Its Not “Back To The Future” Rather Its “Forward To The Past”

I was finally able to mount 4 of my solar panels; that’s half of them. I was going to try to connect them to the controller but then noticed that the last two panels are upside down. That means that the connectors between panel 2 and panel 3 are opposites and won’t connect. If I had a 6 or 8 foot jumper I could make it work for the test, but I don’t and I don’t want to cut once of the long cables to make one. That means thatI have to dismount the twp nalens, rotate them 180 degrees and mount them again. One problem is that they are a bit unweildy and I don’t really have an easy way to prop them up while I mount them again.

So at the moment it is 2:30 on Christmas Eve and I need to take a break., The clouds have come in and unless I get a bit more energy, I won’t have the panels hooked up tonight. I also have to cut the ends off of the solar wires at the controller. Since the panels are not yet at their final location or mounting, I don’t want to trim the wires too much and I sill have the other 4 panels to connect. They may be next to these 4 or maybe ahead or behind these; I haven’t decided. I still have a tree or two to take down.

I will be working tomorrow (Christmas Day) and will not be able to do any solar during the day. I *MAY* get to hook them up tomorrow night late but won’t know if I have everything correct until the 26th which is Thursday. I am reslly pusing to have at least these 4 panels connected and supplying power in the next few days. That will help me gauge how quickly I need to hook up the other 4 panels and the third battery which is somewhere over the Pacific by now on its’ way here. The third battery and the rach to house all the batteries will have to be picked up in town at the freight company where they load it in my truck with a fork liuft. At home I’ll use the tractors’ front end loader to lift the pallet out and take it to the house. Depanding upon what day, I may have a bit of help a I scheduled some workers to come weedwhack the farm soon. These guys being younger than I (I am in my mid 70’s), they should make short work of the equipment moving.

I can guarantee that before New Years I will have at least 4 panels and 3 batteries powering the house. It will be intersting to see what the power savings is.

Maenwhile, there was a lava flow two days ago over at the volcano. I think I’ll rewrite that old Holiday Classic… “I’m dreaming of a bright lava flow, just like the ones we used to know…”. The report is that the lava fountains are perhaps 200 feet high. It seems the USGS doesn’t have a burnproof ladder high enough nor anyone who wants to get that close with a tape measure 🙂