Were I to want to view a New Year fireworks display......

I think it would be at Reunion Tower in Dallas:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunion_Tower

Jean's father worked on the design of the foundation.

The exterior dome is to be the launch points for the fireworks display.  Tower visitors will be surrounded by the fireworks.  360 degrees in the horizontal and probably about 90 degress in the vertical.

https://reuniontower.com/things-to-do/reunion-tower-over-the-top-nye-2019/

Sadly, I can no longer stay awake later than about 8pm.

Public buildings with cylinderical roofs

I just saw another on Texas Country Reporter.  In Olfen School near San Angelo and Paint Rock.  I'll try to recall/recover the name but it is a construction method from the 1920s-1930s.

My first notice was the Dale School Gym.  Also found it used (and documented) at Museum of The Big Bend in Alpine on the Sul Ross campus.

Another of those things that disappeard with Google+.

"Lamella Arch"!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UHqZFjReQ84PaXxB9

I initially thought building one would need a tremondous amount of scaffolding.  I finally found some online information that they are built near the ground, from one side to the other.  Raising the under construction side as it progresses.

https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Lamella_Roof

The COLD Week

The "Cold Week" in December 1983 lives in my memory.
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/12/26/Freezing-temperatures-chill-South-citrus-crops-threatened/3097441262800/
Here in Dale, we spent a week below freezing.  We were ill equipped.  Early in the episode, the exposed grey water drain pipe in the yard froze, preventing sinks from draining.  Then, the water supply plumbing under the house froze.  We spent days with sinks that wouldn't drain and no water from fawcets.  When we manually filled the tank, the toliet continued to flush.  The big new tank (earthern "stock" pond) froze; the ice seemed thick enough to walk on.  First, I tied a rope around Jean's waist and sent her across, maybe 50'.  Then, I tied the rope around my waist.  Though I doubt that Jean could have pulled me out; maybe she could have tied her end and I could have pulled myself out.  Then, we both walked around on the ice covered water.

After the event, we found all figs had been frozen to the ground; many did not survive.  The weakened survivors did not thrive; it took 8-10 years before we again had healthy large fig bushes.  Many peach trees had their trunks killed on the north side; some did not survive.  The damaged ones were deformed for life.  Both the fig and peach damage can be attributed to lack of acclimation; the freeze came before the plants were fully domant.

I believe that was the freeze that killed most citrus in The Valley which percipitated the move to Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit which today dominates the market.

We were heating the house with a wood burning stove (as we have been doing for ~40 years now).  The house is on piers and the perimeter was not well sealed.  I believe the event stimulated us to put in some storm windows and install a better stove as well as improve the under pinning.  I know it stimulated me to install electric heating tape and insulation on the under house plumbing.  That heating tape is still there but has never been turned on except to test.

I took the trouble to look up the low and high temperature records for Austin; AFAIK, closer records are not available.  Dale was likely a little colder than Austin.

Saturday 12/17/1983           36-45
Sunday 12/18/1983             23-41
Monday 12/19/1983            21-30
Tuesday 12/20/1983            26-36
Wednesday 12/21/1983       23-36
Thursday 12/22/1983          12-26
Friday 12/23/1983               16-30
Saturday 12/24/1983           12-23
Sunday 12/25/1983             10-25
Monday 12/26/1983            14-28
Tuesday 12/27/1983            27-57
Wednesday 12/28/1983       24-39
Thursday 12/29/1983          17-33
Friday 12/30/1983               17-37
Saturday 12/31/1983           19-51
Sunday 1/1/1984                 45-60

I count 14 consequetive overnight freezes, about five days below freezing, about nine days without temperatures significantly above freezing.

Faster Horses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnvMcX95G20
On reflection and PV install experience, I will add "Bigger Wire".

Last electric bill for 2019

$-157.20 which brings known credit for the year to $-744.74.  The ~$500 transformer upgrade, a few months ago, was paid out of the credit.  I say "known credit"  because a yet unkown credit of ~$1500 should appear sometime after year end.  Stay tuned.

I am on track to average  $-200+ per month with currently installed PV equipment.  I continue to plan, scheme, and install so my goal is for about $-400/month a year from now.

The really great deals we have enjoyed on Enphase M215 microinverters for the past year or longer have disappeared.  I am very seriously looking at some even better deals on string inverters.  M215s with cabling were costing around $50/panel; the string inverters may cost as little as $15/panel.   The string inverters, however, are less versitile and less safe.

1/24/2020
In anticipation of the year end credit, I have reviewed the bill for February 2019.
No dates are given for the credits.  The bill is dated 2/16/2019 for service over the period 1/15/19 through 2/12/19.   Credits are as follows:
Meter 1      1992 kwh     $80.85
Meter 2      5503 kwh     $223.05
Meter 3      2182 kwh     $87.85           $391.75 total

Pleasant Grove School near Texarkana

It is in the news because of the football team.
https://www.pghawks.com/teams/?u=PGHAWKSATHLETICS&s=org
The school district has become quite affluent as the area moved from agriculture to mostly low density suburban.

I went to 1st grade at Pleasant Grove on Kings Highway,  about 1950; there was a single elementary school.  It was a frame building with, as I recall, three rooms.  In the center was a smallish meeting room like a small auditorium.  On each side were class rooms, one for lower grades, one for higher.  Something like grades 1 to 3 and grades 4 to 6; two teachers taught all six classes.  There was a large playground adjacent to the building with outhouses more distant.  No indoor plumbing.  I believe the school was on a fairly large tract; the school district seems to have remained centered on the property.

I remember a night time meeting at the school for teachers and parents.  Some rowdies threw a dead skunk or skunk scent glands into the meeting and disrupted it.

I also remember drinking from a stream near the outhouses.  On a dare.   It was murky water; not very clean looking.  Perhaps that contributed to my semi-robust constitution.

My mother and her siblings, in the 1920s-30s, went to schools in Texarkana several miles from the Moores Lane homesite.  Pleasant Grove is a couple of miles in the other direction.

I recall a "convience store"/ gas station across the road from the school.  There, you could buy your RC Cola and the peanuts to put in it.

Apparently, Pleasant Grove has come a long way.  It evolved from a single school into a well funded multi-campus school district.

https://www.pgisd.net/


This is all I was able to google up on history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Grove_Independent_School_District_(Bowie_County,_Texas)

To Utah

I took a few photos in Paint Rock, home to Rick Perry.  Many old and attractive buildings.  Apparently county seat of Concho County.  On the Concho River.  Downstream from San Angelo?  Paint Rock rivals Mentone for the smallest county seat in Texas.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7FFYBazUqUYHKrMh7

Just past the historic town of Gail (Borden County), I encountered a huge solar farm under construction.  Hundreds of acres.  Earth work in progress enormous stocks of material stacked around the edges.  One photo can not present the entire site.  10-15 miles farther, on the edge of LaMesa, there was another large completed installation which was not yet on Google "satellite" view.  Fairly old since weeds needed mowing.  A one axis tracking system.  Panels pivoted on long rails.  It looked cheap and cost effective.

I realized that LaMesa (la meesa) was so named because it is on top of the Cap Rock a few miles from the edge.  The PV site under development is on poor land below the Cap Rock while the completed site is above.  Multi use on the land:  there is one photo of a blade assembly ready for lifting into place on a wind generator.  There are many wind generators along the edge of the Cap Rock.  Now, the PV, some very near the wind.  And a little bit of oil.  Above the Cap Rock, soil is quite good; with well water, it is intensively farmed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Borden

Albuquerque and Gallop

https://photos.app.goo.gl/np3Y1dN9rJAof2aeA

The most valuable car in the Unser Museum is the Novi.  Worth about $3mil,  One of two and no one knows the whereabouts of the other.  Photos 4, 5, and 6.

Last photo is a plate of chilles rellenos at Jerry's Cafe in Gallop.

At the Albuquerque SuperCharger, three of six nozzles had been vandalized and were not usable.  I did not have to wait and got near 140kw.  By the time I left there were three in line.
At the Gallup SuperCharger, one of the four stations did not work.  Two others gave about 80kw.  The "good" one gave me a good rate in the afternoon but was very slow the next morning; it took me more than an hour to get from ~80% to near 100%. Starting about 30kw and dwindling painfully to nothing.  No waiting there.

Page and Kanab

Slow charging at Gallop.  Did not have breakfast at Jerry's as intended.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayenta_Mine

I passed near the above mine and had to wikipedia it up to find out about it.  The highway passed under a very long conveyor that dumped into a very large and tall silo.  An electric rail line followed the highway for many miles away from the silo.  I had hoped to see an electric train operating from the overhead wires.  I finally noticed the overhead wiring was in disrepair.  Mr Peabody did not complete hauling away the mountain.  Here is the silo and the conveyor crossing highway 180:
https://goo.gl/maps/ZG9YshKqi1FCEtdr8
Here is the power plant end of the rail line:
https://goo.gl/maps/yuCW1fCiGDVGbGy99
I followed it a relatively short distance of ~5 miles along side the highway.  I'm guessing the total distance of the electric rail line might be about 50 miles.  I saw the power plant near Page but did not realize it was the one serviced by the Peabody mine.
Here is the wiki article on the electric railroad that caught my attention:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mesa_and_Lake_Powell_Railroad

Then, off in the distance, a big mountain dominated the area.  I found it is "Navajo Mountain".  Much higher than anything within 50-100 miles.  I had thoughts of finding my way to the top on some subsequent trip.  Apparently that is not to be:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Mountain,_Utah
https://www.summitpost.org/navajo-mountain-ut/397784

Kanab and Byrce Canyon

https://photos.app.goo.gl/itrPm8XJ7wdQ154n8

Very little snow in Kanab at 5k-6k feet.  At Bryce, 8k+ feet, like 2' of snow.  Weather was good, though.  After that climb, I was apprehensive about the energy used and charged a bit at Ruby's very nice complex at the entrance to the park (photos posted).  They have Tesla charging and do not care who uses.  They are unacknowledged by Tesla; I found them on PlugShare.  I failed to find a place listed by Tesla after squandering 15 miles looking (in Tropic).  Tropic is the site of a very early (~1895) Mormon water diversion project.
https://www.nps.gov/brca/learn/historyculture/pioneerstory.htm
http://www.townoftropicut.gov/town-history.htm

Only me and one other at the Days Inn in Kanab; I didn't see the other at breakfast.  VERY nice.  VERY quiet.  Only about $60 down from ~$110 during the summer.  AND, I'm charging about $5 worth per day.  Many Kanab hotels are closed for the winter.  When I expressed concern for their low business volume, they reassured me that they have two bus loads of Korean tourists coming in a couple of days.

Zion, Lake Mead, Williams

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cv9QZsXhKK6aDzfa9

There are a couple of photos of animal routing fencing. In Canada, I saw similar fences targeted to deer, elk, etc.  But the Lake Mead fences are about 18" high.  In Texas, I might suspect they are trying to keep armadillos off the road and directed to culverts.  Here, I suspect tortoises.

Williams, South Rim, Gallup

https://photos.app.goo.gl/emAfR4QPLKtWiehs7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tDwFkkPdM17yELjY

Photos include my bowl of green chile stew with corn bread.


Sierrra Blanca, Brashear, Dale

I just couldn't do a trip without inserting a minor death march.  A bit more than 900 miles in about 20 hours.  That's with an hour or more in Brashear loading up and talking about string inverters.

Home.  No water.  No heat.  Temperature about 35 deg.  All easily fixable.

PowerWall agumentation, new layout

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/1wHoSgrKHEsAT3n66

Last photo of wall mounted components:

1) Upper left: two 250w grid tie micro inverters as intended for  60 cell PV panels.
2) Upper right: two "500w" 12vdc grid tie inverters.
3) Lower center:  12vdc  to 36 vdc converter.
4) Lower right:  240vac recepticles used to accept power.

Several possible configurations, some could be concurrent:
1) 36vdc from batteries into either one or two 250w micro inverters.  Batteries from hoverboards repurposed to power golf carts are shown in first two photos.  Up to about 80 4ah hoverboard batteries are on hand to be paralleled.  About 12 kwh of available energy.
2) 36vdc from the 12v to 36v converter powered from a car into either one or two 250w micro inverters.
3) 12vdc inverter powered from a car.

In my case, "car" could be one of two Mitsubshi imievs or a Tesla Model 3.
With either type of car, the 12vdc can be up to about 1kw and depletes the car's main battery through the car's DC-DC which converters main battery voltage to about 14vdc.

For my purposes, 500 watts of augmentation is more than sufficient so no more than two micro inverters need be used.  Though several more could be easily configured.  The MC4 splitters photographed have space for one more inverter;
power outputs can easily be daisy chained together.
The 12vdc inverters are undesirable because of low efficiency; they produce only about 200 watts each and that not efficiently.  Producing ~400 watts overnight nearly depletes an imiev 16kwh battery.  Energy supplied at 240vac would be only about 6kwh.   The micro inverters are 95%+ efficient.

I have a single PowerWall which can supply 10-12 kwh at up to 5kw.  The battery size is marginal for using night time air conditioning during the summer.  Cloudy days can result in not full PW charges at dusk.  Either condition can make augmentation desirable.

I have about 112 kwh of energy available from four sources: 12 kwh from hoverboard batteries, 70kwh from the Tesla, 15kwh from each of two imievs.  Efficiency from the hoverboard batteries is very good, 95%+.  Efficiency of cars into the 12vdc inverter is poor, perhaps as low as 50%.  Efficiency going through the 12vdc -> 36vdc converter (car -> converter -> microinverters) is yet to be undetermined.  With some additions and reconfiguring, peak powers could reach 3-4kw.  Starting with fully charged batteries, I have hope of getting through about a week with no grid and no sunlight.  The single battery PowerWall will do 5kw with ~12kwh stored.  The PowerWall supplies power as demanded; the augmentation supplies fixed power.  The fixed power augmentation typically goes into demand.  If demand is insufficient, the augmentation power is either sold to grid or charges the PW battery.  In order to avoid sales to grid, with my current PW set up, I must go off grid.

See previous augmentation discussion:
https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2019/09/micro-grid-and-augmentation.html

1/15/2020

A series of very cloudy days, leaving me starting some nights with ~50% PW charges, have encouraged me to do some more testing.
1) The 36v golf cart battery -> one or two microinverters -> house 240vac continues to work very well.  One inverter gives a solid continious ~230 watts; two inverters gives twice that.
2) 12vdc from an EV -> 12vdc/36vdc "upverter" -> microinverters works less well.  Output power varies quite a bit from the expected to near zero.  Average is about half that expected.  This is almost certainly a microinverter power tracking problem that I do not yet have a solution to.  Perhaps I'll find a high efficiency gridtie microinverter without power tracking to test.  Suggestions solicited.
3) 12vdc from an EV -> 12v cheap chinese inverter -> house 240vac has not recently been tested due to previous inefficiency.

Trades people

This horribly expensive episode with Cy https://www.texascrimelog.com/austin/2019/08/cyan-cruz-0600-0-theft-prop-2500/,
which cost me somewhere in the range of $100k-$150k, got me to thinking about good trades people I've used in the past.

Clarence Davis used to build pole barns all over this area.  The first segment of "the big barn" cost me about $2/ftsq.  After that, he did about five or six more.  Each one, costing a little more than the previous.  The last one, Clarence sub contracted out and the guy that did the work put the wrong roof screws in the wrong places and I lived with a leaking roof for a year or so until I got someone to re-roof it.  All in all, though, Clarence was a gem.

