We moved forward on several fronts today … nothing completed but solid progress.

Submitting a Draft Document to the City of Monte Sereno

The first task of the day was to drop off our documentation to the City of Monte Sereno.  Bryan handed two copies to Howard Bell, the Building Official, who stamped them as ‘Received’ and said he would review the documnet.  Howard will be in a class all day tomorrow so Bryan will follow up directly with Brian Loventhal (as one copy was for Brian).

The deadline of September 29 is looming …

Picking Up Our Pink CAT5

While we don’t need to use pink CAT5 for our C-Bus network, we thought it would be a nice touch to follow the Australian code for lighting controls.  In Australia, pink CAT5 is mandated by the building code.

Bryan picked up 2,000 feet of pink CAT5, which had been ordered through ADI in Santa Clara.  Armed with the pink CAT5 and the ferrules that arrived on September 23, we have all the materials to rough in the lighting control system.  OK, we still need the final lighting design …

Working on the Lighting Design

Bryan is still working on the documentation of the lights in the house.  After the design session with Randall Whitehead last week in San Francisco, Bryan documented most of the decisions.  He needs to finish it off and get the list of lights out to the suppliers.

When going through the Artemide showroom on August 30, 2011, we discovered the Artemide’s Mouette lights, which look like airplane wings or birds in flight.  We couldn’t think where they could ‘fit’ in our home.  On the weekend, when going to the Artemide catalog again, we started to visualize how there could be a series of three individual lights that would like like they were emerging from the lower level (basement) and exiting through the clerestory windows in the atrium.

Bryan gave Scott Andersen and Sue Therrien, who are visiting us on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the address of the Artemide showroom in San Francisco so they can see the lights and then help with the design.

Time to focus on this one …

Priming the FSC Siding

Al started priming the FSC siding yesterday and then Al, Dan and Nep were cutting and installing it.  Al decided it would be more efficient if he and Nep primed all of the siding.  Then, they ccould all work together on getting the siding installed.  Especially since another box of Cor-A-Vent should be delivered tomorrow.

Dan got another couple sheets of siding up today.  These were some of the most difficult sheets of siding as they require holes for the electric receptacles and the air vents.

Lots to do tomorrow.

Especially since Scott and Sue arrive on Friday!

Photo from the Artemide catalog showing the Mouette lights in the San Francisco Airport (SFO). These lamps are very cool ...

Another photo from the Artemide catague showing the asymetric Mouette lamps. Note the glass bridge in this photo.

Our pink CAT% matches the smaller loop of pink CAT5, which was included in our light switches. We can now start wiring the switches together.

Bryan picked up another 5 gallon pail of tinted primer as the FSC siding is soaking up the primer!

Al primes another sheet of FSC siding ...

We're using all stainless steel nails on the exterior so we don't run the risk of seeing nay corrosion caused by nails.

The primed, back and front, FSC siding installed on the West side of the house.

The West wall is looking great after the inital pieces of siding have been installed.

We can stroke this one off the list – the ladder inside the vertical culvert is done.  Bryan was at the bottom of the vertical culvert on December 8, 2010.  It feels good to get this element of the project completed.  Finally.

As well, we finished off the solar installation and now we need to get connected to the grid.

Excellent progress …

The ladder and safety post are now mounted securely inside the vertical culvert.

View from the bottom of the vertical culvert (17 feet to the surface).

We put a wooden plywood deck inside the vertical culvert so we could add the electrical and other components safely and quickly.

The cast aluminum ring and manhole cover fit nicely over the vertical culvert.

Panels inside the East Mechanical room ...

Panel open with spacers over deadfront, with labeling. Ready for inspection ...

Our solar permit, which needs to be signed off and closed.

Although we are connected to the grid, this permit should be closed.

Bryan had picked up the Sequoia Vacuum SV-700 unit today and positioned it in the garage.

Initially, we didn’t think that a central vacuum was important. The more we started the learn about the value of indoor air quality, the more we understood the importance of a central vacuum with an external exhaust.

Then, of course, we dug into the cyclonic vs. filter system and determined that we wanted to keep the outside of our house clean.

While evaluating central vacuum systems, we found that the leader in central vacuum systems is Sequoia Vacuum Systems, which is located in Menlo Park, just the other side of Palo Alto.  Earlier, we had worked on installing the collection pipes for the central vacuum system.

