Great setup, I'm in the process of transforming my trailer into solar as well. I have zero knowledge of what to do but I'll get it, thanks for sharing!
Hey thank you for the kind words! I knew little about what to do when I started too so I’m working on sharing everything I’ve learned to hopefully help others out with the same questions I had. Feel free if you have specific questions to ask, I’m happy to try and answer what I can!
I was explaining a concept like this to a co worker and he did not believe it was possible. Super cool to see what you are doing! It would be cool to see a breakdown of the cost and economics of your rig and business. Subbed, keep up the good work.
Hey thanks! You can send this to them as "proof of concept" haha. In my most recent video "Solar Powered Lawn Care Setup; Why Not Just Buy More Batteries" I get into just a little bit of the costs of doing a system like this on a trailer. It's not a detailed breakdown or anything, I'll definitely get to that as a lot of people would like to know, and I think it's important for people to have the full picture and determine for themselves if it's the right call. For me, it's not necessarily about going the cheapest route to solve a problem, but trying to find the most practical or elegant (function & form). I may not be making a ton of money doing this yet, but I can proudly say I'm not in debt and things are growing.
You know I'm binge watching your stuff when I say "watch out for the stump" 15ms before you do. Great content, thank you for sharing your journey. After 2 years of casually using electric to help people, I formalized my business (Ontario, Canada) last week... after listening to gas leaf blowers off in the distance for a month, while I silently did my outdoor work. The sooner we provide better options, the better!
Solar and electric vehicles/equipment is still developing technology with short falls, difficulties, and a lack of resources, so huge bravo to this guy taking on the challenge, pioneering a different energy source for his industry at a commercial level.
I'm sure you are planning to do this, but just in case, it would make sense to put a ventilation fan in the trailer.The batteries are going to degrade very quickly with that level of heat.
Nice set-up.... and finally a lawn professional that doesn't like blowing the clippings on to the street.... It really bothers me to see so many just blowing it to the neighbors or street when there done. 👏
I’ve only seen one or two lawn care professionals blow it down the storm drain, most do the right thing (that I’ve seen). I find the most of the culprits are actual homeowners that do their own lawn care. They either don’t own a blower, or they choose to blow it into the street off their driveways. *Blows* my mind. My area is really having a problem with our local estuaries getting too much nutrients and having algae blooms and subsequent fish kills and mass manatee deaths so it really hurts to see happen. It’s an area and topic I will focus on in the future, both for videos and trying to solve the issues in my community. But I have to get started somewhere and building a functioning electric lawn care business was step one, solar step two, RUclips step three, and you’ll have to stick around for future steps 😄
I have the leaf blower, Weedwhacker, snow blower chainsaw, nexus power station, both 2000 w and 400 W I also have the hundred watt LED light which is excellent for nighttime . I exclusively charge all of my batteries from my off grid solar system and it’s very rewarding. My electric car also runs on Solar. I’m really glad to see other people doing the stuff too.
I wonder if there is a positive to getting another battery pack for the trailer, so on cloudy days you will have enough juice to get you through the day.
I mow my parent’s lawn and their house is on a corner. I switched to electric mowing with the Greenworks 80v series. That included mower, leaf blower, an edger and a trimmer that uses the same batteries. I mentioned their corner lot. Because that eats up three batteries for a single mowing, I recharge while mowing and using eBay have added extra batteries and a extra charger. Really happy with the switch from gasoline to electric.
@solarpunksteve I'll have an electrician start it, with room to grow. Plan is to backup the house power, with day to day capacity sufficient to charge the EV and small amount of personal lawn equipment of course :) Haven't done the math on amount of panels yet the end game will be ~10kW certainly.
There are tons of cheaper options for solar panels for an array at home. These Rich Solar ones are more niche in that they are designed for RV and mobile applications like mine. So you can definitely get a decent $/Watt for a roof mount or ground mount system. Good luck and looking forward to hearing how your system works once you’re up and running!
Yeah absolutely. Knew what I was seeing but really great this is consumer available now and good job making it yours. If I was younger, I would like to say I'd get into it as well but I was never as smart as you 😊 Will try to remember to update..
I just found your channel. It’s on par with what I have been doing this year. All in with EGO but minus the solar power. I run charged up a series of LIPO4 batteries I charge at night. Going solar in 2024. I can use the help researching Solar!!! Thank you Sir! Steve from North Carolina 😊😊😊😊😊
Hey that's awesome! So do you bring the LifePO4 batteries with you? If so what are you using to convert that into something you can use to charge your ego equipment? A small inverter? Us Steve's are everywhere haha.
@@solarpunksteveIt’s a DIY battery bank with 3000w inverter to AC power. I use a dc to dc charger to charge it up at night. The battery bank is a 300ah. I have 20 customers and it is my first season. I absolutely love mowing!!! I also work for the DOD and do this in the afternoon. Get ready to pull the trigger on an EGO Z6 and your solar power system is just the ticket I need. I mow till December in NC and would be a good project from Dec to end of Feb. Currie am run EGO LM2142 duel port battery with 800 lbs. of torque. I have extreme route density so (2) 5 ah batteries does about 4 yards for me… with 2 more 5 ah batteries on stand by. Would love to chat with you one of these days? Not to mention your 8 hours away from me!!!
