power

My good friend Jeff helping me install the panels.

I have started to install the photovoltaics. The array is mounted on a 6" well casing that was installed by the the well drillers when they were here drilling the well. The 6" pipe is sunk deep into the granite ledge so I am sure it is not going to budge. On top of the pipe is the array rack and panels. I was really impressed with the ruggedness of the rack. It was made by DP&W Power-fab. All the welds were clean and even the paint job was nice. I have no questions about the sturdiness of it. The panels are Evergreen ES-A 210 panels. I installed 8 panels for a total of 1680 watts. That means for every hour the sun hits the panels 1680 watts of electricity are stored in the batteries. To understand watts just think of a light bulb. A 100 watt lights bulb uses 100 watts in one hour. if you use it for 5 hours then you have consumed 500 watts. So in Mainer we have about 5 hours of peak sunlight, that means for five hours we will be generating 1680 watts. the rest of the time the efficiency is reduced. That means on a sunny day we will be storing over 8400 watts in the batteries.

Progress is steady, but slow, at this point. I am afraid the weather has not been cooperating. At this point the plummers and the electrician are doing their thing, I am installing the solar and the builder is starting to install the siding. If all goes well we should be able to have the insulating and some heat by new years.