We’re solar powered!
Blew one fuse, but once that was replaced both systems are now operational. With the sun peaking out we reached just about 8kW. Now just sit back and collect the sun. The house now has access to all the energy it will ever need.
Once we get the electric house breaker panel, monitoring, and control system installed we will be able to upload solar data online. For now we will just be able to read the power off of the inverters or see the production on the power bills. Without anyone in the house right now the power produced can be used to displace the energy used in constructing the house.
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Everything seems to be working. There are two systems side by side, each rated at 4.1kW. Below are pictures of the inverter screen for one of the systems. They are hard to read, but the first one shows at that moment it is making about 4,180W. After two hours the next picture shows the energy produced is 4.6kWh, which has already saved 7.9lbs of CO2.
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Time for a little celebration! How about a Belgian Ale named Equinox to celebrate the successful activation of the solar system on the Equinox House.
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Inside the house some electrical work is ongoing. Next week we are scheduled to do the initial house envelope audit with blower door testing and thermal imaging. After the audit we will do a round of additional insulating and sealing followed by another audit and more sealing.