Dwight Nance ran Texas Cedar Products out of Smithville and built mostly native cedar cabins  all over the area.  Notiably, the Lost Pines area.  I'm sure he built hundreds.  Maybe thousands.  He also built and sold local cedar furniture.  Early on, we bought a few pieces of his rustic furniture with which we were well pleased.  When it came time to build the recently burned guest house, we had Dwight do it.  He was chagrined that I insisted on slab rather than piers and HardiBoard siding rather than his cedar log slices.  We did allow him to use cedar paneling inside.  In our discussions about the cabin, Dwight recongized my name and associated it with one of his ancestors who had also migrated from Arkansas to Comanche County in the early 1890s.  From that, I followed a trail and discovered some new cousins from the DeLeon area.

I developed a need to add a cool "tomato room" in my big barn and Smith Supply pointed me to Carl Hill who had done good work for them.  Carl was good.  Honest, hard working, talented.  He later put my deceased mother's house in rentable condition.

For many years, Kirksey Propane of Lockhart gave us very good propane service.  Then, they faded and I was forced to try others.  I've just recently decided propane vendors were just too much trouble and gone all electric.

I've never before had any complaint about law enforcement in Caldwell County.  I guess I had just not much experience with them.

Guest House Fire

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uDKoT59dE5eeH1Lf6

2/4/2020
I've added some photos of the cleared slab.  I hired a neighbor to do it and have regrets.  He was supposed to separate out the road material; Hardi siding, ceramic fixtures, floor tile.  He did not.   He spread out a gravel pile; I can no longer use it for road repair.  I failed to ask him to try to preserve the drain connections, both grey water and toilet water are embedded in the concrete; it will be a chore to try to reuse.  They are unnecessarily broken and filled with debris.  OTOH, there are separated piles of burnable stuff, steel, and other; I'll try to extract road material from the "other".

I put in three photos of the wiring project that Squatter Cy failed on.  Now, very nearly complete.

More PV scheming.

Today I had lunch with a couple of Bluebonnet people that deal with their "renewable production" customers.

One take away was that they are willing to facilitate up to 50kw production under the terms currently offered: $.064/kwh with fair price stability.  Above 50kw, the pricing scheme is negotiable.  Varying from near the current stable $.064 semi-fixed to 15 minute spot ERCOT pricing which can get quite low.  And quite high.

I seem to differ from other producing Bluebonnet customers in that other customers install PV primarily to offset heavy use.  I seem to be the only one trying to take advantage of very low cost PV to earn significant money selling energy to Bluebonnet.

I am now mentally exploring the possiblity of installing 3 50kw meters/transformers along the north edge of an old vegetable field.  Bluebonnet covers the costs of meters/transformers if, and only if, they have prospects of selling power.  In my case, where I expect to be buying no power, I would be expected to cover the costs.  A reasonable position to protect "real" customers that use Bluebonnet energy.

I failed to talk to them about establishing an RV park.  My estimate is that a 50kw supply might service 6-8 50 amp stalls.  My observation is that RV parks may offer about equal numbers of 50amp and 30amp stalls.  50kw might supply 10-20 stalls in such a mixture.

My existing "steeply sloping two faced rails" produce 5-6 kw for each 38 panel 66' rail.  The rails are spaced about 15' apart.  "Across the road", I have three such rails producing and intend to install 3-6 more after a transformer upgrade.  So, a single 50kw connection might serve up to about eight rails.  An area of about 100' (66' plus a travel/shade buffer) by about 140'.  I make that to be about 1/3 acre.  So, a string of three meters/transformers spaced about  150'-200' apart along an east-west line.  Thinking REALLY big, I have one field that might support about 5 such strings of meters/transformers.  To avoid or minimize pole shading, I could minimize pole height or go under ground.  The first string will be built along the south edge of a brush line.

WAG on material needed would be (per 50kw unit):
1) oil well pipe:  3 33' joints per rail = 24 joints, ~$400
2) 38 panels per each of eight rails = 304 panels, ~$17k
3) 304 micro inverters.  Not currently cheaply available but I hope for about $15k
4) wiring, conduit, breakers, etc.  About $2k.
Estimated monthly income for each 50kw unit is  $400-$500.  Nearly $40k paid off at the rate of about $5k/year.

Under house electric cable routing

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NRLMAcerANoknj1z8

This is part of the recovery from Squatter Cy's screwups.  Cy had attempted to hide bare spots of damaged cable within conduit.  That cable/conduit to be placed under the house.

Yesterday, I was able to push three 20' joints of 3/4" PVC from the back of the house to the front.  Then, I attached the end of a spool of 2/0 aluminum wire to the end of the 3/4" pipe.  Then, pulled the cable under the house from the front of the house.  The whole operation went surprising smoothly; I was able to do it by myself.  Disassembling Squatter Cy's leavings, OTOH, took four energic people.
Yet to do: make the connection to a breaker in my main panel on the front end of the house and make a similar connection to the new subpanel on the rear of the house.

The new subpanel supplies the new electric water heater but via a long run of 10ga romex currently laying on the ground outside of the house.  The orange 10ga is visible in the 5th photo.  The heater uses no more than 30 amps.

Eventually, I will run an extension from the new rear subpanel to the red "new garage" in the last photo, then on the the "south field" to serve additional PV panels.  The whole chain of new wiring should handle 100+ amps.

The first photo shows the end of the 3/4" PVC that had passed under the house.
The second photo shows detail of the electric cable to 3/4" PVC connection.
The third photo shows electric cable disappearing under the rear of the house.
The fourth shows electric cable's spool.  I think I have 300+ feet left on the spool.
The fifth shows proposed route of new cable on it's way to the south field.

The 2/0 aluminum cable is rated for "direct bury", no conduit need unless exposed.  I have learned that it is a bad idea to not use conduit on even direct bury cable if it might be encountered by future excavation.  The run under the house needs no conduit.  The buried cable to the new garage will be placed in conduit; the cable run to the new garage will not likely be direct bury rated.  I have both the 2/0 aluminum direct bury and 1 gauge copper (not direct bury) available to use in various segments of the project.  Both types of cable should carry the 100+ amps.

11/16/19
I slipped two joints of 1.5" conduit over the wire under the front of the house.  Then put in two elbows.  Then, routed conduit out under the main panel where it needs to go.
Soon: do similar at the rear of the house under the new sub-panel.
The hard part will be getting the very heavy wire connected inside the panels.  At least on the front, I intend to go down from 2/0 aluminum to 1 gauge copper to make the connections somewhat easier.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

This is a first cut.  I will be adding much more as time allows.

I engaged Cy, dba as "Handy Rebel Home Services", through the "porch" website to install an electric water heater to replace my old propane heater.  This on or about 10/17/19.  As I recall, we agreed on $300 to install the heater plus $400 to install a sub panel near the heater and the needed heavy wire about 100 feet from the front of the house to the rear.  I was to supply all needed material.  I never authorized Cy to buy material on my behalf.

Responding to Cy's plea that he needed money, I made payments of $300 and $200.  Progress was very slow with many small tasks needing to be redone.
I eventually decided Cy was not competent to work without supervision. He agreed to consult with me before he embarked on any action.

He had related his homeless condition.  He said he was living out of hotels day to day and sometimes sleeping in his truck. I had some sympathy for him.

On Tuesday, 10/19, I offered him the choice of two living quarters I have on my farm.  The duration to be less than one month.  One is a poor condition RV trailer for which I did not expect payment.  The other is a site constructed good condition cabin.  The price on that was to be $300 for the month.  He chose the cabin.  Since he claimed to be destitute, I did not attempt to extract prepayment or property deposit.  The trailer is on the east side of the county road and I took him over there to show.  While over there, I showed him the 16' flat bed trailer that he expressed an interest in acquiring.  We made no agreement on the 16' trailer.

After two days, I found Cy violating two of the stipulations I placed on his occupancy: 1) dog not to live in the house  2) parking on the firm ground to the rear of the house, not on the soft ground in front of the house.  I told him to vacate and that he could leave my property or go over to the trailer to live.

Then next day, finding Cy still there, I called the sheriff to remove him.  I was informed by the deputy that by virtue of being there three days, Cy had "tenants" rights and would have to be evicted.  Much education here.  Had I called the sheriff instead of giving him a day to move, the sheriff would have removed him.


There have been several incidents of vandalism since the above account ends.  Here is the most recent (11/10/19).   This is the account supplied to the sheriff:

Solar Panel Vandalism

McKemie Farm in Dale

11/10/2019

This morning about 9:30, I discovered a broken solar panel in my north yard, near the east end of a string of about 25 panels.  All panels were undamaged late in the day 11/9/19.  There was an out of place rake adjacent to the broken panel; the apparent tool used to break.   Just after 9:30, I called the sheriff’s office to report.  A deputy arrived within minutes.

This likely is associated the the dog belonging to my squatter, Cy Cruz.  Yesterday, late afternoon the dog had been following me around making a nuisance of herself; she had followed my golf cart for a mile or so.  I placed her in chain link kennel behind my house previously used to hold dogs.  My intent was to take her to the animal shelter at a time convenient to me.

Closer inspection indicated that a rotten log had probably been thrown against panels on the west end of the string of panels and had not broken a panel.  Also, a piece of PVC pipe had been removed from the kennel and left near the panels.

William M. McKemie  10:30 am  11/10/19

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pPyjLiEUm2C8K3LY9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5hYGGS1Y6Ak2SYfTA

11/17/19
Trial is only three days away.

Following is an accumulation of all/most of the vandalism incidents.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HmDHscUmsH32JvCa9

I'll likely be comenting on individual incidents.
Today, 11/17, I noticed a pile of construction debris near the "party shed".  An electric cow fence had been cut to reach the dump area.  A few days ago, I had seen Cy's truck loaded with similar stuff.  Presumed to be from some other job he is working.  Deputies came out and issued him a dumping citation and he agreed to pick up.  I wonder where it will end up?

Electric problem was resolved with the shielding of the deputies.  Early this morning, I had attempted to get a deputy out to provide that service.  Sheriff's night sargent refused and referred me to constable's number which went unanswered.  Last night, I had discovered that I had no water.  After doing without water all day, with deputy shielding, I found the pump unplugged this afternoon.  That is odd because the cabin would also be without water.  There was no power in the big barn.  That problem was all breakers in the subpanel were turned off.  A week or longer ago, Cy had been instructed by the sheriff people to go nowhere on my property other than the cabin and the route to the cabin.  Both the dumping and the big barn electric cut offs were violations of those instructions.

Here are approximate losses of the vandalism incidents:
1) broken PV panel, ~$300
2) crushed Black and Decker 20" battery powered mower, ~$400
3) badly damaged antique "secretary"/desk probably circa 1880-1890,  $500+
4) damaged custom made cedar free standing kitchen counter, ~$300
5) the damage to the interior of the cabin can not yet be quantified, perhaps $5k.
6) damage to 16' flat bed trailer, perhaps $200.
7) while doing the job for which he was hired, he ruined about $500 worth of heavy electric cable
8) 11/19 broken casting on rolling gate.  $200-$500
9) probably days after the damage, I discovered old fence mounted video cameras had been vandalized.  In addition, the heavy fence was bent and torn loose.
10) not pictured are two remote (~1/4 mile from house) intruder detection devices which had been torn from their mounts and left on the ground.

Feel free to ask questions on any photos that need more description.

Thanks to Gail for finding the link to the appropiate legal code:
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.24.htm

Shortly after the eviction trial, the guest house burned.  The trial ended with the judgement to evict in five days.  With an almost certain appeal, occupancy would have stretched at least four weeks longer.  A semi-fortunate fire.

I've been collecting information on the squatter.  Something I should have done before hiring and befriending him.
The seller/owner of the truck had been searching for the truck the squatter had been driving.  It seems the squatter has had previous such trouble:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/uCiT4Rw7amummMtA9
I believe I posted this elsewhere:
https://www.texascrimelog.com/austin/2019/08/cyan-cruz-0600-0-theft-prop-2500/

Porch.com listing for squatter:
https://porch.com/austin-tx/handymen/handy-rebel-home-service/pp

Porch has denied liability and apparently does no background checks.

PPPPPP

Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

I've been heating with wood since 1976.  ~43 years, doing flue maintenance annually.  Or more often.  Today, I hit a low point in flue condition.

I knew last year that it was time to service the flue pipe but I postponed.  I knew it was time in the Spring.  All that nice weather with a months dead fire and no smoke.

Cool weather.  Build my second fire of the season.  "I'll do the flue pipe next stretch of good weather".

Smokey fire, drawing poorly.  Stove about half full of wood with a poor fire.  House is filling with smoke.  Messed around.  Shoveling ashes. Tapped on the lower flue thinking I could jar an obstruction down.  My hand went about half way into the pipe.  More smoke streaming into the house.  Shut off air supply as well as possible and got some new pipe which has a breakable seam lengthwise.  Put new pipe over old and wired it down.  Smoke situation improves.  I notice another weak bulging place in the next higher section of flue pipe.  Put another new piece over it and go in search of more wire.  Return to better position the 2nd piece and find it too hot to handle; burned my hand.  Wired it down in a sub optimal position.

Now, I have to wait for the fuel to be exhausted so I can take the flue down without too much more smoke coming into the house.  That fire burn down normally takes at least two days.  We have 3+ days of cold weather before us. Maybe I'll get my lash up secure enough that I can burn during the cold spell.  Maybe I'll resort to electric heat.  From the grid.  I barely got the PowerWall charged today; heavy clouds all day.  I considered trying to put the fire out with water.  What a mess that would make.  Maybe the whole flue pipe system will fall down and all the flue gas will vent into the house. Then, I'll move out until the fire is burned out and the smoke dissipated.  Maybe my end will come from smoke inhalation or carbon monoxide poisoning.

I guess I should turn this into a blog post.  I'll take a photo or two. I can still see the humor in it.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zCrGMvRcooaGxXgs6


Later.... it turned out fairly well.  Every single piece of flue pipe was falling apart.  No two pieces held together so I had to make one trip outside for each piece.  Most years, I pull it out, put whole assembly outside, and clean out the inside with a wire brush made for the purpose.  Then replace the bad pieces and reuse the others.  Fortunately, I had all pieces needed in stock.  Will I remember to replenish stock for next year?

Now, the stove is working WONDERFULLY well!  Good hot fire.  Not a hint of smoke in the house.  Ready for the first freese of the season.  Ready for a long cold winter.

Three beautiful sunny days in October!

But, that's out of 12 days in the billing period.

The house has peaked at 101.6 kwh in sales, worth about $6.50
The average per day has been only 52.4 kwh, worth about $3.35
Extrapolating to $100.50 for a 30 day month.

"Across the Road" peaked at 115.6 kwh, worth about $7.40
The average has been 72.9 kwh, worth about $4.67
Extrapolating to $140.10

The BigBarn/Pool/GuestHouse peaked at 95.6 whw, worth about $3.82
The average has been 51.4 kwh, worth about $2.06
Extrapolating to $61.80

37.5 kva transfomer

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3AEB5Y6vR8FKEWMH6

Cloudly, rainy weather will not likely show increased production.  I'm EAGERLY awaiting some sun.  My share of the cost of the upgrade was a bit less than $500; that was covered by my built up credit from previous energy sales.

With the replaced 15 kva, my production (the excess sold to the utility) was limited to about 15kw, with a peak below 18kw.  With the new transfomer, I hope to sell, at times, up to about 40kw.   For that new transformer, I am in the process of adding panels and reconfiguring installed panels to the steeply sloped east and west facing configuration on TwoFaced Rails.

Across the road on another 15kva transformer, where my panel configuration is mainly steeply sloped east and west facing, I see production of ~17kw for 8+ hours per day with cooperative sun.  On sunny days, I can sell as much as 110 kwh; production migh be ~140kwh.  I expect that meter/transformer to be my next candidate for an upgrade.  Perhaps a 50kva.  If so, it should support significant additions to production.

