Last year, Jack and I started talking about the idea of getting solar panels installed. We liked the idea of using less electricity from the local power company, ’cause really, does anyone like paying for utilities? Especially when we could be getting them for free from the sun? I don’t think so. We started doing a little digging and talked with a friend who installed them on his own home. After a few months of arranging the financing and figuring out the arrangements, we got to work installing them.
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| Jack figuring out how we’re going to fix our little problem. |
As with any construction project, there are always hiccups in the process. While the guys were busy attaching the rails that the solar panels attached to on the roof, they didn’t realize they were drilling all the way through our roof. Turns out, we thought we had at least a little bit of insulation over our kitchen and front entry room. Turns out we don’t. Uh, that’s a problem…
It took a couple of days to get everything securely attached, but once they were it meant we had to A). insulate the room and B). cover up the wood used to anchor the solar panel rails. After some thinking, Jack figured out a way to put up a couple of layers of insulation to keep the house more moderate and to hide the wood braces.
It required a few extra hands to get it done, but we always have a few extra hands willing to help, especially if they get to use a ladder while doing it.
Zoey stayed on top of cleaning up the insulation bits while the guys finished putting everything up on the roof. The day they had to hook it into the power grid was a long one…an entire eight hours without power in the middle of winter with kids at home was…tedious to say the least. But, we survived, the solar panels were hooked up…
…and then we got the first snow of the season. 😅 It was ironic timing to say the least since solar panels don’t really work without, you know, the sun. It melted off soon enough and we were able to start tracking what the solar panels were producing. Now we just need long days and more sunshine to make more power. Let there be light!
