Under the 1%

Am I reading this wrong?  It appears NH, along with other states will be able to limit the amount of alternative energy production that is eligible for net metering in the near future.  Take a look at the link below.  Under Program Overview/Aggregate Capacity Limit; 1% of utility's peak demand is noted.  If I'm reading this correctly, it means we are in under the wire but others who decide to net meter a few years down the road may not be as lucky...wow!!!!! 

Click Here

I'm certain it will not stall out the alternative energy train that's steaming down the tracks..there will be other ways to take advantage of all the alternatives but it reinforces my belief that NOW is the time to take advantage of all the federal and state incentives and the benefit of net metering for grid tied systems.

The feel good factor on this system is what I did not fully calculate into the project.  I knew it was the right thing to do, it's something my husband and I believe in and have wanted since the 70's but I had no idea it would feel this good to be on track now for a Net-Zero home.   
   

Today is another huge day for us, we are not going without our air conditioning, our daily showers, use of the dishwasher, daily load of clothes washing, TV etc and we another we bank MORE credits with our utility!!!!!   Wow this system just blows me away!!!!!  Our Net Meter was fully operational on Tuesday at 1:30 and we are just logging in the credits on a daily basis!!!!  I'll be tied real time soon and will be able to link the numbers we produce live to this blog.

Thanks to Fred Kelley and his "live wires", Rich Doucette and his team for being soooo smart, creative, and adaptable and Brian Pellerin for having such a great business model, a company that listens to their customers!!!!!   I love the independence, the "Freedom" that's part of Freedom Renewable Energy.

Another Day; Ho Hum...Even MORET LITINU Credits!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just another day, we are not working but the sun is!!!!!!!  

It's day four since the Net Meter was installed by Unitil.   It's about 3pm in the afternoon and the cumulative KW hours that Unitil now owes us are 20!!!! Yup, you read that right...20!!!!!!!!!!!!!    


They system is so cool!!!!!


Independence via Freedom!!!!!  Thanks Freedom Renewable Energy!!!!!!!!!!!

Solar Forestation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Tuesday a little after 1:30 pm we finished up the process with Unitil when our old meter was replaced with a Net Meter.   Our old meter was spinning backwards during the day since our beautiful array was installed on June 13th and has been pumping electricity back to Unitil for about the past month but as far as Unitil was concerned it didn't count until we jumped through a few more hoops and had our Net Meter installed.   They were able to get about 300Kw from our system and rode free but yesterday with the Net Meter installed they fully recognize each Kw we produce.  Fast forward to Friday, today, and it's been exactly three days since we became "official"...we now have a credit of 11 Kw...pretty cool since we only had one very sunny day, the other days were a mostly cloudy and today which has been partial sun!!!!!! 

We'll be having additional trees trimmed soon which will give us additional morning sun, very important during the months of December, January and February when the sunlight hours are fewer and the sun is lower.

We'll have more accurate and real time numbers when our Solren View is installed!!!!!  Stay tuned.

This system has surpassed our wildest dreams!!!!!

DC Appliance Success!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're havin' a heat wave, and it's testing out our new DC appliances!!!
So far so good!!!!

The Sundanzer 5.8 CU Foot Fridge, and 5.8 Freezer are cooling and freezing our food nicely.
The heat wave is the ultimate test for these new major appliances that run off the battery bank.  As the ambient temps rise in the house, the fridge and freezer have to work harder.   At midnight the Flexmax 60 resets logs and ends it's logging for the day.  By 6am during the height of our heatwave we drain about 15 amp hours from the bank, (from midnight) as the freezer and fridge keep cooling our food as we sleep.  We have NOT installed our air conditioner in the house since the temps have not exceeded 80 degrees downstairs, however today may be the day we'll be installing them, we do like our comfort, we are not militant about conserving every Kw.

Here are some stats on what we've used so far and what it's powered, again, the more heat in the house the more drain on the amp hours to power the appliances.   In addition to running the freezer and fridge we've been charging our three laptops, charging the Scooba, Roomba, and cell phones off the Samlix inverter and also recharging the portable Xantrax. 

July 6    99 amp hours   1.3Kw
July 5    72 amp hours   .9 Kw
July 4    74 amp hours   1.0Kw
July 3    63 amp hours   .8 Kw
July 2    53 amp hours   .7 Kw
July 1    55 amp hours   .7 Kw
June 30 60 amp hours   .8 Kw
June 29 61 amp hours   .8 Kw
June 28 49 amp hours   .6 Kw

As you can see as the temps rise the appliances will require more juice to keep things cool, no different than an ac freezer or fridge, the good thing is the sun is free and we are not using fossil fuels to power these major appliances.   Within about an hour or so of full sun our battery bank is recharged.  We have not dipped below a 96% charge so we are doing great!!!!!!!   Rich Doucette, from Freedom Renewable Energy, our SDE, (Solar Designer Extraordinaire) initially suggested we double our battery bank and he was right..it was a good move and when he talks we listen.  In case of no sun for a few days we should be just fine!!!!!

The parallel connectors should arrive on Thurs so I'm hoping to have the fourth panel connected back up by either Friday or Saturday at the latest.   With the addition of two more panels to our off grid array it pegged out the FlexMaxx Controller which can handle a max of 145 Volts.   After hooking up all the wires and trying to fire up that bad boy I walked away without joy...luckily Rich was nearby and knew within minutes what was going on!!!!!!!  So after some thinking we came up with the plan to run three panels as a temporary fix and those three panels (175 Sharp 24 V) have been doing a fine job of keeping our battery bank charged!!!!

