Lonesome Dove
Terms of Endearment
The Last Picture Show
Hud
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
BEV RV van considerations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Ducato
https://maxwellvehicles.com/index.html#epro
Maxwell is making a business of converting well used "last mile" delivery vans for delivery companies that have extracted most of the value from new ICE vans. Dodge/Ram Fiat ICE "ProMasters" were chosen by Maxwell for their product. They are front wheel drive so most of the drive line is straightforwardly replaced with a Tesla drive unit. Maxwell has developed an interface computer that makes the ProMaster think it still has an ICE and the Tesla drive train to think it is in a Tesla car. So, Maxwell is able to take a van worth around $10k and, for $30+k, turn it into a good condition battery electric van. I believe potential competing new delivery vans are priced in the $150k-$200k range.
My interest is in an RV conversion van. Maxwell is not offering SuperCharger access so cross country travel will have to be via CCS charging. Which is SADLY lacking in all aspects: geographical placement, maintenance, reliability, charge power, payment convenience, I am somewhat inclined to get into a minimal cost Maxwell for <$50k and worry about the charging problem later. Of course, the CCS system is likely to improve over time. I'll need to find out how upgradeable a small battery might be.
When I got my first 2013 Tesla, there were very few SuperChargers in the central part of the country and I had no expectation of the rapid expansion that occurred. I had intended to tour around the country mostly charging in RV parks. To make the slow, 6-8 hour, RV park charging sessions less painful, I bought a tear drop trailer to provide comfortable accommodations while charging. I failed to use the tear drop for that purpose due to two factors: pulling the tear drop reduced the range more than expected/hoped and the SuperCharger network grew a LOT faster than anticipated. It long ago became possible to drive a Tesla essentially anywhere in the country on a series of less than one hour charging stops. With a Maxwell RV conversion, I would likely revisit RV park charging; the Maxwell will be a LOT more comfortable than the tear drop.
I have two Sprinter T1N vans. One, a low medium length cargo van which started life as a farmers market and produce delivery van. It is used now only to haul pallets of PV panels; it will haul two pallets at a time. Trips primarily are less than 100 miles into Austin truck terminals and back. The cargo van has somethiing like 160k miles now. The other is a long high camper conversion which has given me some repair problems. It now has somewhere around 50k miles.
Monday, March 22, 2021
A string of four gloriously sunny days.
Thursday March 18 through Sunday March 21 Friday and Saturday were near perfect sun days. Sunday had some morning clouds. Successive new records at hilltop. Kwh sales as reported by electric provider, Bluebonnet Electric Coop on the three meters that earn $.06/kwh.
Thur-Sunday :
New "hilltop" under construction : 71.1, 84.93, 92.16, 108.99 as I was adding panels. Today will be a disappointment due to cloudiness.
Across road: 327.74, 319.87, 319.74, 319.91
House: 219.2, 217.86, 203.2, 202.69
Totals: 618, 623, 615, 632
$37 - $38 per day for four days. "Overhead" connection fee is about $.75/meter/day. So, net about $35/day.
Our peak production is in the period July-September. Probably. I hope to be averaging about $50/day by then.
Sunday, March 14, 2021
My Evolution of Ground Mount PV
This will chronicle my search for the most cost effective self installed PV.
About 2010 or 2011, Jean and I bought a Sprinter RV conversion anticipating doing some travel while she had the time. Though her time was shorter than we planned. I had a building put up to store and protect the Sprinter conversion. I had the building oriented with a due south facing roof anticipating installing PV panels. For a few years, neighbor Ray had been experimenting with PV and keeping the subject in my consciousness. I bought a four panel kit from an eBay seller. I fondly remember Jean and I taking our new 2011 Leaf to a north side of Austin freight terminal to pick up the kit. The packaged panels would not fit in the Leaf and we had to unpack in order to load the panels. I don't recall the cost but probably less than $2k. I eventually had Steve Clunn of Green Shed Conversions in Florida install the four panels on a structure cantilevered off the south shed of the RV building. That was Steve's first experience with PV; he went on to install quite a lot of PV at his Florida home. Those four panels are still producing but the initial plan to expand along the length of the shed were never fulfilled. I later had Longhorn Solar do a roof top install on that building; that must have been 2012 or 2013. Cost was high. Even with a 30% income tax credit, the expected pay back period was around 20 years. That system has now about half paid for itself.