Super cool you've got a mobile charging rig, not many do! Yeah would be happy to chat sometime! I love hearing what other people are doing/working on. Just shoot me an email through my website sometime. It's in the about page on my channel, or just find it on the side of my trailer in the video. RUclips doesn't like seeing links to things in the comments usually.
I love your setup, great use of solar. I recommend you get yourself a refrigerator for the trailer. Having cold fluids are a godsend when working in the heat. A refrigerator adds the ability to carry foods for lunches as well.
I mow my father’s yard with an E-Go mower. I love renewable resources. I also drive a Tesla this hits every spot. Keep it up love watching these videos!!!
The up front cost might be a bit higher, but the savings of not needing gas(including the need to drive to get the gas) you also don’t even have to pay for the charge!(not including maintenance) that will pay off!
Ive been thinking about a setup like this for a while but wasnt sure how practical it would be but it seems like you got it dialed pretty well you should do a video on everything you did to youre trailer pls, plus a price breakdown.
Yeah it's pretty cool! *A* solution to *my* problem but might also be a solution to some others out there. Hopefully it at least gets people thinking and maybe they can learn from my adventures what works and what doesn't.
You’re a genius! perfect setup! I can see a bunch of these in California eventually. CA is banning the sale of petroleum powered gardening equipment after 2024. The issue for the transition is the cost of those tool batteries and this just solved the problem.
In my german camper van, I added a 550W Solarmodul, an small victron mppt and 2,5kWh Battery. I love it to cook and charge my e bike while traveling. Your setup is a absolut dream setup :D. Once done, you reduce your noise and cost a lot. In germany one kWh is around 30 euro ct. This video was very very cool.
Love the setup. I drive a Model 3 here in Florida myself. I love to see the M Y and the trailer that can fully power your setup on a normal Florida sunny day. Cheers!
Awesome! Yeah I love my car, it’s sooo versatile. What part of Florida? I’ve got two events coming up that I’m bringing the whole trailer to. One in Cape Canaveral and one in Miami, if near either of those, you should come say hi! September 30th in Cape Canaveral and October 14-15th in Miami.
I had to pause The Overanalyzers podcast to check out your video. Inspiring stuff! I shouldn't be surprised that Mike and Dan's other brother is this cool. Great editing. Subscribed
That's really smart. We are transitioning to battery powered tools at work and the old guys aren't happy about it. I was on their side but after seeing your gear it seems like they do the same job but quieter! Roadworker in the Highlands of Scotland
I have a similar setup. Same mower, Dewalt other stuff. I have a ramp door on my 6x12. I don't take the "key" out of the mower after using it, I just leave it in the socket.
I’d like to run some numbers myself just to get an estimate. I started fully electric so I don’t have the experience and details of running a gas lawn care company, only experience operating and maintaining the equipment over the years.
@@solarpunkstevefound a thread from 2013 were people said they spend about $700 a month on gas during peak season. One guy is a solo team and he said about $3,500 a year. If you don’t mind me asking what are your monthly cost? Because now I’m seriously interested in how much you’re saving especially considering gas prices right now.
I love the setup, also love al the electric tools. They will al get better but I still think the gas equipment is stronger and more powerful, especially the blowers
No disrespect but it amazes me that some of these people (the first couple you showed us) have the roughest-looking lawns and are still the kind of people willing to pay someone to mow them. Awesome setup, this is really cool.
It's not always about appearance, lots of people just don't want to do it themselves (or can't) and would rather pay someone. This is a *service* industry after all. But I know what you mean, sometimes I wonder why I'm even mowing their dirt patch haha.
Never hurts to expand your scope of knowledge or interest! Thanks so much for the kind words! I was a marine engineer working for billionaires on their yachts, traveling the world and I quit all that to try and solve problems that I thought were interesting and important. Speaking of Patent Lawyer, I would love to talk to you about something specific if you have time to answer a few questions. If not no problem, but if so please send me an email at Steve@solarpunklawn.com
Great build and awesome business model. 2 thoughts on your trailer. Without knowing the dimensions of your tailer you could look into changing your panels to 450watt panels, it may provide your additional power and that inverter can do up to 450v so I can handle those panels in series. You'd need a minimum of 3 though (minimum of 120v). Second that inverter can take 120v ac input so on rainy days and days you finish late you can still charge your batteries. You can set it to prioritize solar and supliment with grid power. It would ensure you're always topped up for the next day.
Just found this video, subbed and hit the bell :-) It's my first year in the game, running all petrol (gas) powered machines at the moment but this setup is making me think about doing something similar even if only for some machines next year. Greetings from South Wales (UK) :-)
Hey we all have to start somewhere! I started all electric, but then added solar and the onboard trailer battery later as I was taking on more clients and more jobs. I wonder how well onboard solar would work for you out in Wales, might be better to have panels at home and just bring battery/charging capacity with you? Also, do you tow a trailer or run out of a van? Sidenote: I've worked with a people from Wales at my previous job, good lads and ladies! Thanks for stopping by!
