Home sized battery systems.

http://green.venturebeat.com/2009/12/24/panasonics-new-home-battery-could-store-a-weeks-worth-of-electricity/

Now I've got to save up money to buy one of these and buy my way out of the Xcel contract. This is exactly what I've been wanting.

11/7/09-12/7/09 power generated

510 KWH, still haven't passed the max generated amount of 6686W, but that's not surprising. In theory, I'll generate about the same amount from 12/7/09-1/7/09 as I did this month, because I have the trees cut back more and intend to cut them back further on 12/21/09 which should be the day the most branches shade the roof as the day the sun is lowest in the sky. All of course depending on me keeping the snow off the roof. I need to go buy some implements to make that easier.

I'm missing a lot of statistics here, just getting the bare minimum because otherwise I'd have to take the readings daily just before sundown and I can't reasonably do that. I really wish REC had included a monitor with this system like I asked, even if I had to pay for it. I tried several times to get a monitor put in, but it failed.

So far I've generated 1.13MWH of electricity in 2 months during the winter. I can't wait to see what it generates during the summer.

1 month of solar 10/7/09-11/8/09

I don't yet have a good monitoring solution so I'm going to just do Monthly Total Generation and Maximum Generation stats. So far it's looking good, even without my tree being trimmed so that the solar array is blocked at least partially every day here is what I generated:
Max Generated: 6686 W
Total Generated: 620KWh

So by my calculations from my records, even in winter with my system not receiving all the light it should because of my tree (getting that fixed next week) I am generating about two times more than I use any month of the year that I live by myself. During the summer I will generate a great deal more, and I haven't yet had a chance to use an energy monitor to get rid of the biggest uses of power. So I should be doing really great once the tree is trimmed and I've reduced my electricity usage even further through efficiency.

One thing this doesn't include is the power usage of the hot tub. I've only had it a month and a half and only 2 weeks of that was before the solar was functional. So I'm not sure how much power it is pulling a month. That is one of the things I want to use the energy monitor for. Even with the hot tub I should be generating more than I use every month of the year, and quite a lot more during the summer months. It looks like this plan is going to work out.

I'm not yet sure how to calculate my total savings, there are some confounding factors and I haven't quite come up with an algorithm that will take everything into account. So I may have to wait until I've had the whole set up for an entire year before I can calculate how long it will take for it to pay for itself.

One Block off the Grid

Hey! I got mentioned in the 1BoG site. Signing up with them was instrumental in getting the price for the array down to the price range I could afford this year. 1BoG

Getting my trees taken care of, including cutting the walnut back so that it doesn't shade the roof is going to cost about 1/2 what I expected just taking care of the walnut was going to cost. So that's making me really happy. Hopefully they'll get around to doing the work soon.

WOOHOO!

I came home today, after 1.5 weeks of hearing absolutely nothing about the progress of my paperwork or project to find a plastic clip on the sidewalk. I recognized it as the clips the electric company puts on their panels and looked up to the panel to find a shiny new NET electrical meter. I was elated! Then I realized that nobody had notified me this change was being made, and so I hadn't been able to shutdown my servers. That's very bad.

I go inside and am absolutely baffled by the fact that the power has clearly not been off in my house. That's right, they switched out my electrical meter without disconnecting my power. How is that possible? I haven't the faintest idea.

I'd sent off an email several days ago bitching about the project management on this project. The guy was just terrible at communicating project status. I basically never knew what was going on except the three days the crew was here doing the installation, because they kept me well informed and always showed up to work on time, etc.

Anyway, so without any communications at all, I sent off an email to the sales guy several days ago. Nothing. Sent off another email to him and the head of the colorado division. Nothing. Today I sent an email to the sales guy, the head of the colorado division, the project manager and the Operations Manager for Arizona and Colorado.

Then I called Xcel. Xcel verified they'd installed a NET meter for me, and that they believed I was good to go on the solar installation, but the guy that answered the phone couldn't be positive. We agreed it would be better to wait for verification from Xcel and REC before I turned anything on.

Then I got a phone call from Jason Zink the Operations Manager for Arizona and Colorado. He first apologized for all the problems, and said that my complaints were not falling on deaf ears, then walked me through verifying that everything was ready.

Then he walked me through turning the system on. Now...it's 6pm on October 6th so it's unlikely the system is generating enough electricity to even power up the DC side of the system, but still...It's on. Tomorrow morning it'll start generating massive amounts of electricity. SO FUCKING COOL!

