Benjamin Nead

@bisbeeunplugged.bsky.social

1405 Followers 2323 Following

Observing the ongoing struggle to mitigate the climate crisis via electrification, from a rural southern Arizona perspective. Favorite topics include EVs, solar, batteries, etc. Please interact with my public posts and don't DM me. Thanks!

I'm pleased to have struck up a collaboration with a local non-profit, The Bisbee Science Lab, as a co-producer for our 1st annual Bisbee Earth Day. As the poster explains, it's 3PM to 6PM on Wednesday, April 22, at the Science Lab's facility, 5199 Melody Lane, in Bisbee's San Jose neighborhood. I'm excited for the big day tomorrow and I'll be using this space to further document the event with photos and, perhaps, video footage.

The "conference" area at the opposite end of the carport overlooking my backyard and a view of the Mexican border, just about 5 miles away. A 6.3kWh Bluetti AC200L/B210 system assembled there is more than capable of handling another Bonbowl induction hob and a Panasonic FlashXpress micro oven. These are actually the most often used components in my 120V kitchen.

A self portrait by yours truly at the end of a very satisfying first-ever Sun Day in Bisbee 2025.

The carport entrance to my home in Bisbee, viewed due south by southeast, and showing repurposed signage from my Tucson days. The 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which is now proving to be excellent for regional rural travel, will be celebrating it's 10th anniversary with me later this fall.

Sun Day is a global day of action on Sunday, September 21st, 2025: a celebration of the unstoppable rise of clean energy. Sun Day is being presented nationally by Third Act: a community of Americans over 60 founded by activist and author Bill McKibben, focused on climate and democracy. Bisbee joins a growing number Arizona cities - including Tucson, Tempe and Flagstaff - hosting a Sun Day event. Hundreds of communities across the United States and counting - and internationally - will be participating.

My shaded carport - come rain or shine - will be set up to display a variety of interesting and affordable devices that will help you move away from a dependency on fossil fuels . . . solar panels, storage battery systems, induction cooking tech, heat pumps and the like. And, yes, because it's my carport, my electric car will also be there . . . probably plugged in and charging when you arrive.

I'd like to have one-on-one conversations with my neighbors, here in Bisbee and in surrounding communities, on how we might be able to ditch our gas stoves and furnaces for good, consider an EV for your next car and go with solar, whether that's a traditional grid-connected rooftop system or one of the new modular/portable ones. There are efficient devices and energy harvesting technologies available today to match virtually any price point or budget.

Those of us who are concerned about climate change - and I hope that's everyone reading this - will be reminded that electrifying your life is one of the most effective ways to make a positive impact in this capacity, even if the politicians aren't currently paying attention. When a sane national energy policy returns, even the smallest the investments you make today will allow you be ready for the more expansive - and less expensive - cleaner energy world of the future. No suffering or sacrifice needed along the way. Just a little perseverance.

Benjamin Nead

https://actionnetwork.org/events/sun-day-in-bisbee-3

Good Trouble Lives On. Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bisbee, Arizona. 4 of 6.

Good Trouble Lives On. Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bisbee, Arizona. 1 of 6.

Good Trouble Lives On, staged on this fifth year since the passing of Civil Rights pioneer and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the ongoing attacks posed on our liberties by the Trump Administration.

Pertaining to what John Lewis fought for and against all his life, we are now witnessing the expansion of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) into nothing short of a Gestapo-like paramilitary that is now prepared - and now officially funded by congress - to round up sizable portions of the U.S. population and confine them to remote and inhuman Gulags with perverse names like Alligator Alcatraz.

Closer to home, this ongoing militarized anti-immigrant and racist agenda will manifest itself as unnecessary border wall construction resuming, with the negative ramifications there also encompassing a threat to the wildlife ecosystem and even more ground water depletion.

Meanwhile, the funding cuts to federal services to pay for us becoming a police state, along with the ham-fisted attempts by Trump himself to manipulate world markets for personal gain, will mean the eventual closing of things like rural hospitals and the elimination of social services that will particularly impact those on the lowest economic rungs. Everything you and I buy at the store becomes more expensive in the coming months and years, unless you're an oligarchy class insider.

Don't like any of this? Maybe you've got the wrong skin color or tattoos, or you've submitted the wrong essay to a local newspaper. You may find yourself joining the other "undesirables" in confinement without legal due process. This is not a drill.

Bisbee is aligning nationally on Thursday, July 17, from 5:00PM to Sundown (approximately 7:30PM) for our contribution to Good Trouble Lives On. Our location will be in the old town at Grassy Park, adjacent to the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum. See you there.

We were part of No Kings Day yesterday in Bisbee. Ours was a significant element of a larger Pride Day parade . . . which, in turn, is part of a big day-long annual celebration down here. So, even though we weren't an official dot on the national map, we did the deed. Good times were had by all.

The start of our May 3rd mobilization in Bisbee, AZ, was a march from the Iron Statue to Grassy Park. About 30 of us got it going.

Of all the atrocities committed by the current political majority in Washington, I'm particularly troubled by the dismantling of clean energy initiatives, denial of climate change as a factor in our planet's future and the general repudiation of logic, sound economics, science and sanity related to all of this. This photo shows the sign I've made for May 3rd. If these issues are as important to you as they are to me, look for my sign on Saturday. I'd like to talk with you further specifically on this.

OK, I just watched the live reveal earlier tonight for the Slate EV Truck and put down a refundable $50 deposit. If this thing gets here, it promises to be a highly configurable EV that starts at $25K before tax rebates. https://www.slate.auto/en

The cover image from Der Spiegel dating to November 12, 2016. This perfectly sums up Trump's danger to us all on Earth Day 2025.

This Saturday, April 19th, 9AM to 1PM, I'll have an Earth Day display of solar PV, lithium storage battery tech and home electrification tips at the Bisbee Community Market, Vista Park in Warren. I'll also have my EV parked just a few feet away.

Obviously, with Cheeto Jesus in charge, what sensible and sane people should be doing to get fossil fuels out of their lives is now characterized as the "Green New Scam." More to say about all of that in the coming days.

There are also a host of Hands Off! mobilizations nearby that day in old town Bisbee, Douglas and Sierra Vista. We'll have information on when and where, exactly. The Mule Mountain Democrats are on it.

I believe the source of this artwork is The New Yorker magazine, circa 2017. Same stupid "clean coal" policy then as now.

Approximately 250 people assembled at Grassy Park in Bisbee, Arizona, for our April 5th 'Hands Off!' event. Acknowledgment to the local coalition of the Mule Mountain Democrats, ReSisters and Women In Black, as well as our friends with Hands Off! and Indivisible. We also have received word that nearby southern Arizonan communities of Douglas and Sierra Vista had similarly strong showings.

A picture of my new Samsung Bespoke washer/dryer combo unit with heat pump drying technology. It's a beast, weighing in at almost 400 Lbs. The heat pump function dries the clothes very nicely and, operating at only 120V, is super efficient. The Energy Star rating is for $14 worth of electrons annually under typical use (watch for Trump/Musk to scrap that very helpful Department of Energy efficiency database for appliances again, just because they're a bunch of dickish goons. Fuck 'em.)

The old washer began leaking the other week and was doing a poor job of cleaning the laundry even before that. I still have the old 240V dryer, but will soon be having that hauled away, probably donating it to charity.

Note this is one of those machines where you put the laundry inside, close the door, push a touchscreen, and then come back several hours later with all the cleaned cloth completely dry. I have a lot of zero phosphate powdered detergent, and it requires very little of that. Alternately, I can use liquid soap and have that automatically dispensed. I got the optional pedestal stand, extend warranty, etc. So far, so good after putting 3 loads through it.

The other result of all this, since I no longer need a separate dryer, is that I now have a free dedicated 240V/30A circuit in the utility panel that can eventually become Level 2 charging for my EV.

Join the Mule Mountain Democrats of Bisbee, Arizona, for our 2025 Presidential Inauguration NON-Watch Party. We'll be celebrating, instead, the significance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday and continue to honor the memory of recently passed former US President Jimmy Carter.

A photo of a woman who is, apparently, a victim of the dreaded and mysterious electric heater itch phenomenon, as described by President-Elect Trump at a press conference on January 8, 2025.

The Wheldon model #USP1C Saver Shower Plus: a high quality, affordable and high-velocity low-flow shower head, made in the USA, that can be purchased for about $20 at many local hardware stores. Buy one for yourself before Trump outlaws them!

Rooney, a beautiful stray and semi-feral cat I had, 2010-2016.

Here's a modular all-electric stove that can be built for around $1000. This is a cost effective solution that can work where you would want to get rid of an old gas stove, but don't have the capability to bring in a new, dedicated - and expensive - 240V/50A service line.

If you're a renter and you'll be needing to move again someday, everything here can be broken down to component level and easily taken with you. The use case here was a rental property, where the last gas appliance on site was the kitchen stove. We worked with the landlord, who didn't mind taking the old stove back and having it in inventory for his other properties.

Everything is housed in/around a stainless steel restaurant prep table (24" X 30" top, ~$250) that arrives flat packed and easily assembles. The Breville air fry convection oven (~$500) is large and powerful enough to bake a loaf of bread or roast a small turkey. It's a 120V device that can plug into the dedicated outlet, down low and against the back wall, where the old gas stove did.