When the parallel connectors arrive my plan is to wire two panels together in series to form two 48 V panels then wire the those in parallel...that will keep our maximum open circuit voltage to about 120 Volts.

DC = Doucette Creed; Built to Last Decades

The Outback Mate remotely monitors battery bank health.  This photo was taken at 6:00 am.  The freezer and fridge ran all night and only required 8 amp hours from the battery bank.  During the day the small off grid array will recharge the small loss.

Up close and inside the well insulated Sundanzer 5.8 Cu Foot Fridge...wow this baby is built like a brick house!!!!!!

Our DC load center is in full operation and SOLID as a rock..thanks to the other DC (Doucette Creed a/k/a built to last for decades) ..there will be a few tweaks over the next few weeks but we are now powering major appliances with the small off grid array.   The array frame,  foundation and center was totally redesigned by Rich Doucette, SDE, (Solar Designer Extraordinaire) from Freedom Renewable Energy.  DC = Doucette-isized cool.   My skimpy 2 x 4 frame that wobbled to a concrete pad with foundation that goes down 6 feet. The DC load center was totally redesigned with monitoring add ons...it's safe, solid and secure.

I now have transitioned from the DC 1.8 Cu Foot Fridge (Sundanzer) that ran temporarily on the Xantrax 1500 to a breaker that runs a 5.8 Cu Foot Sundanzer Fridge on our DC load center.   We are now running off of three 24 Volt 175 Sharp panels run in series.   I also plugged in a 5.8 Cu Foot Sundanzer Freezer yesterday that's running off the small off grid array also....YIPPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm monitoring battery stats on the Outback Mate, (a remote monitor) that runs from the Outback Controller and shunts in the DC Load center that monitor battery status with both loads, (Fridge and Freezer).    So far so good...it's wild...it's summer and the fridge and freezer should require more amp hours due to the warmer ambient temps in the house.  Yesterday with some cloud cover we kept up a 100% battery charge and used only 8 amp hours at night to run both appliances!!!  How cool is that???  WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over 100 Kw and Only Days Old

We've got the volts
We've got the amps
We've got the watts
Yeah...we got em'

(Sing to the tune of "We've Got the Beat", by the Go Go's)

Yup'
Our array hit a major milestone yesterday when the meter registered 100Kw.  As the day progressed we ended up with 107.3 Kw.   Our "baby" was grid tied late in the  day on June 13th, in a slight drizzle.   She will only get stronger and more powerful as we clear up a few branches that shade part of the array during mid morning.   We are SO pleased with the success of this system, so far we are producing all the electricity the household requires...wow...this is wild!!!!

Thanks Freedom Renewable Energy.

http://www.freedomrenewable.com/


Ashley Hin, the energetic marketing/graphic artist from Freedom stopped by to take some photos and to chat...she represents hope for our planet as part of the younger generation who is working towards a cleaner world....she was able to capture our meter registering 100!!!!

LITINU; that's Unitil on Solar Panels

Our meter is spinning backwards!!!!!!!!!  We are having a LITINU day here as our meter is in reverse thanks to our solar array!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How cool is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No noise, no polution, no fossil fuel!!!!!  As another day goes by and more sad headlines cross the internet, about 16 coal miners killed in South America,  Chevron's, Red Butte Creek oil spill, and of course the heartbreaking BP spill....it makes me so happy to see that beautiful array basking in the sun...thanks Freedom Renewable Energy for making my dream come true!!!!


Carol Robidoux stopped by today and spent over two hours chatting with me and took a lot of photos.  I'm normally a recluse but I'm glad she's doing this story, it's a great way to get people thinking and realizing THIS is the time to act.   Between state rebates and tax credits, the state of our dwindling resources and daily environmental disasters it's time!!!!! 

It's fun to see Unitil go backwards but it makes me even happier that we are doing everything we can to make a smaller dent in the world's eco system.

They are Real and they are Spectacular and they are APPROVED!!!!!

Yippie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rich Doucette, Project Manager from Freedom Renewable Energy, and SDE, (solar designer extraordinaire) met with our town building inspector early this afternoon and I'm THRILLED to say he signed off and APPROVED our inspection!!!!!! YIPPIE!!!!!  Rich spent close to an hour with him answering questions and giving him the tour...we are the first solar tree in town!!!!! All I can say is we picked the RIGHT group to install this 3K grid tie!!!!!   There is no doubt in my mind that this solar installation will be THE gold standard here.   We've had the creme de la creme involved with this installation!!!!!   I'm the happiest woman on the planet!!!!!!!!!! 


Today was another cloudy day but we produced over half of our daily typical electrical use...wow...stay tuned...I'll be monitoring our daily stats with software soon!!!!!!!!!

Wow..this is cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There IS a Santa Claus!!!!!!!!!!!

Brian Pellerin, Freedom Renewable Energy, not only a prinicpal in the business  but a man with vision and heart, his life dramatically changed after a close call on 9/11.

The rain didn't stop work here.  Below is a short video of the "Evergreen Solar Tree" in progress. 

