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| How "eco" are you? | Rating: 
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| Posted: Thu Oct 20th, 2011 12:41 am |
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61st Post |
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ALephart Administrator 
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OK I had to post this. No matter what side of climate debate your on, you owe it to yourself to watch Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from of Rhode Island. You can walk into this 20 minute video with ZERO background of climate change and walk out with an opinion. Great job Senator! http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/10/rhode-island-senator-does-unthinkable-takes-strong-public-stand-climate-video.php All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Tue Dec 6th, 2011 01:49 am |
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62nd Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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If anyone hasn't noticed....the price of oil is over $100.00 a barrel. When this happened a year ago gas prices neared $4.00 a gallon. What's different this time? For the first time ever the oil industry is willing to take a loss to encourage increased long term sales. This is unheard of! The price of gas is falling across the nation. I would summarize the move of keeping the gas price low as the industry shaking in their boots. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Tue Dec 13th, 2011 07:20 am |
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63rd Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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 I am claiming ECO on this as well. I was testing computer parts from another computer when the faulty CPU fried my main PC. I had looked at net top style computers before for light computer work but never found a need. The limiting factor of these style computers being a viable replacement for a desktop was the graphics. And because of its size, adding any graphics card was not an option. Now these computers are coming with NVIDIA ION graphics. For the first time you can now play 1080p video on hardware acceleration alone. I ended up purchasing a ZOTAC ZBOX model computer ZBOXHD-ID40-PLUS-U Here are the energy usage specs. 28 watts - All stock, idle in windows. 26 watts - Replaced 2.5'' disk drive with SSD, idle in windows. 20 watts - Turned off integrated WIFI and illuminated case logo in BIOS, idle in windows. 19 watts - Various tweaks under windows. Not bad for a Dual core Atom 1.8Ghz CPU with a TDP of 13watts! This is all down from about 105watts from my old PC. I am still playing around with things on the computer to get it where I want. I am going to add another 2GB of RAM before coming to any conclusion on its long term feasibility as a desktop replacement. Update 12/16/11: Another 2GB of RAM made a huge difference running Windows 7 64bit. It rarely pauses now. Update 1/5/12: I had looked in the Windows device manger previously to verify everything was installed correctly. However today I booted into windows with a memory card in the reader and got a surprise. It started installing some "USB root 2.0 something rather" drivers. Now it is noticeaby quicker then before. Update 2/18/12: I am really needing more computing horsepower then this nettop is capable of providing! This will now replace a laptop I am using for a computer in the garage. I was hoping this was a more long term solution but it is not quite ready to replace a normal PC for all requirements. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27th, 2011 11:40 pm |
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64th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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I finally made the decision to go SOLAR of my own! I bought 5x Sharp NU-Q235F4 235watt panels. It's a small system but I am making it scalable for the future. These are the nice looking black framed modules with 14.4% efficiency. I am going to use Enphase's newest M215 microinverter for every panel. It is a 215watt model and the highest they currently offer. It has a fantastic warranty and lots of monitoring options. By doing a inverter for each panel I can also mix and match brands and capacity if I wish. Something you cannot do with a central inverter. Why would I get a bigger solar panel then the inverter is capable of converting? The biggest reason is, I found these panels for a great price. I will lose at least 20watts per solar panel because it will be over the inverter's rated power. However there is a flip side. In low light conditions and even on regular sunny days the inverter will come online to full capacity sooner. Also the panels will still produce an excess of energy when they are dirty. So the whole system should provide 1075watts. More then enough to provide the Brammo motorcycle charging, which is 720watts between 1-3hours. I will get the panels in the next couple of days and I am filling out the proper HOA and city forms to complete this project. I also have to request a new electric meter that is "2way".   All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30th, 2011 12:03 am |
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65th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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 I picked up the panels. Now off to source the other componants. In filling out paperwork for various federal and state rebates, I was happy to see the Sharp solar panels are made in TN, while the GE wattstation EVSE was made in N.C. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 5th, 2012 02:08 am |
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66th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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Not happy with the prospect of "breaking even" with the monthly electricity usage I decided to go bigger with the initial sized system. I still have the option of expanding larger in the future. So I have decided to double to size of the system with 10 panels. That will make it a 2150watt system. Good for anywhere between 11-14kw per day. All the best, Aaron lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Thu Feb 23rd, 2012 12:32 am |