10/18/19  A sunny day and disappointment in increased production.
Top image is for the house (37.5kva transformer), total energy: 115kwh.
Sales to the utility: 94.5kwh (~$6.05)
Bottom image is for "across the road" (15kva transfomer), total energy:  145kwh.
Sales to the utility: 113.7kwh (~$7.28)

In both the above images, the lower lighter green areas represent roof top panels; all panels pointing the same direction, near south.  The dark green areas are ground mounts that point various directions.

Not related but my recent electric bill was -$185.81, down from -$200.90 the previous month.  The 3rd meter, which is credited annually rather than monthly and at a lower rate, should add about $58 to the month's value.   The 3rd meter added about $3.37 to yesterday's production value; $16.59 total for three meters.

10/28/19
Some clarification on the power going through the 37.5kva transformer.
When I had the 15kva installed, peak power supplied to the utility was around 17kw.  After twiddling a bit, my new peak power is around 22kw.  Not too bad but I had hoped for more.  I've increased the number of panels in the north yard from 14 to about 20; the 10 ga wire should handle 4-5kw and I'm seeing peaks of near 5kw.  The roof top is limited by the inverter to about 5kw.  The old aluminum wire that supplies all other PV at the house, south yard and south field, seems limited to 12-14kw.  My disappointment is in the capacity of that wire and I am in the process of installing additional capacity.  I hope for about 100 amps more; 20+kw.  With that added capacity and enough panels, I should reach my goal of 30-40kw at the house meter/transformer.

Soon: additional capacity across the road.  Maybe going from ~17kw to 40-60kw.

W. F. Strong

I watched a rerun episode of a Texas Country Reporter story on W. F. Strong which stimulated me to look up podcasts for Strong's little stories.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/texas-standard-stories-from-texas/id1200840048

They play on NPR's local station but they are hard to catch.  I recommend listening to at least one.

You might be able to find some TCR episodes here:
http://texascountryreporter.com/

For those unaware that I am a movie star

This from the creator/director/something of the movie Quaker Oaths:

Hi friends of Quaker Oaths!

As you may remember, Quaker Oaths is now streaming on Amazon Prime. For the last year, the number of viewers has been steadily going up and up, which has been really exciting to see- total strangers are finding the movie, watching it and leaving (mostly!) glowing reviews.   It's also great because the more views we get, the more it goes up in the all-powerful Amazon algorithm, and then it's more likely to get on people's homes screens as a suggested watch.

So yes, this is an email all about algorithms! 

I'm writing today to ask a favor- 

If you are someone who does Amazon Prime and you have the time, can you please put on Quaker Oaths and let it play all the way through to the end*  and then leave it a short review? My distributor has told me that what puts a movie ahead is people giving it a full watch and then reviewing it- that counts as a verified review. We need 100 of these verified reviews to put us on another level of Amazon Prime-ness. 

And also- spread the word if you can! Think of one or two people you know who can also Amazon Prime this thing- that would really help get our numbers up. Like a chain letter, except you don't end up getting anything later on*. 

I promise this is not about making money, we just want people to see this movie!

Thanks so much for all your past support of the film, I appreciate you all!

-Lucy

*Most of you have probably already watched the movie and don't need to see it again,  but maybe you could just have it on in the background while you wash dishes or sleep or something else fun like that!

**I think that's what happens with real chain letters too

Sunny Day Power

The top image is from the new "across the road" Curb energy monitor sited in the main breaker box for the electric meter over there.  The lighter green lower area is for 43 roof mounted panels.  The darker green is for the new three TwoFaced Rails of 18+19+19 east facing PV panels and the same number west facing.  The roof mount is showing too little energy; with about 10kw worth of panels, it should go up to about 8kw under the conditions we had; it is only doing about 4kw.  I have no explanation except maybe the ~8 year old panels need cleaning.

The lower image is for the house with 26 roof top panels and 131 ground mount panels facing, at shallow angles, various directions.  The mid day step down and later step up is a result of inverters shutting down, then coming back up, as a result of high voltage which is, in turn, a result of the power limit of the too small transformer.

Different Curb displays indicate that the upper image is the result of 143 kwh while the lower is 110  kwh.

I just got the "across the road" Curb working yesterday.
The above well illustrates the peak flattening that is my goal using steeply sloping TwoFaced Rails.  "Steeply sloping" is 65-70 deg from horizontal.  On older rails, I used slopes of 30-45 deg.  Coincidentally, today was the best sun day that we've had in a very long while.  There was a little late cloudiness after about 5:30pm.

In the morning, I'll get Bluebonnet's reporting of my energy sales for the day and report here.

The next morning:
For the top meter, "across the road", my utility credited me with 102.8 kwh.  A bit disappointing since production measure was 143.  The demand was a water well which pulled about 2kw at about 50% duty cycle for about 12 hours.  So, about 12kwh.  A freezer pulls about 300 watts at more than 50% duty cycle around the clock.  I did not realize that the freezer might be using 5kwh/day.
For the "house" meter, my utility credited me with 65.5 kwh.  That meter has quite a lot of load including up to 2.6kw of air conditioning and PW recharging of ~12kwh along with some EV and golf cart charging. I'm a bit surprised  (in the other direction) that the house demand seems to be only about 45kwh; I did some significant EV charging yesterday.

Tanya Edwards, noted steel drum player

Previous Google+ post has been lost with the demise of Google+.  So, I repost.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kccuLtiBr6MR1PXV6

This was in August 2018 at a winery near Seadrift.

The ~7 minute video, second from last item, is the most interesting.

Tanya's performances might be termed "Steel Drum Karoke" since she uses an audio recording to guide herself through a piece.

I first encountered Tanya at a Piccola affair at their place at Santa Rita, near Freer, a few months earlier.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BprvAczPcYbpfiX6A

10/5/19
https://photos.app.goo.gl/t4QeRC6pR5fxJvAD9

Tuktuk looking thing is Italian, made by Vespa scooter company.  Not available in USA.  This one was privately imported and is about 25 years old.  Used ones that are old enough escape modern regulation.

3rd TwoFaced Rail

I'm convinced that a 3rd rail of 38 panels will overload my across the road transformer.  But... since the prospects for a larger transformer are good, I decided to go ahead and install.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oi3qdcmJa4Aq1A4M8

First photo is of slight damage to a pallet of panels.  Second is name plate on a variable speed domestic water pump.

9/20/19
It seems my fears may have been unfounded.  The 3rd rail is fully populated with 38 panels and I have not found any high voltage shutdowns.  The 6 gauge wire from the three rails to the 50 amp main panel breaker is regularly above 40 amps.  A day with all day good sun might cause me some trouble.
This meter now has 40 south facing roof top panels that should produce about 10kw mid day.  The three TwoFaced Rails have 56 east facing and 56 west facing.  Something over 10kw each direction.  Partly cloudy days have been thwarting me but I can imagine 20kw around solar noon along with very good early and late production of 10+kw.  Life is good.

A bit later:  I HAVE overloaded the transformer; I am seeing inverters shutting down.  I have also seen 50+ amps coming out of the three rails.  Though I haven't tripped a breaker, I do have a 70 amp breaker at hand.

PV installer Yelp blacklist?

I've had really abysmal results/experience trying to get a second PowerWall installed.

On reflection, I suspect I am being blacklisted by installers because of a negative review I gave Longhorn Solar:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/longhorn-solar-austin-3?hrid=4q2j7RugUbCxTPAzFonwtg&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

I've had trouble recruiting several installers to do PowerWalls for me.  I recall that the HESolar guy came, discussed things, and left promising me a quote in a few days.  Instead, he informed me that he did not wish to do the work for me.

Pretty much the same deal more recently with Wells Solar.  I've been waiting a few days before posting this to see if they intended further communication.  Apparently not.  The last (first in the sequence) email was received about 15 minutes before the appointment time.

--------

Hey Willie,

I just got told by manager that we actually won't be able to come out and meet with you. I apologize for the inconvenience.

