Tuesday, March 3, 2015

3 More Solar Panels and other homestead projects.

After 3 rounds of snow, sleet and Ice, we finally had a break in the weather yesterday. I have been having My normal "spring is coming and there is so much to do and none of it is done" anxiety,,haha
Usually around this time I am constantly chattering about everything that needs done, and my wonderful husband ( being a mild mannered fella') usually nods and listens,, knowing that this is my normal behavior this time of year.. ;)

Right now the list of things to get done is pretty much endless,( don't get me started)

It felt SO good to be outside yesterday. It was about 60 degrees and partly sunny.. a perfect day to get our Solar stand built! We bought 3 additional panels about 3 or 4 months ago, but time, money and weather prevented us from getting it built, ( if its not one factor its another , sure y'all know how that goes).
So with all variables in our favor, we got it built! This is going to help our  energy situation immensely. Right now we have 1440 watts of solar., This would in fact be plenty if we didn't live in a holler. We are down in, surrounded by some very tall mountain ridges, so sun is not in great abundance here. These 3 additional panels should really help us in winter especially! we are adding 3  more 240 watt panels.




While Robb worked on the Solar stand and my waddle fence ( which is almost done. pictures soon!). I spent the day, planting spinach , getting the pea trellis up , planting peas, made a stepping stone, transplanted some kale, did some more seeding .and finished of the day with baking a homemade apple pie ..
 




Hoping to get the gardens tilled up next week, weed barrier down and some fruit trees transplanted before they bud! Chicken tractor still needs finished for the meat birds as well..
The Forecast looks pretty nice after the rain clears out in the next couple days, So I feel like we will be right on schedule!

Everyone enjoyed the sun and weather,  kids n critters included ;) ( and the bees, oh yes they were out BIG time , just didn't get a pic but trust me they are happy to be out as well :)



Blessings
The Cool Family

12 comments:

  1. Hi you all...was curious how you are grounding the panels since you are mounting them on wood...

    thanks

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    1. Hey! We just use angles aluminum stock from the hardware store ( 36 inch length) cut it to the lengths we need and drilled holes bolted to the panel to the one side angle and screwed the other side to the wood :)

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    2. oh wait , do you mean grounding electrically? all the panels are connected together will metal and then they are all tied to a grounding rod with a piece of copper grounding wire,

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  2. Ok, I'm envious of your warming weather. We're still in the depths of winter. Another storm is supposed to hit tonight, adding to the 4' of snow (that's feet, not inches) already on the ground. We mount our panels on the floor with a wooden frame, too.

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    Replies
    1. oh my!!!! that's a lot of snow! hope you are staying warm and busy .. thinking spring thoughts for you !

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  3. Oh wow loving your progress. The hoop house building here has been slow since I took a fulltime job (for a bit to help with homestead start up costs) so I only have one flat of seedlings growing in the front of the bus!
    We did finish the patio which doubled our sq ft (blog coming on that soon) and installed our first solar panel after four months of no "real" power source. Cant wait to see you guys forge ahead this spring.

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  4. Oh wow loving your progress. The hoop house building here has been slow since I took a fulltime job (for a bit to help with homestead start up costs) so I only have one flat of seedlings growing in the front of the bus!
    We did finish the patio which doubled our sq ft (blog coming on that soon) and installed our first solar panel after four months of no "real" power source. Cant wait to see you guys forge ahead this spring.

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  5. Loving those bee stepping stones ... W, L Janice

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  6. It’s quite frustrating how the little things can sometimes cause delays in one’s plans. But it’s nice to know that you’ve finally made some progress with the solar panels. It would definitely help improve your energy situation. Anyway, I hope things are doing a lot better for you guys now, and as well as for your garden. Thanks for sharing this with us. Have a great day!


    Douglas Berry @ Solar Energy Designs Inc.

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  9. Where did you find the mold for your stepping stones? I love them!

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