23/04/2024
VOLT LOCKER ORIGIN - GROWING UP IN THE BUSH
My journey started on a very small, mostly self-sufficient farm in a tiny town in the vast rainforest bushland of north eastern Victoria. We lived on a plot of cleared land surrounded by seemingly endless forests. You could walk for days in nearly any direction without bumping into a single human being. It was a magical way to grow up despite (or maybe due to) the hard work of day to day survival and the lack of modern conventions such as reliable electricity, hot water on demand, washing machine, TV reception, shops, central heating and so on. What we lacked in technology, we made up for in natural wonder. A river bordered our property with water so fresh you could drink while swimming in it. Birds of all shapes, sizes and colours fluttered, chirped and sang their beautiful songs. Kangaroos and wallabies lazed around the green paddocks scratching their bellies and swatting away the flies. Lace Monitors scurried off up the closest tree when you busted them attempting to get into the chicken coup. Big black house lizards tentatively crept up to the kitchen table to feast on any stray crumbs. Even the occasional snake would weave its way through the open doors looking for a mouse to eat for lunch.
We had a very unreliable solar system consisting of a few solar panels and some second hand lead acid batteries along with an inverter the size of a fridge. The solar system produced and stored only enough power to run the radio and a couple of 12v lights which barely lit the house (not like the LED lights we have these days). These lights were so dim we often used candles instead because they were brighter than the lights! Our main problem was a lack of reliable and sufficient power.
As our solar system could barely run the lights let alone a water pump, the biggest barrier to being completely self-sufficient was the fact that we needed petrol to pump water from the river as we produced nearly all our own food on the farm. We had looked into numerous options for pumping water such as gravity type pumps, waterwheels etc. but none of these were feasible due to the very slight slope of the river and the fact that regular huge floods would wash away any structure that we put in place in the river. So we made do with the petrol pumps for water and the second hand solar system.
The school had mains power so if my brother and I wanted to watch a movie on the weekend we would have to ask permission to use the school hall, then jump on our rusty old bikes and ride 10km uphill on a windy rainforest road, watch the movie then ride all the way home! At least on the way back it was down hill I suppose. Let’s just say we read a lot of books instead.
I was particularly fascinated by science books. I loved to ponder how the universe works. Space, electricity, magnetism, light, the sun all blew my mind. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around how we could collect energy from the sun, turn it into electricity and then use that electricity and turn it back into light or use it to make things move. It seemed like magic to me as a kid and even with the understanding of how it works that I have now, I still believe it’s essentially just magic. I mean, if that’s not magic what is?
One day when I was about 10 years old a friend of a family friend from Melbourne came to visit (not the sharpest tool in the shed) and my parents gave her the usual tour around the farm. I tagged along, happy to have visitors and help explain all about our home. When we got to the solar system (which weren’t very common at all among city dwellers at the time) my dad explained how the solar panels collect sunlight and supply power to the house. In response to this explanation, her face screwed up and she blurted out (much to our puzzled astonishment) “but if everyone had these solar panels wouldn’t we use up the sun?” My dad looked at her with a baffled expression, then shook his head in his hands for a moment in disbelief before moving on with the tour. I’m going to assume you aren’t that silly, especially if you are reading this blog. As we know, the sun won’t run out of power anytime soon. This makes solar the most fantastic source of renewable energy. No need for petrol, coal or maintenance.
Now I have explained what sparked my interest in solar and renewables, let’s move on to how I came across Bluetti. I moved to Melbourne and did my electrical apprenticeship in the industrial sector. My career exposed me to all types of electrical systems including specialising in the engineering of high speed automated systems which was fascinating in itself. But, there was always something missing for me and that was the origin of the electricity and the accessibility for off grid users.
And so I decided to move into renewables. I didn’t want to install large scale solar systems for big companies, I wanted to work on systems that are accessible to people like my dad. People who want a reliable off grid system for personal and family use without having to limit themselves to dim lights or 1 hour of radio per day. People who want to travel off grid, even people who want to go camping off grid and not have to worry about power. As we all know there is already enough to worry about when going camping.
I left my high paying position in the industrial sector and started work wiring caravans. This way I could get the most hands-on experience with off grid systems. I spent the next year wiring up every type of system you can imagine from Victron to Redarc and everything in between. I wired the most cheap and nasty systems and I wired the most expensive and cutting edge systems. I took the time to really understand the advantages and limitations, pros and cons of each system. Through this experience I identified that the cheaper systems lacked reliability and were missing many features (some critical and some nice to haves).
The expensive systems had all the features but restricted end users when it came to price and space. Most of these systems also required a lot of know-how to wire up.
So I started searching for other options. After a lot of gruelling research, a steep learning curve, testing and comparing specs of every system on the market, I came across Bluetti.
The Bluetti power stations have packed all the A-grade quality, reliable components into one user-friendly case without compromising anything and at a much lower price and smaller footprint than the equivalent in other brands. I was sold! I founded Volt Locker as a business focusing on the Bluetti range for now as I believe it is currently the best on the market all round but I will continue to search for the best brands and products out there to bring to people like you.
