Going Solar

 We are off the grid....well, at least when the sun shines!

The Mister and I decided to have solar panels installed at the Hacienda. We had solar when we lived at Babcock Ranch,  and enjoyed our minimalist power bills. When we contemplated going solar there we had a friend who worked in the solar industry for thirty years. He doesn't work in  residential solar,  but he is very knowledgeable, and conducted seminars for local residents to guide them in making smart decisions about solar. There are a lot of less than reputable companies hawking solar out there! 

Our panels were installed in early November. 

And here we are in February....and up until a few days ago...

we had no benefit from them - frowny face!

The first obstacle was that the Mister wanted battery back-up for the solar. 

The batteries were going to be installed on our garage wall.

And the hold-up? The garage wall was not yet built!

By the end of November we had a garage, 

and, as you can see, we had a bank of batteries on the wall. 

The next hold up?

Wiring. 

By mid December our panels and batteries were wired.

We had wire installed from here to there, 

and everywhere. 

But...

We also needed to have the power company move the main feed for our house.

That took forever, and a day....

and another day...and another! 

Some time in January their crew finally came to move that wire.

Where it used to go to the house, it had to be moved to go to the box on the side of the garage.

And, it had to go underground because trees were in the way of going overhead.

And then, we wait.

There are forms that have to be submitted to the power company.

The power company didn't care for the way the solar company 

dotted their I's and crossed their t's.

The forms had to go back,

and forth,

and back again.

And, the inspector did not care for the way they had wired one thing to another,

and the power guys had to come back to change pieces out and connect things in a different way,

even though what they had done was approved by a different inspector at a different house.

Finally after the ball was tossed from one court to another, and back again, and forth again....

a figurative volleyball game that we 'enjoyed' from the sidelines,

we were approved to turn on the solar and have any excess power that we produce

go back to the power company as an eventual credit. 

As of last week, our system is up and running. 

The Mister's new morning routine, as the sun begins to hit the panels,  

is watching the app's display showing how much power we are producing, 

how much we are currently using. 

It's nice to have one more project checked off!