All the panels are delivered in a small container.
Inside the container the panels are stacked on a pallet with the inverters and all the mounts.
The solar PV panels are packed two to a cardboard box.
On the back of each PV panel is the connection modal with a male and female weather proof connector.
Here is a shot of the PV panels installed on the roof
All 32 PV panels installed on the room making power
Next the monitoring system.
The collection box: This device is used to collect all the power from the various photovoltaic arrays. The panels are wired up, in series, to create several groups or arrays. each array puts out about 600 volts DC. The connection box feeds the wires through attic to the inverters.
This system has two inverters due the number of PV panels and the desired expansions options. The inverter take the DC power created by the photovoltaic panels and covert it in to 240v AC power. These inverters are a little more sophisticated then the inverters you use in you car to get 110 power. These are full sign-wave inverters. A fail-safe system is built into the inverters to shut down if the street service is interrupted. The interruption is to protect any power Company employee that is working to restoring the main grid.
Two inverter introduces a problem as both inverter takes up two slots in the electrical panel. I was lucky and had the space in the panel. We had upgraded to a 200amp panel two years earlier in preparation and anticipation of adding solar.
There are also some advantages to having to inverters. If one inverter fails you do not loose all your power production abilities. Half of you system will still be producing usable power. The other advantage is the cost less to replace if one fails.
Next the photovoltaic panels.
An idea whose time has come!
For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest was to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform … in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn’t seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law.
I truly don’t care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.
It is also time to stop the practice of sneaking unpopular legislation through, piggybacked on legislation which is more likely to pass by including a single purpose rule. Many State constitutions already have such a rule that is designed to avoid complexity in laws and to avoid any hidden consequences that legislators or voters may miss when reading the proposed law.
The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971…before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land…all because of public pressure.
I’m asking each addressee to forward this Email to a minimum of twenty people on their Address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.
Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
“Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States . Nor shall Congress enact any legislation that shall embrace more than one subject, which subject shall be clearly expressed in its title”
This post stolen from: Darlene Adams, La Plata MD 20646
This is not your normal instalation of photovoltaic panels. In a normal install, on a concrete tile roof, the photovoltaic panels are install on top of the concrete tiles. The contractor walks all over your fragile concrete tiles and cuts holes in you tiles to install the mounting hardware.
The photo above is an examle of the traditional method of installing a PV panel mounting system on a concert tile roof. Select tiles are removed, a bracket is mounted to the rood sheeting, a riser post is attached to the mounting bracket, a standard sheet metal roof flashing is placed over the post and the top edge is sealed. This whole process is tough on the existing roof, as you are walking all over the tiles, and prone to leak due to the numbers location of the mounting post. This type of install also used a rail that the panels are mounted to.
Our installation requires the concrete tile too be removed. The a New 40 year asphalt shingle is laid down, a metal flashing is placed on the roof and the SunPower smart mounts are attached to the roof. Pre-installed on the botom of the mount is a sealing compound the is squeezed out the the bolts are tightened. Talking about bolts there are eight. No rise post or rails are used. the panels attach directly to the SunPower Smart mount.
Next the electronics.
Wednesday October sixth was a real let down!
Logitech and Google started releasing a bunch of information about Google TV recently. Google luanched a more informative website http://www.google.com/tv/ early in the week. That was the first sign of the letdown. DVR functional would only be available to Satellite customers. BUMMER!!!
Then on Wednesday (10/6) we get the first detail look at the Logitec Revue. The first thing I noticed was the connections on the back were limited to HDMI In and Out. So how was this going to work with OTA (over the air) broadcasting? well it is not, BUMMER!!
I was hoping that the Logitech Revue device was going to be able to get ANY internet content. Thats mean stuff like HULU! But several reporters reported no HULU at launch. Plus it was missing from all the screenshots. Another BUMMER!!
And the cost of the Logitech Revue is $300 dollars. Thats is a $200 dollar premium over most to the rest of the market. Like Apple TV and Roku which are both selling at the $99 dollar price point. So the cost is a real big BUMMER!!
On thing that is interesting about the Logitech Revue is it ability to control other devices like a digital cable , Satellite box, or a A/V receiver. The Revue has an IR blaster and two connections on the back for IR out. I guess IR control is a no brainer for a company like Logitech that makes all the Harmony remotes. Plus you can use your smart phone (iPhone or Android) to control the Revue over WiFi with a Logitech App. That is cool.
But the BUMMERS out number the cool factors, so I canceled my pre-order. I will sit on the side line a little longer to see who comes out with the set top box that hits the sweet spot. I thought it was going to be Google , but they missed by a long shot. My one hope is that this is just the initial release of Google TV…. Maybe better features are still coming
The Nissian Leaf, the All electric car, has not even shipped yet and the entire first year production is SOLD OUT. Nissian has stopped taking asseveration on the Nissian Leafs web site. A month or so ago you could get a reservation, but only after you had a special electrical survey of your house to make sure that the Leaf could be charged at your home.
Nissian claims that the overwhelming demand, for the Nissian Leaf, far exceeds their expectations. Problem is anyone wanting a new Nissian Leaf will need to wait until for the 2012 model next year.
It is that time again. It’s our birthday! And the Blog has a new look in celebration of our third year of posting. This last year we changed hosting sites also. So there has been a lot of change for US.
As far a Thoughts Cubed the next year should be full of surprises. In the next couple of months several ALL electric cars will be hitting the roadways. An not wait until the hup-la to calms down and you can get a electrical car for a reasonable price. I really dislike it when dealers thinks they are doing you a favor by selling you a car.
