Aloha Friday -TV Shows

Here is the Question:

Have you watched any
Going Green TV shows?

I started about 3 years ago watching "Living with Ed". It was mostly humorous, I love watching Ed Begley Jr in Movies and TV show, but this was truly something different. His wife Rachelle, reminds me of Me! Ed is like my Hubby. He was always trying to save electricity, going behind turning off lights, putting those LED ones in and looking into alternative solutions. Bringing home all kinds of new things he found in the market place, bring people over to talk about alternative solutions. And yes I like Rachelle would just stay in the background, protesting once they left. I Grew to love that show"Living with Ed". Didn't realize I would be joining the Green Nation group!



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The Solar Inverter

The electric part is now complete. So, What does the Solar Inverter look like and what does it do? The photo on the left is the final look.
How does it work? The solar panels collect energy from the sun and stores it as Direct current(DC),like the power from a battery. Since home power is run by Alternating Current or AC, the energy needs to be converted to be used. The Inverter work like a transformer, turning the transistors rapidly on and off and feeding two different sides of the transformer tricking the transformer into thinking it is getting AC.
Our system is a Grid feeding one. That means the energy being collected that is not being used in our home at the time, will feed the power companies lines. Giving them a cleaner reusable source, we are doing our part to lower the CO2. You can see this by viewing the Meter box. As seen in the video below ours, in test mode, is going backwards.

What does it do? Besides the turning DC into AC the Inverter box supplies information to the consumer. We can see how much energy is being collected, the amount of CO2 being saved and other stats that are helpful. Now we must turn it off until it is hooked up to the grid. A few more days to go. The inspectors and Utility company to make their showing. A meter to be swapped out and an inspection sticker to be placed. Just a sneak preview for you all.


As I stated earlier the meter is going backwards. Here a short Video:

Our Solar Project-The Electric Part

Two days of Electrical work. Our wiring in this old house was a "train wreck" as the electrician stated. Wires were old and some were degrading, all the wires were in a jumble and who knew what was lurking in the walls.
We were told our electricity would be out all day and it was. They started at about 8am and didn't finish til about 8pm. Thanks to our generator we still were able to carry on with daily activities. I did cook out on the grill however.
Needed to have 2 panels put into one. Some new wires were run for the solar Inverter box (I'll post that part later).

Rick the electrician did a great job with the Box. As you can see below. The box looks very organized, all the wires in their places. Two boxes now One with room to expand. Now for the job of labeling every thing. That is a job in its self.

I Did it Monday-My 100th Post!

Well here I am posting my 100th post on a Monday! This site started out with an idea of Logging my Fitness diary. So the name was born "Ready 2 Get fit". I found a following of people in the same boat as me. Meet Julie Malone and her success with the Wii. Bought a Wii and joined in with thousands on the Wii Journey. Along the way I met Jen, Jenn,and Colleen. These girls have been with me since the beginning, March 2009. My journey is still an on going one.
August brought in a new look and name for this site. Hubby was gun hoe on going green. Watching Ed Begley Jr on "Living with Ed" just made the need stronger. Hubby was on me all the time. One Morning in July I woke up and realized I needed to get on board. That is when the decision to go Green started and my blog took on a new venue. Not wanting to start a new blog the name of this one was changed to "Living Healthy with Auntie E" (that's Me!). My thought was Going Green and losing weight was inclusive in its self. Both are striving to Living Healthier.

To participate in "I Did it Monday" go to My Meme Mania

Our Solar Project Has Started

On Friday they started installing the conduit that will hold the wires. They installed the cut off box. So if need be, the feed to the grid can be shut off. The pipe that runs down the side of the house was painted to match our siding. You can hardly see it.

The Electrician made the measurement and talked us through their plans for Monday. I really like that. So far all the installers have been very informative and experienced. These are people who are Masters and have had their own businesses. Now working for the Solar company we are using. Most of them had to seek a company to employ them because the work , due to our economy, just wasn't there to continue with their own Business. I think it was a good move for them. Continuing to use their skills while in this recession and helping with the Green alternative is a great choice. Having these type of workers are far better than just some newbie that has had a year or two training. When you are spending thousands of dollars on a project, it really makes a difference in the workmanship. It needs to be done right the first time. We are very pleased with yesterdays workmanship.