-step complete detail Down to all the tools you'll need if you do it yourself down to the wiring sizes even send me an email the expert files at gmail.com By the way, the great thing about the latest greatest hybrid inverters. That's what they're called hybrid inverters That means you could use them completely off the grid or hook up to the grid and sell power back to your utility company

[04:43] If you want to great idea, right, but personally I'm not big on it Because you have to sign all kinds of agreements and contracts with the local electric company They'll come out and inspect and check your system. Nothing wrong with that except in the future You can bet they're gonna do like California and I hear Texas and Oregon are doing pretty soon to Taxing your solar panels so much for free energy and getting off the grid, huh? Turns out since more and more people are getting pissed off at those high electric bills going off the grid That means they've got little or no electric utility bill, right? And if you look at your bill, you'll find all kinds of federal state and local taxes with a lot of other mystery charges thrown in Which they supposedly use to maintain the grid But that means of course if you're off the grid you pay no utility company taxes

[05:30] Therefore as more and more people get off the grid state-run utility companies are losing revenue from clients They always looked at as cash cows and running scared because they never thought so many people would try to get off the grid So fast, so they're complaining. How can we maintain the grid? They can do two things raise electric rates, which they do all the time or tax you the solar panel owner By the number of panels you've got in your house. What a bunch of Parasites, huh? So of course if you're selling energy back to the grid and you've got to deal with the electric company because you've signed contracts and they've seen Your system they're gonna know exactly what your system is putting out and how many panels you have on Europe and since you're not paying An electric bill. It's your fault right that they're not getting their tax money So they're gonna tax the shit out of you like they're starting to do in California and other states

[06:19] That's what you get for being a good citizen and lessening your burden on the grid So again, it's more proof of your two-faced government saying out of one side of their mouth conserve save energy We've got rolling brownouts and you can help while out of the other side of their mouths They're saying yeah, go ahead try it get off the grid and we'll tax every single solar panel you got on your roof Assholes In other words, even if you're off the grid to the government, you're just sheep to be shorn So a long story short, that's why I don't feel good about selling power back to the utility company Now, of course up in the states if you're secret about setting up your solar system and don't sell power back to the grid They're still gonna know about it and eventually you're gonna get taxed They can check out house rooftops with Google Maps or just do a drone flyover a drone sweep

[07:08] Whereas down here in Latin America, the governments are so disorganized and lard-assed You know the story that even if you do make a deal to sell power back to the grid and almost all countries have that Now man the lag time on taxing solar panels on your roof probably won't happen for 10 or 15 years But still I don't want to sign a contract with any government electrical utility for any reason By the way, let me tell you something interesting about having solar power here in Latin America Because in some in fact most Latin American countries The power does go off and on a couple times a week sometimes more and more people are Switching to solar. Of course, we're talking about upper-middle class and wealthy people Well, not that many wealthy people because they got the money to blow on electric bills

[07:53] But the fact is no one likes a power outage and if you have solar you've mostly eliminated that problem So as you're driving around through Latin America You'll see quite a few people with solar panels on the roof lots of banks and small businesses, too But here's the thing almost none of them have storage batteries. You know those big expensive lithium phosphate batteries Because you see even the cheapest clone Tesla Powerwall battery They store about 14.3 kilowatt hours when all charged up even the cheapest Tesla clones run 3,000 bucks or so in a real Tesla Powerwall brand name around 10 grand By the way, if you're gonna go completely off the grid here in Latin America, you'll need at least two Tesla Powerwalls or equivalents So anyway, I'd say about only one in 20 people who have solar panels have batteries

[08:41] Whereas it's up on the stage probably a half to a third of all people with solar panels have batteries So as you're driving around down here in Latin America, you're thinking Wow so many people have solar panels. That's cool There are lots of people in businesses getting off the grid, but technically they're not they're drawing solar power During the day are right when the sun's out, but with no battery storage at night They're sucking power from the grid. So it's true. They're like bills are cut way down, but at night They're still buying power. So anyway, it's something to think about my advice though Is if you're going solar go all the way get the batteries you won't be sorry So anyway, I'm in the middle of a big remodeling project once again, you know every time I do that here in Latin America I've done it now 14 or 15 times It's funny cuz each time right in the midst of the project I say to myself

[09:29] Why did I think this was a good idea because I'm telling you really have to be on your guard You have to keep your eyes open. You can't walk away for a week or two from a project That's ongoing because anywhere along the line things can go south Oh, and even if you select the best and most qualified of technicians or contractors, they're just sloppy as hell I mean all of them need an example. Well, I'm having a bathroom remodel They're ripping out the tile and the old bathtub putting in all new chrome hardware, etc We're talking about a remodeling job. So people are living in this house while the construction is going on So what I did was I instructed the contractors to go out and buy three plastic tarps You know those waterproof tarps with the grommets Of course the contractors don't have those things on hand you have to have the foresight