And as a personal note we are installing a 7kwh photovoltaic panels system at our home. Very exciting for us. We are going to a negative electrical bill in preparation of an all electrical vehicle. We have been wanting to do this for the past five years. And it is finally happening. watch here for a full photo easy of the install.
There will also be changes on the political front with mid term elections and the continuing slowing of the economy. So hang on for a fun filled 12 month ahead.
We have dumped the Cable TV feed. Just got tired of all the games the cable provider was playing and the cost. We still get internet through cable but no Cable TV.
At first it was a tough. You know Cable TV withdraws. Not being able to watch all the shows you get hooked on. Plus with the Tivo you were always able to keep a nice stock of shows to watch at your convenience.
Well after some digging on the internet and services like Netflix Watch Now we were able to make it through the first few months. Watching the LOST series filled up a lot of TV viewing time. The six seasons of LOST added up to over 100 episodes. Most of LOST was streamed over the Netflix service.
We are stilll streaming a lot of content form Netflix. There a lot of great show to watch Like Dr Who, MI-5, Dexter and more. We have also been exploring several of the cable networks wed sites , like USA network, SyFy and History. These networks release full episodes any where form 1 to 7 days after it airs on Cable. The problem here is they only keep the 4 most recent episodes and you can not easily record then for time shift viewing.
Another great web site for content is Hulu. There is a lot of content, some of it old, mostly episodes of previosu seasons or just the most recent 4 episodes. But if you look around you will find some gems. Just the other night I found a DIY sires called Cool Tools. There are not an current episodes but there are three full seasons of shows.
Hulu is also starting up a paid service for $9.99 per month called Hulu Plus. I would be happy to pay the money if they gave me better access to current cable shows. After looking through the info on the Plus service it did not seem to offer much for the money. But is it early and the service is not in full release yet.
So we have survived the first 90 days of NO Cable TV. Give it a try it is easer then you thing, plus you save a boat load of CASH.
After all the research:
And waiting for years we are finally making the plunge to installer solar. We kept waiting for the economy to get better but it seems that could take for ever. The monthly cash flow will not change that much. Instead of making a monthly payment to Southern California Edison, for electricity, we will be paying off the photovoltaic solar panel system. And we will be getting FREE electrical power in 7 years. Plus the state and federal rebates almost cut the price in half.
We have done all the research, reading on the internet, subscribing to magazines like Home Power, home showes, and even going to Solar seminars. We have talked to several contractors, gotten all the bids.
All the contractors licenses were checked on the California Contractor State License Board website at: http://www.cslb.ca.gov/. We checked to see what kind of license that had, whether they had just a C10 (electrical) or a C46 (solar electric), how long there were in business, and was their bond and insurance current. We also checked some Solar directories, on the internet, were customers can comment on the contractors work.
After selecting a local Solar contractor, which was important to us. We started checking the job references. We talked to to several home owners and visited several installs to check the quality of the products and workmanship. we asked wach referance the same four questions;
1. Would recommend this solar company to a friend or family member?
2. Did this Solar company perform the work in a timely manner?
3. Did this company perform the work in a professional Manner?
4. Would you use this Solar company again?
All the reference came back extremal positive, all the site visits were installed in a professionally, timely manner! So we singed a contract are are ready to start installing are 7kw system. Check back as I will be posting updates of the install. The entire install will take only four days. It will take me several weeks just to post the progress of the project.
US citizens have died or have been put into prison for refusing to BOW to foreign leaders. But Mister Obama bows to foregin leaders all the time. He has bowed to the Japan’s emperor. He has bowed to the Saudi king. (notice the lower case letter for emperor and king, no bowing here)
Why does Obama feel the need to bow to a leader that we defeated in World war II. Obama actions reflect, on the United States, as a sign of weakness. Obama should be standing proud and the Japanese should be bowing in respect to all the america lives we lost in WWII.
But when is comes to the American public Obama has no respect. The latest example is the grid lock he caused during his visit to Los Angeled on August 16th. Mind you the visit to Los Angeles was NOT a state mater. It was a fund raiser for the Democratic National Party.
Obama clogged up LAX Airport and the his Secrict Service closed several major streets in West Los Angeles, causing up to a five hour delay for some people. Is Obama so important that he has the right to virtually stop Los Angeles traffic for such a long time. I have been caught up in Presidential road closures before. As I remember I was delayed for maybe 30 to 40 minutes. I was a little late to work, but nothing like wat Obama did in Los Angeles.
There were reports of a mother who was picking up her children from school. A trip that should have only taken a few minutes. It took her over four. Stuck with her children in the car with out moving. She was less than a block from her house. LAPD would not let he back into her house. When the children need to go th the bathroom they had no where too go.
Or the stories about the people that could not leave there driveways for hours on end. What about the Doctors that could not get to the hospital for there surgery’s, or care givers who could not get to their patients, Lawyers that could not get to court. Or any body else who could just not get to work.
In my opinion, the president should not cause that much disruption for a non-state event. Even if it was a state event the Secret Service should limit the disruption to a City like Los Angeles. Obama should have landed Air Force One at military base. That way he would not be tying up a civilian air port. Then he should have take a helicopter to a landing area close to the destination, a park, an intersection any open space. If there is no landing area close to the location then change the location.
This was a fund raising party, not all that important. It was Not state business. It was not National security. The world was not coming to an end. So mister Obama next time please stay home, in the White House, where you can be safe and secure. Besides the Democrat National committee raised a Million dollars, BUT what did the traffic control and security cost the citizens of Los Angeles. I bet you it was over a Million.