Click Here

There really is a Santa Claus and the workshop, Freedom Renewable Energy, exisits at 55 Crystal Drive in Derry, NH.   Santa's sleigh, the Freedom truck arrived yesterday with all Santa's helpers and today we produced our first 1.9 Kw..in dismal cloud cover and drizzle!!!! PRETTY COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Did I say PRETTY COOL???????  I mean..wow man...PRETTY COOL!!!!!!!  We'll be doing even better when the system is adjusted for the proper tilt, (right now it's sitting like a table since they need to do a bit of additional work) but we are LIVE...we are producing under dismal weather and it will be cranking with full sun...I just can't wait!!!!  
 

The entire journey is so much fun!!!!

PHOTOS From the Top:

DC load center, FlexMax Solar Controller, Inverter for the Off Grid 700W system...designed by that incredible Rich Doucette...the guy is simply amazing!!!!!!!

Matt in da' hole, Matt is under the wonderful guidance of Fred...more on Fred a few photos down.

Matt pulling wires out from the 14 panel solar array to the AC panel that will interface with Unitil's power and will make our meter spin backwards.

Fred, who is probably the MOST incredible person to oversee the electrical side of things...to say he's an "electrician" is a total understatement...he TEACHES electricians...in New England, he's a consultant to boards in towns, he a surfer dude, he's a Vietnam Vet who was air lifted out during the Tet Offensive...he's cool...the guy just rocks!!!!  Fred takes a look at the inverter and meter setup on the diamond galvanized steel sheet Rich custom cut and attached on the pipe mount...he's of  COURSE my favorite designer....the guy with incredible brains and go power.    I think if there were more Rich's in the world we could solve all the world problems!!!!

Fred closeup.

Santa and all the helpers!!!!!! From the left, Brian, John, Rich, Fred and Matt.

We are LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Left to right; Brian, John, Rich, Fred and Matt, all part of the Freedom Renewable Energy crew from Derry NH who took us live today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks you guys are the best!!!!!!!!

Lots, LOTS going on here today!!!  Our house is a hub of activity centered on mounting our 14 210 Evergreen solar panels, it's close to a 3Kw system....this is a dream come true for me.   I've wanted solar panels since the oil embargo in 1973...and now thanks to the INCREDIBLE crew at Freedom Renewable Energy, Derry, NH we are LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yup we are live!!!!!!!!!!  I'll post LOTS more photos tomorrow that commemorate our exciting and historic moment with more detail...it's 7pm and I'll sort through all the great photos we took today.

I can't imagine a better company doing the work on our alternative energy farm.  Their heart and mind are in the right place, they use local materials and suppliers whenever they can and they have innovators at their helm.

http://www.freedomrenewable.com/

Our solar panels are from a company in Marlboro, Massachusetts. Evergreen Solar uses the smallest carbon footprint of any solar panel manufactured.  Brian, a principal in Freedom Renewable Energy explained the process of using silicon in the panels.  Typically silicon is sliced thinly, Evergreen uses a technology in which there is NO waste of silicon.  Their manufacturing process uses  a 30% smaller  carbon footprint than their competitors.

  Click Here for Evergreen Solar Panel Technology

Our inverter is manufactured by a company in Lawrence, Massachusetts , Solectria Renewables.  They are located in an old mill building along a canal in Lawrence that was converted into commercial space back around 1990..the ultimate in recycling of buildings....how appropriate.   

Most of the business relationships they have are with local suppliers, part of Brian's approach to running his business...I love it!!!!  After both my husband and I were "downsized" out of jobs it has been my personal mission to try to make choices that support local business.

Here are some closeup shots of the Solar Tree Mount, incredible engineering!!!!

 

The DC load center has been "Doucette-isized".....I was overwhelmed with joy when I first set eyes on it!!!!!  WOW!!!!  It's safe, secure and accessable!!!!! VERY COOL Design!!!!  The photo below is of Mike who helped with circuit design and planning.  Rich Doucette is the mastermind behind this functional center that will run our 700W off grid center.  The DC wires will come in from our PV array  to the solar controller then to the battery bank and inverter.

 

Harvesting is Another Step Closer

Yippie Yi Yippie Yo
Yippie Yi Yippie Yo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason from Freedom Renewable Energy out of Derry, NH arrived to deliver our solar panels late yesterday afternoon.

Click Here

I wanted to grab a pillow and a blanket and cuddle up with them for the night I was so excited!!!!!  They are simply gorgeous..the Evergreen 205's are from a company based in Massachusetts.


Today the DC Load Center, with component parts including the FlexNet, Inverter, and FlexMax Solar controller will arrive "Doucette-sized"  (I'm sure I'll be wow'ed by the professionalism of the set up with logistically placed components and shiny solder joints designed by Rich Doucette, the designing genius from Freedom)  Our load center will now be placed in a more accessible location and connections to the inverter and battery bank will be much secure, streamlined, and more efficient.

Breaking News!!!!!!!!!!!

We interrupt this program to give you a breaking news flash....flim footage and news soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Solar Powered Field Day Station On June 26th

Field Day is the largest on-air event in amateur radio.  It's held once a year on the fourth weekend of June.  The date this year is on June 26th and it starts at 2pm.  It's an exercise in emergency  communication skills.

 http://www.arrl.org/field-day

I will be operating using my solar panels and battery bank.  I'm not sure if anyone has ever participated in the event in New England using 100% solar powered batteries. I'm hoping for a nice sunny day on Saturday and I'll figure out how many watts I can run at night during the contest so I don't run down the battery bank.  I'll be monitering the battery bank health with the shunt and Flex Net.   My Elecraft K3 drains about 17-22 amps at 100W when I'm  "running" (calling CQ test).   I can always crank down the power to lower power if I have to....I'll just be a few db lower.