I will leave it here for now but in the next blog post, I’ll go deeper into the benefits and workings of the Bluetti Systems.VOLT LOCKER ORIGIN - GROWING UP IN THE BUSH
April 23, 2024 Geordie Bartram
My journey started on a very small, mostly self-sufficient farm in a tiny town in the vast rainforest bushland of north eastern Victoria. We lived on a plot of cleared land surrounded by seemingly endless forests. You could walk for days in nearly any direction without bumping into a single human being. It was a magical way to grow up despite (or maybe due to) the hard work of day to day survival and the lack of modern conventions such as reliable electricity, hot water on demand, washing machine, TV reception, shops, central heating and so on. What we lacked in technology, we made up for in natural wonder. A river bordered our property with water so fresh you could drink while swimming in it. Birds of all shapes, sizes and colours fluttered, chirped and sang their beautiful songs. Kangaroos and wallabies lazed around the green paddocks scratching their bellies and swatting away the flies. Lace Monitors scurried off up the closest tree when you busted them attempting to get into the chicken coup. Big black house lizards tentatively crept up to the kitchen table to feast on any stray crumbs. Even the occasional snake would weave its way through the open doors looking for a mouse to eat for lunch.
We had a very unreliable solar system consisting of a few solar panels and some second hand lead acid batteries along with an inverter the size of a fridge. The solar system produced and stored only enough power to run the radio and a couple of 12v lights which barely lit the house (not like the LED lights we have these days). These lights were so dim we often used candles instead because they were brighter than the lights! Our main problem was a lack of reliable and sufficient power.
As our solar system could barely run the lights let alone a water pump, the biggest barrier to being completely self-sufficient was the fact that we needed petrol to pump water from the river as we produced nearly all our own food on the farm. We had looked into numerous options for pumping water such as gravity type pumps, waterwheels etc. but none of these were feasible due to the very slight slope of the river and the fact that regular huge floods would wash away any structure that we put in place in the river. So we made do with the petrol pumps for water and the second hand solar system.
The school had mains power so if my brother and I wanted to watch a movie on the weekend we would have to ask permission to use the school hall, then jump on our rusty old bikes and ride 10km uphill on a windy rainforest road, watch the movie then ride all the way home! At least on the way back it was down hill I suppose. Let’s just say we read a lot of books instead.
I was particularly fascinated by science books. I loved to ponder how the universe works. Space, electricity, magnetism, light, the sun all blew my mind. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around how we could collect energy from the sun, turn it into electricity and then use that electricity and turn it back into light or use it to make things move. It seemed like magic to me as a kid and even with the understanding of how it works that I have now, I still believe it’s essentially just magic. I mean, if that’s not magic what is?
One day when I was about 10 years old a friend of a family friend from Melbourne came to visit (not the sharpest tool in the shed) and my parents gave her the usual tour around the farm. I tagged along, happy to have visitors and help explain all about our home. When we got to the solar system (which weren’t very common at all among city dwellers at the time) my dad explained how the solar panels collect sunlight and supply power to the house. In response to this explanation, her face screwed up and she blurted out (much to our puzzled astonishment) “but if everyone had these solar panels wouldn’t we use up the sun?” My dad looked at her with a baffled expression, then shook his head in his hands for a moment in disbelief before moving on with the tour. I’m going to assume you aren’t that silly, especially if you are reading this blog. As we know, the sun won’t run out of power anytime soon. This makes solar the most fantastic source of renewable energy. No need for petrol, coal or maintenance.
Now I have explained what sparked my interest in solar and renewables, let’s move on to how I came across Bluetti. I moved to Melbourne and did my electrical apprenticeship in the industrial sector. My career exposed me to all types of electrical systems including specialising in the engineering of high speed automated systems which was fascinating in itself. But, there was always something missing for me and that was the origin of the electricity and the accessibility for off grid users.
And so I decided to move into renewables. I didn’t want to install large scale solar systems for big companies, I wanted to work on systems that are accessible to people like my dad. People who want a reliable off grid system for personal and family use without having to limit themselves to dim lights or 1 hour of radio per day. People who want to travel off grid, even people who want to go camping off grid and not have to worry about power. As we all know there is already enough to worry about when going camping.
I left my high paying position in the industrial sector and started work wiring caravans. This way I could get the most hands-on experience with off grid systems. I spent the next year wiring up every type of system you can imagine from Victron to Redarc and everything in between. I wired the most cheap and nasty systems and I wired the most expensive and cutting edge systems. I took the time to really understand the advantages and limitations, pros and cons of each system. Through this experience I identified that the cheaper systems lacked reliability and were missing many features (some critical and some nice to haves).
The expensive systems had all the features but restricted end users when it came to price and space. Most of these systems also required a lot of know-how to wire up.
So I started searching for other options. After a lot of gruelling research, a steep learning curve, testing and comparing specs of every system on the market, I came across Bluetti.
The Bluetti power stations have packed all the A-grade quality, reliable components into one user-friendly case without compromising anything and at a much lower price and smaller footprint than the equivalent in other brands. I was sold! I founded Volt Locker as a business focusing on the Bluetti range for now as I believe it is currently the best on the market all round but I will continue to search for the best brands and products out there to bring to people like you.
I will leave it here for now but in the next blog post, I’ll go deeper into the benefits and workings of the Bluetti Systems.
My journey started on a very small, mostly self-sufficient farm in a tiny town in the vast rainforest bushland of north eastern Victoria. We lived on a plot of cleared land surrounded by seemingly endless forests. You could walk for days in nearly any direction without bumping into a single human be...
