Building the Solar Barn- A Reality Manifesting....

Energy and Power is essential within this experience and we are finding that there is a global explosion going on over the resources of energy and power.  Mountains are being ripped up in the Appalacian Mountains to mine coal that supplies approximately half the electricity in this area, huge resources are being diverted for nuclear power which still has no plan of action for dealing with its toxic waste and byproducts, fracking is destroying water systems in upstate NY to supply gas, and it seems that most people have forgotten already of the ongoing devastation caused by the oil spill in the Gulf, not to mention wars devastating lives over the resource of oil.  

At this time the best resource available to those who need electricity but who want to have the lowest negative impact on Mother Earth, is the photovoltaic system or wind turbines.  They do use components made from metals, plastics and other resources, however once made they harness the energy from the Sun or Wind- TWO POWERFUL MISTERIOS- to generate electricity!  We have chosen to use the Photovoltaic system to collect energy from the Misterio of the Sun to generate electricity for our home and workshop.  

It all begins with design, and we have designed the home itself to use very little electricity, with many carefully selected choices that involve much research and consideration.  Once the home is designed to be as efficient as possible, the PV system is selected and we have selected  a system that is a 2205 Watt system complete with a 16 battery bank made of deep cycle 6 V batteries for energy storage for nights and cloudy/ stormy days.  

Here we are building the "solar barn" which will have the solar panels on the roof and batteries and inverter and other components inside.  It also has room for a generator and also a garden workshop.

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Since we had a large amount of grading and tree stumps to take out we rented a backhoe to handle this part.  Since we needed to create an open space so that the panels would get direct sunlight all day, we had to cut down a number of trees, which all are being used and which have also been replaced with hundreds of native trees which we have planted all around the land, and will continue to plant.

Here careful measuring is needed to get the barn foundation square.  We used concrete piers sunken in the ground to secure the barn.  We designed the solar barn ourselves as it required a very precise orientation towards the Sun and required a precise and unusual roof angle.  The snow delayed us a little as we needed to shovel it out of our way.

Anani is involved with every aspect, even if just observing at times, as she learns first hand the amount of work it takes to set up a system that can generate electricity.  This way she will always respect the energy for the house and learn to be as conscious as possible in terms of not wasting energy.  This is a hands on aspect of her "Earth Schooling" which will continue to give her many lessons as over the years we dig deeper and deeper into the system, understanding the mechanical, electrical and chemical laws and reactions taking place.  As Nganguleros (Bohitus) we also look deeply at the system in terms of Misterios and what Mysteries are present right within the system.

Here the foundation is laid out, again Anani is involved and learning in a natural unforced way about physical laws, mechanics, design, and also how to overcome adversities and unexpected events.

Looking down from the house loft window the floor of the barn can be seen.  Its dimensions are 28 feet long by 7 feet wide.

Since we are siding the barn with a board and batten siding we are building it in a timber frame style.  On side is 5 feet tall, the other is 10.5 feet tall this gives us a roof angle of 38 degrees perfect of the average angle needed to keep the panels roughly perpendicular to the Sun's rays year round.  

Rafters (2"x6") are set from the high roof down to the low roof giving a generous overhang on the lower side.  The upper side will have a second roof extending downward over a porch that runs the length of the barn.  

We are using metal roofing that comes in 2 foot wide sheets.  We chose metal roofing because metal roofing lasts many, many years, much longer than asphalt shingles and since our solar panels are good for at least 25 years we do not want a roofing that would require us to change it after 20 years or so.  This metal roofing will last years and can also be re-purposed/ reused if we every choose to redesign the solar barn.  

We begin to frame up the walls, framing where windows and doors will go.  Since the board and batten siding adds structural strength we do not need to use the typical house framing technique and can use less studs.

From the south side (true south which is significantly different from magnetic south), the roof is almost complete and the boards are starting to go up.

From the north side, you can see Kao putting up the boards, she has been working for a couple days on all the boards after carefully designing the windows for the garden workshop side of the barn.  Vents will go up high on the battery room to vent out any dangerous gasses.

The battery room gets insulation because batteries don't like to get too cold (it shortens their life).  We are not very happy with this type of insulation but the natural insulation we used in our house is much more expensive and our budget simply could not stretch for that.  No one is going to be sleeping in this barn so we came to an agreement to use the foam board.  The far left side is going to be a very well vented area for our generator that is back up for the PV system if we have too many grey days or if we have a need for additional power.  It is our goal to minimize the use of this generator!

Kao is up on the roof putting up the solar mounting racks which are lag screwed through the metal roof into wood bracing below.  The solar panels will be bolted onto the mounts.  The mounting racks must be set at precise measurements and there is no room for error.

The windows in the garden workshop part of the barn are windows we salvaged from the hay auction.  They are nice double glazed windows that allow a lot of light into the garden workshop.

Using multiple ladders makes it a little easier to move around on the roof.  You can see the solar mounts lined up in parallel to each other.  

We have 9 solar panels of 245 Watts each.  They are big but relatively light.  The little thin cells are the parts that capture the Sun's energy and turn it into DC electricity.  Later we will show the various components that will turn the DC electricity into AC electricity that can be used by lights and appliances in the home.

With the ongoing depletion of our Mother Earth's resources, it is essential to find alternate ways to provide the electricity and power that has become "normal" for us.  Early on in the process we were given a very good piece of advice which was to first reduce our electrical needs to about 10% of their current use.  This is possible through choices of appliances and design choices, as well as being more respectful and mindful of turning off lights when not needed.  Having a PV system requires a great deal of initial effort to set it up and an ongoing monitoring of the system, especially the batteries.  It requires one become acutely aware of ones electrical consumption and the source of one's energy (Sun).