Working on the Solar Array - Cutting and Drilling Aluminum

The solar array will consist of 15 panels in five strings. Two strings
are shown in this design extract from the 3D model.

The total array will be about 26’ x 10’ or 8.5m x 3m and 
produce a maximum of 4 kW of power in full sun.

A carefully worked out cutting plan resulted in minimum waste.

Using the industrial-strength saw in Karl Hamson's workshop.
A great help.

A total of 125 pieces had to be cut.

Great to be able to work at an industrial-strength drill press
to drill hundreds of holes.

Ready for drilling.

Drilled, and ready for transport.

These angles will be used to tie the structure together.
The plan is that the whole structure will be bolted together
like a giant Meccano Set - if I cut all the pieces to the right length
and drilled all the holes in the right place.

Winter Has Arrived

Winter has definitely arrived.

White on white.

View from the kitchen window - 1

View from the kitchen window - 2

Behind the house - the Inukshuk

Behind the house - the Arbutus tree

Behind the house.
Fortunately we don't have to use this little house any more!

Looking down our steep driveway to the old cabin.
We don't risk driving down in these conditions.

This Anna's Hummingbird tanks up on energy to keep warm.
When the light strikes the throat feathers at just the right angle
the iridescent colours come alive.

The same bird.

White on white

Judy going out. Walking down to the road to be picked up.

Walk through the winter forest.

The tracks highlight the driveway through the forest.

Quite a snow cover weighing down the branches.

Cedars in the winter forest.

This sign is at the beginning of the steep part of the driveway.

Winter is Coming

On November 14 we experienced the Supermoon. This happens
when the moon is closer to earth in its orbit than usual, and the
moon is especially bright and large as seen from earth. This
and the next pictures were taken at 1:30 in the morning.

Supermoon

In late November the Inverter failed during the night
and we lost Power to the house. Because we are off-grid,
the inverter, together with the battery bank, is our power supply.
Without the inverter we could feed power into the house
directly from the generator, which we did for a couple
of hours every morning and evening. No power for the rest
of the day. Somewhat tedious.

This is part of the inverter, the electronics that control everything.

Taking the inverter apart. The culprit was the
power unit, the clear metal box in the cabinet.
We finally received a replacement power unit
2.5 weeks after the failure. Installed it and
it is running again.

Evening by candle light.

Judy sings in the Pender Island Choir. This picture is from one
of the evenings of the Choir's public Christmas Concerts.
In addition to the choir, there were also performances of the
Youth Choir, the Youth Orchestra, and a superb Youth Violin Group.

The first snow of the season. More is coming tomorrow.
BC is in the grip of an arctic outflow. We are glad to have
a good wood burning stove to keep us warm.

The driveway can get icy in the winter. Fortunately this happens
seldom. To be safe, we decided to park the car down in the forest
below the steep part of the driveway.

Conditional Residency Permit Received - We Are Moving In

Building a temporary kitchen in order to receive the conditional
residency permit.

A simple kitchen counter - later to be used in Judy's garden shed.

A simple shelf unit.

It is slowly beginning to feel like the inside of a house.
Still many things to be completed.

Judy loves her new Italian pro stove, a Bertazzoni.

Also installed the extraction vent over the stove.

All the kitchen appliances are in place.
Bertazzoni gas stove, Liebherr fridge, Bosch dish washer.
The finishing will come later.

Even the window bench is beginning to take shape.
Just need to add wood trim and a mattress.

Guard Rail for the Veranda

The glass guard rail has been installed at the veranda.

The north west corner of the veranda.

The west side.

Another view of the north west corner.

View through the double door from the living room.

Electrical Supply - Batteries, Inverter, and Generator

Batteries are wired to a combiner box, using the same cabling
system as is used for solar arrays. Each battery stack is 48V and
has a maximum charge or discharge current of 17A.
They are connected in parallel in the combiner box. The two heavier
cables coming in from the right lead to the inverter on the other
side of the wall.

Five stacks of Aquion saltwater batteries. Each stack is 48V and
holds about 2.2 - 2.6 kWh of energy. This is a new battery technology
that uses no toxic materials and can be discharged 100% and recharged
for 3000+ cycles without taking any damage. Each stack weighs 118kg or 260lbs.
More details about these batteries at: aquionenergy.com

The combiner box. There is one circuit breaker for each stack.

The trusted Honda 6.5kW generator delivering the power.

This is the display screen of the Mate3, the system display
and programming interface. It now shows the battery bank at 56.9V
and 3.8kW going into the battery bank during the early stages
of charging up the batteries for the first time with the generator.
Later, the solar panels will perform this job, but they have not
yet been installed.
In the future this information will be available via the internet.

This is the inverter/charger on the other side of the wall.
The system display and programming panel is hanging
on the wall. I can take it on to my lap for easier use.
More information about this Outback Radian 4048A unit at:
www.outbackpower.com

Urs busy programming and monitoring the system
while the batteries are being charged.

A closer look at the wiring of the inverter/charger.
This is where all the external hook-ups come together.
Hurray - it is alive now.