Solar power in action at Glen Cairn United Church.

 Following last week's installation of 44 solar panels on the roof of the Church Hall at Glen Cairn United Church, the hook-up to the electricity grid took place yesterday, February 26th. Hydro Ottawa turned off the power at the church before 8 00 am so that the hook-up could be made.

 By the end of the day there were two meters and other equipment installed. The regular meter measures how much electricity is pulled from the grid by the church. The lower meter, the new one, measures how much electricity is fed into the grid from the solar panels.

 iSolara is the company that installed to solar panels for the church. iSolara estimates it will take around six years to replenish the capital funds borrowed to pay for the installation. For the remaining fourteen years of the initial contract with Hydro Ottawa, the panels will produce a welcome revenue stream for the church. Expectations are that that revenue stream will continue for many years after that twenty year contract has ended.

The system became operational late in the afternoon on February 26th, a cloudy day. Even for the hour or so of production on that day the solar energy meter registered the first out put of 4kW. As spring and summer come closer that output will soar.

The church's solar panels are installed

A lot of progress has been made with Glen Cairn United Church's solar power project. All 44 panels are now in place. Tomorrow electricians arrive to do the prep work in the electrical room. Then, on Tuesday February 26th, an inspector from the Electrical Safety Authority examines the project before giving Ottawa Hydro permission to hook the project to the grid. By Wednesday, electrical energy should be humming.

Each of the panels is rated at 225W, with a total DC rating of 9.9kW of output. This translates into 9.5kW of AC power entering the grid. The church has a 20 year contract at a fixed rate per kW with Hydro Ottawa. We estimate it will take around 6 years to recoup the capital costs of this venture, leaving a steady income for the church for the remaining 14 years of the contract.

Solar Power in California

 We expected to see fields of solar panels such as these at the Jacuzzi Winery in the Sonoma Valley when we visited California.

 We also expected to see single family dwellings with solar panels such as these.

 What was a surprise was to see parking meters powered by mini solar panels.

 And trash bins with solar panels were an even bigger surprise.

Such trash bins use solar power to compact the trash deposited within them. Fascinating.

Making sure all the solar panels are generating power.

 Today, with temperatures expected to go above zero, I felt it was time to clean off the snow from all the solar panels. From the computer display above you can see that I can reach and keep clean the first five rows of panels from the step ladder on my deck. The far two rows of panels are not reachable even with a 16 foot snow rake. They show no power since they are covered in up to nine inches of snow and ice.

 Here are the panels that are snow and ice covered.  To get to them, my son climbs onto the roof.

 They are accessible by walking on the roof to the side of the panels.

 An hour of scraping and pushing the snow and ice accumulation results on cleared panels. Some ice patches remain that will be easily removed once the temperature goes above zero.

 A job well done.

And now all panels are registering production. Tomorrow, I expect all panels to have more or less the same output.

Another significant snow event

Today we are expecting between 10 and 15 cm of snow. However, that total appears to have been reached already. I guess I won't be firing up the BBQ today. (The BBQ is on the table on the deck outside our back door almost completely buried by new snow.) This time the snow is light and fluffy not wet and icy like last week's. My son should be able to remove it fairly easily from the solar panels to reveal the ice and snow that remains from last week's fall.

More snow falls are predicted before New Year's Day. Temperatures will remain below freezing for a while yet. We do need temperatures above freezing to try to get the ice off the solar panels.

Memories of 2012

 Visiting Disney in Orlando with Nathan and his family and Julian was the highlight pf the year.

 On the way back from Florida, we visited Roanoak, Virginia. Lots of railroad memorabilia.

 In Ottawa, our cycling group, "The wheels of fortune," toured many parts of Ottawa and the surronding countryside. This was a new sculpture on the banks of the Rideau Canal.

 One of the many basketry sales venues I visited during the year.

 A stair basket.

 One of the tools of the basketry trade: a lash buddy.

 A Victorian English shopping basket.

 One of the smallest baskets I have ever made with grapevine bark weavers.

 The solar panels in winter after being shovelled off.

And the luxuriant garden in early summer.

The joys of freezing rain.

Today is the second of three days of freezing rain. Yesterday, when we took Adrian back to his group home, the rain had already begun. We took the wise choice of routes, avoiding the 416, the thruway (motorway) and sticking to the city streets. We drove slowly and the 20 minute journey took 35 minutes. Still, it was a safe ride.

Today, Julian dropped by to see how the solar panels were doing with frozen rain and snow on them. The snow rakes just slid over the 1/2" of ice and none could be dislodged. The driveway was a solid sheet of ice too, and only small sections of slush and ice could be removed. I spread some sand over the ice so people would not fall.

Later in the day we drove to the local mall for grocery shopping. As we parked the car, Anne asked, "Is this rain or freezing rain?" My answer that it was rain was incorrect, as, when we unloaded the groceries, I saw that the car was completely covered in sheets of ice.

One bonus of the frozen ice was that as I chipped it off the car dirt and salt were also removed. The car is much cleaner, at least for the moment.

By noon the temperatures hovered around freezing so I was able to shovel the ice from the driveway. Only after several attempts was I able to remove the ice from two of the twenty-one solar panels.

More freezing rain and drizzle are on the way tonight and tomorrow. However tomorrow's high temperature is supposed to be 3C, so there is a chance we can get more panels clear.

Last week's long range forecast predicted we would have knee deep snow this week. That would have been much more easy to deal with!