And I found another company to come take care of the shade problem, so sometime this week someone will be out to tell me if I get to keep my black walnut tree or not, and hopefully give me some advice on my other tress health also. I really hope I get to keep the black walnut...I hate to have to cut down trees.

So close!

The hole in the wall is fixed, everything is installed. My understanding is that now I just have to wait for the paperwork to get to Xcel, then I have to start pushing them to install my bi-directional meter. Once that is done, I can start actually using all this equipment I paid so much for.

Woohoo! Solar officiall completely installed!

I have fully inspected and approved solar panels! Assuming they patch the hole in my wall on Monday like they said, I am done with REC Solar. Once all the paperwork is turned in, I start the push to get Xcel to come install the bi-directional meter. I was told "it can take as long as 30 days" up until today when the project manager said "6 weeks, but lately they've been a little faster about it". UGH! So it may be 6 weeks before I get to turn my system on...meanwhile it sits there slowly losing efficiency.

I still can't get Tree Pros to even call me back about taking care of my tree. If they don't contact me today or answer the phone when I call, I'm calling their biggest competitor.

This may yet happen!

The inverter is installed, all the wiring is done. The inspection is supposed to be tomorrow. So...assuming the inspection goes well tomorrow then all I have left to do is get Xcel out here to install the bi-directional meter and give me the go ahead to power on, and I'm hot.

Of course...I still have to get someone to look at my tree...I'm having real problems getting these guys out here and that's getting annoying.

Nearing the end!

The person that is going to install my inverter is supposed to be on the way to my house right now. All he's got to do is install the inverter, hook it up, connect the last connection on the panels and then test to make sure it works. Then tomorrow the inspection is supposed to happen. Assuming that goes well, they are supposed to close up my wall and be finished. Then it's a matter of getting Xcel out to inspect everything and put in the new bi-directional meter and then I'm producing electricity from sun light! If my calculations are right, I should be producing about twice to three times what I use. Especially once I've got my new efficient refrigerator and dishwasher and gone through the house with a power meter and switched out all the vampiric electronics.

At least, that's what I have planned...by the end of all this I'll be pretty close to entirely out of money so we'll see.

The solar electric installation is done!

Well, not really. All the panels are in place, almost all of the wiring is done. Just the converter and the wiring that attaches to that and the actually panel interconnections need to be done. Three Days! That's damned quick.

End of Day One:











End of Day Two


End of Day Three:

Solar electric installation underway!

The REC installation crew showed up yesterday morning and started my solar installation. I had a quick walk-through with the foreman and then left for work. I got home about 4pm so that they could leave on time without leaving my house unlocked, and they'd put in all the conduit for the main power, and had all of the adjustable mounting brackets attached to the roof.

Today they arrived just as I was leaving for work, in a hurry because I had to go to an All-Staff required meeting...yes, one of THOSE. I expect they'll have all the wiring and a good deal of the racking structure in place today. Tomorrow they are supposed to be finished, then the final inspection will happen either tomorrow or Thursday.

Nows the bad news...then I have to wait UP TO 30 DAYS for Xcel to sign off on it and allow me to actually turn the system on. That is...phenomenally annoying.

Next step, once everything is in place, is to get someone out to take care of my black walnut tree. I really don't want to cut it down, but I just don't see any choice. So...I'll get an expert out to try to help me save the tree, and if we can't then I'll plant other trees to make up for it. Or maybe just trellis with vines on it so I don't have to worry about the height of the trees, then plan trees further from the house.

Oh, speaking of which, another nice piece of news...the guy who is going to do my fence for me told me that he thinks it'll be fine to put clinging vines on the fence. He says pretty much all of the fencing he's dealt with, even the really old stuff, shows surface damage from weather and plants but is almost always solid underneath. So my plans for the house/yard are moving right along!

The hot tub is full functional and working great. I'm waiting for the hot tub company to finish the configuration of the electronic controls and bring me my top lifter, but those are minor things now that the hot tub is installed and working. Still lots to do to make the shed a more hot tub friendly place, and in fact I may have to get another 2 rows or so of tile put in, but it's coming along nicely.

More progress!

The handyman that did my tile stopped by last night and we decided that he would make the installation look prettier and reseal it a bit which he did this morning. The hot tub install is supposed to happen either tonight or tomorrow night, I'm guessing tomorrow night since I haven't heard from them yet. The electrician is scheduled for tomorrow night. So with any luck, I'll have a useable hot tub on Saturday. Woohoo!

