Diary of a solar panel installation – Day 3

By the end of Day 3, we have 33 panels installed! I now have to find out about next steps to get the house in Production mode.

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It’s Autumn

Wow, it’s Autumn again. This year went by so fast.

Josh needed to sell more popcorn this weekend, so we took a walk and tried a few houses on Saturday. I’m never big on the cool weather, but you can’t beat the beauty of all the fall foliage here in the Northeast. Pictures from our walk around the neighborhood.

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Photos from my niece Abby’s 5th birthday party

Last Sunday, we drove down south for my niece Abby’s 5th birthday party. My sister Julie and BIL Robbie had a magic-theme this year. I somehow ended up being the event photographer, which was fine.

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Diary of a solar panel installation – Day 2

Day 2 of the solar panel install. I had hoped that the solar panel installation would be completed by today. When I came home, I saw that while they finished most of the electrical work, including installing the inverter in the garage. The installers also told Namita that they will need a third day. Oh well.  I did hear from my wife that a different supervisor showed up on today, and tried to convince her as well to move it outside. Yeah, no dice, buddy.

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Working on the mudroom and other home improvements

As I was home for the 1st day of the solar panel installation, I figured I could get some stuff done around the house. Besides general cleaning up (laundry, vacuuming), I took care of some necessary home improvements. We are always charging devices upstairs next to our bed, so I purchased another Legrand outlet a few weeks ago. Yes, this was the exact same Legrand outlet as the one in the kitchen. It’s been good — you free up outlets and you can charge two devices without needing a power adapter.

I cut the power, finished installing this outlet, and asked myself why I hadn’t thought of installing one for my side of the bed at the same time. I should have bought two this time around. Doh!

Next, I tackled the mudroom…. again. No, it’s not quite done yet. We were still missing the hooks. It’s been delayed because I once installed wall hooks that didn’t hold up well in the old townhouse. I didn’t want to take a chance on that happening again. After some research, I recently purchased very secure wall anchors that should support up to 50 lbs each. I took exact measurements, mapped everything out, and installed all four hooks, two anchors a piece. Each hook will support 100 lbs. Those suckers ain’t going anywhere.

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Diary of a solar panel installation – Day 1

The big day arrived – Day 1 of our solar panel installation. Originally promised to us as one day job, it is now stretching into a three day job. Oh well, I’d rather they do it right, no matter how long it takes. I would be there for the 1st day, and Namita has been (and will be) there to supervise for Days 2 and 3.

The installers came knocking around 9 am Thursday morning, and I showed him where the electrical panel in the basement, and the attic to see whatever he wanted to see. When the supervisor arrived, he and I had to discuss where to install the inverter. This is a key component that converts the DC current from the solar panels into AC current as it enters the electrical grid. Normally, it would be installed outside or in a garage, utility room, or near the home’s electrical panel. It wouldn’t work in our basement near the electrical panel, due to size, and we didn’t want it just hanging there near the home theater, humming. Weeks ago, I contacted Trinity to have them assure me that we could agree on a reasonable alternative, like the garage.

if it’s going to be installed outside, you don’t want it in direct sunlight. The problem is that if it’s in a hot, dusty, or poorly ventilated environment, it won’t run efficiently. If that happens, your overall system won’t be efficient either. When you’re talking about a system that costs more than $30,000, let’s get it as efficient as possible.

When the supervisor came, he tried to sell me on having it outside. It’s easier and quicker for them, but more inefficient for us. I asked if we could shade it somehow, and he said no. I asked if they could install in the garage. They said yes, begrudgingly. I said unless you have an alternative, then please install it in the garage on Friday. Here are the pictures from Day 1. They spent most of the day installing the brackets and mounts on the roof.

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Marianna’s surprise 75th birthday party

Last Saturday, October 10th, we drove up to north Jersey for a surprise birthday party. Nums has a high school friend named Barbara, and her mother Marianna (also known as “Bapcia”) was turning 75 years old. I met Bapcia 15 years ago when Nums and I started dating. A wonderful, strong woman who raised three daughters. The party was held at Il Villaggio, a very nice banquet hall on Rt 17 in Carlstadt. We left late and didn’t think we would make it time before the guest of honor showed up — it would be better to wait it out than ruin the surprise. Luckily, the time dilation device that I keep in my car to bail me out when I need to get somewhere was working as usual. We got there in time, and before Bapcia arrived.

It was a very nice set up with lots of food, dancing, and Bapcia’s large extended family. I think the party broke up around 10 pm, and we got home before midnight.

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Sometimes I feel like I’m surrounded by cats

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We made Moroccan chicken for dinner, and it was damn good, people!

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Delicious homemade Moroccan chicken. The Ipes did it again.

A few weeks ago, we made Moroccan chicken with roasted potatoes and side salad. Namita used some fancy dry rub, I grilled the chicken, and everything came out wonderfully. I forgot to mention it, but I saw the photo today on my phone.

Oh, nothing really more important to say. I still consider myself new to grilling, and while I’m nowhere as adept as my brother in law Robbie, I’m proud each and every time that I don’t destroy a meal on the grill. It only happened once this year when I didn’t notice a flare-up until it was too late. Otherwise, it’s been a year of smooth sailing. Err, grilling.

Side note: I love our Weber Genesis grill.

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So now we’re doing this thing where we order our food 6 months in advance….

Namita recently heard about these companies out in Pennsylvania or wherever that will provide you with a commercial freezer, and 6 months of meats and other foods at a time. It’s all organic, individually packaged, and the salesman is coming next Tuesday……

All of the husbands out there — you know I’m asking, “Wait, what’s happening?” I laugh, but Namita must often wonder what I’m talking about at times as well. Of course, I’m usually asking for approval, and she’s usually telling me what will be happening. 😉

So there I am a week later, and some sales guy named Rod or Rob (or whatever his name was) from Five Star Home Foods is trying to sell us on this program. You select the types of foods you want, be it chicken filets, steaks, hamburgers, etc. They deliver a large commercial freezer, and six month supply of food. It’s all flash frozen and individually wrapped.

We signed up but they allow you to cancel if you don’t like the free trial pack of food they give you. We tried their steak burgers and pork chops. They were… fine. They’re smaller than you would buy in the store, but my wife says it’s because they’re all organic.

Alright, I’m in. I’m not a big advocate for organic food. I’m not against it by any means, but I’m not going out of my way to buy organic. I’ll do cage-free eggs and conflict-free Nathans hot dogs all the time.

So here we are. We have this massive commercial freezer in our garage stocked with food. It’s been a few weeks now, and no worries. I’m still lazy and I like eating out, but it’s nice to know there are supplies in the house. Last night, I grilled pork chops and chicken breasts. Small portions, but you have so many, you know? And they were fine.

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