[10:14] Anyway, I told the cleaning lady to cover everything the beds the floors because if you remodel a master bedroom You got to go through the bedroom to haul stuff in and out Here's the thing if I would not have told the cleaning lady to protect everything cover the bed cover the dressers Cover the floor with those plastic tarps that have been tons of damage done and believe me at the end of the day When the workers are cleaning up and get ready to go home, although they go through the motions They just do not clean up after themselves In fact, it was discovered when they were mixing cement on the patio when they were done and hosed down The wet cement from the patio during the so-called cleanup phase Turns out some of it went down the patio drain hardened up in there and the next day It was completely clogged clogged with cement even now. It's still clogged

[11:03] I just hate to see what's gonna happen after the next big rain This is the rainy season, you know, the fact is the workers are just careless and don't give a shit Of course you long-time listeners have heard me talk about painters so-called professional painters At least that's what they call themselves. They splatter paint everywhere and almost never clean up after themselves unless you point it out Well get this the guys that remodeled the bathroom They scratched the shit out of the vanity cabinet and the toilet even though the cleaning lady covered them both with a heavy canvas Dropcloth supplied once again, not by the contractor, but yours truly still somehow they managed to lay their heavy tools Their hammers their chisels, etc on those drop cloths Scratching what they were supposed to protect. The point is every last worker and contractor here is super sloppy

[11:50] Even when you're right there staring them down. They just do what they always do unless you tell them otherwise Oh, and if you live in a residential tower and let's say you want a bathroom or a kitchen remodel I guarantee you while work is in progress, you're gonna get a call from the building administrator the super Whatever telling you that elevators all fucked up. There'll be sand and dirt and smudges You know how up in the states when contractors work in a high-rise The first thing they do is they pad the elevator. They protect it They put a pad on the floor and cover the walls not down here unless you make them do it That's why so many elevators have dents and scratches cracked and busted light panels and ceilings It's from workers going up and down up and down with their tools Boxes bricks drywall, whatever it seems in every building within elevator

[12:39] The elevator itself shows the scars of every team of workers or repair guys that have been through Not to mention even the so-called professionals don't have the right tools You know what they say right tool for the right job But you know, you can make do with a minimum amount of tools But the end result at least the look or the cosmetics of the job will suffer never be perfect or outstanding That's why you see so many tile floors with floor drain that look like a child chiseled out the hole Oh, there'll be a nice metal drain grade. All right, but the hole made for it in the tile all chipped rough and ragged That's common down here even in really nice houses Why because the plumber or tile guy didn't have the right tool for the job a diamond hole So you can get him at the hardware store for 10 bucks

[13:25] So why am I bringing all this up because just this week longtime listener Greg? I think he's living in Mexico now. He just sent me a nice long very complete list entitled Building and renovation do's and don'ts for gringos and expats involved in construction and remodeling projects Basically, it's a list including warnings to gringos and expats Embarking on remodeling or construction projects here in Latin America So like he says in this email you can either learn from your mistakes whilst remodeling or building or refer to this list To avoid some of the more common building and remodeling problems you'll find with contractors here in Latin America It's nicely done and broken in categories. For example first on the list is

[14:11] Electrical jobs, let me just read a couple of the bullet points here so you can get an idea how complete this is It says with electrical stay with square D products the panels the breakers the meters and Install at least about 100 amp panel in your house Make sure you have a surge suppressor in the panel Make sure there's some extra slots in your breaker panel for expansion in the future For example, he says on my last job. I used a 42 slot panel. No harm to have extra slots You'll thank yourself later. It says things like consider installing all your wall receptacles Two meters that's six feet apart. You'll thank yourself later always install 20 amp Receptacles in the kitchen and use number 12 AWG wire not number 14 like most Latin American

[15:01] Electricians will do it says consider installing a US style wall receptacles like Leviton as opposed to the Mexican cheaper ones The Mexican or Latin American made in styled receptacles often do not accept a plug without some difficulty Hmm, I can vouch for that Sometimes when you have to force a plug in to one of those receptacles the whole box wiggles and moves not good But you see that's normal down here You see it everywhere another point when dealing with electrical it says put all your AC units on separate circuits and make sure Your refrigerator microwave and heavy appliances are on separate circuits on your breaker panel. You will thank yourself later

