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Feb 4, 2010: Breaker Wiring, Inside Temperatures

Work has been progressing on the electrical wiring. The solar system has for the most part been completed and is now waiting for the house side to be finished and inspected before a connection can be made.

A temporary 200A breaker panel is being installed and will allow us to connect the solar system and also have power available for interior work.

Energy monitoring is an important feature of this house as it will be important to compare simulation models to real data and also to gain a better understanding of how energy is consumed in a home. There are not many systems available to let you do this very easily. We have decided to go with a computerized breaker panel that will allow for the monitoring and control of the electricity in the house. The panel is made by Computerized Electricity Systems. This panel will be ready in March, so this is the main reason for the temporary conventional panel.

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On the inside of the garage is where the breaker panel and other electrical components are located. The electrician is pulling wire from the solar system that will connect to the grid through the breaker panel. The second picture shows the electrical box and temporary breaker panel installed on the wall. A nice feature with SIP construction is the ability to hang things wherever is more convenient without having to locate studs. This goes for picture hanging, etc when the interior is complete.

The inverters for the solar system are located under the solar panel array. This is where the wire comes from that the electrician pulled into the garage. The inverters convert the DC electricity produced by the solar panels to AC, which is what we use in our homes. A local startup company in Champaign called SolarBridge is developing what are called micro-inverters. These would go on the back of each solar panel, replacing the large inverters you see below. Micro-inverters have many advantages, among them gains in efficiency.

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Talked a little bit previously about the passive solar heating the house. Below are some shots of infrared thermometer readings. The first is obviously the outside temperature. Next is the wall temperature inside the house where the sun is shining on the wall, and the last is the interior house temperature. Free heating is nice!

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A few more pictures of sunlight entering the living area. In the second picture you can see where the light reflects off the North windows and onto the floor. A light shelf or some other feature will be installed which will prevent the light from hitting the windows, but still allow it to enter the house for passive heating. Something to prevent light rays from shining directly into a person’s eyes while inside the house.

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Hopefully tomorrow the electrical inspection will happen and soon after that the power company will come out to connect the house. We are also doing a detailed noise analysis to mitigate any sound pollution, especially truck noise into the house. This will be written up as an informative article and posted as a blog entry.

This side view of the house shows the completed roof overhangs.  On the wall are the
boxes for the electricity net-meter and a disconnect box.  The power company
requires a disconnect with the solar system so that they have access for cutting power
when necessary.
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