We started pondering the possibility at the beginning of the summer – with so much sun coming down every day and electrical costs going up annually (APS has a scheduled 8% hike, they are asking to make it larger), perhaps solar would be the way to go.

We looked into it and found out that we couldn’t fit a system on our roof that would cover our needs. We could put a gazebo in our backyard, but it would be really big. Or…we could extend our patio and put the solar panels on top of that. The cost is $37,000 from us, and APS is paying $19,000 of it through their solar rebate program. We’ll get back at least $3000 in federal and state tax rebates – but those will expire 12/31/08 unless Congress chooses to extend them. So $34,000 out of pocket. The system will produce approximately 10,000kWh per year of electricity, and should take care of most of our needs. We have cut back by doing some very simple things – change the lightbulbs to CFC bulbs, install programmable electric thermostats, install solar screens on our north-facing windows, and getting a new energy-star refrigerator. Those things have brought our yearly consumption from 14,5000kWh/year to just under 10,000kWh/year.

The company that is doing this for us is Greenfuel Solar. They’ve taken care of pretty much everything for us – from getting all the permits and HOA approval to drawing up the plans for a system that worked for us.

Yesterday, they came out and poured the foundation for the posts. Not a lot to see, but you can see what the backyard looked like before:

Today they built the patio and got almost finished with it.

The next step is going to be building up the posts and stuccoing everything so it matches the existing patio. Then they will be putting two rows of panels along the top of the patio. I’ll post more pics as building progresses.

UPDATE: They’ve put up the racks and the inverter system. Tomorrow will be the panels, then Saturday morning the stucco.

SECOND UPDATE: Today they put up the panels and did all of the connections. The only thing left is the stucco (tomorrow morning) and the paint (early next week). The city is coming out for the inspection next week and APS will be coming out as well. As soon as APS signs off on it, the system will be turned on.

Here are our panels: