Solar Progress

Contractor

In October 2022 I contracted with Our World Energy (OWE) to install 10 panels on my roof and connect them to Kit Carson Electric Coop grid. I signed up on October 5. And within a week a site inspector from Our World Energy — a young company from Allbuquerque and Arizona — came and checked out the house. He seemed to know what he was doing. He marked the location of panels on the roof (with red chalk) and took an aerial photo with a drone.

When the engineering drawings came from the contractor the panels were not located where the site inspector has placed them, and some were in shade! So I called the salesman. The second iteration of the drawings were worse, with a switch mounted in a window and panels in shade as shown in the satellite photo from the vendor!

Finally on February 6, 2023, I received version 4 drawings that show a feasible installation. Four months after I signed the contract. I have signed applications for a building permit and for connecting solar panels to the electric utility. The town requires a building permit, and they wanted elevation views of the house, which I provided, and photographs, for which the vendor sent a second site inspector from Santa Fe (a three-hour round trip).

Finally, the end of April 2023 a crew showed up (with 20 hours notice) and installed panels on the roof. The crew lead said I needed to dig a trench to the electric meter (on the road, not on the house). I said that this trench was not on the design drawings that were submitted for a building permit. I also do not want a conduit down the most visible wall of my house.

Results - to May 2023

They installed the 10 panels on the roof — butting up to the parapet wall and not with the required clearance as shown on the drawings and what I need to keep the roof and panels clean. 

June Update

Panels installed and inspected (or so they say).  They now want the second payment, which (per contract) is due when the installation has met code (that I interpret as having a signed inspection sticker -- which I don't have) and meets production specifications (which I have not seen). After the install they sent me a link to the monitoring software, which indicates that the system is not working.  Sigh.

July Update

The power company (Kit Carson Electric Coop) cannot connect me to the grid because they cannot get REC (Renewable Energy Credit) meters. It could be worse. New customers cannot connect because KCEC cannot buy transformers.

I would like to charge a plug-in hybrid car (2023 Toytota Prius Prime) with solar during the day, then use the stored battery power to run my heating system during winter nights. That requires an electric inverter to convert the 250 Volt DC battery power in the car to 240 Volt 60 Hz AC.  PlugOut Power sells these.

September Update

I discovered that KCEC sent me a "Final Bill" on my account, but still send me power. They also changed my rate from #1 Residential to #100 -- a rate that is not on their web site, but might be net-billing. They also cancelled my automatic payment, so I am in arrears.

November Update

The billing is correct, even if the power company, which installed a new billing system, cannot get the invoice to me.

Some of the panels were not securely fastened, so I asked for help. [Turns out that the wrong clips are installed. The clips on my roof do not match the clips used with Unirac RM10 ballast brackets.] The technician, after making a minor adjustment on the roof, moved my current transformers (CT) to my main power panel, so I can now monitor export and import of power.

I also completed the switching of power to an outlet that will be used to charge my plug-in hybrid car (if it ever arrives) so that only solar power charges the car. (The outlet is switched off when the panels are not delivering current to the house.)

The next trick is to buy an inverter to convert the traction battery power in the car from DC to AC so that I can power my house from the car battery, which holds about 13 kWh -- plenty to run the house overnight. I will also need the wiring to connect this inverter to my house wiring through a 'generator transer switch'.