Happy New Year!

A happy New Year's eve to everyone, and a special welcome to Lee's Dad who is a fellow retired military pilot and reportedly lurking about. Please feel free to post a comment! I called Jeremy today to discuss the generator options, and he was very supportive of my choice of a Generac 8kW standby generator. I ordered it and it should arrive by the time Jeremy is ready to do the electrical install, thus simplifying and streamlining the whole setup. We intend to have the generator available to power just the essential household circuits in the event of a power failure. It will produce over 60 amps (8000 watts divided by 120 volts...Ohm's law) and that should be more than sufficient since heating is propane and cooling is seldom required.

Permit process begun

Picked up the site plan that Pat and Lee produced for me and went back to the county this morning. $198 later, the plans are in for review, and we can expect a permit within 7 working days. Shared the good news with Pat and he advised to try calling on Monday, so I'll do that. Meanwhile, more snow is on the way. Speaking of snow, there was a short article in the ABQ Journal today about the lack of trouble calls solar installers were experiencing in the northeast during the big storms of late. Seems that even several feet of snow does not prevent the pv panels from starting up, and normally melting the snow off. Good to know, living where I do.

Not so Fast

The barn is to the northwest of the main house

Original plat

So, today I went to see Pat with the updated drawings and then on to the county building inspectors. I was psyched; this would be a breeze. Hah! Coyote is still at work. I didn't even get past the first tier. Turns out I need a site plan. How do I do that, I asked. It was decided that a modified plat would be good enough. Drove back home and dug through all the papers I could find. I found closing docs on houses we had from the 80s and 90s, but nothing for our current house. Finally got ahold of Michelle who directed me to THE ONE BOX I HAD NOT FOUND (of course). Got the plat and faxed it to Pat. He and Lee are going to make me a nice site plan by combining the plat with Google Earth imagery, even though it's not their problem. Such nice people! I'll try again on Wednesday...

Other solar powered stuff

Charger for... 

...these lights along the path to the dog run.

A little light on the deck.

A light on the stairs down to the basement.

Solar powered weather station.

Solar powered atomic watches.

Solar Calculator

Today, I removed the remnants of the tent that collapsed behind the barn to allow easier access to the building. I also went around and took pictures of all the ways I use solar power already. Not pictured is the small trickle charger I use in Memphis to keep my domicile car battery charged since it sits for long periods without use.

Merry Christmas!

Hooray, the plans arrived yesterday while I was in Colorado Springs. All nicely stamped for New Mexico and certified for 90 mph and 25# snow load. Merry Christmas. I'll have work to do on Monday now.

Don Dillier

Pat emailed this morning to say no news yet on the package from the engineer. While we wait for Fedex to deliver, I'd like to pay homage to Michelle's uncle Don Dillier who is a contractor in Granite Bay, CA. When we last visited a few years ago, he showed me his solar panels and his meter running backwards. I decided right then that I wanted a similar system. Thanks uncle Don!

54 Megawatts in SE NM

At least someone is approved to build their solar array! Here's a story in today's Journal about a series of plants going in in southeastern NM producing 54 Megawatts. 201,000 panels in all. Nice contract!
http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/component/content/article/65-business-daily/25889-Partnership-Breaks-Ground-on-Series-of-5-Power-Systems.html

Oh well, I was going to take down the tent anyway.

Pat sent an email this morning that the engineer is sending the docs today. They should arrive on Monday, so we will have to go with plan B, and have Michelle go see the inspector, since I'll be out of town. I really appreciate Pat's continuing efforts which have finally paid off. However, digging a trench will be messy work next week.

Snow load proof

...and so, I present empirical proof of the barn's snow bearing capability.

Engineer engaged

The Houston engineer has finally asked for some additional detail on the layout of the solar panels, so he is officially "on it" now. We might get something I can take down to the county before the week is out. meanwhile, winter has arrived in the East Mountains with a nasty cold front and snow likely tomorrow. Instead of producing power, we'll be using more now, since the Christmas lights are up and temps are down.

Important Notice

We received an "IMPORTANT NOTICE" from CNMEC dated 12/09/2010 threatening to disconnect our service if we did not pay a delinquent amount of $50.75 by 12/27. When we finally got to the bottom of this, it turned out to be an accounting error which resulted from Pat and Jeremy getting approval for our service upgrade (a $50 fee). Michelle and I believe that the Coyote, who is the trickster in some Native American lore, has been playing with us ever since we moved to New Mexico 6 1/2 years ago. He is definitely at work with this project, as he has been on several past projects. The gas fireplace we had put in was the first example of Coyote's power to cause chaos, but that's another story.

Pat checked in again as he does daily with a report of no news on the engineer-plans-permit front. Tick tock, tick tock, the year is almost over, and I was hoping to get the solar system up and running before year's end in order to recoup the 30% Federal and 10% state tax credit. We've had amazing weather the last few weeks, and I keep thinking about all those photons going to waste, bouncing pointlessly off the roof of my barn. --sigh--

Electrical quote in

The effort to get the plans stamped is ongoing. Meanwhile, Jeremy's quote for the electrical installation is in.

Houston engineer

Gary reports that he uses an engineer in Houston who is licensed in New Mexico to certify and stamp the plans to the required specs. The cost will be $450 for this service. We're hoping to get the plans back by Friday so I can take them ("with hat in hand," as Pat says) down to the county inspector and hopefully get a building permit for the 6 year old building.

CNMEC approval/County permit problems

First the good news: CNMEC came through with their approval for the service upgrade today.

The bad news is that the lack of a building permit on the barn is going to be a problem after all. Pat stopped by the county inspector's office and was informed that we'd have to get a permit. Also, the plans I gave Pat only show an 80 mph windload whereas the county requires 90 mph. I gave Pat the contact information for Gary Thomas, who's company Ameristall (http://www.ameristall.net/index.asp) manufactured the barn I built.