It's gonna be a bright sunshiny day

As the rains from last week (yes all week) subside, the skies are clear, fresh and clean.  As I am evaluating the performance of the photovoltaic system with California Solar Energy Company we are reviewing the estimated generation vs. actual conditions. 

The results for today: Great news.  Each system was estimated to produce 6.7 KW/H and were ahead of track at about 7.4 KW/H for the systems we reviewed at noon. 

It seems the rain potentially cleaned the panels, paired with ideal solar conditions; a lot of sunshine and mild temperatures, and they were cranking out power. 

Now on to more studies on how we can potentially optimize the generation.   Stay tuned. 

Fill er up

To help enumerate the water savings associated with the features in this project, we've decided to compare it to a "standard" home.  A standard home is one designed to meet minimum code requirements.   These are estimates and will hopefully be confirmed, denied, or amplified, during the life of this study.  The water saving features include dual-flush toilets, low-flow showerheads, and native planting.

I acre foot = 325,851.427 gallons, which equates to approx 1 football field filled with 1 foot of water. 

• It is estimated that 1.9 million gallons of water will be saved per year (5.8 acre feet). 
• Over 55 years this = 104,500,000 gallons of water (320.7 acre feet).

1. Lake Cahuilla has 1,500 acre feet, or 488,777,140.5 gallons of water.  The amount of water saved over a period of 55 years will fill up approximately one quarter of Lake Cahuilla. 
2. The Desert Water Agency says that 1 acre foot of water is enough for a family of 4 to live on for a year.  Vista Dunes saves about six acre feet of water per year - enough water to supply 6 families of 4 for an entire year, or 330 families of 4 over the course of 55 years. 
3. If Vista Dunes saves 320.7 acre feet of water over 55 years, that's enough water to fill almost three football stadiums (based on the size of Arizona State University's Sun Devil stadium which is 122 feet high)
4. The average golf course uses 144 million gallons of water per year, or 441 acre feet.  It would take 76 years to water a golf course for one year using the water saved by Vista Dunes. 
5. The Empire State Building is 115,284,752 cubic feet, which could hold 862,399,833 gallons of water, or 2646 acre feet. 

New beginnings

In the spirit of the new decade upon us I pulled out this photo of the Vista Dunes site as it existed in the mid 1900's.  Known as Happy Dunes Trailer Park, it was the first establishment in La Quinta, California.  You can just feel that fresh desert air with the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the open space around the site.  The road (now Miles Avenue) leads both newcomer and wary traveler the same, into the community. An open invitation to establish a life in any way you choose.   The subsistence of this site has now transpired as much an inspiration and opportunity for a new life as it was in this first photo.

Keep your coins, I want change

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