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67th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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Today solar was installed! However this was not without issue. I ordered all the componants to piece this system together and make the best system arrangement for the best price. The panels where bought and picked up from one place. The inverters and monitoring device where ordered and shipped from another place. And finally the racking and cabling was sourced by the installer because trying to arrange shipment or pickup of large rails was'nt in my best interest. Plus this gives the installer a little bit of overhead as I already shaved allot of money of the parts be finding them myself. So everything is set, permits are granted, HOA approval letter has been received, etc. I go to open up the box of inverters and am horrified to find them all laying loose in the 46lb box! The box was in great condition on the outside and I had no reason to suspect anything so I kept it sealed until the day of the installation. Inside the box are several cut marks where the inverters had hit up against the side of the box from the inside. The inverters where all marked up and I was generally pissed. I immediately called and e-mailed Ecodirect and let them know what happened. This while the installers where ready to mount them and they needed them right now. I made the decision to go ahead and have them mounted and installed. Fast forward to the next day when the system was being finished up and about to be turned on, I received a call back from Ecodirect where they advised me that they where set to ship out 10 new inverters to me and arrange return of the damaged ones. This offer quickly changed to "We can we offer you free shipping on a future order" after I told them I had them installed. I told them they did not have to worry about future orders and said goodbye then hung up.  Here is how this damage happened. The box was an original Enphase box with a quantity of 12 including serial numbers listed on the outside. Because I only ordered 10 inverters, the box was opened up, 2 inverters where removed and they did not put back any packaging material on top of the inverters inside the box! The box has "slots" in a cardboard base where the inverters are supposed to be placed, they where all laying loose. And these inverters shipped from CO to CA that way. When I powered on the Envoy inverter monitoring device I didn't know what to expect. I let it "scan" for inverters for about 15minutes and it only found 7 of the inverters. I wasn't worried yet as I plugged it into a wall socket on the other side of the house from the load center where the solar connects. I know to be optimal you want to locate it as close to the load center as possible. So I disconnected it and plugged it into a socket on the other side of the wall from the load center in the garage. Within moments it found all 10 inverters and everything seems to be functioning properly. I have since located the monitoring device elsewhere in the house and everything works great. BOO HISS on Ecodirect for the POOR packaging! Shipping 10 microinverters loose in a 46lb box is unexcuseable. I had problems communicating with the Ecodirect company even before this order had been placed however I attributed this to the company moving locations so I gave them the benefit of a doubt. Thanks to those who did a GREAT job with this solar project: Nick Sherman @ Peak Power who was always quick to reply to emails, followed up with phone calls and kept me "in the loop" at every step. They did an A+ installation. Amy Eldredge @ Ambassador Energy, Inc., great service with a smile! Still waiting for that cookie! Brenda Friday and crew at SAMLARC property management. For giving HOA's a good name! And finally everyone at Enphase, who build a quality product that I got to test with poor shipping before the installation even began. A funny thing I noticed. Although I DO have a time of use meter it does not go backwards. So until SCE installs a new meter I am giving the electric company free energy. So during the day it doesn't go forward at all but nor does it go back. This has me retraining myself to temporarily move excessive energy usage during the peak time during the day.  So far from an almost full day of creating energy it has made 10.9kw. Tomorrow will be the true test. Update: 2/23/12 The system produced 12.9kw, from what I would consider to be an average weather day. I am happy with that number. However the system should put out 2.15kwh at the peak of that day, the highest I saw was 1.89kwh. I had my attention focused elsewhere most of the day so I will check it again in the future. The inverters come online sooner and stay on later later in the day compared to central inverters! Update: 2/25/12 The system produced 13.2kw yesterday and the same today. I will consider that the new standard for this time of year. Update 4/9/12 SCE has issued a PTO (permission to operate) letter for the system. Also the self generation rates will be in effect after the next billing cycle which is in a few days. What remains to be seen is if the 625KWh I have generated since installation of the system and the necessary paperwork be completed is paid to me or if it was a "donation". Update 4/12/12 Everything is all set! Now I can go back to using major energy comsuming items at "off peak" at night. Update 5/1/12 I recieved the CSI rebate from SCE! Update 5/10/12 Today was the end of my billing cycle and tomorrow is the deadline for SCE to switch over to "Time of use tiered domestic" rate schedule. Since installaion the solar system has generated 962KW of power. The meter on the house registers 694KW as being generated. This means the 268KW difference was consumed during generation. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28th, 2012 01:29 am |
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68th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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Although I may eventually take down public access.....here is what my solar setup looks like. Interesting you can see the shading come into account when you play back the days recording and see the 2 panels on the left reduce power first as the sun goes to the front of the house. And FWIW the reason it only generated 4KW today was it rained most of the day. https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/gj3e58075 All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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