On Tue, Sep 17, 2019 at 9:12 AM Cindy Gomez <cindy@wellssolar.com> wrote:

Hey Willie!

We will be there today at 10am. See you then!

On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 10:09 AM Cindy Gomez <cindy@wellssolar.com> wrote:

Perfect we can do Tuesday at 10am.

On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 10:03 AM Willie <wmckemie@gmail.com> wrote:

On 9/13/19 9:33 AM, Cindy Gomez wrote:
>
> Hi Willie,
>
> We'd love to come out and visit to give you a quote. I just need a
> little bit of information so the energy consultant can be well prepared
> for your visit.
>
> There's a federal income tax credit for homeowners that have a solar
> system and install a powerwall; what would you estimate your household
> income to be for the year of 2019?

I can use the tax credit.
>
>
>
> If you do decide to finance the powerwall(s), do you know what your
> credit score is and have you had any bankruptcies?
>
I will pay cash.  I imagine my credit is good, though.
>
>
> We can have an energy consultant come out Monday the 16th at 1pm if
> that works for you.

I have an obligation in Austin Monday morning and may not be back then.
Monday after about 3pm or anytime Tuesday will work.
>
>
> Thank you for your interest!
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 4:53 PM Willie <wmckemie@gmail.com
> <mailto:wmckemie@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     A neighbor just returned from Bastrop with the report that y'all are
>     installing PowerWalls.  Care to visit and quote?
>
>     I have three Bluebonnet meters with a PW on one.  Another needs a PW
>     and
>     my old PW might want a second battery.
>
>     https://goo.gl/maps/iHkB7KVHAhFZboN78
>
>     I am available most any time, most any day.
>
>     Willie McKemie
>     2336 Sandhollow
>     Dale 78616

--

Cindy Gomez 

Inside Sales 

Wells Solar & Electrical Services

O: 1.833.TX.WELLS

F: 512.649.8225

E: cindy@wellssolar.com

TECL # 30051

________________________________________

Website|Austin Office|San Antonio OfficeIDallas Office

Earn $500, download our App to refer a friend!

9/14/19 Bluebonnet "Solar Day" in Brenham

https://photos.app.goo.gl/C3axvG6GHMrHjPHK8
https://www.bluebonnetelectric.coop/Energy-Solutions/Eco-Home

The demonstration house is a few years old and not of great interest.  Unless, maybe, you are designing a new house.  Note that the Canadian Solar panels and M215 inverters are likely exactly what I am installing now.  The "two posts for ten panels" mounts are quite nice though expensive looking.  My mounts will certainly be higher maintenance but cost less than $2 per panel plus some labor.

Take aways:
1) Bluebonnet is eager to buy, and pay cash for, member generated energy.  "Someone that knows" expressed the desire to see members produce up to  50kw per meter.  I observed that it seemed that they are trying to restrict my production below 15kw per meter.
Bluebonnet has no generation of their own as Austin Energy does.  They buy all energy on the market to sell to their customers.
2) Bluebonnet just increased the pay rate for customer generation from just over $.06/kwh to just over $.062/kwh.  That price good for either 6 or 12 months.
3) The price increase was despite market decreases in energy prices.  Apparently, the transmission cost is significant makiing local energy more attractive than distant.
4) A presenter mentioned that Austin Energy meters customer generated PV energy, even that that is used on site.  I asked why.  "It is complicated".  Then alluded to the "from each according to his capacity" philosophy prevelant in Austin.
5) Again, I saw mention of the relative unimportance of panel pointing.  Optimal is 30 deg tilt due south.  Flat, pointing straight up, is 91% of optimal.  Even 30 deg tilt due north is about 60%.  I've previously read that any reasonable direction is 90% or better.   Though I have no data, I'm going with about 60-70 deg tilts both due east and due west.  That, I believe, allows me to produce more total energy while avoiding the peak power limit.  In addition, pairing east and west facing strings allows more efficient use of supply wiring.
6) I now, again, have high hopes of getting larger transformers.

9/17/19
Installation of my first larger (37.5 kva) transformer seems to be in progress.

I had the opportunity to examine an Austin Energy bill.  My conclusion was that a "tier 5" customer pays AE about $.01/kwh for any added PV production.  For lower tiers, AE does give semi-reasonable credit for PV production, though decreasing for increasing "consumption".  AE meters customer production and bases rates on total "consumption",  where "consumption" includes the customer's own production which is used on site.  This seems a very large disincentive to PV installation.  In contrast, Bluebonnet claims no interest what so ever in power generated and used on site.    Ancedotal evidence is that AE will never pay cash for customer generated energy while Bluebonnet will.

ERCOT supply/demand

Since ERCOT has been issuing warnings about insufficient supply, this is an interesting site to monitor.  Also, current wind production.  I wonder when/if they will add PV; there is a growing amount of PV especially in west Texas.

http://www.ercot.com/content/cdr/html/real_time_system_conditions.html

Semi-Spectacular Hog Excavations

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VpKJjvXZXpquR1of8

Those of you who do not yet have hogs may wonder what all the buzz is about.

These types of rootings are all over my place.  These are about the worst I've seen.  Note depths of more than a foot.  These holes will eventually become obscured by vegetation.  An unsuspecting tractor driver might find himself thrown off and perhaps run over.

Note that the hogs decided the ground was drier than desired and opened a faucet to remedy.

Micro Grid and augmentation

A few weeks ago, I embarked on yet another journey.  I noticed a TMC thread about using an EV to supplement a micro grid; 4th link.  That is, get power and energy out of an EV battery in order to lengthen the time that a micro grid (such as a PowerWall) might operate in the absence of sunlight and the absence of the grid.  That can be done using the EV's 12v system.  Those 12v systems are charged from the EV's traction batteries through a DC to DC converter which reduces the traction battery's voltage from 300-400vdc to just over 14vdc.  Those DC-DCs can supply at least 1kw, more likely 2kw.  Right now, I'm focused on getting about 500w out.  I have been working trying to get my standard Enphase M215 microinverter to convert from12vdc to 240vac.  I am using hundreds of M215s, one for each of my 60 cell, ~245 watt panels.   Alas! Most grid tie microinverters expect to be powered from PV panels and are optimized for that source with something called MPPT.  MPPT seems to prevent the inverter from working from battery power.  The jury is out as to whether M215s can be used for that application.  Meanwhile, I'm going to try a grid tie micoinverter that is intended to work from battery power.  An example is the first link.  The differences between the one used by the TMC experimenter and the one below:
1) The one below has 12vdc input; the tested one requires a voltage booster.
2) The one below has 240vac output; the other, 120vac.

I was led to believe that M215s might work from a non-PV power source by a college project to make exercise equipment supply grid power.  The 3rd link.

In order for EV battery power to do you any good, you need a micro grid.  Tesla PowerWall is a very good micro grid.  However, Tesla discourages use by refusing to sell, refusing to install, and refusing to support.  A seemingly good alternative is the 2nd link.

A single battery PowerWall will supply 5kw and 14kwh.  The EVTV product, slightly more.  An EV power set up as discussed above might supply 1/5 -1/10 that power but about the same amount of energy.  An imiev or Leaf will run 20+ hours while supplying 500 watts.  A Tesla will run a week or longer.  ANY EV can supply about 6kwh overnight.  That is, an EV can be a significant source of home power and energy when the grid is down.  In my scheme, the EV must be feeding into a functional micro grid.  The real grid can be used but that would be pointless.


12v battery to grid inverter:
https://tinyurl.com/yxopbw54

EVTV micro grid:
http://store.evtv.me/proddetail.php?prod=Powersafe15

Exercise to grid:
https://courseware.ee.calpoly.edu/~dbraun/srproj.htm

TMC thread on 12v -> grid
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/powerwall-2-0-backup-runtime-extender.126358/

Here is an interesting but not especially practical solution to keeping your grid tie PV power flowing during a grid down situation:
https://insideevs.com/news/324207/getting-your-grid-tied-solar-array-to-work-when-the-grid-is-down/


It is not "success", nor is it "abject failure".  I ran one M215 overnight doing about 50 watts.   I had been using a clamp on amp meter to estimate how/if things were working.  Clamp on amp meters are notoriously inaccurate and noisy.  Of course, they do not integrate power into energy.  So, I recently installed the instrumentation the TMC thread orginator used.  I now measure 12v power and energy out of the car and 240vac power and energy into the grid.  Overnight, the ~50 watts gave me: 648 wh from 12vdc, 501 wh to 240vac.
IF I could do that on multiple, say 15-20, M215s, I would consider it a qualified success.   But, I am unable to get any significant power out of more than one M125.  I lost an estimated 8kwh out of the car battery.  Presumably that is mostly unavoidable overhead used within the car when it is "on".  As more power is pulled through 12v, the overhead fraction should decline.

"Ray is a genius"

Ray suggested trying powering M215s with my 36v golf cart.  I was not optimistic but did the experiment anyway.  It was wildly successful.  I ran about 230 watts into my house demand most of the night.  I started with 32 surplus hoverboard batteries charged to about 38 volts.  The 32 is what I normally use for running around the place and I generally run them below 37v before charging.  Being surprised with the success I had not thought carefully about how long that battery would run.  It ran out at about 2am after having pushed about 2kwh into the house.  That is, it relieved the PowerWall of having to supply that energy.

Today, I devoted myself to putting more batteries in/on the golf cart and preparing a 2nd M215 for production.  I now have 52 batteries in/on the golf cart charged to about 39.9v.  Total battery capacity last night was about 4.6kwh.  Tonight, it should be 7.5 kwh.

Efficiency appears VERY good.  One M215 pulls about 237 watts from the 36 v battery and delivers about 230 watts into the 240 vac.

Let's see if I can hope to run 2 M215s all night..... they will be pulling about 474 watts for about 12 hours.  5.7 kwh.  I don't have the battery fully charged but I believe it has that much in it.  So, I'll give it a try.  I expect to augment the PowerWall's 14 kwh by an additional 5-6 kwh.

Just for fun, I may try FOUR M215s tomorrow and maybe add some more battery to the golf cart.  That will put me close to doubling the PowerWall capacity.

The golf cart battery solution is not as attractive as the 12v from an EV solution I've been working on.  There are a lot of EVs around and very few golf carts stuffed with lithium batteries.  The 36v batteries can be stationary, not installed in a golf cart, but I do not expect them to be used often to augment the PowerWall or other micro grid.  That is, they have the most value when used frequently in a golf cart and occassionally for home power.

9/8/19
I ran three M215s off the golf cart 36v last night.  Production was around 700 watts which is about my average night time demand.  Again, I ran the battery down about 3:30am.  At, I think, about 5.5kwh.    That is lower than I expected; I will have to look for trouble with the batteries.
I had a scare.  After starting 36v production, I decided to switch off grid.   After the switch, the 36v M215s stopped and refused to restart for about an hour.  The explanation may be that the PowerWall tries not to allow PV production when the PW battery has a high state of charge; I believe it was at about 90% at that time.
I will remain off grid and observe what happens as PV production rises and the demand of PW and GC charging declines.
7:30 am PV just starting at about 400 watts.  Demand about 1500 watts.  PW charge state is 47%.  Will turn on air conditioner and add about 1500 watts of demand.
8:00 am air conditioner is on.  3.3 kw being pulled from PW battery.  PV production about 1kw.
8:30 am.  Near equilibrieum.  PW battery is charging a bit while AC is cycled off, supplies a bit when AC is cycled on.  PowerWall battery at 36%.
9:00 am.  The PW is charging  at 1-2kw even while the AC is running.  PW still at 36%.  The GC has been charging at about 800 watts for about 1.5 hours.  If I had EV charging to do, this would be the time to start.
9:30 am.  The PW charging is threatening to reach the limit of 5kw.  If that limit is reached, the PW will shutdown PV production.  I am going out to work for an hour or so but will first turn off some of the PV.
10:30 am.  About 30 of the panels in the south yard are shut down.  Manually via circuit breakers.   It turned cloudy and production is varying around about 4kw.  The PW is at 49% and is supplying around 1-2kw.  I have confidence that the PW will become charged in a few hours.  At that time, I will have balancing trouble; the PW will shutdown PV.   If I had EVs to charge, my goal would be to keep the PW at 30-50% until early afternoon.  Then, assure the PW becomes fully charged as dusk approaches.
11:00 am.  Varying sun. PW at 56%.  PW is charging one minute, discharging another.   Will let things ride for a while.  Check on GC charging.  Will likely switch on grid soon to avoid squandering the valuable energy that is in danger of being lost.  Indeed, since I have ~30 panels switched off, I am squandering energy as I write.  The term "switch on the grid" is worrisome.  What if the grid were not there to be switched on?  Should I have to operate without the grid, I think I would do much as I have this morning.  Having an EV or two to charge would a positive.  Maybe next time.
1:00 pm.  Things went bad sometime after 11am.  I came back in the house to find the power had been off.  As I observed, the power cycled repeatedly.  Down for a few seconds, up for a few minutes.  I turned off most of my not roof top PV.   Power cycling continued.  I turned off the roof top PV, 5kw.  Still trouble but I observed low voltage, ~234.  Wait for a while.  Things stabilized but I was drawing from the PW battery with no PV production.  Turn the roof top back on.  Things are working fairly well.    I'm using about 3kw for air conditioning and GC charging.  PW either charges or supplies depending on sun.  PW at 55%.  I'll let this ride for an hour or so, then turn grid and all PV back on.  It looks like I can operate only with the roof top, off grid, in a fairly stable situation.  Adding enough PV to only charge a car will likely be troublesome.  I'm guessing I might be much better off with two PW batteries which could absorb up to 10kw from PV.

An Overview
I started my PV adventure about 8 years ago with the goal of suppling my own electric energy needs on each of my three electric meters.  Especially as PV component prices dropped and with the utilitiy's "net metering" program, that goal was easily, though slowly, met.   Then, with attractive rates being offered by my utility, I set a goal of earning as much money as possible from the production of electric energy.  That goal is also met though tweaking remains to be done.  A much longer term goal is to be able to weather a multi-day grid down event.  Installing a PowerWall micro grid at my house meter was a big step in that direction.  With the grid there to accept my over production, it is easy to avoid buying ANY power from the utility.  That is, when grid connected, my meter always "runs backward", never forward.  A major obsticle remains: maintaining PV production when the grid is not there to accept over production.  It is a problem of balancing PV production with electric demand.
The next project is to install a micro grid at the big barn / guest house meter so that I can maintain use of both my domestic water pressure and my internet access; both are dependent on that meter's power.

9/15/19

The first 12vdc -> 240vac grid tie inverter arrived yesterday and I tested overnight.  Input 14vdc and 250watts.  Output 240vac and 211 watts.  Disappointing low power and low efficiency.  A second unit should arrive soon and I will then test two in parallel.  My power source is an imiev and mostly overhead took about half the battery capacity overnight, perhaps 8kwh, to provide about 2khw worth of usable energy.  I'll look into pulling fuses to at least get the parking lights off.

9/22/19

My second 12v grid tie inverter arrived yesterday and I tested last night.  The 12v inverters are inefficient, pulling 250 watts from 14vdc and supplying only ~200 watts at 240vac.  I ran the two from the imiev, pulling ~500 watts.  I had pulled the fuse on the imiev which supplies daytime running lights, seemingly a major parasite load.  Just for fun, I also ran two M215s from the golf cart.  The M215s pull about 237 watts each from the golf cart and supply 230 watts each at 240 vac.  Total PW suppliment power was about 877 watts.  The golf cart batteries were depleted about 2am; I can add batteries to the golf cart to run three of more M215s all night.

