One thing that we have always felt like the Ranch has been lacking is a way to generate its own power. We are not meaning 100% live off the grid stuff, just something to help with all the costs associated with a ranch. We have three regular refrigerators, four stand up freezers, and now the walk-in cooler.
We have considered solar, and we even had a salesperson from Green Ridge Solar come out to the house and give us an estimate. It would have cost over $65,000 and had a 17-year payback. Plus, we would have had to take out a loan to pay for it. That was out of the question. A 17-year payback is not worth all the hassle.
Literally, 2 days after Green Ridge Solar called Greg back to follow up on the site visit, we had a friend call and say that he had found a complete working and active solar panel system for free. It was only seven years old and on a commercial building. The tenants who installed it were moving locations and the landlord did not want the system to stay.
We filed for an electrical permit with the City of Portland and hired two licensed electricians along with a few guys to help with labor to get the system taken apart and moved to the ranch in one day.
The system is large enough to cover about 2/3th of the monthly power bill at the Ranch. PGE has basically confirmed that we are able to tie the system into the grid via Net Metering. We are currently in the process of applying for permits with both PGE and Clackamas Country to be able to install the system.
We are planning on mounting them on the south side of the garage and lean-to roofs. This is an ideal location because the roofs are sheet metal, face away from the house, and have full southern exposure without shade.
It will probably be several months before the installation process happens, but keep an eye out for future blogs on the process.
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