My next self install experience was a wood frame mounted on a 16' flat bed trailer deal. The first pictures of the album. That system produced only a couple of years before high wind and new ideas hastened it's demise. 2016-2017 era. I believe the panels cost around $100 each and the chinese micro inverters were around $80 each. The wood frame was insufficiently durable and cost around $50/panel. While the trailer system was still producing, I experimented with two much more substantial six panel two post mounts. Those are about the most durable and maintenance free mounts that I have done. Sadly, too expensive, around $100/panel. I went on to panels leaning on pipe rails and resting on the ground. Far cheaper at less than $50/panel. Difficulties are ongoing maintenance for weed/grass control and restraining against wind forces.
Somewhere along about this period, I came to the realization that I could become a professional power producer. Selling power to my utility with attractive economics. I decided I might get my costs low enough that my pay back period might be as short as about five years. Even with the wholesale prices the utility is willing to pay.
I put in quite a few low rails with leaning panels over a year or so. I early became aware that pointing direction was not crucial. Most panel orientations will produce about 90% as much energy as optimally pointed panels. So, I placed rails that mainly just avoided pointing toward shade. In the search for lower cost, Ray suggested north/south rails with panels on both sides pointed east and west. The disadvantage was lack of access to the back sides of the panels where micro inverters were dangling. The high reliability of the Enphase micro inverters then being used persuaded me that maintenance access was not so important. So, I started installing "two face rails" with steeper panel slopes. These were more wind resistant than the "one face rails". After getting several of those two face rails installed and producing with one micro inverter for each panel, I realized that a single micro inverter might serve one east facing panel and one west facing panel. Testing revealed that that was the case with only a small loss of total energy produced. So, all new rails are two faced with half the number of inverters as panels. Old two face rails are slated to be reconfigured. Cost per installed and producing panels are now down around $75-$80. I've spent quite a bit experimenting with string inverters; they have the potential to bring cost down to about $60-$70 per panel. I've had good success getting my low cost panels to work with older design string inverters. But, the older string inverters are generally no longer available and I've failed to get more modern string inverters to work with the low cost panels.
My concentration on east and west facing panels has, as a primary benefit, spreading production over a much wider time period than optimal south facing only. My daily periods of good production may be 3-4 hours longer than for south facing only. It also maximizes the utilization of my grid connections. The size of transformers limits peak power of production; when that peak is smeared out over time, more energy can be pushed to the grid.
Included in the photo album is a photo of a neighbor's very nice rail system with the lower portion of the panels elevated. But the cost is high, about $100/panel just for the mount. Neighbor Ray also holds his rail panels up off the ground. His system is a bit expensive and also retains obstruction to mowing. He uses inverted plastic feed tubs which are not available cheaply in volume.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Prepping
Perhaps this will be the start of a "useful prepping links" post.
https://survivalblog.com/2021/03/10/constructing-diy-composting-toilet-sf-oregon/
Having been without indoor water for several weeks, I'm thinking of doing an outdoor shower of some sort. For decades, I've had a shower on an outside wall of the sauna building.
Friday, March 5, 2021
Border Collies I Have Known
Today, I crawled under the house to identify and inspect the water leak. It was the first time I had been under the house in decades. Perhaps since the similar event of 1983. What does this have to do with Border Collies? I found three tennis balls neatly lined up along the edge of a foundation pier. Starting with Trouper, we've had a long string of Border Collies. Most are buried around the place. The names and details of their lives have largely faded from my memory. Jean would remember. There was Trouper, Shiner, Lobo, Slick, Rojo, Tess, Woot, and Tip that I recall. I believe Lobo was the offspring of Trouper and Shiner. I was left with Tess and Tip when Jean died. Tess was old, Tip young. We became partial to red Border Collies; Rojo, Woot and Tip were red. Shiner had black fur around one eye and white around the other. Slick had a smooth coat. Tess was a shy female, bought at a sheep herding event near Crawford. She would have no truck with any male dog. All through her life. Though we tried numerous times to breed her. When we got Tess, Rojo was aging and Tess was intended to be the mother of his pups and possibly producing some reds. Tess frustrated Rojo through his remaining years.
Jean acquired Trouper before she met me. She would have known his birthday but I do not. Perhaps around 1970. Before coming to Dale, Trouper had a frustrating youth. Confined to a smallish walled in yard. Constantly tormented by evil squirrels. While Jean was off at college, he had only sporadic human companionship. Trouper, Jean and I came to Dale in 1976. I'm certain that Trouper immediately realized that Dale is heaven on earth. Vast areas to be explored and viewed. Evil squirrels to be chased long distances.