It uses roughly double the energy compared to not towing, slightly more than double if you’re driving on the highway. It has plenty of power to tow it, but aerodynamics are the main killer. Later I’m going to be trying some improvements to minimize that and will of course do some videos. But right now it’s not a big concern as I’m not going more than 40 miles in a day and staying off the highway.
Thought about this when I started to use electric lawn equipment. Glad to see someone actually bringing this to life! Look forward to long term equipment updates.
Glad I found your channel! I have a Tesla, the Ego Z6 52” mower, string trimmer and blower already for my house. I’m shutting down my Segway business of 9 years in a couple weeks and looking for something to replace that income. I’ve thought about starting a 100% electric lawn care company (we have solar on our house too). I feel like since I already have most of the equipment, the trailer setup would be all that much after watching your breakdown video. Will be watching your channel over the winter!
Very cool, I was 100% electric from 2019-2022 struggled with it a little and never invested in a full mobile charging setup and now im back to a hybrid setup temporarily. I used a lot of ego as well but my ride on was a 52” commercial Green works. All the ego string trimmers I have used can be loaded with the head still closed it is tricky though you have to find the spot in the rotation of the head where it lines up and then remember where it is in the future. Looking real hard at the 30” push mowers that recently came out and my plan is to use those as my primary mowers and focus on smaller properties.
Hey awesome that you're trying things and seeing what works and what doesn't! The whole reason I started this was to see if it could actually work, and so far for my use case it is, but it definitely doesn't come without it's challenges. Keeping the yards small was key in the beginning, I have some larger lots now but it could be difficult for some with large properties or large crews to make the switch, so I completely understand the hybrid approach too. A topic I'm covering in the next video is why I chose this setup over just buying more batteries for my equipment. One reason is simply not being restricted to a specific brand, I could run greenworks/dewalt/meangreen/whatever as long as I bring the charger with me I can plug it in and charge up their specific batteries. Thanks for your feedback and let me know if there's any questions or things you want to see covered in future videos! I'm happy to try and share what I've learned. Good luck in your endeavor!
The six 200W 24V panels I'm rocking are from Rich Solar and cost about $1500, not including taxes, shipping, and all the brackets and mounting I installed etc. You could use different panels, but ultimately I settled on these for voltage requirements (this inverter needs 120V DC to start producing power from the panels, and these actually produce more like 37V each instead of 24V) and space considerations on my trailer. You'll see a bit more about this in the next video. Thanks for asking! Hope you get something out of this.
So cool to watch. Growatt has a 48v all in one inverter that has a minimum solar requirement of 60 solar volts... So it does a lot better on cloudy days. My current system has the same minimum 120 solar volts it shuts down in clouds as well.
Yeah honestly I think you could get a truck like that and skip this whole trailer solar build setup. In my case those trucks/options didn't exist when I started my business, but it's something I'm looking at in the future.
You could fabricate a tension spring attached to a wire and connect the wire to the trailer door. My grandpa did that for his so he didn’t have to manually lower it since he’s getting old
You should keep a squidgy and rod mop on telescoping boom poles with right angle attachments on the truck to be able to quickly remove water and dust from your panels without a ladder. Just a small amount of condensation/droplets and debris/dust can greatly cut down on a panel’s efficiency. You may have enough battery to spare. Or maybe it’s just general maintenance you do at the beginning or end of each day. Just a recommendation. Love what you’re doing either way. Very innovative! Well done sir.
This looks like a great idea. Im a one man band knocking out yards every 25mins (Usually do about 20 a day give or take). I think Id run out of charge pretty quick being that my next yard is a few houses down the street and all 95 are within a mile radius of each other.
I see this is the first video. I found it quite well done and enjoyed seeing how you deal with being all electric and using solar. EG4 has some great products and a couple of new batteries, though they are not cheap. BTW - I like your trailer with the foldup ramp kept inside. Looks like you have is setup quite nice. Even though you are all EGO and the batteries are interchangeable, it looks to be a 56 volts system. Some of the other electric Z-turn mowers use a power system based on lead-acid batteries with a more common voltage system. They can be converted to use LiFePo, giving them "all day" mowing capability and can be charged from your EG4 system.
Hey thanks very much for the kind words, it’s a challenge to make things fun and showcase the equipment. Next video will be a little more in detail and a bit of an educational overview of the system as I realize not everyone will have a solid grounding in batteries/inverters/solar etc. hopefully people will get something out of it and help them make a decision on if this setup is for them. Yeah the trailer was a bit of a challenge with the double doors instead of the ramp door most people use. But it’s working fine for now. A converted to LiFePO4 mower would be awesome as your cycle life would much greater, and I’ve thought about doing that one day. For my use case, I want liFePO4 equipment that’s relatively lightweight and charges quickly and I would keep the heavy storage batteries on the trailer. But I think most manufacturers are trying to cram as much battery into their equipment so that people can run longer on one charge. I like the flexibility of my system, right now I’m all EGO, but I don’t have to be, I can plug in anything and charge it up.
Does your trailer have ventilation? I was thinking "Dang I bet it gets hot in there with all that charging" and about 2 seconds later you said "whew, it is toasty in here!". Very cool idea for a lawn company, and a GREAT differentiator!
Hey thanks! I’m working on some of that content as there are a few things that have come up. I will say though so far things are holding up pretty well, knock on wood.