Up top, an optional stove-cover butcher's block (~$30) and space for a restaurant-grade single element Duxtop induction hob (~$175.) Most reasonably modern kitchens are wired to have at least a couple of 120V outlets on individual dedicated countertop circuits (independent of the one that the oven is already plugged into) where you can safely plug in and operate several of your favorite electric cooking devices at once . . . other hobs, InstaPots, etc.

Advantages: a big money savings over getting a conventional induction range, which can start at around $1500 and go up from there. Remember, if you go that route, you will also have to budget for a dedicated 240V/50A circuit, which can easily cost $2000 or more, if you have to upgrade your service panel from 100A to 200A.

More advantages: cost of operation should be similar, possibly less, than cooking with gas. Induction cooking is flame-free, cleaner, safer and with no harmful fumes.

Just arrived today: Voltaic's C117 energy harvesting circuit board with a lithium ion capacitor, along with a pair of their P122 mini solar panels.

Volta Racer toy solar car, circa 2014-17.

Solar changing of a Mitsubishi i-MiEV at the Science City display area, Tucson Festival of Books. March, 2024.

I've been experimenting with pairing 120V induction hobs and countertop ovens together for a few years now. Restaurant prep tables (30" X 24" top) can replace an old gas stove to house everything. Just find two adjacent 120V outlets on different circuits and add LFP batteries as desired.

EV charging at home, rural Arizona style. No exterior outlets here. That will change someday. In the meantime, one of the sliding windows facing my carport allows me to plug into a good 120V outlet inside. A shop rag and a pool noodle ($5 at the local Dollar General) keep the bugs from coming in.

We've had solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for some time now. This is a magazine ad from 1953, showing what was called (somewhat incorrectly) the worlds first solar "battery" (PV panels actually produce electricity, not store it.) The growth of solar in recent decades comes lower manufacturing costs.

My big tabby cat, Daenerys, shares some window ledge space with a Bluetti EB3A solgen. Tucson, AZ. Summer, 2024.

A 100 Watt HQST solar panel paired with a Bluetti EB3A "solgen," which has an inverter that can cleanly output 600W The oven is a DASH mini. The spec sheet for the DASH says it pulls only 400W, but note the 535W registering on the EB3A's display.

This Christmas Eve, in spirit with the soldiers defending Ukraine, possibly Unit A7037, on the front lines of the conflict.

Replace your gas stove with a modular electric one: a restaurant table, paired with induction hobs and convection oven. Runs off two separate 120V circuits: no dedicated 240V circuit required.

An illustration of a heat pump mini-split unit with a peace wreath, courtesy of Rewiring America.

Here's a diagram (also uploaded earlier today already, apologies for the redundancy) on how to wire ~750W of solar, passing through a "solgen" (MPPT/battery/inverter) and then to an EVSE (what most folks call "the EV charger") . . .

Try REALLY slow. Ever seen one of those science fair demos where you can peddle in place and exhaust yourself after a couple minutes in order to keep a 10W LED lit? What people call trickle charging for an EV is in the 650W to 750W range

I do this now. The photo is show & tell from a science fair. But I do this at home all the time, simply by plugging in to charge when my grid-tied rooftop panels are producing. 6A @ 120V, the lowest wattage flow rung (720W) for the J1772 standard, is where I almost always set my EVSE, regardless.

No exact date on this one. A few years back, the local paper in Tucson, The Arizona Daily Star, shared a nighttime security cam candid shot a reader submitted of a mountain lion on their patio, probably at one of the foothills homes near the base of Mount Lemmon.

The i-MiEV posing in front of one of Tucson's impressive building murals, near the corner of 6th St. & Stone, around sunset, mid June, 2016. I remember it being particularly hot then, at around 106° F.

Self portrait, late June, 2023.

Small scale wind power is a bit harder to do that small scale solar, but I'm glad to see a few players innovating in the space. One is the Kite X Wind Catcher, which comes our way through a pair of Danish wind surfing enthusiasts, Andrea and Christoffer. It's portable and costs around $1900.

Now that I'm living about 120 miles away from there, I'll be missing the opportunity to regularly visit the courtyard of the ENR2 Building on the University of Arizona Campus in Tucson. The experience comes very close to being able to walk through a real life Solarpunk painting.

Sunset in Bisbee, Arizona, late August, 2024, as seen from the edge of my driveway. We had a lot of monsoon rain activity that afternoon, so the clouds were nice enough to stick around and give us an early evening light show.

Another cat photo. This time, a remotely-controlled camera captures an image of the elusive snow leopard in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan in 2018. Photo courtesy of Snow Leopard Trust.

The B210 expansion batteries for my Bluetti AC200L solgen arrived the other day. Rather excited to now have ~6.3kWh of electricity available that can be charged off a wall outlet (I already have a non-battery grid-tied rooftop system,) or plugged into deployable PV panels to replenish.