Trouper was highly protective of Jean. But not in an aggressive way. When an unvetted threat would appear, Trouper would slink around to rear. Then rush in silently and bite the threat on the rear of a leg. Then, rush away. We learned to watch for the behavior and averted many instances. He did attack my father, who was a stranger to Trouper and successfully bit him. Much to my embarrassment. I suggested to Jean that it might be time to dispatch Trouper. Of course, she would have none of it.
Jean's father was an avid tennis player. Old tennis balls were readily available. Some time in the first couple of years, every Border Collie decides on his life's work. Trouper chose chasing tennis balls. When ever Jean's father came to visit, he would bring a couple of cans of new/used tennis balls.
I never knew Trouper to voluntarily quit a game of chase the ball. No one learned his limit. He wore out ALL human partners. One strategy for slowing down a game was to throw more than one ball. Trouper quickly learned to carry two balls in his mouth. Which did make each cycle a little longer. Then, three balls. Though I've seen him try, I don't think he ever managed four balls. The only way to terminate a game seemed for the human partner to go into the house. Trouper considered walking across the lawn an invitation to play. He would drop a ball in the path. The partner would either trip and fall or kick the ball. Either was fine with Trouper. A kicked ball is just as good as one thrown. He extended that strategy to lawn mowing. He would drop balls in front a pushed lawn mower. He seemed never to associate mutilated and less chewable balls with encounters with mowers. Any fragment of a mutilated ball is suitable for chewing. One great pleasure in Dale is drinking a beer in a hammock in a hot afternoon, then drifting away in a nap. Not possible unless one first put Trouper in the house or in a truck. Trouper would drop a ball under the hammock and expect it to be thrown. If not thrown, he would poke the partner with his nose from under the hammock. One could just put the ball in the hammock. Trouper would either poke the ball from under the hammock or go find another ball. All our Border Collies played tennis balls. None as avidly as Trouper, though. It was likely Tip that left the three balls under the house to find. Thanks, Tip.
Trouper did teach me that there is no squirrel on earth that deserves to live.
In his advancing years, Trouper became deaf. The deafness did not dull his fear of thunderstorms. One stormy night, he escaped the yard and got out on the road. One of our neighbors ran him down and left him dead or dying on the road. That is also the way Woot met his end though he was only about a year old. Trouper must have been 14 or 15. I believe it was Slick that I did in. We had a coyote problem I hoped to solve with strychnine baited meat. I locked up Slick for a few nights. When the coyotes rejected my offering, I dug a post hole about three feet deep and buried the bait. A few hundred yards from frequently traveled areas. Slick nosed it out, dug it up, and ate it. And died. I guess I should have burned the bait.
All our Border Collies have shown great glee at the prospects of running trucks, tractors, and golf carts. While plowing, back and forth, back and forth, Rojo would work the tractor. Back and forth, back and forth. When completely tired out and hot, he would jump in a tank, cool off, than back to the job after having missed a few tractor circuits. One, I think it was Lobo, could not resist nipping at the front of rolling truck tires. Rolling wheels excited him. He was run over several times but never reformed. He was one of our more expensive Border Collies with hundreds of dollars in vet bills.
3/8/2021
Neighbor Donna yesterday had her car totaled by an uninsured driver who ran a stoplight to get to Donna. Since Donna rejected a trip to the hospital (and chose to come home with a profusely bleeding scalp wound), I related my story. I was run down in the early morning hours in the middle of Arkansas by an eighteen wheeler with an apparently sleeping driver. I was going up to visit Jean while she was living in Rolla Missouri, teaching at University of Missouri at Rolla. Early 1980s, as I recall. I had a Border Collie companion. As I recall, Jean recently found a rent house where she could keep a dog and the Border Collie was to become a long term Rolla resident. One to two years. Sadly, I can not put name to Border Collie. A black and white. Maybe Lobo. "Lobo" was laying in the passenger seat and I had been using a quart of very runny homemade yogurt for road food. On impact, directly from the rear, "Lobo" (and I) bouned around in the truck and the dog ended up in the passenger foot well. Not noticeably injured. He did not respond to questions. Yogurt thrown everywhere. A hundred yards down the road where my Isuzu pickup came to rest, I emirged, seemingly not seriously injured. Amulance and cops soon arrived. I was transported to the Arkadelphia hospital ER where an overnight stay was highly recommended. They found blood in urine but said that was pretty common and to at least have it checked again later. Like Donna, I would have none of a hospital admission. Bad mistake. The Isuzu was drivable and I wanted to get to Rolla and not worry about what to do with the dog. So, a few hours later, I was off. The soreness came up on me unexpectedly. The ~6 hours to Rolla was the very worst road trip I have ever had. I was dead tired, horribly sore all over, unable to find a comfortable driving position and unable to get comfortable enough to nap in the truck. I guess I should have considered a motel room. Eventually, I arrived in Rolla and spent nearly a week on Jean's living room floor. I could not sleep in a bed. The refusal to spend a night in the hospital came back to bite me when negotiating a settlement with the trucking company. National Freight. Self insured so I was dealing directly with the trucking company. I eventually got hooked up with Beaumont lawyer who informed me how much easier it would have gone had I spent a night in the hospital. I had only my own testimony about the week of hell I endured. Had I spent the night in the hospital, it would almost certainly have stretched to several days. I was almost unable to move for that time. The final settlement was only about $30k. National Freight first offered only about $2k; the supposed value of the used truck. I told them if they found and replaced with a new rare diesel, we would be close to a settlement. The pick up truck was a bit crooked but served well on the farm; it was converted to a flatbed.
