I’m in a shared living situation where I only control my bedroom, but there I have a pair of 100W panels outside my window that I just pass the cables through inside via that selfsame window, a shelf next to it with a solar controller and battery, and then run DC to all the lights in my room and my corsi-rosenthal box (which was built with 12V PC fans), plus whatever devices I want to charge like phones and flashlights and stuff. Basically the low-tech magazine approach.

If you’re starting small scale anyways I don’t think it makes sense to set it up as though it were large scale, and if you evaluate what your actual energy needs are you might find that you don’t even ever need to go big.

Something I tend to think about with regards to this sentiment is how much the individual action reflects the culture its embedded in. Despite everything, the attitude at large still seems to be that humans are entitled to their environment and it is theirs to use, the ecological manifest destiny exported by the West. Even if an individual reducing their footprint never amounts to anything, there’s a bit of an as above so below thing going on, and therefore this attitude will never be able to be excised if everyone is encouraged to just throw their hands up and declare, Well I’m totally powerless in the face of capital! Guess I’ll just keeping making a mess.

I’ve got a Vero VR-N76 which I am satisfied with, it uses 18650s and charges using USB-C… I do not know if they are user replaceable, though. There’s a couple of other companies that sell the exact same radio rebadged, Vero offers it in a see-through gameboyesque crystal thing (hence how I can see the 18650s). pairs well with a glow in the dark signalstick!