"June Cleaver" and the 1.8 Cu Ft. Fridge

My dad came down for the weekend , and we had guests,  I had to entertain, after all I'm "June Cleaver",  and that's just what you do on your own birthday,  you cook for the clan.   It's not easy with our "temporary"  Sundanzer DC 1.8 cubic foot fridge, (but at least I have SOMETHING)  I am accustomed to doing major prep work on food especially with company but I wasn't able to do that without the room that a bigger fridge provides. My family is spoiled I make just about everything from scratch here.  The fridge,  a Sundanzer 1.8 Cu. Ft, is  running off the Xantrax 1500, another great idea from Rich Doucette, (Solar Designer Extraordinaire) from Freedom Renewable Energy.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Derry-NH/Freedom-Renewable-Energy/144637162085

 (I was using ice before he suggested I use all the great things I had hanging around.)  I soldered lugs on the ends of the positive and negative wires and put a 15 amp fuse in line on the positive lead. It take very very little energy to run this pup...I'm shocked.  I let it go all night and when I check the battery status on the Xantrax in the morning it's STILL on the highest green light.   By the morning I plug in the charger and it only takes a couple minutes to top off the Xantrax!!!!! Holy cow...great insulation on the fridge!!!    Let me back up a few steps and tell you why I don't have a "real"  fridge.

A couple weeks ago our beautiful 16.8 Energy Star Whirlpool Fridge died...it's a little less than two years old.  Mike, our neighbor from Mike's Appliance diagnosed it as DOA and had me check the warranty..of course as Murphy would have it, the warranty was good only for a year.  It had a major problem and would have not been worth the money to have it fixed...what a bummer.  Our intention was to replace our fridge WHEN it died with a DC Fridge we could run off our solar battery bank...we just were not prepared to have to replace it so soon.  We don't expect to be without our off grid system for too much longer so we are trying to do our best to live out of a 1.8 Sundanzer DC Fridge.  Once we have the solar controller wired back up and the battery bank charging once again we'll convert the mini fridge to a freezer (you can do that with Sundanzers) and we'll hook up the 5.8 cu. ft.Sundanzer freezer as a fridge...I'm hoping it won't be too much longer.  I have the temperature conversion kits and it's a fairly simple changeover.

I do have to admit there has been a very positive side to running such a tiny fridge...no food waste.  It's so small I have to plan out every little bit we eat because there is so little room for leftovers.  I have the smallest containers of basic condiments I could find at the grocery store, and the smallest size oj, eggs, tubs of butter and miso.  Luckily I'm able to pick some lettuce from my garden but I have black calamata olives, roasted red peppers and a green pepper that is crammed in there.  We can only fit two bottles of beer and two diet cokes at a time so we replace them as soon as we take one out.



Mark called today to say they'd be swinging by to pick up the DC load center so they could wire it at the shop.    It's my lifeline.   During the bad thunderstorms this weekend and our tornado watch I told my husband that if we lost power I could always run wire into the load center box,  solar controller and to the battery.  It seems every time the wind blows or there is a thunderstorm there is a high probability we'll lose power here, since our battery bank has been disconnected a couple months ago we've lost power a couple of times.  After talking to Mike I realize it's a really good idea...they'll set it up at the shop and make short connectors where I had cold solder joints and they'll test it out and the set up here will go quickly and smoothly.

My lifeline...the DC load Center Box.  Top Photo is with the cover off, three shunts will measure three different loads.  The middle photo show the FlexNet, the brains/electronics for the battery bank health, wind amps, inverter and dc appliance loads.  Bottom photo is the cover with breakers.

Tower Trial and Green Light from Unitil

Yesterday was tower trial day here.   As per usual, Rich was thinking one step ahead.   When I ordered the pipe for the turbine the instructions called for four sections, a 24', two 21's and a 4' section.  The 24' and 21' would be coupled together to form a 45' tower.  The tilt over part would utilize the second 21' pipe as a gin pole and the 4' would help as part of a fulcrum.  Unfortunately I could only find 21' lengths of schedule 40 galvanized pipe...at the time I thought, geesh', what the heck, so what it will be a few feet shorter, no big deal.   Ah, but that few feet would change the force vector dynamics, and, I wouldn't find that out until our tower trial..thanks Rich for thinking one step ahead!!!!!  Rich sent Mike and Jason over to run the test.   The trial run was minus the extra weight of #2 AWG and the turbine.   The wire itself is a LOT of weight, 42 feet of positive, negative and ground wires plus the weight of the turbine, so the trial run was a superb idea.   The Air-X comes with PRE-set support lengths that stabilize and support the tower as it's lifted, and those PRE-set support lengths are key to keep the tower from bending.  By shortening the length of pipe we had excessive slack as the tower is raised...not good for the overall health and integrity of the tower.   Mike was right on the money when he caught it almost right away....good job Mike!!!!!!  Mike was able to do a temporary work around for the time being but Rich will come up with a permanent fix so that the tower will be easy to raise and lower by us!!!!!!!   Again, it's so cool to have tremendous support with a project like this and have Freedom Renewable in our corner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And today was a big day here!!!!!! Unitil gave us the "green" light to proceed with the first installation step!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is the first of a few steps before we are interconnected to the grid with net-metering.

