Installing Solar Panels on your House

In 2017, we decided to add roof-top solar panels to our house to supplement our years-long subscription to Xcel's Windsource program. We had 17 solar panels (system size 4.93 kw) installed on our roof in June of 2017 for $14,889.  Here is the process we followed:

1. Understand electricity usage from Xcel reports. You can create a free online account with Xcel and download reports on your usage. This is interesting in itself, and you should be doing everything you can to reduce your usage, including LED lights. Our 12- month usage as of Jan 2016 was 12,818 kWh, or a 17,150 lb carbon footprint. While we could have installed more panels than the 17 we elected to do, we'd decided that we wanted to spend about $15K on this project, so that limited the number of panels we would buy.

2. Learn about any rebates you can qualify for. We qualified for both Solar Rewards through Xcel ($0.08/kWh paid for our production for 10 years), and for a first-year 30% federal tax write-off on a portion of the cost of the panels. The tax write-off essentially decreased the cost of the panels to $10.4 K. Our expected payback was about 10-12 years or so.

3. Assess your roof. Our roof was about 18 years old, and given the life of panels (up to 25 years), you want to install them on a newer roof, or else there is an expense to having the panels removed and reinstalled with future roofing jobs. We elected to install a new roof, including converting from a number of roof vent boxes to a single ridge-line roof vent to allow uninterrupted roof area to place the panels.

4. Obtain bids and select your solar installer. We obtained bids from three different solar installers:

• Innovative Power Systems
• All Energy
• Applied Energy Innovation

We went with Innovative Power Systems. It's pretty common that the panels they quote you won't be the same ones they install, since panel models, like computers, are frequently changing, so we had a small reduction in price when they ordered our panels. The installation was easy, and only took a few days. We have a monitoring system that we can easily check with our computer, and that can generate easy production reports for us:

Report on solar production by month and year

Our per-panel production reporting- the panels on the left are more shaded by trees than on the right

In 2018, our panels produced 3,722 kWh of the 9,416 we used, or about 40% of our usage and we earned a Solar Rewards rebate of $298, in addition to the much lower electricity bills through the year. We have remained on WindSource for the energy we purchase.

Solar Panels Installed

2020 Addendum: The current percentage of US homes with solar panels is estimated at 1.5% but is expected to grow to 2.5% by 2024. In reviewing our production and expense numbers through year-end 2020, we're on track for full payback in the anticipated 10-12 years.

Renting a Camping Trailer

We'd been wanting to try a camping travel trailer for years, but didn't find any easy options when we've looked in the past. Recently there is a growing number of campers for rent by owner on sites such as RVshare and Outdoorsy, and we finally made it happen for the first time.

We wanted to rent one that fit within our current vehicle weight limits (3,500 lbs), and while there are many larger trailers listed, the availability of small, light trailers is very limited. We found a 14' trailer that fit the bill and rented it for two nights for $140 per night (including the fees not visible in the rental list price). We communicated with the owners for several weeks prior to the rental, and were required to read the camper's manual, and watch a number of YouTube videos created by the owner showing basics such as hooking up to the hitch, filling with water, dumping waste water, etc. prior to picking it up (the videos were quite helpful).

We booked a camping spot with electrical hookup at Blue Mounds State Park for $65 for two nights, which is about 160 miles away.

Being novice campers, we struggled with what to pack, and we weren't entirely sure of what cookware, etc., was included with the camper. Over our camping weekend, we refined our camping pack list, here.

When we went to go pick up the camper on Friday afternoon, the owners were very friendly and gave us a walk through orientation of everything, and we agreed on any scratches and marked them down (tip- take your own pictures of conditions before driving off). The camper was well-stocked with cookware and other supplies. Andy nervously backed up the car to line up the hitch for the first time (the backup camera was very helpful here) and we hooked it up and drove off. The car handled well, but it was definitely sluggish in acceleration and slower in braking, and we drove carefully and often a bit below the speed limit, so it took longer to get to the park than we were planning (next time, we're going to aim to stay within a 100 mile radius to maximize the fun-to-drive ratio). We also noted our gas mileage dropped in half while we were towing.

Once we arrived at the park, we attempted to fill our water tank- we didn't use the right port and failed here- this wasn't a big deal since our camp was close to plumbed bathrooms and showers, and we could use a bucket of water from the camp faucet to do our dishes.

The bed was a bit hard, and too short for Andy, who basically slept diagonally to fit, but otherwise it was very comfortable. It was hot in the evening so we ran the AC for a short while but were able to open the windows for fresh air later in the evening. It rained off and on all weekend, so we were grateful to have a dry place to sleep (and to eat dinner during a downpour). I wasn't sure how I would like the open kitchen in back, but it was nice to have a little refrigerator and propane stove, and I really enjoyed cooking in it.

We had a wonderful weekend. When it was time to pack up, things went fairly smoothly- we figured out how to dump the gray water from doing dishes in the sink, and we were off, returning the camper safely.

The experience confirmed for us that renting is a great idea for occasional use- you can enjoy a camper for a short time without the expense of buying, equipping, maintaining, or storing. We are already dreaming about the next time...