IAQ 8.2 Indoor Contaminant Control (1 point each, maximum 2 points).
Select from the following measures:
a) Design and install permanent walk-off mats at each entry that are at least 4 feet in length and allow accessibility for cleaning (e.g., grating with catch basin).
b) Design a shoe removal and storage space near the primary entryway, separated from living areas. This space may not have wall-to-wall carpeting, and it must be large enough to accommodate a bench and at least two pairs of shoes per bedroom.
c) Install a central vacuum system with exhaust to the outdoors. Ensure that the exhaust is not near any ventilation air intake.

Sequoia Vacuum System's SV-700 unit installed in our garage.

The City of Monte Sereno reviewed our photovoltaic solar panel installation and signed off on all the components that Real Goods Solar are responsible for.  The one remaining component is a cover for the 200 amp electrical panel in the East Mechanical room.

Although the cover is required, there is no current flowing through our electrical system as we are not connected to ‘the grid’.

We were honored to have Bob Sobota and Eufermiro Cariaga from Schneider Electric, and Jim Laberty of Lighting Systems tour our project site today.  Bryan met Bob Sobota when Bryan attended the C-Bus training course in Palm Desert in March 2011; Bryan had hosted Jim’s visits to our project site previously, and it was Eric Westphal and Jim that recommended that we engage Randall Whitehead Lighting Solutions to design the lighting throughout the house.  Eufermiro and Bryan met for the first time today.

Bob works in the lighting controls division and Eufermiro is in the Juno Lighting Group.  Jim Laberty is the local distributor for both C-Bus lighting controls and Juno lighting.

Changing Our System to 100% Micro-Inverters

Solar photovoltaic panel installations are new and evolving.  One of the technology elements that is continuing to evolve is the inverter.  Usually, an entire array of panels (or string of arrays of panels) are connected to a single inverter.  The inverter takes the DC and converts it to AC.

For our installation, we changed the design from a mix of one string inverter (for 32 panels) and 16 micro-inverters, to 48 micro-inverters.  Changing to all micro-inverters reduces the conductors (wiring), increases the efficiency of the electricity generation, and increases the safety of the overall system.

One of the challenges with micro-inverters is that not many people understand how these systems work.  Liam Ryan, from Real Goods Solar, explained the details to Bryan.

Before Operating, Micro-Inverters Require a Connection to the Grid

Generally, when solar photovoltaic panels are exposed to sunlight they produce electricity.  The panels create direct current (DC) electricity and that flows to the inverter.  In the case of a micro-inverter, the transmission of DC is only a couple of feet as the micro-inverter is mounted to the panel.  The micro-inverter then creates alternating current (AC) which is connected to the building’s electrical system.

Enphase micro-inverters are ‘UL-listed’ as they have been certified (tested and approved) by Underwriters Laboratories.  Products certified by Underwriters Laboratories are identied with a UL Mark.  According to Underwriters Laboratories’ web site:

The UL Mark on a product means that UL has tested and evaluated representative samples of that product and determined that they meet UL requirements. Under a variety of programs products are periodically checked by UL at the manufacturing facility to make sure they continue to meet UL requirements. The UL Marks may be only used on or in connection with products certified by UL and under the terms of written agreement with UL. In addition to these marks, UL also provides access to the marks required in a number of other key world markets.

Liam explained that the Enphase micro-inverters in our system cannot convert the DC current to AC unless the micro-inverter has recognized the 60 Hz wave form has been stable for five minutes.  The 60 Hz wave form is present in the electrical grid throughout the U.S. and Canada.  Thus, the micro-inverter cannot create AC current unless our system is connected to the grid.

In addition, Liam explained that the micro-inverters will stop creating AC current immediately upon losing recognition of the 60 Hz wave form.  The software in the Enphase micro-inverters is what recognizes the 60 Hz wave forms and then controls the output.

Underwriters Laboratories has certified the Enphase micro-inverters that we are using.

Consequently, although we have our entire solar photovoltaic system built, installed and inspected, we cannot create electricity until we are connected to the grid.  There is no electricity present in our system.

Roseanne Prevost-Morgan and Matt Knobbe of Real Goods Solar dropped by our site to take a quick look at the installation. Bryan, of course, took their picture on the Upper Flat roof.

One of the benefits of the Enphase system is the Enlighten web-based service that shows the status of each solar photovoltaic panel.  Although Liam Ryan completed the initial configuration yesterday, Bryan added some additional details today so the reporting is robust.

Link to Enphase Enlighten System

Our Enphase Enlighten system portal is as follows:

http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/j8aJ30045

The link above allows us to see the status of each individual panel so we can monitor the performance of the entire system.

Please note that the Enlighten system portal will not be dynamic until the City of Monte Sereno approves our solar installation, which should be on Monday, September 12, 2011 and Pacific Gas & Electric allows our system to be connected to their distribution system.

