We installed the solar power system a couple years back, and now the house is finally complete enough to get wired.
The night before, we spent a couple hours unloading and loading the truck and double checking all the parts to make sure we had everything to get the job done on board.
As the sun was setting, we completed preparing everything and decided we had earned a drink. It’s that time of year again where the sunsets are often beautiful.
We left our shop long before the sun was even thinking about coming up and made the first leg of the trip eastward to the Prescott area in the dark.
About halfway there, the sky started changing colors and it was a beautiful morning.
Shaky picture Denise took ( hey-we were in a vehicle that’s literally called a “Freightshaker”-what do you expect?!😄😄) but it’s still pretty.
We got to the job site just after sunup. It was a clear, cold morning at about 36 degrees.
While it was still cold out, we set the 200A sub panel in the house that was nice and warm.
Then we went outside to hang the main panel, where we got an unpleasant suprise-the cold clear morning had changed into a hot still day with temperatures to almost 90 degrees and an intense sun. 😬 Typical Arizona high desert. 😄😄
Once the panels were set, it was time to unload the big spool of wire and the tugger, both of which are too heavy to move by hand , so the crane was put into action.
Yes, that’s a pirate chicken flag you see on the crane. 🏴☠️ 😄😄🤷♂️
Here’s the main panel all made up, with a 225a rated lug in kit that feeds the sub panel.
Here’s Denise adding a circuit for a GFI outlet just under the panel.
Yes, she’s really that short.
And yes, that panel is really that high. 😄 The guy that was supposed to do the grading around the house flaked on the homeowner, and the dirt is currently about 8-10” low here. ( Coincidentally, we will be dragging our skid steer right by here in a couple weeks. 🤔🤔)
Here is the makeup in the 400A panel that feeds the house and other buildings on the property.
Yes, you can have a 400A service for your totally off-grid property.
This panel wasn’t supposed to have a meter socket, but we installed it at the height of COVID and this was the only panel I could find-and I had to go to ridiculously great lengths to even get this one. 🙄
We finally wrapped up the job after sunset and snapped a picture as we were getting ready to leave. By the time we got home some two hours later in the dark, it had been a pretty long 14 hour day. But everything was powered up and the homeowner is happy because she now has some power outlets in the house to use for construction!