More big news...I finally bitched to REC about how little movement was happening on my installation and how the install time kept getting pushed out against my will, etc etc. I got a response from the sales guy within 30 minutes, then the reworked plan and numbers later that evening, and a call from the project manager just now offering to start the installation next Monday morning. So! I'm getting a 6.7kw installation instead of an 8.4kw, I'm getting about $3000 less back from taxes, but it's costing me about $4000 less for the installation. So that all works out fine, and I should still be generating about twice as much power as the max I ever pull.

Once this is all done and the money has all settled down, etc, I think I'll get a new efficient refrigerator and dishwasher with the difference in the cost of the solar.

Some progress!

Ok, I was on a great relaxing vacation for 10 days. One of the funny things about that was that 2.5 months after ordering my hot tub and getting to work on preparing to install it, the last step that had to be done before hot tub installation was being finished while I was driving the first leg of my vacation. 2.5 months. I got an engineer to evaluate the structure of the shed, then design a plan to reinforce it. I got a construction company to build the structural reinforcement, then fix it when it didn't pass inspection. I got the permit (City of Edgewater was very cooperative and helpful). Got the flooring and the tiling and the plastic sheeting to cover the walls. That was the part being finished the day I took off for vacation, coincidentally the same day the hot tub arrived at the store. Happily they held the hot tub for me and it looks like it'll be installed Thursday or Friday. I'm working with the tiling guy tonight to clear up some details and the excellent electrician I work with will likely be able to make it over when they deliver the hot tub to hook it up. So it's reasonably likely I'll have a functional hot tub installed in my shed by this weekend. YAY! 10 years I've been wanting a hot tub. 2.5 months I've been waiting since I paid for it. Then of course I'll have a bunch of details to work through with getting everything in the shed working the way I want, but those won't be a problem and I'll be doing them myself.

I'm also having the tiling guy (who is the handyman I work with) give me a quote on putting in my fence so I know how much money I'm looking at paying. It's going to be expensive.

In solar news....REC solar is pissing me off. My install was scheduled for this week. They had to change the project plan because they told me incorrectly how many panels they could install on my house. That was 3 weeks ago. They still don't have a new project plan for me and I have to ask a couple of times each time to get any sort of response, which still hasn't included either a new project plan nor a new price. And now they're saying late October for the installation. Man this is getting annoying as fuck. Sure, I unintentionally played the "Hey! I want solar installed as soon as possible! [pause] *PSYCH!*" game on them twice, but that wasn't my fault. I've paid my deposit, I agreed to the original project plan, they should be getting their fucking shit in gear and getting it installed. I'm really quite pissed that I had not one but two full engineering work ups of my roof to make sure the system I wanted would fit and then when it comes down to it they couldn't actually make it work even when I paid the extra money for the smaller more efficient panels. My experience with this company so far is not making me happy. I guess that's what happens when you have to go with the least expensive install.

Some progress!

I know, another post all in the same day...wild!

The construction company finally came over and replaced the columns in the structural support under my shed with treated wood. That is apparently the agreement they came to with the inspector. The inspector is supposed to inspect it again tomorrow, so if he signs off on it, hopefully the tile guy will get started on the tile in the afternoon. Either way it's going to be too late and I'll have to have the hot tub stored for a week or so before I can get it installed. But that just gives the tile more time to really settle and set.

I got a call from the city with some questions about my permit for the solar install. This is news to me, since I haven't even accepted a project plan from the solar company yet because they haven't sent me the new version of the plan. The new version of the plan, of course, being required because they've been bullshitting me all this time about how many panels would fit on my roof. I don't think it was on purpose, but it's still very annoying. So I'm going to end up with 8 fewer panels (an entire "string"). Well that'll save me some money, and it'll still produce far more power than I'll be using, and likely in 15 or 20 years when I replace the panels the new more efficient ones will produce even more power in an even smaller space. So really it's not a big deal. But I haven't seen the new plans, and yet they already have a permit for the job. Neat trick! I'm sure it'll be fine.

I really have to find a tree specialist to get this tree cut back. Ugh...its going to come down to the wire on that one.