Tip was our only fence climber and wanderer. He was creative and incorrigible. We would frequently notice Tip's absence and sometimes get calls from neighbors since his collar tag had our telephone number. These calls came from all directions and from as far as two miles away. Early on, Jean and I added "leaners" to the top of our 5' chain link kennel. That was an extension in height of about 18" and leaning into the interior. To discourage climbing. He would never climb when watched. I took some video when he was "confined" to a small 6' kennel out at the guest house. He would take a running leap at a corner and be over with seemingly little effort. I eventually tried tethering him to a small old tire. At least once I had to rescue him on the outside of the kennel dangling by the neck above the ground, the tire on the inside of the kennel. In an attempt to limit the distance of Tip's excursions, I tethered him to tires of ever increasing sizes. Tip became perhaps the world's most fit Border Collie; he continued to drag the tires great distances with seeming enthusiasm.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
PV Production 2/10/2021 through 2/18/2021
My "Across the Road" meter is devoted almost completely to PV production
and it is my highest producing meter. Up to about 300kwh/day. Other
meters have "good day" productions ranging from about 70 to 200 kwh/day.
During "the episode", I was running an electric heater (on a
thermostat ~1kw, I think) to keep two tractors in the RV building from
freezing and an electric light bulb or two.
For the period 2/10 through 2/18:
My consumption was less than 6 kwh/day
My net sales ranged from 12 kwh to 52 kwh
Total sales were 221 kwh for the nine days.
Production during the period was limited primarily due to snow cover on
panels though those panels are mostly steeply sloped. ~70 deg from
horizontal. I observed that roof top panels with ~20 deg slope cleared
faster than those resting one end on ground.
Though I did no snow clearing, had I had advance notice of grid failure
threat, I would have worked some clearing snow from panels. I expect my
energy would have been quite valuable to Bluebonnet.
I could extract similar data on the other three meters but don't think
it's worth my trouble. I would expect to find that I was a net user
rather than a producer as the above indicates on that one meter.
This may have the makings of a blog post.
Net sales on my not yet completed "hilltop" project was 87 kwh for the entire period.
Net consumption at my house was 69 kwh for the entire period.
Net consumption at my "big barn" meter was 207 kwh for the entire period.
So, my energy consumption and sales were 221 + 87 - 69 - 207 = 32 kwh in sales.
The consumption at the big barn was unexpectedly high. I haven't thought of a reason yet.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Old Movies Android app
I came across
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acowboys.oldmovies
and decided to give it a try. First, I found an old silent, 1916, version of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20,000_Leagues_Under_the_Sea_(1916_film)
And then a rather spectacular early Gregory Peck movie:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Sky
I'm sure there is much more to be found. As near as I can tell, free and ad free. Chromecast works well for viewing on big TV. Wish I had more bandwidth. And time.
Monday, March 1, 2021
Independence Day
Tomorrow (3/2/2021) is Independence Day. I will content myself with posting older links. It turns out, Independence Day comes around EVERY YEAR!
https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2020/02/i-was-about-to-forget-texas-history.html
https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2019/02/im-lazy.html
I had a several years long series of carefully crafted Independence Day posts on Google+. Google abandoned Google+ and my archive there was lost. Blogger is poor substitute for Google+.
Texas Independence was declared by selected representatives gathered at Washington On Brazos, now a State Park, in 1836. Texas was in dire straits. The Alamo was besieged and was within a few days of falling with ~170 patriots killed. The Mexican brutality was much in contrast to the leniency shown a few months earlier when Texans captured San Antonio. Captured and surrendered Mexican soldiers were disarmed, given needed medical attention, paroled, and sent walking to Mexico.
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