While I haven’t posted too much lately, we have actually been fairly busy with a number of things.  As a continuation of work on the solar array, I managed to get one of the charge controllers connected into our system, all that is left on that front is to run the conduit and wiring back from the array to the house.

I also wanted to post a better picture of all the accessories that go along with the solar gear, so I’ve labeled them all in the following picture:

System Control Panel – This is a basic unit that shows you the status of the equipment and lets you program / configure all the various components (on the small LCD screen).

Combox – The combox connects all the solar gear to our ethernet network, and provides a nice web-based interface to configure all the equipment (in lieu of using the System Control Panel).  It also has a bunch of logging, reporting, and email alerting capabilities.

Battery Monitor – This battery monitor is relatively advanced with the capability of measuring precisely how much energy is going in to, or out of, the battery bank.  It is also capable of mid-point battery bank monitoring to detect imbalances between batteries, giving a better view into the health of the batteries.

Automatic Generator Starter – I still have to connect this little guy, but when I get it wired up it will be capable of automatically starting the generator as needed, and can be programmed to do so under a wide range of system conditions, such as low battery voltage, or high power draw by loads in the house.  I hope to get this wired up in the next couple months!  Of course, I will still have to check and make sure the generator always has enough gas!

We have also been continuing work on the siding, when the weather is agreeable.  We got the entire back side done and have started putting up the gable trim, window & door trim, and the battens on that side.

Finally, in an effort to finish off the roof in a safe manner, I built a sort of rudimentary ladder that hooks over the ridge of the roof, providing a safe way to scale one side of the roof and drive in the remaining fasteners.  I will have to flip it around to the front side of the house once I get all the fasteners driven into the back side.

Anyway, the weather is expected to turn and we may even get some snow this weekend, so I’ll have to leave it there and post more updates later!