“Our Mission: Gallup Solar is collaborating with communities, elected representatives, utilities and industry to bring solar power to all peoples in our area”

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MEETING SCHEDULE

February 5, 6-8pm
A Solar Store on Coal Street?
also: Report on Legislative Day of Faith
 
February 12, 6-8pm
What Would a Solar Gallup Look Like?
also: Prep for Renewable Energy Day at the Roundhouse, Santa Fe
 
February 19, 6-8pm
How Can Solar Become Accessible to All?
also: Report on Renewable Energy Day
 
February 26, 6-8pm
Gallup Solar Board Meeting

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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
Habitat Install
The Precautionary Principle
More on Solar Heating

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HABITAT INSTALL 2014!

WITH THANKS TO
Butler’s Office Equipment & Supplies
Brent Harelson/Antique Toys
Tom Flores
Cedar Animal Medical Center
Gallup Independent
Gallup Title
Gallup Vision Source
Gurley Ford
Andrea Sterling
George Taira
FOR PROVIDING MATCHING FUNDS

 
Left: Before this installation, Luis Rodriguez of Roca Electric had installed the disconnect box (the little one in middle) and a mast stabbing up through the eaves. Right: See 4 wires which are necessary for 220 AC.

Here Chris Chavez is sorting through little packages of clips, bolts and nuts and calculating the necessary distance between the 2 rails.
 48" worked!

Chris is sliding a Quick Mount flashing under a T-lock shingle. The pry bar in foreground removes roof nails. Roof sealant is applied to each hole.

Here Chris is drilling in a lag bolt through the mount into the truss. 
Four mounts for each of the 2-14' rails.

These rails magically appeared while Be, who had been taking photographs, left to get sandwiches.  Now Chris is instructing Mitchell, Zump and Bill how and where to attach the Enphase micro-inverters.

While Zump and Mitchell are bolting on a micro-inverter Chris is measuring to determine proper length of the trunk cable.  We used T-bolts, which Bill had to shorten with his sawsall.

Having cut the trunk cable and clipped it to this lower rail, Chris is discussing with Luis the best way of completing the connection.  
It is critical that the cable is prevented from touching and scraping against the shingles.

Luis is going to bolt on the little junction box on rail's end.  The size 6 AWG copper wire is strung across both rails to ground the PV system.

This system ground wire is also connected to junction box.

Luis has run the 4 AC wires through conduit.  Bill is attaching the + & - panel wires to the + & - micro-inverter wires and clipping the trunk cable here to suspend in a loop.

Here Mitchell is setting a mid-clamp which not only secures both panels but also presses a weeb into the rail.  This makes permanent the grounding contact.
 
Left: Zump and Mitchell are carefully lowering the last of the 3 panels, so as to not bend the guiding fins of the weebs. Right: A little no-confetti celebration is occurring on a northside roof on this day, January 10, 2014.  We prefer to recycle paper.

Ready for inspection!  Note that the State CID inspector said he's not used to PV installed correctly like this!

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The Precautionary Principle
 
It is seductive, because we like our jargon, to see environmental degradation as an integral part of the economy, albeit detrimental. There is loss of Natural Capital, insult to the triple bottom line and there are externalities in the red.
 

Although many feel confident about economic solutions to the environmental crisis those same people are unhappy with the way our economy works. Half of us want to be the one percent and the other half want the 1% to give back.
Should we entrust our environment to this system?
 
There is a principle that doesn’t require market-based analysis and can immediately take on our destruction of the environment case by case.

The Precautionary Principle:
When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.
In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.

Using the Precautionary Principle would allow us to look around to see if there are any more rusty tanks filled with deadly chemicals sitting on the banks of a drinking water source and remove them.
 
It would force companies to divulge and prove the safety of injecting chemicals underground where the exact borders of drinking water aquifers and other vulnerabilities are unknown.
 
In short, it is a common sense way of exercising our potential as responsible human beings.

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MORE ON SOLARONS FROM

NEW HAMPSHIRE
SEAREI's (Seacoast Area Renewable Energy Initiative) first solar thermal installation In Portsmouth using three of the solar air heaters.
 
This photo shows three Solaron hot air collectors mounted horizontally and ducted in series. The collectors have air moved through them by 2- 12 volt dc computer fans wired in series and powered by the 15 watt PV panel mounted to the left of the collectors (under the windows). There are no other controls. When the sun shines brighter the fans receive more power and increase the air flow through the collectors (which are generating more heat from more sunlight). Inside framing pictures are not currently available but we will be doing an identical installation on the same house. It will be an educational workshop and we will be documenting it with more photographs and perhaps a handbook.
The Gallup Solar Sun will continue to publish pictures and information about the Solaron Projects. Send yours to gallupsolar@gmail.com
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