The Excitement is Mounting!!!!!!

Mike and Jason from Freedom Renewable Energy arrived this afternoon to install the low profile solar ground mount....YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The 700 watt array will charge a 840 amp hour battery bank that will run a small dc freezer (1.8 cu ft) and a dc fridge, (5.8 cu ft) with some possible extras from time to time like a couple lights when the power goes out or running the internet cable modem and charging up the laptops.  Check this out...wow....."vive la difference" with an accent on the e!!!!!  From my wobbly 2 x 4 "housewife frame" that the building inspector cringed at last year, to a Rich Doucette designed, substantial, concrete , solar pad.  The low profile ground mount is held onto the pad with bolts!!!!   It's part of Rich's view that things should last decades, yup' that's plural no typo...and this will!!!!!   With manpower from Mike and Jason it went together quick and easy!!!!
 

Functional and beautiful...that in a nutshell describes this array that will power the off grid part of our energy farm.    This phase one of three....my first dream come true powered by the creative minds and work from Freedom Renewable Energy!!!

Soil on Memorial Day Weekend

We had 10 yards of top soil delivered on May 29th to make it easier to fill the remaining holes left for the Air-X guy wire augers. I'm just itching to do something, anything to help.  I counted out 14 shovels full of dirt and loaded up the wheelbarrow then kept dumping them in the holes, then, I ran the garden hose as Rich suggested and tried to compact the soil as much as I could.  Kally had a blast playing in the mud.  Our little pup looked like a mud dog not a Border Terrier by the end of the day.  I washed her off with the garden hose...she doesn't seem to mind the cold water. The remaining soil I'll use to spread around over the gravel.  

Roses Wilt and Die; Cement Will Last My Lifetime

The BP oil spill in the Gulf has been on my mind daily since I first heard about it over a month ago.  It reinforces my desire for clean renewable energy.  I'm happy I have a nice alternative energy company in my backyard that actually talks to me, works with me, and is willing to design plans to meet my specific needs.  The company is  Freedom Renewable Energy out of Derry, NH

 http://www.freedomrenewable.com/

and right now, they are in the process of filling my every desire for alternative energy.   Rich, Freedom's "Project Manager" is my guru and designer.    He's like "E.F. Hutton", when he speaks I listen, he's our energy farm designer, he's a SDE (Solar Designer Extraordinaire), his mind is in constant motion and is in constant scan for creative solutions.

Our galvanized pipe arrived via truck on May 24.   The pipe transfer was delicate, not a scratch or bump leaving the truck.


Click Here

Check out the video of Rich, Project Manager, for Freedom Renewable Energy, gently guides the pipe into place. 

Click Here


Ah, concrete, how I adore concrete.  It's my favorite sustainable building material.  With limestone as it's main ingredient and one of the most abundant minerals on the earth you just gotta love it.  Below is BC, (Before Concrete) and AD, (After Dumping).

Rich and Mike worked hard on the beautiful cement pad and posts that will hold 4 off grid panels.  The speckles are sections of tree that came down in a small windy storm the night after the cement was poured...the cement was so hard by the following morning it was easy to brush the bits off with a broom. In addition, concrete was poured that will hold the galvanized steel pipe support for 14 panels and the anchors for 4 guys on our small wind turbine.

The Video below is cement flowing into the form that will hold our pipe.
Click Here


Check out this video of  Rich and Mike directing cement as the driver/cement operator pour into the Solar Pad.

Click Here

Rich designed the pad...very, very cool.  I could care less about  "blood" diamonds  and roses...the  cement pad fills me with joy.  I can see it outside from the kitchen sink and I smile when I look at it....I know what it will hold and what it will give me back.   Roses wilt and die, people die and are maimed over diamond mining in Africa, BUT, cement will last my lifetime and it will support something good.


Notice the conduit that will house our wires....wow...it's going to be a wild time pulling them through,  and I know if I'm on the pushing end I'm going to PUSH WITH ALL MY MIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I struggled last year pushing through the wires through to the house and could only do one section of pipe at a time, a very inefficient way to do it, I'd push then get it to one end then pull it through.  I was limited in mule power a/k/a housewife power...this will be fast and powered by "Freedom".

AND, Rich again came through with another great idea....more on that later but we'll use a battery powered variable speed drill  to check the factory setting on the wind turbine!!!!!!!! OMG...what an INCREDIBLE idea!!!!!  I wracked my brain thinking what could easily be used as a variable power source to measure or tweak the setting...WAY cool!!!

Creative Solutions, Guts and Skill

You just don't go down to Ace Hardware or Sears and say, "hey I'd like to buy some solar panels to put on my roof".  Let's face it, the industry is NOT plug and play "yet".  Not every one has a solar array on their roof or a wind turbine in the yard, especially in the Northeast USA.   It's just not like owning a refrigerator or kitchen stove, you just don't cart it home and plug it into a socket.  That's why you need creative and adaptive problem solvers at the helm of any alternative energy project.  Enter Rich, from Freedom Renewable Energy out of Derry, NH, he has both of those qualities.    Rich's mind is in a constant state of "idea flow"...just the kind of  adaptable quality you need when things are not black and white.  He's the designer of our "confluence of energy"...a three forked stream where wind, grid tie solar and off grid solar all flow through conduit and into our house, it's our custom made energy stream.


