Clean Solar Panels

I sprayed down my solar panels on Sunday morning. My production that day was over 11% higher than previous days. A light layer of dust on the panels seems to be OK, but anything more does definitely affect production.

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Solar Panel System Turned On

I received the notice that my solar panel system was officially turned on June 13 although it was commissioned on June 11. I learned that the installers actually turned the system on when they came back to my house to wrap-up the installation. My system actually started producing on June 1, 2012. Here is a snapshot of my system's production for June:

That is pretty good considering my panels are still dirty from the installation and a summer rain storm that happened the day after they were installed. If I was disappointed with any part of the process, it was that the panels were dirty when they were installed and the installers did not clean them.

I used the Go Solar California incentive calculator to estimate the production of my solar system. That estimate was less than my guaranteed production from Sungevity and my actual production for the month of June is even higher than that. My system actually produced 134kWh more than my guaranteed production! That is enough to make me think that my system will perform better than I expected this year.

Here is the Go Solar California estimate:

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Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 5

Friday, May 25 was the final day of installation for our solar panel system from Sungevity. Brian and Andrew from Kuykendall Solar had to come inside to attach the data cable to my switch, but other than that it was all about getting my panels wired. They got the system installed on time, despite all of the delays in getting materials. It was s very painless installation.

The system was even inspected by the city today and passed. Now all we are waiting for is Southern California Edison to power up the system. I hope they can get it done in less than a month. It would be great to be producing electricity with our solar panels before the heat of summer arrives for good.

A solar lease is a great thing. You don't have to pay any money up front. You only pay once your system starts producing electricity. Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes.

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Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 4

Day four of our solar panel installation was trouble free. The guys from Kuykendall got all of the panels installed. They didn't have to go into the house at all that day. So far our Sungevity system has been installed ahead of schedule. I just hope Southern California Edison can get it powered up ahead of schedule.

Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes. You don't have to pay anything up front. You only start paying for electricity once the system starts producing.

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Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 2

Day two of our solar panel installation got off to an early start. Andrew from Kuykendall Solar showed up at 6:45. He had to do some work in the attic, so it made sense for him to start before it got too warm outside. Our shipment from Sungevity did not arrive yesterday, so it was supposed to arrive today. It turns out that it was shipped to Kuykendall's shop about two hours north of my house this afternoon.

It seems like Kuykendall is going to be behind the eight ball to get this installation done by Friday, but Brian has a good attitude. The roof doesn't look much different from yesterday since Andrew did a lot of work installign conduit in the attic.

Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes.

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Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 1

Brian and Andrew from Kuykendall Solar arrived at my house before eight this morning to begin the installation. The panels and mounting hardware were supposed to arrive today as well. The shipment ended up being delayed until tomorrow, but Brian and Andrew had enough items from previous installations that they were able to get started with cutting tiles and installing flashing on the roof. It was a hot day today, but they persevered until around four in the afternoon.

The shipment is supposed to arrive tomorrow afternoon, so Andrew will get started running conduit in my attic tomorrow morning. From there, he will move into the garage to get ready for the inverter installation. Brian said that the goal is to have my solar system installed by this Friday.

I don't know what caused the delay in materials being delivered, but Brian and Andrew are going to have to work hard to get my system installed in about three days. Here is what my roof looks like this evening.

Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes.

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Solar Permit Approved

I received an email yesterday from my Sungevity project manager Ian that my permit has been approved and the installation could start as early as Monday. Today he confirmed that the installation will start on Monday, exactly three weeks from the time the permit was submitted to my city. That is fast, considering Sungevity estimated that it would take 4-6 weeks for approval.

I am really getting excited now!

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Plans Submitted for Permits

I was travelling April 13-19. It was just a business trip to Texas, North Carolina and Georgia.

I received an email from my Sungevity Project Manager, Ian, while on April 16. He let me know that the design review of my project was complete and that he would contact me to review the project in the next few days. I let him know I was travelling and asked him to call me the following week.

We finally spoke on April 26. Ian was responsible for most of the delay, but I was not even thinking about it or I would have called or sent him and email. We reviewed the plans and every piece of the system, which took maybe ten minutes at the most. My next communication from Ian was that my plans were complete and ready to be submitted for permits. I received that email on April 27. He let me know that in my town, permits can take four to five weeks. My installer, Kuykendall Solar, was supposed to submit my plans on April 30.

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Sungevity Welcome

I requested my free iQuote on Wednesday, March 31. A Sungevity solar associate, David, sent me an email that same afternoon. I needed to provide my last 12 months of kWh usage from SCE. He also asked me what some of the reasons I was thinking about going solar were. I told him I wanted to save money, save the planet and increase my home value. He set up a call with a Sungevity solar consultant, Brian, for the next day.

