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!!!