Motorcycles

I have been riding motorcycles for 40 years. I rode my friends minibike when I was 6. I got my first minibike at 7. I drove my moms CB360 Honda for two years before I got my own bike. I was without a motorcycle between the ages of 16 and 18 having sold my last trail bike and not wanting to bother buying a bike smaller than a 250 (all I was legally allowed to drive) before I turned 18. My motorcycle was my only form of transportation for a different two years while I lived in Illinois. That's right, I drove my bike year round regardless of weather for two years through Illinois winters in the early 80s. It was very exciting. I was without a bike for 3 years during college because I couldn't afford to own one.

My current motorcycle is a 1991 ST1100 Honda. It's a big sport touring bike and I have owned it since 1995. Two weeks after I bought it, I rode that bike the 1700 miles to Phoenix, AZ to see friends. Put a couple of hundred miles on it while in AZ, then rode it the 1700 miles back. It was a tremendously fun ride, although a bit uncomfortable at times. I unfortunately didn't drive it much the 5 years I lived in Phoenix because 9 months out of the year it's too damned hot to ride a motorcycle. Nothing like getting 2nd degree burns on your fingers from using the clutch...that was a lesson I only needed to learn once.

My motorcycle is my primary mode of transportation and has been since I moved up here. Even in the winter, although I no longer voluntarily ride in the rain or snow. Sometimes you get caught out though. I don't know how many miles I've put on motorcycles over the years, but I've put 40,000 on this bike and far more than that on the two CB750s I owned early on. I've unfortunately not had the money to upkeep my ST the way I should which is sad, but it's runs extremely well and has been incredibly reliable all these years.

I've laid a street bike down 4 times in my life. The first was entirely my fault both because I was in a hurry, hadn't had the brakes properly fixed, and forgot that they'd changed the road to not be two lanes past the curve. Almost got the bike into the parking lot, but the last 2' of curb took the bike right out from under me. I was so angry I picked it up 3' off the ground and slammed it down on it's tires. Wasn't the bikes fault though. Second time I blew a downshift on a curve and couldn't adjust fast enough to avoid the loose gravel. Flipped the bike on it's side and threw me off the bike through a backwards somersault and back onto my feet about 10' from the bike. That was a bad day. 3rd time a guy turned right in front of me. Almost got the bike stopped in time but not quite. I cleverly used my left thigh to shield the bike from the car (I'm not shitting you here) and I wouldn't have dropped the bike if the car drive hadn't panicked and pulled forward and to the left, thus pinning my front tire to the curb while pushing my back tire toward the curb with the back end of his car. Not much damage to the bike, just the mirrors, one from hitting the car, one from hitting the curb when he pushed me over. 4th time I went to kung fu class on the bike and by the time I was out of class it had snowed 8". Having ridden in snow many times I was fine until I had to cross a major street that slanted from my right down to my left. Turns out the middle of the intersection was just a sheet of ice. I got half way across and the bike did a 180 spin with the rear tire sliding down hill. I kept it upright until I put my right foot down instead of my left and so toppled down hill. Then I picked my 650lb motorcycle up while standing on an ice sheet when the tires were uphill of the handlebars and pushed it back over to the curb because the light had changed and cars were heading for me. When i got to the curb I realized the bike was still in gear...I'd just slid it the 15' over to the curb. Not much damage to the bike...just the mirrors again.

My ST1100 has been hit 4 times while it was parked. All but one of those times were hit and run. As of the last time it got hit the insurance company scrapped it. They gave me nothing close to the amount it would cost to fix the bike, and won't insure it anymore other than mandatory insurance on other people. Very bad for me and the bike, but it did allow me to pay for the last china trip, and enough of the work to get the bike back on the street. So now my bike is 18 years old, beat up as hell, needs all kinds of work, but still runs very well and is reliable as anything I've ever driven.

My dad taught me to ride when I was 6 years old. Taught me to ride a bicycle when I was 4. We used to go dirt biking/trail riding fairly often when I was a kid, and I rode my minibike in the alley most of every summer when I was a kid. My dad taught me a ton of stuff about how to ride motorcycles, and taught me about how a motorcycle rider should act and about how bikers should stick together. Some of that isn't really valid anymore, although I kinda try to act like it is. My dad stopped riding motorcycles when he was younger than I am now or about my current age. One too many close calls. I've had them myself. I've had 3 semis pull into the lane I was driving in on the interstate while I was half way along the truck. I had a van emergency brake and make a right turn from the middle lane of a 3 lane road while I was right behind it in the right hand lane. The number of times people have changed lanes in their vehicles while I was right next to them is too many to remember. I've had people decide that they didn't need to get over on those streets that are only barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass. I've had several people follow too close then have to emergency brake (while I moved forward and out of the way) in order to not hit me when I stopped.