I have a Ego blower and string trimmer and yes you can feed the wire through with out taking the cap off and it's super easy. You'll want to pull your string all the way through whatever length you want usually 14 foot of string is all it can hold. Then you'll press down on the cap and twist at the same time I believe to the right or left but it'll slowly feed through. I can re-string mine in about a minute. I'd say if you can put that money initially a fully battery powered lawn business would save substantially on over head. The occasional battery replacement, blade sharpening, and string that's the only occasional cost I could see.
We all have to start somewhere! Thanks for watching and following along. Hopefully if I continue making top notch videos I'll continue getting top notch followers like yourself ;)
Actually great videos! You will go places :-) Nice start! And yeah - as a EV fan I love electric mowing - I have all my equipment also only on batteries and idea with Solar charger is awesome. Maybe you may add one opening sheet of solar panels on the side of your trailer! That you can raise if needed and if there is evening, you may get some more sun if you will let it closed.
Awesome set up! I’ve been on the fence on getting battery powered lawn gear. Although I do not mow multiple lawns like you but I would like to get batt powered gear for my own lawn. You may have convinced me! I also subscribed to your channel!
Good call, I’ve been thinking about it but you know how those things go, you just get used to operating without it. Maybe I should listen to my own advice of safety never takes a day off haha. Thanks for looking out for me!
Hi Steve, can you tell me if you are going to go through the thick and thin of how you put together the solar power unit to charge your ego equipment? I am very much interested in going for a battery pack charger unit to fully solar powerSystem. I would love for you to do an involved step-by-step on how you created this BEAST of A solar power system. This thing is the bomb and it’s exactly what I need. That is if you don’t mind sharing!
Hey Triton! Yes, I will cover the nitty-gritty details of how I installed this system and how much everything cost. Working my hardest to get you guys some more content, but with summer here in Florida, university, my other project (@DeltaVCoffee) and working on the weekends for my friend in his general contractor business, I'm flat out! haha. But we'll get there, I promise!
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Great setup, I'm in the process of transforming my trailer into solar as well. I have zero knowledge of what to do but I'll get it, thanks for sharing!
Hey thank you for the kind words! I knew little about what to do when I started too so I’m working on sharing everything I’ve learned to hopefully help others out with the same questions I had. Feel free if you have specific questions to ask, I’m happy to try and answer what I can!
Can you do a walk through and show us what you're running? Like the panels, inverters etc. I'm also trying to do this. Thank you and awesome content
Absolutely! I'm editing the video as fast as I can. Stay tuned!
Awesome!! Thank you and looking forward to more content from ya
Your wearing a camo shirt and trying to be another solar liberal 🤣🤣
I was explaining a concept like this to a co worker and he did not believe it was possible. Super cool to see what you are doing! It would be cool to see a breakdown of the cost and economics of your rig and business. Subbed, keep up the good work.
Hey thanks! You can send this to them as "proof of concept" haha. In my most recent video "Solar Powered Lawn Care Setup; Why Not Just Buy More Batteries" I get into just a little bit of the costs of doing a system like this on a trailer. It's not a detailed breakdown or anything, I'll definitely get to that as a lot of people would like to know, and I think it's important for people to have the full picture and determine for themselves if it's the right call. For me, it's not necessarily about going the cheapest route to solve a problem, but trying to find the most practical or elegant (function & form). I may not be making a ton of money doing this yet, but I can proudly say I'm not in debt and things are growing.
If he ran with 300-500W panels (home roof or commercial ) would be even better!
Oh it's possible, and people love it too, much quieter in the mornings!!
@@solarpunkstevethe best part of not being in debt with a business investment is how little the nitpicks and complaints matter. Keep on killing it
Really cool to see another fully electric guy out crushing goals and lawns! Dope trailer setup def goals!
Thank you! Keep up the good work out there in Jax! Solar/inverter/battery walkthrough video coming soon!
One of the most underrated channels on RUclips
lol thanks. I just got started, hopefully I can get to that appropriately rated level soon 😉
You know I'm binge watching your stuff when I say "watch out for the stump" 15ms before you do.
Great content, thank you for sharing your journey. After 2 years of casually using electric to help people, I formalized my business (Ontario, Canada) last week... after listening to gas leaf blowers off in the distance for a month, while I silently did my outdoor work.
The sooner we provide better options, the better!
This set up is so cool! Awesome vid
I want a set up like your's.
Solar and electric vehicles/equipment is still developing technology with short falls, difficulties, and a lack of resources, so huge bravo to this guy taking on the challenge, pioneering a different energy source for his industry at a commercial level.
Coolest channel I’ve seen. Tesla, solar and yard care. Subscribed
I'm sure you are planning to do this, but just in case, it would make sense to put a ventilation fan in the trailer.The batteries are going to degrade very quickly with that level of heat.
Good idea
Highly recommended. Batteries don’t like being hot or too hot when not in use.
Tell that to Tesla.....
My friend YOU are on the leading edge of what will be the norm. This is AWESOME!