Short bed, but we made it work

William's Favorite Mac & Cheese

Our son loves mac & cheese, so we tried a number of recipes to find the one that best met our mutually-agreed on criteria of really good mac & cheese:

• Extra creamy and saucy
• Not baked (the baked versions we tried tended to get too dry)
• Easy to make for a crowd
• Use of real cheese- not just completely Velveeta

Of the four recipes we tried, this one was deemed the winner.

Once again, the crock pot tends to be very useful, as this recipe yielded creamy, delicious mac and the timing of serving can be flexible- great for a football-watching!

yield:6 TO 8 SERVINGS

prep:30 MINUTES

cook:3 HOURS

total:3 HOURS 30 MINUTES

An incredibly easy macaroni and cheese recipe made right in the crock pot; perfect for feeding a crowd!

INGREDIENTS:

·         16 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni

·         6 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes

·         1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

·         2 cups (480 ml) half & half

·         ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk

·         16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)

·         8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

·         ¼ teaspoon salt

·         ¼ teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.      Spray a slow cooker (4 to 6-quart capacity) with cooking spray. Cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Place the macaroni in the slow cooker, immediately add the butter and stir until melted.

2.      Add the evaporated milk, half & half, whole milk, 3½ cups of the cheddar cheese, the Velveeta, salt and pepper; stir to blend well.

3.      Cover and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup of cheddar cheese. Once done, turn the slow cooker setting to warm until ready to serve. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Graduation Open House- Part II

Note: To read about our first graduation open house, click HERE.

At first our son was a bit ambivalent about having an open house for his high school graduation, but we didn't give him the option to opt out. Instead, we planned a smaller-scale celebration with family and close friends. I'd been asking him for months ahead of time what kind of food or theme he wanted, and for a long time his only mono-syllabic response was "meat." I brainstormed for some time, and when he later mentioned how much he loved gyros, the idea struck me- could we have a gyro bar? I called over to Bill's Imported Foods in Minneapolis (an institution we have loved for many years) and they were SO easy to work with- we could rent a table-top electric gyro rotisserie from them for $25. BINGO! After that, the details started to come together pretty quickly. We would serve gyros (a 10 lb cone of gyro meat at Bill's was about $40) with the fixings. I would make a big greek salad, chips, grapes, and a big batch of homemade chicken gyro from this recipe, broiling the meat in batches then keeping it warm in a crock pot. We served pop and bottled water, along with beer and wine for the adults (I even made a special stop to buy bottles of retsina).

We scheduled the open house from 12-4 on Sunday May 12th. We took advantage of holding it fairly early in the season since Will went to the U of M full time as a senior and was done with classes by then.

I designed and ordered invitations from Sam's Club photo center.

Grandpa offered to make 3 pans of his famous "crack" brownies for the party, so dessert was set, but to add to the festivities, I decided to order a small photo cake from Denny's 5th Ave bakery in Bloomington for about $40. It came out really nicely.

I'd collected 5"X 7" school photos from kindergarten through his senior year, and hung them up, along with some other memorabilia, the U of M double-sided fleece blanket, travel pillow (see HERE) and graduation photo book I'd made him (see HERE).

The party turned out really nicely, and everyone had a great time.

Ready for guests!

Carving the gyros

Two kinds of Grandpa's "crack" brownies- regular and mint

Will with some of his friends

The volleyball crew

A fabulous T-shirt quilt made by Grandma Pam

Trying out the T-shirt quilt

Subversive Cross Stitch

I find subversive cross stitch hilarious- the incongruity of the sweet old-fashioned homey look of cross stitch combined with highly sarcastic or downright offensive messages. There are a number of funny ideas if you browse subversive cross stitch, including on Pinterest. I’ve never done cross stitch before, so I thought I would give it a try. First, I checked out a book from the library, Subversive Cross Stitch: 50 F*cking Clever Designs by Julie Jackson, which did a pretty good job of explaining the basics.

I had my own sentiment in mind, so I had to create my own pattern. You can print cross stitch grid paper from many sources, I downloaded grid paper from www.cyberstitchers.com. I bought an inexpensive 6” X 8” frame and sized my grid pattern to fit within the frame. The count size of your Aida fabric must be accounted for in the scale of your pattern- I purchased a piece of 12” X 18” 14ct Aida on Amazon for $4. 

I used an online text pattern generator at www.stitchpoint.com, using the Amsterdam text type to create my own text pattern, then transferred the text pattern to my paper grid pattern, using the designated center of the grid as a reference. Next, I had to create a basic border to meet the dimensions I wanted. I used a Scandinavian border pattern from www.Dreamstime.com. Use pencil for this, since you have to figure out and adjust stitch counts to fit your intended size.

I bought 4 colors of embroidery floss at a craft store and I was ready to go with my old embroidery hoop. Baste two lines to indicate the center, and start counting from the pattern to place your stitches. Use 2 threads of floss at a time when stitching.

Once you get going, it’s pretty mindless. You do have to stitch the legs of your stitches in the same order to maintain symmetry. It’s a good thing to do while watching a show you don’t need to pay much attention to.

The finished project

Here is a link to my pattern.