It is incredibly dangerous when I think about it logically, but when I'm riding it doesn't seem dangerous I just have to pay close attention, which is what everybody should be doing while driving. Then it wouldn't be nearly so dangerous.

Riding motorcycles is one of the most basic sheer joys in my life. It takes a monumentally bad day or bad weather to keep me from feeling better just by getting on the bike. And I owe it all to my mom and dad who not only encouraged me to ride, but went out of their way to make sure I knew how to do it correctly and had the opportunities to do so.

My bikes:
A green "chopper" 2.5horse power minibike (7th birthday, it looked nothing like my memory of it)
1970 Honda CT70 orange (9th birthday)
1971 Honda SL100 yellow (11th birthday)
1976 Honda TL125 silver/red (13th birthday)
1980-1982 no motorcycle but a crappy 1967 mustang that I rebuilt and repainted only to wreck.
CB360 orange (My moms...road it from 1982-1985)
1982 CB750R black/red (first motorcycle I bought. $1312 in 1985)
1988 CBR1000F Hurricane silver (bought in 1989 for $5795, got a $1200 trade in for the 750)
1982 CB750R silver (bought in 1990...the Hurricane was uncomfortable but wow did I get screwed in that deal basically traded even up for the 2 year old hurricane)
1991-1994 sold the CB750R silver for $600...another total ripoff, but I couldn't afford to keep it any longer.
1991 ST1000 silver (bought in 1994 for $7553 with 1500 miles on it)

I was going to try to figure out how many miles I've put on the bikes I've personally purchased, but it turns out that while I have a ton of paperwork on them, the Honda shop in Champaign never bothered to put mileage on the paperwork. So I can tell you how many miles each of my bikes had when I bought them, but not when I sold them.

Slowly better...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I got a 72.5 on my first pre-test to 4th degree black belt. It's nice because it's a passing score, but I"m more happy about feeling good about what I did on the test. Certainly not perfect, but I did pretty well. In December I'll be taking the 2nd of 3 pre-tests, but that one will be much much easier to manage.

I got a 90% on my security certification exam with an hour left over. Pretty damned happy about that.

The inspector came by and checked my shed and said it has to be changed because the contractors didn't follow the plans. So the contractor talked to the inspector and verified that they just have to change out the pillars to be treated wood instead of untreated then I should be set to go. Hopefully the fix will happen today and the inspection tomorrow.

The tile guy put in the subfloor for the tiling yesterday and then was nice enough to whip up two window covers with vents in them to satisfy the other thing the inspector found wrong with my shed. now I just need to figure out a way to make them look less tacky than they are now since it's just two pieces of plywood attached over the window casing with vents in the middle.

So it looks like everything is going to work out to be perfect, if perfect means "forced to store the hot tub for 1.5 weeks before installation". But that's not a huge problem.

I still don't have the new plans/cost of the solar project. I wish they'd hurry up.

Todays fun.

I'm pretty burnt out on studying both for the kung fu pre-test and for the security certification. Very difficult to focus. 2 more days until the pre-test then another 2 to the certification test.

Last night after I got home from work the construction guys showed up and installed the rest of the structural support. At one point while talking to them I got the response "Oh...I thought you had that inspected today." *sigh* So today I called for the inspection and happily it's supposed to happen today. I just hope they won't be too pissed that the contractor didn't get the inspections done at the appropriate times. They could be really strict about it which would mean that all of it would have to be torn out and re-done. That would pretty much ruin the entire thing since I don't have enough money to do that.

I've given up on doing the book indexing for the cert test that I wanted to do. Instead I'm doing a much more basic index and just hoping it's sufficient. I really need to pass this test the first time.

On the positive side...if I fail the cert I can retake. If I somehow fail the pre-test I can retake, I'll just be very very embarrassed.

I wish they'd send me the new version of my solar project...I want to see how bad it's going to be and how much it's going to save me. Still pissed about that being portrayed falsely to me, I have two full mock ups that were 8.4kwh systems and yet now they can't get it to work. Likely I'll be stuck with a 6.8kwh system.

It's starting...

