Posts under ‘Environment’

First, the bad news: SolarCity evaluated our house and determined that our big cottonwood tree casts too much shade onto the roof, so we are not good candidates for solar panels right now. I hope that over the next few years, solar technology will advance, becoming more efficient and less expensive. Smaller, better panels might [...]

Thanks to my awesome mother-in-law who sent the article, I just learned of a fantastic program that could allow you to lease a 4KW solar power system for your home for only $35/month. If you know anything about solar power, you already know what a great deal that is. I’ve looked into adding solar panels [...]

UPDATE: When I woke up around 1:00pm on Thursday, the system was working. Even though the outside temp was about 60-65, the roof temp was about 120, hot enough to activate the pump when needed. I’m guessing it ran for 2-3 hours total on Thursday when the sun was highest overhead. We’ll definitely see more [...]

UPDATE: Oncor has approved their partial funding of our project, and we have scheduled installation for March 3. ==================================== About a month ago I wrote about solar water heating, which using the sun’s energy to heat water for showers, laundry, and other household needs. Due to overly conservative tax withholding last year, we are getting [...]