Throughout the process of evaluating solar providers, Brian was very responsive and did not put any pressure on me. He answered all of my questions and put up with my continual analysis. He was great to work with. I told Brian that I decided to move forward with Sungevity on Friday, March 30. I asked him if he knew I was going to make that decision from the beginning. He told me that he had a good idea because of the amount of analysis I was doing. Brian said it would take four to six weeks for the panels to be installed and powered on, but that it would depend on me and how fast I get done what they need me to do.

Brian sent my performance guarantee and lease agreement to me via email while we were on the phone. I reviewed the documents and esigned them very late that night or early the next morning. We had some friends over that night, so I didn't finish reviewing and signing the documents until they were gone.

My Sungevity project manager sent me an email on Monday, April 2. It outlined the next steps in the process. I needed to schedule a two-hour home visit, let me know that there was a FedEx package heading my way with documents that I needed to review and sign and that I needed to review the Sungevity Installation Overview that he attached to the email. Ian was very helpful answering any questions that I had. It turned out that they scheduled the home visit with a different installer than I had initially been told would be working on my project. This surprised me a bit because I had called the previous installers references and even visited an installation. Ian said I could choose between the installers, but if I chose the original installer I would be working with a different project manager. I chose to move forward with the new installer and asked for references and photos.

Ian set up an appointment for the home visit with Brian Kuykendall fron Kuykendall solar on Friday, April 6. He also sent me some installation photos, the link to Brian's website and some references the following day. I sent some emails to the references and they all raved about Brian. I asked Ian to have Brian bring some more installation photos with him to the meeting.

I received the FedEx package on Wednesday, April 4 and reviewed and signed all of the documents that evening. I had to complete an SCE Home Energy and Water Efficiency Survey which took about 10 minutes to complete. I also had to provide a voided check for the automatic payments. I dropped off the FedEx package the next day.

The home visit was much shorter and easier than I thought. I didn't know what would happen, but Brian showed me some photos and then started measuring. The installations looked great, so I felt very comfortable with Brian doing the installation. We talked about the inverter placement, where conduit would be run and where the disconnect would be placed. We decided to put the inverter in my garage so there would only be a small disconnect panel added to the outside of my house. All of the conduit will be run through my attic. I was very satisfied with this decision. Brian was done with all of his measurements and on the road after a little over an hour.

At this point I should be a week ahead of schedule in the process because they normally plan for a two week window for the home visit. Hopefully I can stay ahead of schedule and have the panels installed in less than 4 months.

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Every Child Has a Light

Sungevity's goal is to provide 5,000 solar light kits. I did my part and ordered my Sungevity solar system. Read more about this program and then get your free iQuote.

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Not Feeling Creative

I am in a major creative funk. I actually took a trip to Puerto Rico last week and did not even take my camera. I was only there for three days, but even as recently as last year I would have never gone without my camera.

In addition, it has been way too long since I wrote a blog post. I just have not had much to say that I think other people want to hear about. I have been so busy with soccer that I have not felt like blogging at all.

I am hoping that I can come out of my funk for the holidays as it is a great time to take photos. I love taking pictures of holiday lights and the winter landscape.

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Floating On

I have hit rock bottom creatively and intellectually. I just feel like I have lost a few steps. I feel overwhelmed. I feel uninterested.

At work I have realized that I would rather talk about problems than solve them. I have lost interest in most of what goes on. At home I have started running again in the morning and I feel great most days.

When I get home from work I usually cannot stop eating and I don't know why. I am at a weird point in my life and I don't know why or how to fix it. Maybe something is missing from my life. Maybe it is just the summer heat and the start of school. Maybe it is just the disappointment that I can't do what I want financially. Maybe...

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Thinking of Change

My eyes have been opened to the problems within my company the last two months. I have been getting more involved in all aspects of the company and I do not like what I am seeing. I feel like I am overwhelmed by the number of changes that need to be made. I feel like I am powerless to make some of the changes and am encountering resistance with most of my recommendations. People fear change!

I keep debating how much I want to talk about with the owner of my company and how much I want to volunteer to take on myself. My work is suffering because of the number of items I am trying to juggle. I can't do this alone.

On a much better note, the family and I had a great time in Seattle over the Fourth of July. It was my third trip to the city and The Queen's second trip there. We were able to see a lot of the city and surrounding area. The only think on my list that we did not get to check off was a visit to the Hoh Rain Forrest. I really wanted to go, but it was just too far for this trip. Maybe on our next trip we can make a plan to visit for a few days.

Seattle made me realize again what is missing in the Central Valley. Other than the fact that I hate the heat here, there is no sense of community. I often wonder why my cities downtown does not have the things that other cities and towns I visit have. Don't get me wrong, our downtown is great and has a lot to offer. It is just missing things that would attract more people to the area.

The entire valley is way too conservative for my tastes. Everyone is afraid to do something quirky because of the people they might alienate. The great thing about a bigger city is that it doesn't matter if you turn some people off because there are enough people that will like what you are doing to support you.