The four grid tie inverters supplied about 7kwh during the over night test.  That is a large fraction my night time demand so the PW battery was depleted very little.   At times the set up was exporting power to the grid; I could have forced PW battery charging by disconnecting from the grid but I feared what would have happened had the PW battery became fully charged.

Conclusions:

1) ~500 watts is a generous PW supplement and no more is likely to be needed in my situation.  A single 230 watt M215 is likely sufficient.   In this season, my primary night time demand is a ~600 watt air conditioner; when that air conditioner is not needed at night, the PW easily supplies all needed overnight power.  The air conditioner cycles and average power is well below 600watts; the supplements supply power continiously.

2) The 36v golf cart is a workable solution in my situation.

3) The 12v inverters work ok but have objectionable efficiency and their cost is high compared to the more robust and efficient M215s.  The much larger EV batteries are an attraction to using the 12v inverters.  The high parasitic loads of the imiev are objctionable.  I will eventually test with a Tesla and perhaps a neighbor's Leaf.

4) The best solution, IMHO, remains running M215s from 12v through a voltage booster.  I have not yet found boosters that work very well.  The search continues.

Tesla Model 3 test
The Model 3 puts out only a little more than 12vdc.  At that voltage the 12v grid tie inverters supply only about 130 watts.  So, about 200 watts with an imiev's 14 volts but only 130 watts with the Tesla's 12 volts.

9/25/19
Several tests with the Tesla 3 (rather than an imiev) reveal that the Tesla is unwilling to give up more than a few hundred watts from the battery.  That is, the DC-DC does not try very hard to keep the 12v battery at full voltage.  I concluded that the car is monitoring 12v demand and allowing the DC-DC to only meet that demand.  Connections to the battery do not get monitored.  That was confirmed by a very helpful guy on the TMC thread:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/powerwall-2-0-backup-runtime-extender.126358/page-5
The bottom line is that the 12v supplemental connection needs to be made under the rear seat rather than at the battery:
https://www.travisllado.com/2019/05/tesla-model-3-stereo-part-9-summary-and.html

I will likely move my 12v tap cable from the front battery to the under rear seat tap point and route the SB50 end of the cable to somewhere behind the rear seats.   I'm thinking I should also install my 12v 100 amp circuit breaker.
Though a little more inconvenient for those of us wanting V2H supplemental power, the good news is that Model 3 batteries are likely longer lived.  I don't yet know whether S/Xs use the same scheme.  Recall that the early S 12v batteries were highly troublesome with, in some cases, a life of only a year.

10/17/19

The 12v tap on the Model 3 IS now under the rear seat.  Photos in the TMC post below.
I just made a TMC post which I will not likely repeat here:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/powerwall-2-0-backup-runtime-extender.126358/page-5


1/2/20
This project has been dormant for several month by virtual of having reached near completition.  See recent post:
https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2019/12/powerwall-agumentation-new-layout.html
More than one day's worth of continious cloudiness prompted me to run some augmenation; the easiest set up is 36v golf cart batteries feeding into two 250w microinverters.  The cloudy days prevent all PV energy from being used to charge the PowerWall; at such times, I'm inclined to go off grid to prevent day time power from being sold to the grid.  Yesterday, I was off grid all day yet did not get the PW charged beyond 65%.    So, I ran the golf cart battery augmentation starting about 4pm.  The starting charge was about 39 volts.  Though the max charge voltage is 42v, I generally do not charge beyond 40-41v in an effort to prolong battery life.  This morning, after PV started producing, my golf cart batteries were down to 25v, nearly exhausted.  At that time, the PW battery was down to about 19% and could have gone another several hours.  Looking at my Curb data, I estimate that the golf cart batteries supplied about 6kwh.  So, the total available, starting from a near full charge, would be about 7kwh.  That is a total of about 50 hoverboard batteries with a capacity of about 4ah (about .14kwh) each.

Who is Skinny Dennis?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpa5mOg3Fjs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLAuzVb-C_o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hRvuSTxFCU

Steve Earle, in his youth, was an early groupie of Townes.

John Kruth in his biograph  on Townes Van Zandt:
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/685838.To_Live_s_to_Fly
tells us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinny_Dennis

BTW, I've always been offended by some of LA Freeway lyrics.  Has anyone ever seen moldy vanilla waffers?  I haven't; they don't mold.  Especially since Guy Clark is no longer with us, I'll mute my complaint.

The upside to hording

I've been asked for proof that I have been a RoundUp user over the past 40 years.  Photos of containers and receipts were suggested.  I was looking around for old 2.5 gallon containers knowing I had not bought RoundUp in that size for ~30 years.  Then, I noticed these table supports:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9fUkK7VNVFaKi9nY6

For no particular reason, I've saved farm expense receipts since 1985.  After taxes are done, I've put them in a box, labeled with the year, and put them in storage.  I have a long string of these boxes in storage.  Many times it has been suggested that I throw them out since the IRS will not want to see anything older than three years.  I generally counter that I might want to review them as a history thing.   I just went through my oldest box and found three RoundUp receipts.  I'm most of the way through the next oldest box and have not found another.  Now, I'm debating whether to present only the three or continue to dig.  It can take several hours to go through a box.


It is nostalgic, reviewing old purchases.   Thousands of bare root fruit trees, blackberry roots, tomato transplant.  Almost uncountable diesel fuel receipts  Many companies no longer in business.  I found some weekly bills from neighbors that were delivering for me or working farmer's markets.

AutoPilot Test

For a year or longer, I've been testing AP on poorly marked county roads that lead to my house.

AP will not engage on roads without center lines.  To keep AP engaged on my route, I run a stop sign, going straight where the well marked Farm to Market road turns right.

In the past, AP would go several blocks past the first stop sign, make a slight left following the road but then attempt to go into a gravel drive way.  With updates, it learned to get past that hazard.  Then, a block later, there is a slight right turn at the second stop sign.  For a while, it was unable to negotiate that turn.  Then, about 1/4 mile farther, the main paved road turns slightly left and a gravel road makes a 90 deg turn to the right.  That also confused it for a period.  In all previous tests, I would have to abort with oncoming traffic; it tended to stay in the middle of the road.

A few days ago, I tested and found it would take that route all the way to my house.   If you watch the videos, you will see it even allowing oncoming traffic to pass.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/V2mvRZzsZJHMBKEf7

In the first clip, I have to go out from town and turn around in order to approach the first stop sign from the correct direction.  As I approached that stop sign, I engaged AP and the car drove with no input from me to my driveway where I disengaged AP in order to turn into the driveway.

The second clip begins with running the stop sign.  The formerly troublesome driveway passes on the right at about 50 seconds.

The third clip begins with running the second stop sign and negotiating the right turn.

The 4th clip has some oncoming traffic at about 25 seconds followed by the formerly troublesome gravel road intersection.

The 5th clip has me taking over from AP and turning into my driveway.

Throughout, the speed was 18 mph, the slowest allowed by AP.  Next time, perhaps I'll bump it up a little faster.

For those that need additional illumination: The Tesla AutoPilot software has improved tremendously over the past year or two.  The software updates magically appear on the car with no pain to the owner.  On well marked roads, the car very nearly drives with no operator intervention needed.  The exception is that it does not recognize stop signs or signal lights; so the operator must remain alert.  It will not yet follow a predetermined route; the operator drives down the road and then enables AP.  The exception is that the car will follow a predetermined route on freeways; negotiating interchanges.  The car follows the road, slows for leading slower traffic, performs emergency braking and avoidance when some unexpected obstruction appears.

OH! The video was provided by DashCam, a new feature that appeard a few months ago via a software update.  No additional hardware was required.  No visit to a dealer.  As part of the sensor suite that allows the car to drive itself are a number of video cameras.  The Tesla software developers decided to allow recording of three of those cameras.  My earlier tests were from the time before DashCam was enabled.

A few days later: I tested the route again at slightly higher speeds.  I continued to run the stop signs at 18 mph but used 20-25 mph elsewhere.  Success.