The vibe that I didn’t expect but the good vibe that got me watch this till the end 👍
Nice set-up.... and finally a lawn professional that doesn't like blowing the clippings on to the street.... It really bothers me to see so many just blowing it to the neighbors or street when there done. 👏
I’ve only seen one or two lawn care professionals blow it down the storm drain, most do the right thing (that I’ve seen). I find the most of the culprits are actual homeowners that do their own lawn care. They either don’t own a blower, or they choose to blow it into the street off their driveways. *Blows* my mind.
My area is really having a problem with our local estuaries getting too much nutrients and having algae blooms and subsequent fish kills and mass manatee deaths so it really hurts to see happen. It’s an area and topic I will focus on in the future, both for videos and trying to solve the issues in my community. But I have to get started somewhere and building a functioning electric lawn care business was step one, solar step two, RUclips step three, and you’ll have to stick around for future steps 😄
It's interesting to discover a good channel with good content at the very beginning. I foresee a lot of success.
I have the leaf blower, Weedwhacker, snow blower chainsaw, nexus power station, both 2000 w and 400 W
I also have the hundred watt LED light which is excellent for nighttime . I exclusively charge all of my batteries from my off grid solar system and it’s very rewarding. My electric car also runs on Solar. I’m really glad to see other people doing the stuff too.
This has to be the coolest set up that has to do with anything solar that I've ever seen!
Ugh! Those white flowered weeds.
Cleaning the road...admire that.
Nice work..👍🏻
I built my solar trailer in 2020 and it's still working perfectly..😊
Good decent job bro!
nice work man! super impressive and fun setup
I wonder if there is a positive to getting another battery pack for the trailer, so on cloudy days you will have enough juice to get you through the day.
Amazing set up! Well done & and executed. I love it
Thanks so much!
Have you thought about a ford e-Transit with panels ? I think you could fit your whole setup in there.
This is awesome. Great branding opportunity.
Not even sure how I got here but I use electric powered equipment at my house and I love electric cars. What a cool concept!!! Nicely done, dude.
I mow my parent’s lawn and their house is on a corner. I switched to electric mowing with the Greenworks 80v series. That included mower, leaf blower, an edger and a trimmer that uses the same batteries. I mentioned their corner lot. Because that eats up three batteries for a single mowing, I recharge while mowing and using eBay have added extra batteries and a extra charger. Really happy with the switch from gasoline to electric.
Thanks for this!
Was considering an array at home this is awesome!
Oh cool! What kind of array? Off grid or grid-tie and what size? You building it yourself or having someone else do it for you?
@solarpunksteve I'll have an electrician start it, with room to grow.
Plan is to backup the house power, with day to day capacity sufficient to charge the EV and small amount of personal lawn equipment of course :)
Haven't done the math on amount of panels yet the end game will be ~10kW certainly.
There are tons of cheaper options for solar panels for an array at home. These Rich Solar ones are more niche in that they are designed for RV and mobile applications like mine. So you can definitely get a decent $/Watt for a roof mount or ground mount system. Good luck and looking forward to hearing how your system works once you’re up and running!
Yeah absolutely. Knew what I was seeing but really great this is consumer available now and good job making it yours.
If I was younger, I would like to say I'd get into it as well but I was never as smart as you 😊
Will try to remember to update..
I just found your channel. It’s on par with what I have been doing this year. All in with EGO but minus the solar power. I run charged up a series of LIPO4 batteries I charge at night. Going solar in 2024. I can use the help researching Solar!!! Thank you Sir! Steve from North Carolina 😊😊😊😊😊
Hey that's awesome! So do you bring the LifePO4 batteries with you? If so what are you using to convert that into something you can use to charge your ego equipment? A small inverter?
Us Steve's are everywhere haha.
@@solarpunksteveIt’s a DIY battery bank with 3000w inverter to AC power. I use a dc to dc charger to charge it up at night. The battery bank is a 300ah. I have 20 customers and it is my first season. I absolutely love mowing!!! I also work for the DOD and do this in the afternoon. Get ready to pull the trigger on an EGO Z6 and your solar power system is just the ticket I need. I mow till December in NC and would be a good project from Dec to end of Feb. Currie am run EGO LM2142 duel port battery with 800 lbs. of torque. I have extreme route density so (2) 5 ah batteries does about 4 yards for me… with 2 more 5 ah batteries on stand by. Would love to chat with you one of these days? Not to mention your 8 hours away from me!!!
Super cool you've got a mobile charging rig, not many do!
Yeah would be happy to chat sometime! I love hearing what other people are doing/working on. Just shoot me an email through my website sometime. It's in the about page on my channel, or just find it on the side of my trailer in the video. RUclips doesn't like seeing links to things in the comments usually.
You should put a tesla charger on the front of the trailer The use of the extra power that you are producing
I love your setup, great use of solar. I recommend you get yourself a refrigerator for the trailer. Having cold fluids are a godsend when working in the heat.
A refrigerator adds the ability to carry foods for lunches as well.
I mow my father’s yard with an E-Go mower. I love renewable resources. I also drive a Tesla this hits every spot. Keep it up love watching these videos!!!
Heck yeah. I do landscaping in Gainesville and we use all electric and have been wanting/needing to figure out a set up like this.
