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Thursday, December 4th, 2003

solar install, day 2

How to install a photovoltaic array in a few simple steps:

  1. Arrange for a licensed installer to bring two vans full of tools, a work crew of five, several boxes of hardware and a few hundred feet of triple-galvanized steel.
  2. Ferry a box of equipment up the ladder to the roof. Repeat endlessly.
  3. Measure and mark, drill and caulk. (That was yesterday.)
  4. photovoltaic module stanchionBuild a support rack for the PV modules. As you can see, our panels will be standing up from the roof, at an angle and direction calculated precisely to catch the most sun during those critical peak generation hours. We could have instead chosen a flush-mount design, but the reduced electrical output would have extended our payoff date by a year. (!) The angle is easier to see from below.
  5. Mount and wire panels. This happens tomorrow.

I watched the crew in awe today. I can’t imagine a less fun job than working on someone’s roof, fully exposed, during a cold rain, bolting a steel rack together. OK, wait, I can too. These are hearty souls, though. They were cheerful about it all. They put in a full day’s work up there in the drizzle.


Tags:
posted to channel: Solar Blog
updated: 2004-02-22 22:49:16

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2003

solar installation begins

kyocera solar panel, waiting for installationThis module and 23 just like it are being installed on my roof today.


Tags:
posted to channel: Solar Blog
updated: 2004-07-26 12:33:33

somewhat less kinked

I’ve squashed a few bugs, implemented a few new features, and made some changes to the layout, both in response to reader feedback and my own testing:

Not yet changed, as of this writing, is the hanging nature of list-item bullets. The fact that bullets sit to the left of the text margin causes many people concern. I have not yet determined whether to change this… the stylesheets are not finished, but honestly I like hanging punctuation.

My publishing software attempts to honor the traditions of typography. Note the “smart” quotes — and the emdashes. And the hanging bullets, darn it!

You know what would be really neat: hanging all punctuation, like in the #3 example of Typography 101. I used to do that in Pagemaker when I did lots of design work on paper, approximately 400 years ago. Another rewarding challenge those days: making sure text baselines were consistent across columns. It was trickier than you might think, but the results were cooool.


Tags:
posted to channel: Colophon
updated: 2004-02-22 22:49:16

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2003

extreme close-up

spider on windowshadeWe’re awash in spiders. Part of country living, I guess.

Here’s a more interesting spider close-up: Ade Rixon’s “behind the fence post” shot.

Ade’s site has a channel dedicated to photography (click on [big picture].) I’ve borrowed the idea, so I’ll have a place to collect journal entries with photographs.

I’ve become more interested in photography lately. A recent unplanned visit to Jerry Dodrill’s gallery in Bodega led to a 40-minute conversation with the artist about technique. I considered participating in one of his photo-safari workshops, but he’s an avowed film photographer. I never sold my analog camera gear, but I just can’t imagine dealing with film costs again. Or, worse, the delays of developing — who can wait two days to see how a picture turned out? I think shooting film makes great sense for some people, but it’s not for me, at least not now.

Here’s my favorite Dodrill image: Desert Sunrise. Jerry’s gallery has a print of this, measuring about 6' x 4', which would look great in my office. (Is it too close to Christmas for me to drop hints like that without being obvious?)

I’m also impressed and inspired by Matt Haughey’s Ten Years Of My Life site — a ten-year archive of daily photos. It’s a wonderful complement to an online journal. The idea of looking back, in future years, to what I was not only thinking, but seeing, is wonderfully appealing.


Tags:
posted to channel: Photos
updated: 2004-02-22 22:49:16

Monday, December 1st, 2003

survey

I want your opinion, and I’ve made it really easy for you to give it to me… with both barrels, if necessary.

If you have a moment, please take the survey.


Tags:
posted to channel: Web
updated: 2004-02-22 22:49:16

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Carbon neutral for 2007.