What Is Net Metering?

Net Metering.
This is when you are feeding power onto the grid. It happens during the day, and the energy that you don't consume is used by your neighbors. The utility company credits you that energy, and as you consume power at night, you use the credits that you accumulated during the daytime.

This is a digital meter.
If you notice, underneath the "4" there are two squares, and an arrow pointing left. That signifies backfeeding. If the arrow was to the right of the squares, and pointing right, then you would be consuming power from the grid.

The utility companies switch your analog meter out to a digital "Net" meter (see the red sticker on the bottom right?) when your solar power system is installed. However, occasionally, you get the opportunity breifly to see what the system does to an original analog meter.

This is an analog meter on an installation that has been recently installed. At the beginning, the meter is spinning backwards. When the solar power is disconnected, the meter stops its backwards direction, then slowly begins spinning forward again.

4Kw in Greeenwich

This is a residence in downtown Greenwich, CT. Located just blocks from downtown, this installation was built atop a renovated garage-converted-apartment. Designed by John Roundtree of Westport Solar Consultants, he re-oriented the axis of the roof peak, so that the array could be facing south.















It's a crowded neighborhood full of people who want the quaintness of Greenwich, whose characteristics include full-service traffic guards (instead of traffic lights) at many busy intersections, a familiar downtown Main Street type of setting, as well as a quick commute into New York City.















I find myself standing on top of solar panels in the rain, wondering why... Why am I on top of a solar panel in the rain? And what's stopping me from falling? Why is it my shoes don't slip, and how come I'm taking a picture?

I guess it's a comforting feeling when you have a harness on, because even if you slip and fall off a roof, there's a point where the harness is going to say, in actions not words, hold on. Wait a minute. You're not falling. Harness is my friend.





Here is the inverter. This is one of the little guys that i percieve would be the kind that we would install for apartments. This is actually a slightly larger system than any one bedroom apartment would require, but it's similar to the size of system i was describing in my post about grid tied solar apartments.










Here are the rails. If you look very closely, the panels sit inside a channel built into the rails, and then they can slide in between the rails like windows in a frame. It's a fairly good system, but one of the reasons why I have to stand on top of the panels in the above picture is because there are strips of metal that fasten into the rails, which when the panels are on, can become very difficult to reach.

Would you want to live there? Maybe. But it's Greenwich. I bet this solar powered garage/studio apartment is not cheap by my standards.

November '08- Dual Axis Trackers

This is the first (and only) dual axis tracker installation that i've ever done. In our area, these trackers increase production by about 45%.

Joey D laying conduit in the trench.

Fastening the main support beam to the head of the mast.



tightening one of the adjustable arms





good clean energy.


4x4x2 J-Box, one of my favorites. Lots of channel strut.

scaffolding! a necessary thing when doing pole mounts.


wrapping up.

finalizing the conduit and wiring

a perfectly level tracker head...

the final product.

December '08- Solar Front Porch Roof

This was an interesting installation, because the roof is sloped on the left and right sides. We ended up building tilts to account for the slopes on the left and right portions of the porch roof, where the surface declines, so that the array is perfectly even. I'll show some pics.






Here you can see the hip roof. The windows just behind it are to their bedroom.













This pic shows the tilt legs. It's difficult to really give the perspective, but i think you get the idea. Like Kevin Garnett said when the Celtics won the 2008 NBA finals- anything is possible!

Goldman

March 4. This was a double-roof installation. One on a top section of roof and another on a lower porch section. We went through the soffit with conduit and then traversed across the underside with PVC. Joey and I picked out some matching textured paint which looked exactly like the color of the siding.

It snowed on the day after we finished the rails, so I roped up and shoveled off the snow from the array. For the majority of the installation, the weather was (finally) amicable.






Here's the conduit that we painted. There's a "T" which splits the wires going to the inverter onto the above roof (over the soffit) and the porch roof. Sweet!

















And this is the external position of the solar inverter, the meter, and the disconnect.

The homeowner (who was a very cool guy with an english bulldog named Tank), decided kind of last minute that he wanted it outside. Well, SMA inverters (and Xantrex as well as many others) are rated for outdoor use, so we made it happen. All in all, it looked pretty smooth.









There's Tank, playing in the snow.

Goldman- 8kw...

Introduction

So this is going to be a posting of my various solar endeavors across the state. I just thought it might be interesting to people, both who know me, and who don't, to find out what I spend my time doing. For me, it's a fun thing, writing to nobody in particular, because I can throw away the finite details involved in trying to make specific points. You're going to go on a solar quest. Continue reading and you'll get in on all the awesome inside jokes that only members of Elite Truck 5 would know. You'll see photographs of awesome installations from all over the state of Connecticut. It'll be solar fun!

What if you're considering switching your home to Photovoltaic power, and you've looked into a variety of companies? Well then, Sunlight Solar is obviously the most awesome choice. Not only can you stay posted on every beautiful solar power system that I build with my fine team of qualified solar dudes, there's also the chance that someday your undisclosed location will be located in this very section of our global blogosphere.

If you want to know more about me, I am an artist/musician who was searching for a job that was constructive and environmentally conscious. Solar installation was the perfect solution to all of my queries about career development. While I am still very good at drawing comic books, painting, and making songs, I am still not very good at selling them. Being a solar electrician is hardly a distraction, however; I am equally as passionate about the art of solar powering peoples' homes. While I have experience with commercial solar installations, my specialty is retrofitting residential solar power.