Freedom Renewable told me up front that wind is NOT a good option for our site...and I agree with them.  My only purpose with wind it to help trickle charge our battery bank during no sun but perhaps windy, stormy days when we typically lose power.  But they are a flexible and open minded company and they agreed to help me.   I had a few concerns reading through the "Air-X Land/Marine" PDF instuction booklet.   At the top of my list was how to attach the small gauge wire...a lightweight #10 to the BIG and HEAVY #2.  With 42 feet of #2 attached to that flimsy #10 with what Air-X deemed "suitable"... a split bolt connector...I could envision the wire breaking at some point...not good!!!!  Well, guess what....Rich had the SAME concern and he had a work around!!!!! Yup' that's right....you gotta' just love creative thinkers!!! I want the sucker to work, and I don't want anyone getting zapped in the process... have a broken wire hitting that 42' steel pole and you have a potential problem..Rich's work around is just what we needed...creative problem solving..that's at the crux of this industry right now.  Like I said, it's not like plugging in a fridge you just bought from Sears you need a guy like Rich in your corner on a project like this.

Rich has all kinds of nifty way to do things.  Remember the old Volvo commercial, "it is better to push ze car than to pull ze car"  well...it is better to pull ze wires than to push ze wires...much easier, and Rich has a very cool way to snake them through!!!  Watch this video to see his "vacuum method", he is shown pulling a rabbit out of a hat, well almost...he pulls rope out with a vacuum..the rope will then be attached to wires that will snake through the conduit...voila!!!

Click Here

And, check this out....Rich in da' hole, holding forms as Rich, the backhoe op gently sifts loose soil, culling out the big rocks...wow...guts and skill!!!


Click Here to watch Guts and Skill

Things are a' happen' here today!!!!

Things are a' happen' here today!!!!!!

The Caterpillar 4200 backhoe arrived at 6:20 am complete with operator.

Freedom Renewable definitely picked the right company for the job, he blew through digging three trenches that will fork into one.  Massive holes for footings that will support  the 14 panel grid tie array,  another hole for the stand alone 4 off grid array, and four holes for the Air -X  wind turbine guys and center for the tilt over tower. All of this directed efficiently by Rich, like a maestro directing a symphony he got it all done in a matter of a few hours!!!!  Since the backhoe op was done early Rich put him to work pulling some stumps where we had taken down trees...how cool is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!  An unexpected bonus!!!!!  Rich said, "might as well put him to work"!!!!


Rich is overseeing the entire project.  He told me to relax, and "everything is good"...it's totally Rich, he says it a lot, and, he MEANS it and he smiles when he says it.   Everything IS good with Rich.  These folks have things under control, every base covered. Everything IS good!!!!

Even my "add on's" the stuff they said they'd "help me with" is primo quality work.   The "off grid" panels I had on the "housewife 2 x 4 frame" will now sit on a substantial footing.  Check out the photo that give depth perspective with a 5' snow shovel.  First class..it's going to be a 6' deep concrete pad, MUCH MUCH better set up than I ever dreamed for my "add on"..this will last a lifetime as Rich put it!!!!  Rich is in constant motion.   I'll be working with Rich tomorrow on the Air-X,  I can't wait this is incredibly exciting.  I want hands on experience with the "add on's" and appreciate Rich's expertise, since I want to be able to do maintenance on the Air-X and I seem to always be adding to the "off grid" in some manner.   Turbines, unlike solar panels seem to need occasional maintenance.  I don't expect very much out of the Air-X...I'm only hoping for a trickle charge when we have a power outage and the sun isn't shining but typically we seem to have some wind when we lose power, especially in the winter and during hurricane season.

Fred, Live Wires, and "the boys" from Freedom Renewable

Fred's a live wire...plus, he can identify them quickly.

My street was officially road blocked.   A police cruiser, complete with flashing blue lights and a cop, blocked the street entrance.  Well it was blocked, but, not quite blocked for everyone.  Fred had zero trouble getting though. It's not that he blends in or is invisible, quite the contrary, he has presence, Chutzpah, that positive gutsy way of doing things.  I didn't know anything was wrong on the street.  I had no clue the street was road blocked!!!!   Fred drove past the cop, past the road block and past two sets of downed wires.   Fred's first words out of his big classic blue car was, "you have wires down".   He was holding  took a tool that looked like a Tide Pen.  He waved it at one of Unitil's primary downed wires,  "that's not live" ...a few minutes later Rich, and Mark called to say the cop wasn't going to let them though.   Fred headed out to pick them up and bring them back to the house, on his way down, he  stopped at another downed wire, "but that one is" ...the cop who was in charge of not letting anyone down the street came rushing over with "get in your car, get in your car now".  The cop was no match for Fred, his comment to the cop was, "I know what I'm doing, I"m an electrician".  I would find out later that was truly an understatement...Fred is much more than "just" an electrician.  He teaches everywhere including MIT, he's a ZBA consultant, a Vietnam Vet (med flighted out during the Tet offensive),  has a heart, and the coup de grace is he's an accomplished surfer, yep' that's right a surfer dude who surf YEAR round'...this is New England..you are not talking Florida or south...he's hard core.  So that's how I met Fred, Freedom Renewable Energy's electrician, he's the kinda' guy who makes an indelible impression.

