DRVING MISS NANCY

With our winter storm system long gone, and clear sailing ahead, Miss Nancy set a course for CA in her new motor home. After we had our morning coffee, and a bite to eat, Nancy backed out of our yard, with the first destination being the Love's truck stop at I40 and Hwy 95. I rode with her one more time, for a last 20 mile tutoring session, while Patty followed in the Jeep. At Love's, she topped off her diesel tank, we said our goodbyes, and we watched Nancy drive her new house away. She called later in the day, letting us know that she made it home OK, and that she was relieved to be parked in her driveway, after a 500+ mile drive.

Nancy handled her new motor home like a pro, quickly adjusting to the feel of controlling a large vehicle.

The last step in the activation of our new residential solar system was the installation of the 2 new meters by the Public Utility - Unisource. At a little after 12pm, the new meters were plugged in, and we were officially making electricity. The shot below, shows the solar meter after the system had produced it's first kilowatt hour.

By the end of the day, when the sun had set over the lake, we had produced 15 kilowatt hours of juice, and we had used a total of 5 kilowatt hours. Hey, that's 10 in the bank! I just checked the meters, and last night, we used up those 10 hours, so we're just about back to square one. Hurry up Mr. Sun, I like putting stuff in the bank!

I'll know more today, but I think our system will produce 20-25 kilowatt hours on a full, clear, sunny day. That's 500-750 hours per month, and our usage runs between 500 to 800 kilowatt hours each month. So, maybe this investment will indeed pay off, and we'll lower our electric bill to almost nothing. I feel like a kid with a new toy!

The meter on the right is the solar meter, showing the amount of kilowatt hours produced by the system. The meter on the left measures the amount of juice we send to the grid, and the amount we consume.