I think you might be interested in what I have coming soon™ :)
I had an idea for a business exactly like this a few years ago. Very cool to see someone do it! I'll be subscribing and looking for more!
The up front cost might be a bit higher, but the savings of not needing gas(including the need to drive to get the gas) you also don’t even have to pay for the charge!(not including maintenance) that will pay off!
Nice set up. Don't Panic is a great books from the 80's
I
That it, I have not read them in a long time either. lol yes, 42. I might have to read again myself.@@solarpunksteve
This is soo freaking dope I love the self sustainable aspect of everything electric
Ive been thinking about a setup like this for a while but wasnt sure how practical it would be but it seems like you got it dialed pretty well you should do a video on everything you did to youre trailer pls, plus a price breakdown.
Looks like a cool setup man.
Great job…like your set up…making it all work
Just figuring it out as I go!
seems like the perfect setup for the scenario you have
Yeah it's pretty cool! *A* solution to *my* problem but might also be a solution to some others out there. Hopefully it at least gets people thinking and maybe they can learn from my adventures what works and what doesn't.
I love your entire setup and your video production.
Thanks! It’s been a lot of fun so far, more to come!
You’re a genius! perfect setup! I can see a bunch of these in California eventually. CA is banning the sale of petroleum powered gardening equipment after 2024. The issue for the transition is the cost of those tool batteries and this just solved the problem.
Great work Steve! Thanks for making the video.
Great job doing something innovative! Bravo!
In my german camper van, I added a 550W Solarmodul, an small victron mppt and 2,5kWh Battery. I love it to cook and charge my e bike while traveling. Your setup is a absolut dream setup :D. Once done, you reduce your noise and cost a lot. In germany one kWh is around 30 euro ct. This video was very very cool.
Love the setup. I drive a Model 3 here in Florida myself. I love to see the M Y and the trailer that can fully power your setup on a normal Florida sunny day. Cheers!
Awesome! Yeah I love my car, it’s sooo versatile. What part of Florida? I’ve got two events coming up that I’m bringing the whole trailer to. One in Cape Canaveral and one in Miami, if near either of those, you should come say hi! September 30th in Cape Canaveral and October 14-15th in Miami.
Sorry Missed this till now. I am near the Orlando Area :) @@solarpunksteve
My question is how big of a loan did you have to pull out for all that equipment, and what are the gas cost savings?
Selling the trailer fully assembled in California would be a huge money maker with their mandated electric for commercial landscapers
No way they actually mandated that 🤦
@@TheBestEverEverEveryeah for new purchases
I had to pause The Overanalyzers podcast to check out your video. Inspiring stuff! I shouldn't be surprised that Mike and Dan's other brother is this cool. Great editing. Subscribed
Thanks for coming this way! Yeah my brothers are pretty cool guys. Glad you enjoy what we’re sharing and working on! More to come!
That's really smart. We are transitioning to battery powered tools at work and the old guys aren't happy about it. I was on their side but after seeing your gear it seems like they do the same job but quieter! Roadworker in the Highlands of Scotland
Coolest setup ever, it’s cool to see a Tesla and trailer set up like that! Good job👍🏻
I have a similar setup. Same mower, Dewalt other stuff.
I have a ramp door on my 6x12. I don't take the "key" out of the mower after using it, I just leave it in the socket.
What a sick video and set up. I'm subbed. I've actually been playing with trickle charging my OPE haha but you're next level dude!
Thanks so much! I'm shooting the video for my solar panel/inverter/battery overview right now! Maybe you'll get some ideas!
Love this. Proof that it can be done. 🙌🏼
Sweet setup, nice work!
Thanks! Was so much fun to build!
Wondering how much you save in time at pump and fuel costs.
I’d like to run some numbers myself just to get an estimate. I started fully electric so I don’t have the experience and details of running a gas lawn care company, only experience operating and maintaining the equipment over the years.
@@solarpunkstevefound a thread from 2013 were people said they spend about $700 a month on gas during peak season. One guy is a solo team and he said about $3,500 a year. If you don’t mind me asking what are your monthly cost? Because now I’m seriously interested in how much you’re saving especially considering gas prices right now.
I love the setup, also love al the electric tools. They will al get better but I still think the gas equipment is stronger and more powerful, especially the blowers
super cool video, love your creativity!
Whoa this is crazy I had an idea like this a year ago with all electric lawn equipment
No disrespect but it amazes me that some of these people (the first couple you showed us) have the roughest-looking lawns and are still the kind of people willing to pay someone to mow them. Awesome setup, this is really cool.
It's not always about appearance, lots of people just don't want to do it themselves (or can't) and would rather pay someone. This is a *service* industry after all. But I know what you mean, sometimes I wonder why I'm even mowing their dirt patch haha.
Fellow solar florida man! It's always good to see others like us around here. If you moved an hour west I think I would hire you lol
This is awesome, great setup
This is very much niche content but I can’t help but subscribe because it’s super interesting and your videos are really good.
Like I’m a patent lawyer. This is not “conventionally relevant to my interests” or whatever, but these videos are just too dang good. Well done.
Never hurts to expand your scope of knowledge or interest! Thanks so much for the kind words!