Fred and I sat at my kitchen table waiting for "the boys" as he called them.   Rich, Mark and John were not able to make it through the police road block, but within minutes Fred spotted Rich, carrying an orange can of spray paint, waking through the woods and climbing over my dog fence in the back yard!!!!!!  You are not talking a walk in park like woods.  Rich was climbing through poison ivy, gnarled bitter root vines and some dense pines about a tenth of a mile worth.  Despite downed live wires, and police barricades the guys from Freedom Renewable Energy were at my house!!!!

Rich answered all my questions, marked potential areas where the wires would be located underground, and then headed back out, climbing over the fence, into the woods and off to another appointment with another client...wow!!!!  Fred joined him but had to leave his car since the cop wasn't letting anyone out or anyone in.  

The "boys" would later arrive to say hi and walk Fred down Bartlett Street, since his car was still parked in my driveway, held hostage by the Newton Police roadblock and Unitil.  It was great to see Mark.   I would find out later that Mark was the force behind that beautiful and moving Veteran's Memorial that includes all the name of vet's who have served even in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it's kept current thanks to a fund Mark set up. It's  in McGregor Park in Derry...wow!!!  These guys have quite a history!!!!

More Trees Out, More Light/Wind In

All for progress a few trees were sacrificed.  We took down a small group of about  red pines which will help create an opening to the northwest, our prevailing winds.  The Air-X will go in this spot behind and a bit westerly from the grid-tie 14 panel array.  

Above, "Dig Safe" arrived,  pretty much as Rich had said they would, quietly.  I didn't know until I spotted the little orange flag planted in our front lawn, see top photo.

Quality Tree finished up the job we would never have been able to complete on time.  The company with a crew of 6 guys flew through taking down some of the red pines towards the northwest, 2 huge white pines and 2 large oaks.  They started on Friday morning and were still able to make for their 3:30 tee time.


Click on the link below to see a YouTube Video of Quality Tree dropping one of our bigger Oaks.
Click Here

It's NOT a Crystal Ball but it DOES Show Our Future

 We have more trees to cut down but it's for a good cause.  We'll burn the wood we cut down in our woodstove and by clearing the area we'll have more hours of sun that will hit the solar panels.  The above shot is a "Solar Pathfinder", the convex cover sits atop a grid that shows months and hours.  By taking a view into this nifty instrument it shows specific trees that will come into play at different hours and different months.  We initially had about an 83% solar resource, we are going for the best we can get!!!!


Mark, from Freedom Renewable Energy, in Derry, NH is shown as a shadow looking into the globe and taking the digital photo of our resource.

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"Freedom, Freedom, Freedom, Freedom"

"Let the sun shine, let the sun shine in"

Lyrics from The Age of  Aquarius and the musical Hair 1969

Mark, from Freedom Renewable Energy, out of Derry, NH arrived today...things are getting closer!!!! WOW...all I could think of were two songs from 1969, and I sang them in my head, over and over again, ..one was from Richie Havens, "Freedom" and the other was from the musical Hair.  Mark took another look into the Solar Pathfinder, that globe that shows where the trees cast shadows and where we need to cut...we are looking better.  I've met Brian, a principal in the company, Rich, the project manager, and of course Mark who has been in constant contact with me over the past couple of weeks.  They have even agreed to help with a few add ons including some help with my Air-X and the stand alone off grid panels...the times here..they are a changing!!!!  Can't wait to meet the electrician.  They pulled the permit on Wednesday...must have been wild with the hours the building inspectors office is open it's not easy!!! 

Yesterday was Earth Day, I was part of the first rally on Boston Common in 1970,  I wanted to help make the world a better place, instead I ended up being part of the "establishment" and part of the problem.  I hope it's not too late, I want to be part of the solution.

We dropped more trees.  The top photo only captures part of the picture.  I have red swollen spots around my waist band where black flies snuggled up and feasted on my blood.  The spots are about the same circumference as a small tenderloin medallion.

  We'll  be able to seasonally adjust the frame for the best angle during the year.  I think it's a no brainer to go with a manual adjustment for panels...we live in the Northeast...read, snow, ice, sleet, and I can't imagine having a problem with a motorized tracker only to be stuck in some strange angle until a part arrives.  

 The second shot shows were they'll plunk down the pole mount.  Our 14 Evergreen 205's will go on the mount.  I've removed the experimental panels I put up last fall and I'll be adding to them with 2 more and securing them on a Unirack, no more "housewife designed" 2x4 constructed frame.  The Air-X turbine will also help keep the battery bank charged for the off grid portion of the system.

One more project to go, I have to move the composting bins I built last year, (third photo down).   Unfortunately our date has been pushed up to May 11....but the good news is they WILL be here!!!

Freedom, Freedom

Freedom, Freedom

Freedom, Freedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wind...Hoping for a Trickle Charge

 Air-X

Our micro wind turbine arrived today.

I honestly don't expect much from this turbine.
Although we get some wind here, our location is not ideally suited for a turbine.  With my expectations set low I'll be happy with anything we get.  There are times here when wind is high and we have no sun.  It would be nice to be able to even trickle charge our battery bank, especially when we draw from it during times of no electricity from the gird, typically after a wind or ice storm.

The turbine itself is small, and with about 12mph wind will produce about 38Kw per month..not much.  I expect perhaps even less than that.  What I do hope for is it will be a small way to help charge the bank at night or with no sun but some wind.  We did better than I expected during our recent three day outage.  It's amazing how far you can stretch energy needs when push comes to shove.  The winds were consistantly high (over 25mph) for two days of the outage so with the wind turbine it would have helped to recharge our battery bank...we'll be finding out soon.