[15:47] it says install exhaust fans in your bathrooms and ceiling fans in your bedrooms and Make sure your closets have a light and a receptacle make sure all your outlets are three prong and a center prong is actually ground By a cheap polarity tester and check each one out Do not use orange or gray or white plastic flex tube for exterior use or direct burial It's only for interior dry and non sunlight applications boy. Is that an important point? You see violations of that rule everywhere down here. That stuff is not UV resistant or water tight But people use it like crazy outside again make your electrician always use number 12 AWG Receptacle wiring for your 120 volt receptacle make sure your main electrical circuit panel box is properly

[16:38] grounded to a copper earth ground outside Hmm, man, that's another thing you see here in Latin America all the time power receptacles that are not grounded Use GFI's that's ground fault interrupters in bathrooms and the kitchen. You almost never see them down here It's cold in the States Canada and Europe, but no one uses them down here Why because they're about four times as expensive as a regular receptacle though They will save you from getting shot or even killed, but that's not important. Huh? Oh, and here's a big one a real big one never use 120 volt lighting around your pool Garden fountains or areas that receive rain or a lot of humidity most Latinos use 120 volts because it's cheap and available But it's not safe always use extra low voltage 5 to 12 volt DC LED lights around pools

[17:30] Gardens and jacuzzis on here is a little tip almost no one talks about if you've got a security camera system You should be using cat 5e Cable indoors and outdoors cat 6 cable or cat 5e designated for outdoors It's got thicker insulation around it. I found most people down here don't even know the difference But what will happen is if you use regular cat 5e cable outdoors in a year or two The Sun will make the insulation very brittle and eventually it will not be water or humidity proof anymore So spend the extra two cents a foot and get the outdoor rated stuff or cat 6 cable Which is outdoor rate? I'm talking about closed circuit TV camera cable and ethernet cable It's the same kind of cable you use an intercom system. I'm not talking about wireless systems

[18:16] I'm talking about wired systems with ethernet. They're called PoE systems power over ethernet If you've got a multiple camera system, that's high-definition. You probably know exactly what I'm talking about You've probably heard of cat 5 cable That's category 5 and there's category 5e which is better than category 5 regular Then there's cat 6 which is heavier and thicker all around by the way cat 5 and cat 6 have 8 wires cat 5 It's number 24 wire cat 6 22 and with cat 6 the pairs are twisted and shielded So there's less interference with long long runs. So are you bored yet? Anyway, this home building and remodeling report for gringleson expats. I'm talking about continuous section on electric I just mentioned a couple of bullet points there then there's plumbing with some great info there because that's one construction area

[19:06] Where Latin Americans completely suck plumbing you've got to really keep your eyes open when the plumbers on the job Like for example, it's just number one use only schedule 40 PVC in all walls and buried Water lines and never exposed white PVC pipe to the Sun which I'm sure you've noticed if you've been down here to Latin America Those white PVC pipes are out in the open in the Sun all the time Oh, and of course, there are lots of things on this list. I've already spoken about already For example, always use PVC primer before you assemble and glue PVC pipes, which is almost never done here in Latin America Either that's why after a couple of years lots of PVC junctions start to leak Oh, and here's another big one should be obvious, but it's not here in Latin America Anyway, always use brass or galvanized faucets and pipes when coming out of walls, man

[19:56] I can tell you the hundreds and hundreds of plastic pipes and faucet connections. I've seen coming out of walls That's a terrible idea, but they do it all the time down here Oh, and how about this one do not use Teflon tape on plastic to plastic threaded connections? Well, you'll see that all the time here, too Oh, and there's a section on how to create the proper roof drains to a serious problem in so many houses and commercial buildings By the way, this report has a section on solar power as well Very very good and logical tips here So I highly recommend you look this over send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And I'll fire it off to you It even talks about dealing with the electric company and about contracts you have to sign and what you need to do If you're gonna sell power back to them. Oh, and here's something on the list that almost no one talks about

[20:44] sand Used for your concrete mix who would have known it says look out for beach sand It's everywhere, but know where your building sand is coming from Do not use beach sand to mix your material or your concrete Why because beach sand has salt in it and salt in your mortar or concrete mixes not good. It will break down It's weaker So how are you gonna know that you just watch as a dump truck comes over to your job site and drops a load of sand Up till now you are thinking sand is sand right? Nope, you have to ask questions of your builder or go down to the hardware or building supply where he's getting the stuff Oh, and there's a real good section on air conditioning, too Whether newly installed or just a repair job, then it talks about the different PVC pipes

[21:30] So available here in Latin America and how lots of the stuff is unmarked or unlabeled and that you should never trust unmarked see PVC or PVC pipe a lot of the unmarked stuff is just simply lower grade and won't take the pressure or Heat that you think it can oh and this should seem obvious, but it's not you should never use white PVC pipe on hot water Lines, but you see that all the time here. It's not meant to take the heat The PVC pipe you use for hot water lines is yellow in color that goes for PVC glue as well It's not multi-purpose Well, I take that back some of it is but most people buy the cheap stuff which is only good for cold water line The hot water PVC glue is more expensive not much a buck or two extra can But how do you know your plumbers not just buying the cheap stuff?

