Derek Ramirez
Behind DIY Energy Hub
About
I'm 41, IT support tech in suburban Phoenix. My summer electric bill hit $380 three years running before I stopped paying it like it was fixed and started building things in the garage instead. Eighteen months ago. Since then: a 400-watt solar array wired to a 100Ah battery bank, a magnetic generator kit from a forum seller who was off about the output numbers by a factor of six, and a wind turbine I built over one long weekend that lasted twenty-two days before a blade alignment issue took some drywall with it. The car hasn't been inside the garage since February. The south wall has a dent.
The day job is IT troubleshooting — ticket filed, root cause found, fix documented. Same approach in the garage. Every build gets a log: parts list, rough cost, and what the Fluke 117 actually showed at the end of the test period. I run each setup for at least thirty days before writing anything — sixty or ninety for setups over a hundred dollars. First time I wired the battery bank, I got the charge controller polarity backwards. Sent a forum post asking if 14.7 volts was supposed to happen on a 12V system. It was not. The person who answered was patient about it. The reading I got from that mistake showed up in three articles later — knowing what a bad connection looks like on a multimeter is actually useful.
What I don't write about: whole-house generator systems, professional solar installations, or anything that requires a licensed contractor by code. My lane is DIY builds from parts and hand tools — the kind of project a suburban garage and a willingness to rewire it once can actually finish.
Not an electrician. Not an engineer. Talk to one before anything permanent. I keep a fire extinguisher next to the workbench. My wife's words when she first saw it there: "finally."
Articles by Derek Ramirez
- Charging Cordless Tool Batteries Safely with the Power Grid Generator
- Adjusting Your Solar Panel Tilt Angle for Better Summer Output
- Power Grid Generator for Home Office Use: My IT Server Setup
- DIY Solar Panel Mounting for Tile Roofs in the Desert
- Choosing a Solar Charge Controller for Small DIY Battery Banks
- Pure Sine Wave Inverter vs Modified Sine for Sensitive Electronics
- How the Energy Revolution System Helps Reduce Home Energy Use
- How to Wire Multiple Solar Panels for Battery Charging
- How to Connect Power Grid Generator Units to Your Main Panel
- How to Clean Solar Panels Safely Without Damaging the Cells
- Why the Power Grid Generator Beats Other Portable Power Stations
- How to Test Solar Panel Voltage with a Multimeter at Home
- Troubleshooting the Orgone Motor: Why My First Three Builds Failed
- The Energy Revolution System Transition: My Weekend Project Plan
- Simple DC Circuit Wiring: A Suburban Dad's Guide
- Power Grid Generator vs Gas: The Quiet Truth About Backups
- Map Your Home Energy Leaks Like an IT Support Pro
- The Orgone Motor Setup Guide: Getting the Alignment Right the First Time
- Maximizing the Energy Revolution System: Tweaks That Boosted My Output
- Power Grid Generator Setup: A Step-by-Step Guide for Non-Engineers
- 5 Wiring Mistakes I Made So You Don't Burn Your Garage Down
- DIY Battery Bank Guide 2026: Building Off-Grid Storage for High-Heat Climates
- Can This Compact Orgone Motor Actually Dent My $380 Phoenix Electric Bill? My 6-Month Garage Experiment
- Solar vs. Gas: The $380 Bill That Forced Me to Choose (And Why I Built My Own)
- The Phoenix Summer Survival Kit: How I Finally Calculated My Solar Needs Without Losing My Mind
- Magnetic Generator DIY: What Nobody Tells You Before You Start Building (2026 Update)
- 3 Months with the Energy Revolution System: Can a DIY Blueprint Actually Kill a $380 Electric Bill?
- I Built a Magnetic Generator in My Garage: Real Numbers, Real Heat, and the $390 Electric Bill
- Cutting the Power Bill: How I Dropped My Monthly Nut by 40% Without a Single Solar Panel
- DIY Wind Turbine vs Solar Panel: Which One Actually Drops Your Bill in the Suburbs?
- 5 Ways to Generate Electricity at Home That Actually Work in 2026
- How I Built My First DIY Off-Grid Solar System Without Burning My Garage Down (2026 Update)
Disclosure
Some links on this site are affiliate links — I earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. I only link to energy products I've personally built or tested in this garage.