South Sound Solar

I just decided to take the plunge after learning about the incentives, the payback time and seeing favorable reviews for South Sound Solar (SSS).

Salesperson/estimator Bruce Hargrave assessed the roof and produced an estimate days.  He evaluated my electrical panel for code compliance.  SSS installed on another house in Aberdeen last fall on Jeffries Street, three houses south of 6th Street.

Washington law says the Public Utility District will pay me 54 cents per kilowatt hour for what the thirty six 275 watt Washington manufactured panels produce through 2020.  Payback time will be about 6 years.  Normally, customers pay ~12.2 cents per kWh for the first 360 kWh and 8.5 cents per kWh after that.

Installers:  Jesse and Sean.  Jesse married one of Dr. Craig Teveliet's daughters and lives in Aberdeen, 3-4 houses from me.  They don't work on Fridays, which makes for a decent lifestyle for their employees.  Sean seems extremely capable.  Job benefits?  Not known.

Installation process: quick, on-time and courteous.  Work looked clean.  Post-install cleanup?  No nails or screws littering the work site.

Flat roof installation.  Both came inside the house to note the location of junction boxes for light fixtures to avoid installation damage.  Both had shoe covers for use in the house.

The permitting process produced the only hitch.  The city of Aberdeen placed their final inspection sticker without informing SSS.  I came home from a 10 day trip to find the system not turned on.  I probably missed out on >200 kWh of production during those sunny days.  The system produced 85 kWh in 3.5 days (one very overcast day). During that period, I used 78 kWh.

Water timer on Turtle Creek Circle

First things first.  After turning the dial two notches to the left, the clock may take a few moments before it displays the percentage of water it will deliver.  I have it currently set at 70% (February) with three watering times daily.  Only one station waters almost all of the back yard, with a duration of ten minutes.

Figure 1.  Timer in operation mode

 In June July and August, if the plants look a bit dry, I suggest increasing the % of water delivered adjusting as seen in Fig 2.

Figure 2. Timer in seasonal water adjustment mode. with thumb on the increase button.

Turtlehead Peak

Red Rock Canyon Nat'l Recreation Area
February 19, 2015.  65 degrees at 11 a.m.  A challenging 2000' climb up a warm sun soaked ravine, amid century agave, yuccas, mormon tea, sage, cacti, daisies and dozens of other nameless plants.  We're not in Kansas, Toto.

Streaked azure over Turtle Head Peak

A bunch of Rocks

More Rocks

On top of Turtle Head looking north. -ish

Wow?  Wow.

Victory!

This old bike

Coastal cutthroat

Again, our favorite fishing hole, Feb 4, 2015.  Water levels middling, clarity good to maybe 3.5', color green without mud/dirt.

A 12" coastal cutthroat took the hook but didn't show much interest in fighting for its freedom, as it must have read the fishing guide (catch and release).  The small #2 hook seemed big for this sleek fish.  Once unhooked, it grinned and swiftly jetted off.  Nice not to get skunked and to know that beginner's luck can return.