An off-grid build in Spain
I started with rough, abandoned land, a broken garden house and an old well. Now I am bringing solar power, water, gardens and computing together into a place to live and grow.
The beginning
Tao did not begin as a smart home or an AI project. It began with the physical work of making abandoned ground usable: paths, shelter, water, planting and somewhere to work. The engineering grew around those needs.
I built Tao hands-on, from making the ground usable to installing solar and battery systems. I bring its water, computing and automation together and maintain them as one working site.
Early build / 19 July 2020New structures and open ground, with the garden still taking shape around them.
Work in progress / Film published 2021The pool under construction, with people doing the physical work. The film makes the shared effort visible.
Later build / 2022Paths connect the buildings, solar panels catch the light and planting fills the spaces between.
Off-grid engineering
A pump uses the same finite energy budget as a computer. Watering depends on what the well can supply. Comfort has to fit around the essentials. At Tao, those are connected engineering problems.
Energy
I install and configure the solar and storage systems myself, most recently working with lithium batteries. Solar panels supply electricity; batteries carry it beyond the hours of sunshine. I treat stored energy as a budget: safety and essential operation first, comfort after that. Battery charge, solar production and load measurements guide when to protect reserves and when to use surplus.
Water
Irrigation weighs available well water, plant demand and energy availability. Bounded watering runs, recovery pauses and daily water budgets keep that balance practical. Independent pump protection provides another safeguard. The question is not only when a plant needs water, but how much the well can spare.
Computing and AI
On-site computers support GPU-accelerated local AI, voice interaction and battery forecasting, with external AI available alongside them. The assistant reads measurements, history and operating context to help answer questions about Tao. Those computers also belong in the energy budget: intelligence takes power too.
Local automation
Home Assistant brings the systems together, while private remote access lets me check on them from elsewhere. Energy management and watering follow explicit start conditions, limits and stop rules. AI helps me understand and propose; permission to operate equipment remains a separate decision.
How much charge is left? Battery state, generation and demand.
Has the well recovered? Water level and its recent history.
Why is watering waiting? Water, energy and the scheduler’s current decision.
Through the years
From the first paths to an established garden, the films follow a build that keeps growing.
An early chapter of the build, before the later planting and structures seen elsewhere on this page.
Watch the 2019 filmThe next dated film follows the developing garden. The archive also includes the practical work of building solar power and the pool.
Watch the 2021 filmA further chapter in the same build, with time and growth becoming part of the transformation.
Watch the 2022 filmThe image dated 26 April 2026 shows dense planting around a narrow path. Alongside this physical growth, Tao now has energy, water and computing systems to look after.
See the garden image
Beyond the equipment
The point is not to fill a piece of land with technology. It is to make somewhere I want to spend time: growing things, building, working and being outside.
The garden makes the engineering tangible. Electricity has a source. Water has a limit. A decision in software eventually meets a pump, a battery or a living plant.
Living Postcards
Latest available edition
The long build has small moments too: changing light, weather and growth in the garden. Living Postcards turn selected observations into narrated films, with cinematic transitions connecting the scenes. Together they are a visual diary of Tao.
From the build archive
Inside the practical work, then back above the garden.
What Tao means to me now
Tao brings my interest in computing into contact with ordinary needs: electricity, water, shelter and a garden. I cannot judge it only by whether the code runs. It has to be useful in the place it serves.
It is a personal build, with help from others, and an ongoing responsibility. What matters to me now is making the systems dependable enough that there is room to enjoy the life around them.
