SOLAR
Update 01-March-2010: I’m off the grid! APS and SolarCity were here today to review the system install and for APS to certify the system to generate and push power onto their grid! I’m running 100% off grid as of 11am today and for live stats, SolarCity has a site setup for me to look at my system output, here is the link, it updates ever 15 minutes.
http://www.mysolarcity.com/Kiosk/SolarGuard.aspx?ID=98C2EC50-B6D0-4620-ACB1-D5B596F3DA9E
Over the coming months I will be chronicling the progress on the installation of my new PV system for my house. The power meter should be spinning backwards by March 2010!
This chart will be updated in 2010, it shows my electrical use for the last 2 years and into 2010, you can already see that I’m a bit of a miser scaling my power use back immensely from 2008 to 2009 really only using power after 7pm when my rate plan was the least expensive. Keeping the thermostat at 85 should be a thing of the past once I’m on solar as I will be able to run my AC in the daytime while I’m working from home and not exceed the generation of the solar array so in layman’s terms, I can be comfortable and it won’t cost me anything.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | * Indicates On-Solar | |||
| kWh | APS Payment | kWh | APS Payment | kWh | APS Payment | |
| Jan | 1285 | $128.20 | 1015 | $109.32 | 1042 | $95.83 |
| Feb | 1000 | $101.10 | 967 | $89.49 | 903 | $88.68 |
| Mar | 988 | $124.20 | 911 | $83.77 | ||
| Apr | 1550 | $152.23 | 1071 | $112.07 | ||
| May | 2036 | $239.59 | 1326 | $179.66 | ||
| Jun | 2850 | $335.63 | 2068 | $269.12 | ||
| Jul | 4519 | $456.99 | 3377 | $352.64 | ||
| Aug | 4228 | $428.55 | 2817 | $332.25 | ||
| Sep | 4106 | $421.24 | 2658 | $304.07 | ||
| Oct | 2638 | $318.46 | 1881 | $218.15 | ||
| Nov | 1728 | $175.22 | 1054 | $120.58 | ||
| Dec | 1283 | $140.30 | 1083 | $115.67 |
Project pictures are being posted in the Photo Albums <Click Here>
Entries (RSS)
November 24th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Today marked the first step in going off-grid, my site audit occurred which is followed by the system design phase. The system will be 54 205 watt panels distributed on my southern and eastern roof lines which will deliver over 11kW of output at full power and true sunup to sundown power generation! I can’t wait to see and post the final design docs once they are delivered to me.
Miguel
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
As shown on the main page, the system design was completed on November 30th and my blueprints were delivered to me on December 1st, the design is exactly what I wanted, maybe a few more panels on the roof over the garage would have been nice but the room is just not there.
Legend: 1. Inverter 48v to AC, 2. PV Generation Meter, 3. AC Main Panel, 4. APS Meter, 5. Zone Combiner Panel, 6. Load Combiner
January 8th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
I was informed today that the building permits were approved, now it’s just a matter of time before I have a schedule and the work begins, looks like it may be earlier than expected!
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:56 pm
The contractors called and the work will begin Monday almost 1 month ahead of schedule!
January 25th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Today was Day 1, the preliminary work began, inverters were hung and mounted to the wall, the main cutoff panel was mounted and some pre-wire was done to the electrical system, tomorrow should be a little more wiring and basic work eventually leading up to the install and mounting of the rack rails where the PV panels will be mounted to the roof!
January 29th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
We are LIVE! The system was finalized today, there are 2 more inspections pending but this has finally started to happen and I’m running my house on pure renewable energy!