There are multiple components to our renovation/new construction project, all of which are tightly integrated in the overall program and design, and all of which are moving forward in parallel.

One of the components is the installation of our solar photovoltaic panels.  Our original plan, which we noted in our posting on September 19, 2009 (Why Are We Installing Solar Photovoltaic Panels?), was to have 32-175 watt photovoltaic panels in Phase 1.  After the change of law announced on October 13, 2009, we changed our strategy (see Pouring Rain and New Solar Generation Laws in California) so we could take advantage of the ability to generate more electricity that we could use.

We registered under the NSHP rebate program, and have a reservation for a 5.04 kW system.  When Bryan was driving to Merced on Tuesday, August 30, (see Picking Up Our Ladder and Looking at Artemide Lights) he learned that our reservation could be increased to 7.5 kW but the change had to be completed, and submitted, by Monday, September 12, 2012.  This deadline, which is now looming, has created a laser focus on completing the installation of our photovoltaic system, which will include 48-215 watt solar panels, set out in six individual arrays.

The expanded system will have a ‘nameplate’ rating of 10.32 kW (48 x 215 watts) and will generate approximately 90% of that (9.29 kW).  However, the limit under the NSHP is 7.5 kW.

Bryan put together a list of the key tasks that must be completed in order to complete the installation, have it inspected by the City of Monte Sereno, and have it verified by an independant HERS Rater.  He reviewed the list with Bryan McFarland of Reals Goods Solar, who is managing the installation of our solar photovoltaic system, and also discussed the procedures with both Dana Farquhar of Real Goods Solar and our HERS Rater, Darrel Kelly of Builders Energy Services, Inc.

The list is as follows:

• Complete unistrut frames on:
  North gable
  Upper Flat roof
• Install Enphase inverters on:
  North gable – 8 inverters
  Upper Flat roof – 32 inverters
• Mount load centers:
  Under North gable
  On Upper Flat roof unistrut frame (2 load centers)
• Pull conductors from:
  East gable to load center under North gable
  Load center under North gable to load centers on Upper Flat roof
  Load centers on Upper Flat roof through to East Mechanical room
• Complete connections to electric panels
  Install 30 amp double pole breaker in 400 amp panel, going to load center on Upper Flat roof
  Install 30 amp double pole breaker in 200 amp panel, going to load center on Upper Flat roof
• Complete network connections
  Install receptacle to the left of 200 amp panel in the East Mechanical room
  Install Enphase Envoy unit above receptacle
  Provide network access to Envoy unit
• Install Sanyo 215 watt photovoltaic panels on:
  East gable (one array of 8 panels)
  North gable (one array of 8 panels)
  Upper Flat roof (four arrays of 8 panels each, or 32 panels)
• Complete all labels and signage relating to solar
• Test solar installation
  Connect network to Internet
  Register each of the individual panels with Enphase (about 45 minutes) and verify solar production/generation
• Inspections and certification
  Schedule inspection by the City of Monte Sereno for Friday, 09/09/11 between 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
  Schedule inspection by HERS rater (Darrel Kelly) for Saturday, 09/10/11 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
• Submit completion certification to NSHP on 09/12/11

Quite a list!  We’ll see how our plan unfolds …

Starting the Day

Since the 60 mil TPO membrane roof was completed last fall, we had a leak (when Earth Bound Homes was verifying the chases were clear in the SIPs), and then made several penetrations for our plumbing vents.  In addition, we had to make two penetrations for solar mounts and then just last week we made four penetrations for the conduit going to the Upper Flat roof.

So … Al Courtney of Statewide Roofing sent three of his top installers over first thing this morning so they could make the necessary repairs to the TPO membrane roof.

With the penetrations for the solar mounts and conduit secured, the team from Real Goods Solar can work unimpeded.

We’re on track to meet the September 12, 2012 deadline.

The team from Statewide Roofing arrived first thing this morning to complete the repairs to the 60 mil TPO membrane roof.

The drain over the South East part of the Garage had to be replaced due to the hole that Earth Bound Homes made when verifying the electrical chases in the SIPs were clear. We discovered the leak during the heavy rains on December 31, 2010.

Plumbing vents on the North East corner of the house.

Plumbing vent on the West side of the house, over the Master Bathroom.

Solar mounts that straddle the ridge of the North gable.

The back side of the frames that straddle the ridge of the North gable.

New TPO membrane over one of the four penetrations of conduit on the Upper Flat roof.

Completed conduit under the Upper Flat roof. Note the reclaimed Redwood under the SIP roof.