Solar Panels Here and There

Most of the PV panels are up

A large part of our energy efficient home design is related to solar energy.  Passive, photovoltaic, and solar thermal.  Our high efficiency European windows located on the south side of the house help with the passive part.  We are in the process installing the other two.  We have contracted with Aegis Solar to purchase and install a 10.8kW array of photovoltaic panels on the south side of the roof which will generate about 12,500 kWh of electricity per year.  Folks often ask if we will be "off the grid".  The answer is no. The simpler and less expensive way to set up a solar PV system is with a grid-tied system.  We are connected to the electric grid, selling CL&P the power we generate and buying from them what we need to use. We estimate our annual electricity consumption to be around 8,000 kWh per year (which at this time is a very rough guess).  We should generate more electricity than we use for the house each year and have enough leftover power an electric car.

The other solar component is a DIY solar thermal hot water system. Paul researched online others who have made similar systems and shared their designs and ideas at builditsolar.com. Paul's system is taken from the design at builditsolar.com. It's a drainback system with a 16' x 8' collector mounted on the ground behind the garage and a 230 gallon home-made tank in the basement.



Paul surveying his work on the frame of the collector

Tank in the basement





We hope that this system will provide most of our hot water during the year.  It remains to be seen exactly how much it will produce.



We spent several hours wrestling PEX tubing into a three layered coil
for the heat exchange element which will be submerged in the tank.





The competed coil

Other areas of progress; The interior walls are up, closed and primed. Wood flooring that acclimated in the space over the holiday weekend has been installed. Kitchen cabinetry will be delivered this week and the bathroom tile has arrived. 

All of the ventilation hoses haves been attached to the ERV.







The exterior siding is mostly finished with a beautiful cedar ceiling on the front and screened porches.  The septic system has been installed.

The garage door is installed and preliminary grading and landscaping is underway.

I mentioned in a prior post about the illusion of time during construction.  We've hit a period of fast forward where the interior is quickly changing the look from a construction zone to a home.  A warm beautiful home.