Installers ARE AT THE CASA

Got a call at 7:42 A.M. today from the installers, who say they will be there all day, finishing around 4:00 to 4:30. Wonder how much will actually get done today? Brackets only? Brackets and wiring to the inverter? All that plus a few panels? Anxious to get home and see it.....:)

Minor date adjustment

Installers to come on Monday the 14th, not Friday the 11th. The "winter storm" from last week got them a smidge behind.

Should not affect the "turn-on date" at all. No Biggus......:)

Whoop. Whoop. Muther-Freakin' Whoop.

Panel installation begins on Dec 11th. System "goes live" sometime in early January.

Waiting on HOA Approval

Just now waiting on HOA approval. They got the request on 11-17-2009, and last time it took them about 3 weeks. If so, they will approve on Dec 16th, and the install can start the first week of January, with "turn on" maybe by the last week in January? That's my target time frame right thar !!!

Waiting for Install to be Scheduled ... very cool......:)

Got this from SolarCity when I checked my account:

Installation — Waiting to Schedule
Name Flufenoff, Kanji
Estimated Installation Date 1/2010
System Size 4.1 kW DC
Status Installation — Waiting to Schedule
Good news—the building department has approved your permit! The next step is to schedule your installation. If you are a SolarLease customer, this may take some time for financing to be available. We will call you as soon as we are ready to schedule your installation.

And since I "am" a "SolarLease" customer, I'm guessing the delay might be a month or so.

Moving Along....

Got the PDF from Solar City on October 26th which contained my system design.

SRP came out and did their site audit on the 29th of October and then e-mailed me this the next day:

SRP EARTHWISE™ SOLAR ENERGY
Thank you for submitting an application to SRP's EarthWise Solar Energy program. This e-mail is notification that your solar electric application has been received and the status is as follows:

Customer Name: Kanji Flufenoff
Address: ***************** PHOENIX AZ ******
Application Status: Approved
Components(s) Manufacturer: Evergreen Solar, Xantrex Technology
Model : ES-A-205-fa3, GT3.8-NA-240/208 UL-05 (240Vac
Rating (kW-DC): 4.100
Incentive Calculation: $2,700/kW-DC X 4.100kW-DC = $11,070.00
Elected to Assign Incentive: Yes
Incentive Assignee: SolarCity Corporation

So that part is all done. Waiting on the city building permit and the H.O.A. approval now.

New Install Date January 2010

New install date - moved from 2/2010 to 1/2010 - cool. One month or at least a week or so earlier than before.

Me likey. :)

Site Survey is done

"Robert" from SolarCity came and did my site survey on the 10th. All went well. I DID find out, surprisingly, that the "Performance Guarantee" monitoring system needed an Ethernet port. Robert said that is in the contract, but I did not know that.

So I got my boss to help me setup a little wired router I bought on Craigslist for $10, and it worked great. Now I have a port ready for them.

Looking good.....:)

Site Survey is Scheduled

At 7:00 A.M. on Sept 10th, the site survey crew will meet me at the house to start measuring and evaluating the roof and the logistics of the installation.

Exciting stuff !!!

Electricity Bill Estimates

OK, my latest SRP bill estimates show I can expect a total monthly SRP bill in the first year to average about $36. This SRP estimate includes the 8.8% increase they are passing in late 2009. Combine that with the $38 of the lease payment, and my total electric outlay for the year will be about $74 a month.

Can't argue with that !!! :)

Plan Details

My system will be 4.1 kilowatts. It should produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,900 kwh per year, which is right now 87% of my usage.

What this Blog is about

I am installing a solar panel system on my home in Phoenix, using a lease plan from SolarCity.

This blog will chronicle the ups, downs, frustrations, victories, and anything else that occurs during this process.