flipping the switch

The story of Roddy the Cement Mixer teaches that with patience one’s project will reach its desired outcome. That happened for us today. Around 7:30 this morning our doorbell rang. It was PG&E, our electric utility. They were here to install our two-way meter so we could turn on our solar power system. Shortly after 8:00 a.m. we were outside for the small ceremony we had planned from the start of the project. Terry flipped the switch and the system came to life.

And so the journey we began at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in July reached the outcome we’ve been so long anticipating.

I have to give a shout out to all the good folks at The Solar Company. Von, our sales consultant; Mike, the inside sales guy; the fellow whose name I’ve forgotten who made two visits to make sure he had the measurements right; Felicia, customer project liaison extraordinaire, who kept us current and updated every step of the way; and Kenny, the installation crew chief who saw to it that the entire installation process was complete in one day. There were others with whom I only had contact once, and no doubt still more behind the scenes. All of them top-notch professionals.

Now we look forward to helping the environment just a bit and saving some big money on our electric bill.

Please forgive the fact that Terry is blurred. This is the actual moment that she switched on the system.

The display panel on our inverter

Our new two-way meter

The view from the roof, as taken by Kenny

Even on a dark, cloudy, overcast day, the system is generating power!

The door card from PG&E telling us that we can turn on our system