With the Blue tarp gone, the skylights are actually letting in some light from the sky. They still need to be sealed up, but on a beautiful day like this one, it is easy to see why they are called skylights.
Instead of the Blue tarp, we now have an actual roof sealed with roof sealing stuff. I am glad I missed all the tarring and papering -- that stuff does not look very pleasent to work with. Here's what the sealed roof looks like (the big square holes will eventually become skylights -- at the moment, they are just enourmous leaks in the sealed roof):
before the roof was sealed, these posts had been installed in the roof and they got sealed into the roof:
No sooner had the roof was sealed when these guys showed up:
And they hauled up 18 of these large solar panels to the newly sealed roof:
The panels were then installed on the little posts and wired together:
They panels were then wired into this little box that collects all the power they generate and sends it down to the electrical meter in the garage:
Each of these panels can generate up to 205 watts of electricity, enough to keep a small blender working making Margaritas. Together, they generate 3690 watts, or about enough to run a couple of microwave ovens with enough left over to run an espresso machine. This may not sound like a whole lot of power, but because the power is mostly generated during the day when no one is home and is sold to PG&E hour after hour, it can offset most, if not all of the power we will use at night. At least that's the theory. I would like to hook it up to a tanning lamp so that I can catch some rays without getting out in the sun. It would make a nice addition to my water-powered water pump and my wind-powered fan.
Another exciting development in the house is the completion of the staircase that now goes all the way from the ground floor to the master suite on top of the house. This is the last portion to be completed, the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor. The backup ladder is still available for those who may not trust the newly installed stairs. I went up and down the stairs a few times and it seemed to be holding together just fine.
As if all of this was not enough, the electrical wiring has now been started and the electricians are busy installing outlets, switches, and lights.
With all of this activity, I took a moment to relax with a luxurious (simulated) shower in my future aqua spa. Not much longer before I can do this in the middle of a torrential tropical downpour courtesy of Kohler.