I'm trying to get a hot tub installed and solar installed on my house. I've probably mentioned that. Just to be safe I had a structural engineer take a look at the shed that the hot tub is going in and he determined that it wasn't strong enough so I paid him a crapload of money to draw up plans for how to reinforce it sufficiently.

Plans in hand, I hunted around for a construction company to do the work and ended up using a place recommended by the structural engineer.

Then I started trying to get a permit for the work. The city of edgewater was not only very helpful and fast with the procedure but gave me a great deal on the permit. But it took like a week to get all the stuff together and get the construction company their license to work in edgewater.

Permit in hand, I had the construction company get going on the work. Well...1/2 week later they got going on the work anyway. So Monday as I am trying to get ready to go workout a guy walks into my yard from the back and damned near shits his pants when I step out of the shed and say "Hi." He drops off 800lbs of concrete, an 18'x1'x2" board with 3 other 7' boards bound to it and some hardware. I move all that shit into my shed, getting a really amazingly painful bee sting almost directly on top of a pressure point in the back of my neck, and I let the construction company know that the materials have been delivered 4 days late, but happily the night before the construction is supposed to start.

Next morning (Tuesday) they are supposed to start construction. When I get home from work at 5pm they are just starting. Happily it takes them less than 1.5 hours to build the forms and pour the concrete for the structural bases.

Today they did nothing. Tomorrow they are supposed to get the inspection done and install the actual structural support and then they are done. Hopefully that'll happen.

Unfortunately my tile guy is busy until at least Friday and it's very likely he won't start on the tile install until next Monday. Happily the hot tub isn't here yet, but given that the tile will have to sit and cure/harden for something like 2 days that means that even if the hot tub does get delivered I won't be ready for it until just before I leave for vacation. Even with my unemployed friend house sitting for me I'm not going to fill the hot tub just before I leave the state for 10 days. So...I'll have to wait until the second week of September (assuming the hot tub company really will just store it for me until I'm ready to install without charging me).

So...that's all stressful.

I'm taking my first pre-test for 4th black this sunday. I've only been back in kung fu at all since January, I've only really been able to keep up with class and be active for about 3 months. I've only been working toward testing for 2 months. When I started I couldn't remember my lower belt material. I'm pre-testing over 30 long forms, and about 30 short forms of various kinds some of which have up to 30 pieces to them. That's incredibly stressful for me. I don't feel prepared, I haven't lost enough weight, and I don't remember my material well enough.

I'm also studying for a very difficult computer security certification which I'm taking next Tuesday. The studying is causing me headaches and is taking me much longer to do than I'd expected...I'm very likely going to have to study all weekend this weekend in order to be ready by Tuesday. I hate taking my work home with me. The best part is, my boss just turned me down for a reclassification (basically a promotion) because she doesn't think I'm doing enough to qualify for the new classification. The new classification is actually not sufficient to even cover what all I do I work, but I wasn't trying to push for the classification that does cover it which would be two higher than my current classification. I wish I had some idea what the real reason is, but at least she's willing to set up a "development plan" to get me to whatever it is she feels is required for the reclassification . So that's very stressful.

And sometime in the last month my tools and boombox got stolen out of my shed. No signs of forced entry that I could detect, but then the lock would be pretty easy to defeat. Which is why I replaced it with a deadlock last night and I'll be adding more security measures to the shed and the house once I buy new tools. The value of the tools and boombox were about $20 short of my deductible on my house insurance. and of all the dumb things, for probably the first time in my life I didn't have the serial numbers of my tools written down. Somehow I forgot. One of the things I hope to do this weekend is get the serial numbers off of new tools and other stuff to make sure that I have them all someplace safe. Being stolen from makes me stabby.

The "change oil soon" light keeps coming on in my car. I just had it changed 1000 miles ago, so I have to get that looked at before I leave for vacation.

And I'm rapidly running out of project money and even more rapidly running out of my savings and pocket money. Very stressful.

And then today I got the project plan for my solar installation. It included panels on my east facing roof. Those only partially qualify for rebate, and I don't want panels on my east facing roof, and I certainly don't want to have to pay for them. Turns out all these times we've talked about putting panels on my south facing porch roof they've just been blowing smoke up my ass about it working. So...now I have to get a smaller solar installation by about 8 panels which should reduce my power generation by 1680kwh leaving me with a 6.7kwh system. Still more than I really need, and I'm sure it'll cost less, but I really wanted to generate more power than that. But at least this is just annoying, not stressful.

