Note: I'm reposting this after my original post was removed by a moderator because it included a link to the YouTube videos showing how I built it, which is my fault. I asked the moderator if I could just edit the post to remove the link, and preserve all the great discussion and knowledge sharing from the first 8 hours it was up, but I was told I have to repost it, and lose everything! Apologies—I tried! Anyhow, in case anyone's interested in doing something like this, here's the cost breakdown again.
Here’s the list of tools and equipment — and what it cost me — to build a garage-height, solar-powered, commercial lawn care rig from the ground up.🌞
🔋 SOLAR CHARGING SYSTEM — $3,200
☀️ 4x Rich Solar 250W Solar Panels
⚡️ EG4 3000EHV-48 All-In-One Off-Grid Inverter
🔋 EG4 LifePower4 V2 48V 100Ah Lithium Battery
➡ Powers everything — I haven't had to plug it in even once yet. No More Fuel Bills 🤯
🛠️ EGO Commercial Lawn Equipment (w/ 30% Instant CO State Rebate) — $10,926
🧼 MOWERS:
- EGO Z6 42" Zero Turn Riding Mower w/ 4x 12Ah Batteries — $4,199.96
- EGO Commercial 22" Push Mower — $909.95
💨 BLOWER & TRIMMERS:
- EGO Commercial Backpack Blower w/ 2x 7.5Ah Batteries — $489.30
- EGO Commercial Edger — $307.30
- EGO Commercial String Trimmer — $230.30
- EGO Commercial Multi-Head Power Tool — $359.00
🧼 DETHATCHER:
- EGO 14" Multi-Head Dethatcher Attachment — $249.00
🔋 BATTERIES & CHARGING:
- 2x EGO 12Ah Batteries — $1,003.43
- EGO Commercial Battery Charger — $439.00
- EGO Commercial 3-Port Battery Dock — $219.00
- EGO Commercial Backpack Link Adapter — $249.00
🚛 TRAILER + BUILD MATERIALS — $5,014
- 5×10 Utility Trailer — $4,400.00
- Landscape Tool Rack — $40.00
- Zero-Turn Mower Tie-Downs, Racks, Straps — $250.00
- Safety Equipment — $100.00
- Electrical Components (breakers, outlets, wiring, lights) — $300.00
- Miscellaneous Install Hardware — $100.00
🚛 TOTAL — $19,140
FAQs (from previous posting)
- How many properties do you service daily, and what's your pricing? I'm a solo operator and service about 8–10 properties per day, with a minimum mowing charge of $50. It took me a couple of months to earn back my initial investment.
- What safety measures are in place for your solar trailer setup? To my knowledge, I'm fully adhering to all safety requirements outlined in the equipment manuals. This includes installing fire-resistant cement-board barriers where required. Currently, the trailer only has passive side vents without active fans. Although I haven't experienced issues yet, I plan to add fans soon for improved ventilation.
- How much gas do you save annually using an all-electric setup? I have no idea, as fuel reduction wasn't my primary goal. The key benefits for me include significantly reduced air and noise pollution, low maintenance, and considerable time savings.
- What was your biggest challenge with this build? The hardest part was designing and building the trailer to fit inside my garage, which has a standard 7-foot-tall door. I had to get very creative with how I mounted the equipment, including welding a custom steel bracket to mount the solar battery to the ceiling, and fabricating custom mounts for the solar panels to keep them low enough.
- What are the downsides? While I haven't tried scaling this rig for use by more employees, I'm betting scalability would be the biggest downside. I designed this system specifically for my solo operation, which made the number of solar panels and batteries, that I need to get me through the day, very feasible. I'm happy with averaging $500/day, so I don't have any intention of complicating things with growing my operation, so this trailer works very well for me. I don't know how well it would work for bigger crews. The other downside is not having a commercial stand-on/sit-down mower. There's a commercial walk-behind mower in the trailer, but my sit-down mower is a residential mower that I don't expect to get more than 2000 hours out of.
by ecojoelawncare
15 Comments
Very impressive, well done!
Nice.. Niccce.
You’re expecting to get 2000 hours out of this setup running daily? So every year you’re planning on buying a new mower/batteries?
So, I have a few questions.
Do you find that you have enough battery capacity to work all day without “pucker factor” of maybe running out of battery on your last job?
How does this handle the rare cloudy day. I know it’s 300+ days of sunshine in Colorado but when I lived in the Springs we had the occasional cloudy day.
How essential are your solar chargers to a day of mowing? Or is it just for keeping the batteries charged for the next day?
Denver is a good ways away from the mountains so I assume you’re not having to deal with the shadows killing your solar chargers by 3:30-5:00 every day. (Again, in the Springs Cheyenne mountain and pikes peak blot out the sun so it makes me wonder how things work in Denver.
How much of a difference does the all electric equipment make in your overall comfort after a day of mowing? Both in weight savings on your back and noise mitigation? Do you find yourself feeling better at the end of the day than if you were running gas equipment?
And lastly, how would you rate that big mower with the steering wheel over the dual lever version? Do you notice less fatigue on your arms? Can you turn as tightly as with a regular zero turn? Would you recommend this type of system to someone else? Does the eGo Commercial mower really stand up to the task compared to a comparably sized Husqvarna or Kubota gas burner?
Did your price go up after making the switch to electric?
Sorry man but gas is so much cheaper.. Give me 2000 dollars and a trailer and i can make the same as you. in a few weeks.
Electric is great if you have a small yard but all day you need gas.
Cool setup but not practical in a business aspect.
Great work! I have had an EGO lawn mower since 2015. My lawn is 5300 sq. ft. and it still uses the original battery!
Cool setup thanks for sharing. I have thought about something like this and pairing it with a Ford F150 lightning.
Someone knows what they’re doing. It’s beautiful.
Looks expensive
Why are we seeing this a second time?
https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/s/6PEt6ys2CL
Has Ego ever contacted you for sponsorship or anything? Seems like a very obvious thing to do on their end.
Very cool. You said considerable time savings – can you elaborate, just so I’m clear? Like, just not standing at the pump basically?
This feels like an Ego commercial…