[22:17] I mean they will cut corners and not tell you about it Anyway, I highly recommend you get a copy of this home builders and remodelers report for gringles and expats and keep it handy Next time you do a repair or remodeling project it in the long run will save you a ton of money and a ton of grief All right yank in the wheel here. Let's talk a little bit about the ugly now This is from a listener who signs his email ex fly boy. He says Johnny I've written you several times and there's one thing you really need to explain on your show I just came back from Antigua Guatemala where I went to check out moving to Guatemala for my plan B He says I think your listeners should know that the traffic from Guatemala City to Antigua is horrible I've never seen traffic as bad as I have seen it there and I've been around Latin America a lot

[23:04] I wouldn't move to Guatemala now for anything. It's worth paying the property taxes in the US just for the convenient So Johnny, I would love to know how you address this problem Also, Antigua is full of gringos and to my surprise a lot and I mean a lot of lesbian couples It's just totally crazy to see that So for me Guatemala is totally off the list of countries. I'd move to signed ex fly boy. Okay, mr. X Thanks for that. Appreciate the input. You know when I first visited Guatemala, I think 27 years ago or so now I moved directly to Antigua Guatemala I had a little car a nice little Suzuki hatchback that I drove from Costa Rica to Antigua Guatemala and once I got to Antigua I did not leave the city for a couple of months just to park the car and I didn't have to drive anywhere

[23:53] Because Antigua is one of those little towns. You don't need a car. You can walk everywhere Anyway, after six months or so in Antigua, I was getting a little bit of cabin fever and I decided to go into the big city Like maybe every weekend that'd be Guatemala City and it was about maybe 30 minutes to 40 minutes away But even then you had to pick the right time Because a lot of people from Antigua commuted back and forth to Guatemala City and vice versa So the morning traffic from seven to nine would take you twice as long and the evening traffic from maybe five to seven Would take it twice as long. Otherwise, it was a 30 to 40 minute ride. But now I understand it's always an hour to an hour and a half ride except maybe in the wee hours 11 at night to maybe six in the

[24:39] Morning and knowing that and this goes back a long long time I've always advised Gringo's and expats that the traffic in and around any big city in Latin America is horrendous My advice has always been find the neighborhood you really like Make sure everything's accessible within walking distance or short car ride So you never have to spend much time at all in your car The fact is there are a huge number of Gringo's and expats here in Latin America that don't have a car at all They don't need one. They've selected a town or a neighborhood where everything's accessible by foot or a short uber or tuk-tuk ride Otherwise, especially if you commute back and forth to a job that's far away from where you live. It can be a nightmare Aside from that though, that doesn't mean you can't get a car and explore You just pick the times the down times when there's not too much traffic on the road in time

[25:27] You figure all that out. Oh and the other thing all those Gringo's in Antigua the two places in Guatemala that have the highest concentrations of Gringo's are Antigua and the Lake Atitlan region personally, I don't like living around Gringo's and expats There are a hundred and one other places a thousand one way off the gringo tourist Railway, you won't see an expat or a gringo for days But Antigua and Lake Atitlan, Guatemala are not those places So the first thing you have to decide with your plan B is do you want to live around or close to gringos or not? I prefer not for lots of reason now as far as the lesbian couple thing get this even before I ever Set foot in Guatemala when I was still living back in Chicago. My next two neighbors were two gay guys Professional guys who worked at the Chicago trip funny thing was they took a trip one time to Antigua Guatemala in the 1980s. I

[26:18] Hadn't even heard the place. I've never been to Central or South America yet. I thought Antigua was an island What did I know though? There is an island called Antigua Anyway, I remember saying why would you pick a place like that for a vacation? They said there happens to be a gay travel agency and gay travel guide now, of course This is way before the internet They said it published a list of cities and towns worldwide that were absolutely gay friendly And guess what a little town called Antigua Guatemala rated high on that list So mr. X when you mentioned recently when you were in Antigua Guatemala that you saw lots and lots of lesbian couples I would have to say it's been like that a long long time. It's been notably and publicly gay friendly

[27:05] Probably since before you were born By the way, speaking of gay straight and lesbian couples. It's just read a statistic lately It said in the US about 50 percent of married straight couples divorce within seven years about 35% of married gay couples divorce within seven years, but here's the real stunner 75% of lesbian married couples divorce within seven years. What's up with that? You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan B We can schedule a one-on-one phone or Skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail dot com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in Central America

[27:51] Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan B Send me an email the expat files at gmail dot com. No spamos