At age 74, my Dad passed at 84 and Mom at 98, time marches on. But I was faced with a bucket of TSLA stock that pays no dividends. Its value comes only from selling. Because time becomes short, I want to enjoy what remains and that means keeping the house value for who ever gets it later, and reducing my monthly bills while on this side of the grass. "Cost avoidance" pays for my libertine lifestyle. Bob Wilson
"libertine lifestyle" There are dictionaries that connect that to lack of morality. Use one of the other ones.
A brief news clip in Syria included part of a roof top, solar panel. So I used Google Earth to find: Three roof top solar panels in Homs Syria What clued me were seeing a line of refugees carrying all their belongings and one had a solar panel. Then Syrian rebels: So carry a gas generator to combat or folded solar panels ... which would you choose? Bob Wilson
Nu? They are just digging the hole in a different direction. I am just impressed how home and survival solar is showing up for those living closest to the edge. There is a lesson to be learned. Bob Wilson
We had a Pakistani post doc here. Before he went home he was very interested in learning about and buying PV things. I knew enough (red vs. black; 12 vs. 24) to teach. Inverters and power-point controllers and similar are cheap here. But they are also 'cheap' so we are hoping for the best...
A FoaF was telling me not long ago about a head-scratcher she had struggled with when adding a panel on her boat, until she realized the panel had been manufactured with the red and black wires swapped.
Site visit last week, waiting on final design. I've emphasized speed and don't let my questions hold up the project. But I have figured out how to reduce the solar battery size by scheduling EV charging. I have two EVs whose charge rates can be reduced to 8 A, 1.8 kW. By staggering their charge intervals during the day, the solar power can be stuffed into their batteries: BMW i3-REx urban car - it gets the earlier starting and longer charge interval because it does most of the EV miles. Tesla Model 3 cross country car - it is driven fewer miles so daily charging defers to the BMW. If I need to run an errand and the BMW does not have enough charge, I'll plug it back in and take the Tesla. Regardless, most of my urban driving miles will be solar. Bob Wilson
So I did some drone flights every hour to map the tree shadows: The only shadows on the roof are from my front yard tree. It will soon be gone. January 15 is about a month after the Winter solstice, December 20, 2024, when the Sun is furtherest over the Southern hemisphere. There will be Summer solstice where the Sun will shine directly North of my house. For Summer, to my West is a driveway and another, neighbor property and their back yard is about 1.5 m lower. On the Northern side of my property is another big tree and some smaller ones. But the bulk of shade trees are on neighbors' property. I'll wait for Summer before deciding to remove any of my trees. I do like shade to keep the yard "less hot." Bushes or trees that won't grow higher than the base of my roof. Crepe Myrtle comes to mind. The different colors would make the property look like "lawn art." Any other suggestions? Canopy high enough to stand under or beside but low enough to not shadow the roof. Low maintenance Attractive to humming birds Bob Wilson
If you don't want to lose the shade from the trees on hot summer days, you can think about a high mast on which solar panels will be placed above all the shadows from adjacent buildings and trees. Well, only the shadow from flying hummingbirds can interfere Solar High Mast Lighting Manufacturers and Suppliers - China Factory - NOMO GROUP
Enough of those to power a home would cut sun to the trees. The most powerful one is 320W. One panel on my roof is 400W; there are 13 of them. Adding more panels to account for tree shading is likely more cost effective than trying to avoid the shadows.
One thought, use a hunting tree climber: Ascend the trunk and cut off the individual limbs as you go. when high enough to reach a safe level, cut off the remaining top (VERY VERY CAREFULLY.) Follow up by stripping he bark. Voila, you have a wood pole firmly anchored in the yard. Just add a lightning rod and earth ground. Then: Yard art. Bob Wilson
