Changing the Angles

As the days grow shorter and the sun travels much closer to the horizon, we realize it’s time once again for that festive biannual event, the tilting of the solar panels. Although we are hard at work on the interior of the house, we still have to find time to do many routine maintenance tasks. We struggled with this the first couple of times, but now have a method which takes about thirty minutes total. All it requires is a calm, windless day.

Greg at work on his solar ranch.

We set up scaffolding below the panel, and Greg attaches a rope to the top. Then he loosens the bolt that holds the support arm in place. The panels have been in their upward-facing configuration all summer, while the sun’s position was nearly directly overhead.

Arm is down ...

Greg holds on to the rope securely from the ground, while I climb up onto the scaffold and remove the bolt. As tension on the rope is released, the panel tilts upright, and I replace the bolt to hold the support arm in its more more vertical winter position.

... and now it's up.

After tightening the bolt, it’s on the next one. Not an unpleasant task to perform on a beautiful mild October day.

Ready to catch winter rays.

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