I was a marine engineer working for billionaires on their yachts, traveling the world and I quit all that to try and solve problems that I thought were interesting and important. Speaking of Patent Lawyer, I would love to talk to you about something specific if you have time to answer a few questions. If not no problem, but if so please send me an email at Steve@solarpunklawn.com
Great build and awesome business model. 2 thoughts on your trailer. Without knowing the dimensions of your tailer you could look into changing your panels to 450watt panels, it may provide your additional power and that inverter can do up to 450v so I can handle those panels in series. You'd need a minimum of 3 though (minimum of 120v). Second that inverter can take 120v ac input so on rainy days and days you finish late you can still charge your batteries. You can set it to prioritize solar and supliment with grid power. It would ensure you're always topped up for the next day.
Just found this video, subbed and hit the bell :-) It's my first year in the game, running all petrol (gas) powered machines at the moment but this setup is making me think about doing something similar even if only for some machines next year. Greetings from South Wales (UK) :-)
Hey we all have to start somewhere! I started all electric, but then added solar and the onboard trailer battery later as I was taking on more clients and more jobs. I wonder how well onboard solar would work for you out in Wales, might be better to have panels at home and just bring battery/charging capacity with you? Also, do you tow a trailer or run out of a van?
Sidenote: I've worked with a people from Wales at my previous job, good lads and ladies! Thanks for stopping by!
That is one sweet setup!
Perfect.. amazing setup
I really love this setup❤. keep it up 💪🏼
What's the drop in range of the tesla when towing your loaded trailer?
It uses roughly double the energy compared to not towing, slightly more than double if you’re driving on the highway. It has plenty of power to tow it, but aerodynamics are the main killer. Later I’m going to be trying some improvements to minimize that and will of course do some videos. But right now it’s not a big concern as I’m not going more than 40 miles in a day and staying off the highway.
Dude your setup is dope and I'm a fan. Subbed!
Thought about this when I started to use electric lawn equipment. Glad to see someone actually bringing this to life!
Look forward to long term equipment updates.
Glad I found your channel! I have a Tesla, the Ego Z6 52” mower, string trimmer and blower already for my house. I’m shutting down my Segway business of 9 years in a couple weeks and looking for something to replace that income. I’ve thought about starting a 100% electric lawn care company (we have solar on our house too). I feel like since I already have most of the equipment, the trailer setup would be all that much after watching your breakdown video. Will be watching your channel over the winter!
Very cool, I was 100% electric from 2019-2022 struggled with it a little and never invested in a full mobile charging setup and now im back to a hybrid setup temporarily. I used a lot of ego as well but my ride on was a 52” commercial Green works. All the ego string trimmers I have used can be loaded with the head still closed it is tricky though you have to find the spot in the rotation of the head where it lines up and then remember where it is in the future. Looking real hard at the 30” push mowers that recently came out and my plan is to use those as my primary mowers and focus on smaller properties.
Hey awesome that you're trying things and seeing what works and what doesn't! The whole reason I started this was to see if it could actually work, and so far for my use case it is, but it definitely doesn't come without it's challenges. Keeping the yards small was key in the beginning, I have some larger lots now but it could be difficult for some with large properties or large crews to make the switch, so I completely understand the hybrid approach too.
A topic I'm covering in the next video is why I chose this setup over just buying more batteries for my equipment. One reason is simply not being restricted to a specific brand, I could run greenworks/dewalt/meangreen/whatever as long as I bring the charger with me I can plug it in and charge up their specific batteries.
Thanks for your feedback and let me know if there's any questions or things you want to see covered in future videos! I'm happy to try and share what I've learned. Good luck in your endeavor!
What kind of cost are we looking at for those solar panels
The six 200W 24V panels I'm rocking are from Rich Solar and cost about $1500, not including taxes, shipping, and all the brackets and mounting I installed etc. You could use different panels, but ultimately I settled on these for voltage requirements (this inverter needs 120V DC to start producing power from the panels, and these actually produce more like 37V each instead of 24V) and space considerations on my trailer. You'll see a bit more about this in the next video. Thanks for asking! Hope you get something out of this.
@@solarpunksteve Thanks a lot of good information👍. I also really enjoyed and learned a lot from interview with your brothers channel.
So cool to watch. Growatt has a 48v all in one inverter that has a minimum solar requirement of 60 solar volts... So it does a lot better on cloudy days. My current system has the same minimum 120 solar volts it shuts down in clouds as well.
Oh my gosh this is a dream set up!
Edit: Only thing could make it better: F150 Lightning!
Yeah honestly I think you could get a truck like that and skip this whole trailer solar build setup. In my case those trucks/options didn't exist when I started my business, but it's something I'm looking at in the future.
Hi Steve. I really like your trailer setup could you please show us how you set up your trailer?
You could fabricate a tension spring attached to a wire and connect the wire to the trailer door. My grandpa did that for his so he didn’t have to manually lower it since he’s getting old
You should keep a squidgy and rod mop on telescoping boom poles with right angle attachments on the truck to be able to quickly remove water and dust from your panels without a ladder. Just a small amount of condensation/droplets and debris/dust can greatly cut down on a panel’s efficiency. You may have enough battery to spare. Or maybe it’s just general maintenance you do at the beginning or end of each day. Just a recommendation. Love what you’re doing either way. Very innovative! Well done sir.
moron
As someone in Marketing in the Trailer Industry, this is the cool shit I like to see!
