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.

Garden of Eden

A bumper crop of  Mirabelle Plums. Very tasty and sweet.

Must have done a good job with pruning this spring.
Also thinned out the fruit by about 1/3 in early summer.
There were just too many to be good for the tree.

Picked just the ripest ones so far, about 1/3 of what was on the tree.

Delicious. Judy will start to process tomorrow.

Italian Prune Plums almost ripe now.

Judy in the Garden of Eden.

Looks like a lot of TLC.

The flower of a Squash.

A Squash

Assorted salad greens

Even a Sunflower

The results of a hard day's work in the kitchen on the boat.
Judy processed a load of Mirabelle Plums.
Two Jars of plums in 100-proof vodka to make plum brandy.
Layers of half plumbs in the dryer.
Several jars of pickled cauliflower and other vegetables.
Finally, also a pile of fresh Swiss Chocolate Macaroons.

As shown on facebook. Everybody is looking
forward to helping us taste the plum brandy,
and pickles

Interior Wall Finishing

Danny painting the primer coat in the kitchen.

Mission accomplished. we finished the primer coat and one
coat of final paint. In the bedroom.

In the living room

In the kitchen.

In the living room.

In the bedroom.

The kitchen ceiling.

In the kitchen.

Celebrating Swiss National Holiday - August 1

All decked out with Swiss flags. Judy on the sun deck.

Flowers and flags on the sundeck.

Judy picking flowers.

View from the moss garden in the glow of late afternoon light.

This Pacific Tree Frog likes to hang out at the padlock, or
the lockbox at the shipping container that serves as the
generator house.

It probably likes the cool steel structure.

It can climb the walls of the steel structure with its suction cup toes.

Not very shy.

It is only about an inch or 2.5cm long.

Off-Grid Solar Equipment

Received a shipment of solar power equipent, including a
palette with 15 270W solar panels, a palette with a whole
bunch of batteries, and another palette with all the electronics.

Five stacks of Aquion batteries. Each stack weighs 250 pounds
or 118 kilos.

Boxes of electronics, including the inverter
and solar charge controller.

The battery stacks were transported up to the house and placed
in the battery room with the help of Paul, Shane, and Jordan, as well
as our trusted VW Van.

The battery bank in the battery room.
Each stack is 48 V and has a capacity of 2.2 kWh

The GSLC, the box where all the wiring hook-ups
to the outside world are made (solar array, battery bank,
generator input, grid input (if used)).

A diagram showing the wiring.

This is the display unit for monitoring and programming the system,
and connecting to the internet for remote monitoring.

The fully assembled inverter (Outback Radian) and
charge controller. (Outback Flexmax)