Seung and I moved into a new house in April. Ever since then I have been busy at work turning it into my green dream home. Last weekend we reached a major milestone: solar power.
This 5.4 kW solar photovoltaic system should produce most of the electricity we need to run the house. I’m stoked.
Standard Solar unloads solar pv panels from the truck.
Installation gets started and I'm surprised at how quickly the crew gets a couple rows of panels in place.
Minutes later, a bad omen? A serious thunderstorm stops installation efforts in their tracks.
But it ain't no thang, the storm passes ...
... the crew gets back to work...
... and the panels are all installed in about two hours.
The electrical work inside the house took much longer than expected, but at the end of day two I flipped the switch on the inverter and celebrated with a wind-powered Brooklyner Weiss.
This whole system will pay itself off in about five years. After that I’ll have a minimum of 20 more years of free energy guaranteed by a warranty. Right now, the incentives for solar in the District of Columbia are better than they’ve ever been. Interested in doing the same? Check out the District’s website on their incentive program right here. And if you don’t live in DC, check out this national database of renewable energy incentives.
Solar energy is becoming easier, more accessible and more affordable every day. I love seeing innovations such as the possibility of a spray coating on windows to generate solar power. Solar panels are becoming more and more prevelant and are just one small step toward our country becoming energy independent.
Congrats! Both the solar and the beer sound great.
Waaaaghghhhhhh I’m jealous. We’ll get on it right away. What’s next, a gray-water garden system????
This is great man, it’s so awesome to see more and more people actually doing this. I wish more people would actually take the initiative you’ve taken to protect our planet.
Great move, it seems that everyone is talking about solar panels but few are pulling the trigger. I love your blog, when researching solar panels I found it through Standard Solars Facebook page. How did they work out for you?
Not bad, but I would strongly encourage anyone to get at least three bids from different installers. The District Government has a list of approved installers if you click that link above you can find it on their website.
[...] folks out there a bit jealous, we’ve included his post about his installment of solar panels. Very impressive stuff if we do say so ourselves. Anybody know if they have a [...]
Great move, it seems that everyone is talking about solar panels but few are pulling the trigger. I love your blog, when researching solar panels I found it through Standard Solars Facebook page. How did they work out for you?
isis solar…
Solar Panels Are Go! « Beer Activist…
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