Electricity from the Backyard

(It's been awhile since the last posting. After a short--and fun--visit to see relatives in the Chicago area, I'm anxious to report on my first ground mounted solar project on this my 55th birthday! --SD Dave)

Roger Pollock is not your average retired Navy man. A good husband and father, he religiously invested a portion of his paycheck throughout his twenty-year service. Today, his navy pension and income from wise investing plus his second career in charge of a service truck fleet allows him several "toys" as he calls them. His own fleet of vehicles includes two jetskis, a motorcycle and a hotrod Mustang he races on various amateur events. His other "toy" produces electricity.

Roger has a backyard that begged for solar. A small portion of it is enough for a patio and garden before it rises steeply to the back property line. The hill, facing almost due south is too steep for most practical use but ideal for a solar array. After doing his own research, he was impressed with Uni-Solar modules.

"It just made sense not to have a backyard full of glass panels," said Roger. "Living in a city neighborhood I chose Uni-Solar panels because they won't crack or break which made even more sense because I was putting them on the ground."

After a somewhat lengthy installation which included upgrading the electric service panel to 200 amps, the Pollack family is the first for miles around to have a ground-mounted photovoltaic system. At 5.1kW/DC it is producing about 730 kWHrs of power per month--enough to nearly zero-out the family's bill. As his children begin to leave the nest, Roger said he and his wife will probably fire up the jacuzzi a little more with the plentiful power they'll have at hand. He is also considering taking advantage of the new federal tax credit next year by installing a solar domestic hot water system.

The array itself is comprised of 80 Uni-Solar 64-watt panels on racks with substantial piers embedded in the hillside for stability against heavy wind and rain. Wiring from the array to the service panel/inverters outside the garage required trenching of some 150 feet. Roger also had a controller installed so he could monitor electrical output on his computer. He plans to landscape around the array with iceplant to both beautify the backyard and reduce dust during Southern California's long dry spells.