Solar Project: The Wilson House

Photo Journal Contents
Date	Description	Page
July 1999	The Design	1
August 2000	The Foundation	2
October 4 2000	The Ground Floor	3
October 8 2000	In Floor Heating	4
October 16 2000	Ground Floor Done	5
November 5 2000	Walkout Basement	6
November 13 2000	Steel Framing	7
November 25 2000	Glulam Post and Beam Framing Ground Floor	8
December 2 2000	Second Floor Framing	9
December 2 2000	Ground Floor Framing	10
December 2 2000	View from Second Floor	11
December 3, 2000	The House: A Solar Collector	12
December 17, 2000	The Second Floor Goes Up	13
December 23, 2000	The Second Floor Takes Shape	14
January 7, 2001	The Kitchen Takes Shape	15
January 7, 2001	The Second Floor Ready for a Roof	16
January 17, 2000	Roofing	17
January 20, 2001	Roofing Half Done	18
January 20, 2001	Rays of Light	19
January 24, 2001	Finishing the Roof	20
January 24, 2001	Construction	21
February 3, 2001	Car Port Takes Shape	22
February 10, 2001	Inspection	23
February 10, 2001	Roof and Car Port	24
February 11, 2001	Roof Lines	25
February 22, 2001	Sky Light	26
March 3, 2001	Framed for Walls	27
March 15, 2001	Curbing for the Greenroof	28
March 24, 2001	Roof Done, Ready for Windows	29
April 5, 2001	Windows Installed	30
April 13, 2001	Straw Bale Walls Steel Reinforcement	31
April 13, 2001	Straw Bales	32
April 14, 2001	Straw Bale Happening: Like an Old Fashioned Barn Raising	33
April 21, 2001	Plastering Straw Bale Walls	34
April 21, 2001	Zinc Roofing Started	35
April 22, 2001	Completing the Zinc Siding	36
May 17, 2001	North Side Radian Floor Heating	37
May 23, 2001	Painting and Banboo Flooring	38
June 17, 2001	Moved In	39
June 17, 2001	Warm and Cozy	40
June 17, 2001	Morning in Spring	41
June 17, 2001	Solar Powered!	42
August 14, 2001	Summer	43
August 31, 2001	Exterior Finishing Touches	44
September 30, 2001	Sun Sets on Exterior Work	45
December 2, 2001	The In-Floor Radiant Heating System	46
December 2, 2001	Interior Final Touches	47
December 2, 2001	Exterior Done, Grading Completed	48
June 24, 2002	Summer 2002	49
June 28, 2002	Summer Sun, Glorious Days	50
June 28, 2002	Fall/Winter 2002	51
June 28, 2002	Photo Voltaic Solar Panels	52
January 8, 2003	Wind Turbine Installation	53
January 9, 2003	Wind Power!	54
August 30, 2003	Wind and Solar Power	55
September 20, 2003	Fall Winds Power Colourful Change	56
August 16, 2008	New Solar Panels: Summer Sun Flowers Brighten Organic Vegetable Garden	57

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Photo Voltaic Solar Panels
After several false starts we finally got the photo voltaic solar array purchased, installed and running this past December. The modules we selected are made by Siemens in the United States. The inverter system in our electrical room is designed to support both this photo voltaic (PV) solar panel system and a wind turbine that should arrive next week. The inverter converts DC current from the solar panels to AC. The electrical power generated by the solar array and future wind turbine is being pumped into the utility electrical grid. On sunny and windy days our electricity meter runs backwards.For more information on the solar power and wind turbine systems contact Solera at www.soleraenergies.com . .

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December 17, 2002 - The photo voltaic solar panels which convert sunlight into electricity can be seen just above the windows on the second floor. The modules are a dark black colour. Ten individual modules have been integrated onto the roof. These panels are just the start of what will be a several sets of these panels..

December 17, 2002 - The photo voltaic solar panels and the future wind turbine cables terminate in our electrical room. They are connected into the inverter (the white box on the wall in the middle of the picture). The white cable to the left is the future wind turbine cable from the outside of the house coming into the intervert. The switch box above the inverter connects and disconnects the inverters AC power output with the electrical grid coming in from the street. This particular configuration also requires some batteries be connected...in our case since we are grid connected it is a minimum of four batteries. The other connection form the inverter is into our electrical panel. On the bench is some software running that monitors the power input/output from the various connections..

December 17 , 2002 - Up on the roof you can see a close-up of the solar panels. This was a cold, frosty, but fortunately sunny day. It is nice to know that the output from solar panels increases the lower the operating temperature. Still we don't get too much sun in the winter. We do get lots of wind though. The wind turbine should be installed next week.

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