I really loved the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. They have the famous troll under the Aurora Bridge, but they have a lot more to offer as well. There is a full sized rocket mounted on a building, a chocolate factory, a statue of Lenin and some dinosaur topiaries by the channel. It also has offices for Adobe, Getty Images and some other large offices. They claim they are the center of the universe and even have walking tour maps and funny signs posted around the area. They have created a community and I love it.

The Queen and I talked to our good friends about this and they agreed with us. They have not been to Seattle, but agreed that big cities have much more to offer. They even told us that they have contemplated moving to Portland, but that we were holding them back. They do not want to leave us. That made us feel good, but also got me thinking about a move to Portland as well. I have visited Portland once many years ago, but that was before it stated embracing technology and green industries. The city has changed for the better and I can't wait to visit again.

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Selfish Government

Candidates are now declaring their intentions to run for president in 2012. Millions and most likely billions of dollars are spent on elections every four years. It has made me think about the amount of money spent on elections in this country and what that money could be spent on.

I think we have to ask ourselves what makes more sense? We have found out this year that governments can be toppled by Twitter and Facebook. These social media websites are free to use, so why do candidates for the office of president of the most powerful nation in the world not grasp this technology and spend their campaign funds on something that will definately make our country a better place to live?

Many of these politicians who have announced their candidacy have fought against President Obama's healthcare plan and our budget and taxes. Everyone knows that our healthcare system needs reform. Everyone knows that the government has the potential to employ people that will shape the future of our country. We need good, quality teachers to teach our children so they can grow up to be leaders of the world. Budget cuts affect our ability to hire these qualified teachers, forcing our children into overcrowded classrooms that make it difficult to learn.

Our politicians need to stop being selfish. Our politicians need to embrace the technology that is changing the world. For as much as we consider our country the most wealthy, powerful nation in the world, we are still selfish and slow to change. We believe that nobody can tell us what to do. We do things the way they should be done. We cannot look at something that is successful in a third world country and make use of it here. We are better than that. I am tired of this type of thinking and call on our leaders to truly embrace change. I am asking them to stop spending money selfishly and start thinking about the greater good.

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Looking Back, Looking Ahead

My fortieth year was a great one. I am very happy with my life at this point. I am not done growing, but I am satisfied with my progress.

As I begin my forty-first year, I need to contemplate my goals. I know I want to simplify my life. I want to remove the clutter from all aspects of my life. I read a blog post in which the author was attempting to limit his personal property to one hundred items. I thing that would be a difficult goal for me to achieve, but it is something to think about.

Another selfish goal is to travel to Europe next summer. I don't know if it will happen for sure, but it is my goal. And I feel like The Queen and I deserve it.

I also have a goal of dropping ten pounds before my brother gets married in September. I not only want to lose the ten pounds, but I want to get in much better shape. This is an attainable goal and is my top priority at this point. I have been getting healthier the last few years, so this is just the ultimate goal.

In my professional life I want to take more control of other aspects of my company. Up until about a month ago I was satisfied to sit back and let the other managers run their departments. I really got tied of watching them make mistakes over and over and began to work myself into our production and standards meetings. This is where I really feel like I can make a difference in the company and make people be responsible for their own work. I am tired of the excuses and can no longer sit back and allow the company to deteriorate.

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Is The Earth Still Flat?

If you remember your history, the Catholic church used to finance and thus control most scientific studies. Most of the advancements were actually made by members of the church. Because they financed these scientific studies, they edited the findings to support their view either literally or with threats.

I think most of us today have forgotten this lesson from history. Wealthy organizations controlling what we hear. Remember, the church believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. The church also believed that the Earth was flat.

A lot of money has been spent the last decade arguing with scientific findings from around the world. Global warming is a fact and it has been brought
on by man. Since the industrial revolution we have been polluting our planet without worrying about the consequences. It has now caught up with us!

I think most people have a problem understanding the term global warming. Especially when the weather may not be warmer today. For this reason, I prefer the term global climate change. All of the rain, flooding and tornados are proof that our weather patterns are changing. Just this week there was a tornado in Massachusetts and that is not common at all.

We need to open our eyes and stop believing all of the rhetoric being spread by wealthy corporations and the politicians and political groups they control. We need to make decisions for ourselves and our children and grandchildren. It is our responsibility and we cannot afford to make the minor changes that will solve this problem we currently face.


- Posted from my iPhone

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No Excuses

My company has been behind schedule in engineering and production for several years now. Up until recently, we have been able to pull together for the really important projects and complete them close to on time. Things have gotten much worse for about the last six months and I have lost all faith that we can even complete one project on schedule.

