In Memory
Joe Felz — His Life & Work
Electrician, entrepreneur, solar energy consultant, builder, van-lifer, and world traveler. Based in Costa Rica, building off-grid and preserving what others want forgotten.
— how he described himself
Aug 2022
left the house for the van
1.7M+
audience, by his own count
Costa Rica
where he scanned the books
Millions to minimalism
In August 2022 Joe gave away most of what he owned and moved out of a 3,500 square foot house into a 1999 Dodge van — taking, by his own account, little more than a pair of American flag shorts, the first solar generator he ever built himself, and a plan.
He had grown up without a television and had never recorded or edited a video in his life. He picked up a phone anyway and started documenting the whole thing. Within a few years he was running businesses across several industries and reaching well over a million people — teaching anyone who asked how to power their own life.
I live entirely off solar energy — in a van, on a farm in Costa Rica, and everywhere in between. Let me help you find your free.
Everything he built
After he died his hosting was reported to be unfunded, with no way to know whether or when his sites would go offline. We archived what we could reach — page by page, the way he would have. Each one has its own place here now.
Felz Energy Consultants
felzenergy.com
His main work. Solar design, installation and service, the calculators he wrote himself, and the gear he personally vetted.
Explore →FelzBooks
felzbooks.com
“The Encyclopédie of the Faithful.” Rare and antique books, photographed page by page from Costa Rica.
Explore →Felz Media Group
felzmediagroup.org
Branding and marketing — and a place where he wrote at length about how people really decide to trust you.
Explore →
Forever Sponsor
The Felz Institute for Solar Energy
The Institute is not one of Joe’s companies. It is the solar academy he commissioned in writing, months before he died — set up here in his name, and the standing sponsor of the lab.
He put his name behind it so that any child anywhere could learn to design a real power system without paying a cent. That sponsorship does not end because he did — and the lab now carries his name outright: the Joe Felz Memorial Solar Exploration Lab.
When we archived his site, his teaching calendar still had classes on it: Intro to Solar, once a month, booked through January 2027. Those classes were still on the calendar when he died. So the teaching carries on here instead.
Joe
“To my dear friend Joe Felz — it was my pleasure and privilege to work with you on this project and your many other sites we brought back to your control. I’m so sorry that you felt like not being here was the only way to go forward. We love you, Brother, and will never forget how truly special and awesome you were.”
Where he’s still out there
His channels are still live. There are hours of him talking about the work he loved.