Solar Panel/ Battery Bank Data Since October 31, 2009

Click Here For Data


The above link lists solar data from October 31, 2009 including daily and monthly Kwh, Amp Hours, Max Voltage, (VOC as seen by the controller) Min Voltage  (As seen by the controller) and monthly averages.


We will be adding two more panels, which we will wire in series to the two we already have which will give us 700W.  It will double the output we already have.  In addition we will be taking some trees down that should increase effiency and decrease our shading problems, especially in the late fall and winter.   We will attempt to add a SunDanzer 5.8 Freezer that will run off the battery bank full time. The estimated amp hours draw per day  for the freezer should be less than 23 amp hours.  Our ambient temperature in the cellar ranges from about 45 degrees in winter to about 65 in the summer.

February Windstorm Power Out, Solar In

Power Out Solar Battery Bank In

I was on my radio, participating in the QRP Fox hunt and trying to get the NM Fox, K5DI when the power went out Thursday night at 10:14 February 25th 2010.  By the light of my laptop I unplugged my radio and headed to bed.  It was very windy that night.  The winds shook window panes in the bedroom waking up our puppy, who barked and my husband, who stopped snoring.  The next day the power was still out.  We dug out the power cord and ran the fridge to the inverter that runs to our solar battery bank.  We thought it would be a few hour event and our power would be back up within a few hours.  After cranking up the radio we found out winds exceeded 90 miles an hour just a short hop NE of us in Portsmouth.  Powerlines and trees were down everywhere. The outage extended to over 600K in our immediate area. Over half of our state was without power.   Once the fridge was going and shut off we ran the freezer for a while.  We had no internet connection on Friday, Comcast was down.  Our only connection to the world was news from my Droid via Verizon, a crank up power generated radio that gave us news throughout the weekend from WBZ 1030 in Boston, and FloTV which gave us news on Saturday morning about the Chile quake from CNN.  We learned from the radio report that our power outage was very extensive, and it would be a multi day power outage for most people. In light of the quake in Chile we put things in perspective, we have a home, heat, light and food.  We hunkered down and decided to use our resources as judiciously as possible.

Luckily when Harry heard the wind on Thursday night he filled buckets of water so we could flush the toilet, it came in handy.  I had the Big Berkley out and filled with potable water, things we have unfortunately learned to do here because of the number of times our power goes out.

On Friday morning I made coffee via a hand burr grinder and french press with water heated up on the woodstove.  I pulled out a few bags of fruit from the freezer, and emptied them into a large bowl for healthy snacking since I didn't know how well fruit would hold up without the freezer on it's usually cycling.  I wasn't sure what our 420 amp hour battery bank, powered by our two 175W 24 volt pannels would be capable of.  Harry gave me the bad news that the wx looked like it would either be snowing or overcast for the next 5 days. That means our solar panels wouldn't be able to recharge the battery bank.  I wondered if we would be throwing food out.  I asked Harry to pull out the generator in case we needed it.  He did but he wasn't able to get it working, he ripped it apart, even pulling the spark plug but it wouldn't even sputter.  I could only hope for the best that our little system would get us through.  My plan was to run the fridge until the compressor shut off and then to plug in the freezer and run it for a couple of hours about every 5-6 hours.

By Saturday afternoon we had internet...I would occasionally check by plugging in the cable modem.  Once I knew internet was back I plugged in the cable modem and wireless router to the Xantrax...we were both online with our laptops for about 15 minutes, we caught up on news, the Unitil power update, and mail.  By night I was feeling a bit more confidant, I pulled up the lid on the freezer, pulled out some frozen veggies and a large thick pork chop, all frozen solid and cooked them on the woodstove, life is good.   I had given my dad my multimeter so I wasn't able to measure the voltage of the battery bank.  We drove to Plaistow and bought a new one from Home Depot.  I felt even better when the voltage was showing as 12.9.  Between the snow and overcast weather the battery bank was not charging back as it would on an even mildly cloudy day...but we were still in the ball game.

By Sunday morning we still were without power, no utility crews in sight.  I was still running the fridge until I heard the compresser shut off then I'd plug in the freezer and run it for a couple of hours.  I pulled out a few frozen short ribs and threw them in the wood cookstove oven along with a couple of potatoes.  By midday the voltage was showing around 12.3.    By early afternoon we saw the utility trucks arrive on the street, we were hopefull we'd have our power back.  By mid afternoon, our power was back on, we plugged out of our inverter and back into our household outlets.  No food lost, our system a huge success!!!!


Here is what we ran for almost 3 days:

Fridge:  From about 7am to about 9pm about every 3-4 hours until the compressor shut off.  (Our fridge is a freezerless fridge.)

Freezer:  From about 7am to about 9pm I'd run it for about 2 hours about every 5 hours. (Our Freezer is an ancient 10cu' Westinghouse model)

Minimal Internet:  Wireless Router, Cable Modem for about 15 minutes total run from Xantrax

Cell Phone Charging: From Xantrax


Huge success!!!!  And I went from "Geek Mom" to "Super Mom" and I even got a "I'm glad you put in the system."

No generator noise, no generator gas smell, no gas cost, no running around towns looking for gas stations that are open!!!!  Great little system.