Things really came to a boiling point recently when one of our regional sales managers called me out of frustration. He said that he was told one date one day and the very next day he was told that project would be a month late. He was confused as to what changed in that twenty-four hour period. I had to admit that I did not know. I asked around and nobody had a good answer so we decided to have an emergency meeting of department managers to figure out what could be done from this point forward.

I put together a list of fourteen items that I thought should be done to fix the mess. When I handed out the list in the meeting, everyone there was surprised that I had gone through that much trouble. They acted like they were shocked that anyone would put that much time into fixing the problem.

There was a lively discussion in the meeting and the excuses started to fly from everyone. I had to speak up a few times and refocus everyone back on our customers. I explained that there is no good excuse to our customers and the first thing we need to do is stop accepting excuses. Everyone agreed, but the excuses kept flying.

We had a follow-up meeting a few days later and nothing was solved. There were more excuses and not solutions. That meeting wrapped up with them inviting me to their weekly production meetings. I told them that I did not know if I could handle sitting through them if they were like these last two meetings. They asked me to attend again and I agreed.

I have heard rumors about how bad the production meetings are for several years. I attended my first production meeting yesterday and I was not dissappointed. There was excuse after excuse given by everyone in attendance. Nobody wanted to commit to any dates and there were no solutions given to any problem. Everything was done verbally because our production schedule does not track enough items. It was difficult to follow and I asked if the production schedule could be expanded to include more items. I was told that there is another schedule that tracks those items. Someone even volunteered to show me where it was.

I have to admit that my company is in worse shape than I believed it to be. I feel like this is partially my fault for not getting involved earlier. While I have nothing to do with production at all, I am a vital member of the company and one of the leaders of the management team. I can't let things continue down the path we are currently on our the company may not exist in a few years.

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Our Choice

I downloaded the app "Our Choice" by Al Gore. It is a book that includes full sized photos, interactive charts and videos. I guess then it is more than a book, but you can get a printed version of it.

I absolutely love the idea of this interactive book. I think this is a good example of what all books should be. It is perfect for reading on the iPad.

I started reading it before I even finished "The Art of Non-Conformity." I just could not wait to start it after I downloaded it. I really enjoyed watching "An Inconvenient Truth" so I was excited to read this book. So far I have not been disappointed. I have learned a great deal about what we are doing to the planet and why our weather patterns have started to change so drastically.

We need to stop denying the science and blaming other people and just take responsibility for our actions. The West can be a good example for the rest of the world and we can even satisfy our capitalist needs by creating better alternatives to our current energy sources and industrial practices. The developing world would have no other choice but to follow us or be left behind...again.

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Perfect Day

I finished reading The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau. I really liked this book, but I don't know how practical it is for me. I would love to sell all my stuff and just take off to someplace in the world where I could volunteer and help people. I would love to not have to work a "normal" work day. The problem is that I have bills to pay and people to support.

After I finished the book I started thinking about what my perfect day would be. I think it would be great to start my day at eight o'clock in the morning. Wake up and drop Meg off at school. Come home and do some sort of exercise. I would prefer if I lived in the mountains on a lake. It would be great to take a kayak out on the lake every morning. A good jog or hike would also be spectacular in the morning.

After returning home and taking a shower it would then be time to get to work with whatever I would be doing. This is the part that gets a little fuzzy for me. I don't know what I am passionate about. I know that I want to do something that I love so work does not feel like work. I have thought about becoming a professional photographer, but I don't know if that is my passion. I really enjoy it when I am doing it, but I go weeks without picking up my camera. I also don't particluarly enjoy photographing people, but maybe that is because I am not good at posing people.

I would then pick Meg up from school and help her with her homework. At that point I would either do some more work or other projects that I like to do. I would exercise again in the evening after an early dinner and go to bed about midnight.

I know I have a lot of holes to fill in this perfect day, but it is a start.

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Who is to Blame?

We all know that the economy has not fully recovered. Most of us know that the real estate market was out of control leading to the problems we are now dealing with. But who is to blame?

I think we are all to blame. The banks and brokers are the people who are most to blame, but home buyers deserve some of the blame as well. The Queen and I recognized that the market was out of control. We believed that home prices were artificially high and that the market could not support the prices for very long. Now, we all know that is what happened.

I now know several people who have either lost their homes or are going to lose their homes. Out of all of them, I only know of one of them that have lost their home because of a job loss. All of the others have just decided that they do not want to pay for their home any longer. They feel like if other people are able to walk away from their homes that they should be able to as well.

I guess I am old fashioned, but I believe that I signed the home loan documents so I should be responsible for paying the load back. My home is not worth what I owe at this point, but I am not in very bad shape. It is really close because we waited until we thought the market had adjusted properly. We miscalculated a bit, but I can live with it.

The problem with our society is that nobody wants to accept responsibility for themselves. There is always someone else to blame. We just need to accept our choices and take responsibility for our actions. Why are you bad America?

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