On the positive side...I'm going to see Cirque du Soleil this sunday with Ellie. That should be a great time. Ellie is my not-girlfriend that I go on dates with. Apparently that is "complex" to a lot of people, but it works great for me.

Then I get to go on vacation. A nice relaxing vacation involving about 2000 miles of driving. But I'm going to get to see a huge number of friends and I'll be going to the North American Disc World Convention. First one in the US. I'm going to be volunteering which makes me a bit uncomfortable but should turn out to be fun and a great way to meet people at a convention I don't know anybody at.

Preliminary walk-through / Hot tub installation.

Last week I had the preliminary walk-through with a tech for the solar installation. My house is a bit non-standard so we had to come up with solutions to some problems. One of them is that there isn't really a good place for the inverter in my house, so it's going outside on the west wall where it will be shaded by the elm tree. Thats fine, I'll be attaching some sort of monitor to it at some point, or just plugging a cat5 cable in there and getting the data directly and publishing it on my web page. Other than that everything looked fine with the install and the tech was a nice easy going person. Installation will start after I get back from my trip to LA/Tucson/Phoenix so that should be tons of fun.

Another project I've got going right now is trying to get a hot tub installed. That one is costing me great wadges of money I didn't expect. I'm putting the hot tub in my shed and so I got a structural engineer to come out and make sure it was strong enough (it's built very strong). Turns out it's not, so he drew up some plans and I got them approved by the city. Problem is now the contractor I had come out to take a look hasn't responded with a quote to do the work. I need the quote so that I can get the permit, and I need the work to get done relatively soon as the hot tub may be here any day now. It was supposed to take 4-6 weeks or 6-8 weeks and we're at week 5 since I bought it.

While all that was going on I was trying to come up with a solution for the floor/walls to keep water from rotting the wood and getting into the basement of the shed. When I say shed, what I really mean is a 20'x20' workshop with a full attic and a 4' tall carpeted basement with shelves and lights in it. More of an artists cottage/workshop/whatever. Anyway...I talked with Adam several times about the thing and finally got a friend who is a contractor to come over and take a look and it turns out he's a flooring guy, so this is his specialty. So he's going to tile the entire corner and put waterproof plastic sheets on the walls for me. I've got that quote and agreed to it so now it's just a matter of him getting the time to do it. That has to be done before the hot tub can be delivered, so hopefully that'll work out. Then if it has to, the hot tub can sit there on the tile until the structural part is done. I can't fill the hot tub until the structural support is in. Then once all that is done, I get Donna to come over and hook up the power, the guy from the hot tub store to come over and give me a quick lesson on how it works, and I'm SET!

I just gotta figure out how I'm going to pay for all the incidental stuff. Ugh. Here's hoping my reclassification at work goes through.

Woohoo!

I just signed and paid for the start of my solar installation. Current projected install start is mid-September, and will take about a week. I'm so looking forward to this and the hot tub. I'm having short powerful panic attacks about the amount of money I've spent in the last month. Good god.

So I'm getting an 8.4kwh system made up of 40 Sanyo 210 panels. It should produce far more power than I use on a daily basis. I'll start researching some storage units and eventually add them assuming it is legal for me to do so with the agreement I'll have to make with Xcel. The total install cost is going to be just short of $24,000. I'll be keeping very close track of all the expenditures so I can do reports on how it's paying off.

Amazing!

http://solardenver.1bog.org/
This site is likely going to allow me to get my solar installed a year sooner than I expected. It's a group of Denver people who are interested in solar and have bargained for better prices.

I am in a webcomic today!

http://www.chrisyates.net/reprographics/index.php?page=863

Zilla and I went up to Boulder today to the Boulder Creek Festival specifically to see Chris Yates who makes really awesome art and has a great webcomic. When we were about 30' from the tent it started to just pour down rain, but we had a great conversation with Chris Yates, Mensa the Menacer, and The Starer. I bought a Baffler which is entirely too cool, and 5 of the awesome Ghosts that Chris makes. And then they took some pictures and put me in the comic! Zilla is in there too, but she's trying to hide. Chris is a really nice guy and his art and webcomic are awesome. You should go see it!

Solar power - 6 months on.

6 Months On is an article up on Slashdot about someone that installed solar power on their house in Northern California and some statistics about how the power generation is working for them at the 6 month point.

I'm back to trying to get the money together to get solar installed...Here's hoping it works.