Dig, Billy Joe, Dig!


Have we ever discussed the energy issue?  How many times?  Over and over the discussion has taken many rabbit trails as I've previously mentioned.  Today, October 1, 2009 was monumental.  Mike and Ed are to the right in this photo, discussing the ridge as the location for the solar tracker.  This is a great change of events as we had thought it was not going to work and the tracker (which is huge) would have to be placed behind the main cabin.  Arriving on the job today, my goal was to come to agreement on the placement of the tracker so it would be least visible, especially from the huge kitchen window over the sink.  As we looked there was no way to "hide" such a monstrosity.  It was painful to think such a gorgeous rustic cabin was destined to have a space-age contraption in plain site.  The numbers were crunched, options tossed around, ramifications identified, and what was left was a no-brainer...
    Put the tracker on the ridge! 
So we turned the backhoe loose and yelled,
"Dig, Billy Joe, Dig!",
sending him up above the cabin on the ridge.  It is about 350' up, but completely out of site through the woods.  The other huge bonus is that the increased range of sunlight up there makes a huge difference in energy-generating capacity.  All around, it seems to be the decision we've all been waiting to arrive at. 

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