This looks like a great idea. Im a one man band knocking out yards every 25mins (Usually do about 20 a day give or take). I think Id run out of charge pretty quick being that my next yard is a few houses down the street and all 95 are within a mile radius of each other.
I see this is the first video. I found it quite well done and enjoyed seeing how you deal with being all electric and using solar. EG4 has some great products and a couple of new batteries, though they are not cheap.
BTW - I like your trailer with the foldup ramp kept inside. Looks like you have is setup quite nice.
Even though you are all EGO and the batteries are interchangeable, it looks to be a 56 volts system. Some of the other electric Z-turn mowers use a power system based on lead-acid batteries with a more common voltage system. They can be converted to use LiFePo, giving them "all day" mowing capability and can be charged from your EG4 system.
Hey thanks very much for the kind words, it’s a challenge to make things fun and showcase the equipment. Next video will be a little more in detail and a bit of an educational overview of the system as I realize not everyone will have a solid grounding in batteries/inverters/solar etc. hopefully people will get something out of it and help them make a decision on if this setup is for them.
Yeah the trailer was a bit of a challenge with the double doors instead of the ramp door most people use. But it’s working fine for now.
A converted to LiFePO4 mower would be awesome as your cycle life would much greater, and I’ve thought about doing that one day. For my use case, I want liFePO4 equipment that’s relatively lightweight and charges quickly and I would keep the heavy storage batteries on the trailer. But I think most manufacturers are trying to cram as much battery into their equipment so that people can run longer on one charge.
I like the flexibility of my system, right now I’m all EGO, but I don’t have to be, I can plug in anything and charge it up.
your ramps are probably stronger then a ramp door. also if you ever want to load something with a forklift then ramp doors are a pain in the behind
Does your trailer have ventilation? I was thinking "Dang I bet it gets hot in there with all that charging" and about 2 seconds later you said "whew, it is toasty in here!". Very cool idea for a lawn company, and a GREAT differentiator!
For this particular instance it makes sense.
For high income neighborhoods where the quiet service is more important
Great video and setup. Would love to know in future videos how well the Ego holds up to Commercial mowing.
Hey thanks! I’m working on some of that content as there are a few things that have come up. I will say though so far things are holding up pretty well, knock on wood.
I have a Ego blower and string trimmer and yes you can feed the wire through with out taking the cap off and it's super easy. You'll want to pull your string all the way through whatever length you want usually 14 foot of string is all it can hold. Then you'll press down on the cap and twist at the same time I believe to the right or left but it'll slowly feed through. I can re-string mine in about a minute. I'd say if you can put that money initially a fully battery powered lawn business would save substantially on over head. The occasional battery replacement, blade sharpening, and string that's the only occasional cost I could see.
only 543 subs...My bet with in the next month you will have at least 2k subs.. Tops notch videos. cant wait to see more content.
We all have to start somewhere! Thanks for watching and following along. Hopefully if I continue making top notch videos I'll continue getting top notch followers like yourself ;)
Actually great videos! You will go places :-) Nice start! And yeah - as a EV fan I love electric mowing - I have all my equipment also only on batteries and idea with Solar charger is awesome. Maybe you may add one opening sheet of solar panels on the side of your trailer! That you can raise if needed and if there is evening, you may get some more sun if you will let it closed.
My goodness, this is so awesome!
Awesome set up! I’ve been on the fence on getting battery powered lawn gear. Although I do not mow multiple lawns like you but I would like to get batt powered gear for my own lawn. You may have convinced me! I also subscribed to your channel!
I love the idea & it's overdue. I'm still not certain if 100ah is enough but your small setup is doing it.
wish you were closer id 100 percent support this all-electric business model.
you need a microwave or toaster oven in ur trailer to warm up lunch
Dude this is so cool. I would love to see the economics of this model
Awesome setup!
Nice 👍🏾 setup
Thank you!
Awesome content and editing!
Nice set-up ❤❤
Thanks Scuba! Glad you like it.
Super cool setup and nice to see you towing with a Tesla was just looking at getting a hitch on mine they have a pretty good row rating.
hey love the video, may want to set some cones out. one in front of your tesla and one behind the trailer.
Good call, I’ve been thinking about it but you know how those things go, you just get used to operating without it. Maybe I should listen to my own advice of safety never takes a day off haha. Thanks for looking out for me!
Hi Steve, can you tell me if you are going to go through the thick and thin of how you put together the solar power unit to charge your ego equipment? I am very much interested in going for a battery pack charger unit to fully solar powerSystem. I would love for you to do an involved step-by-step on how you created this BEAST of A solar power system. This thing is the bomb and it’s exactly what I need. That is if you don’t mind sharing!
Hey Triton! Yes, I will cover the nitty-gritty details of how I installed this system and how much everything cost. Working my hardest to get you guys some more content, but with summer here in Florida, university, my other project (@DeltaVCoffee) and working on the weekends for my friend in his general contractor business, I'm flat out! haha. But we'll get there, I promise!
You're a lot less noisy than traditional lawn care companies. 👍