Category: Technology

Views of science and technology from around the world

Monday (22-February-2021) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

About 4 inches of wet snow and sleet fell in the morning. I waited till it turned to cold rain to clear the driveway. The only reason I cleared the driveway was because I was expecting a UPS delivery. The snow blower has a hard time with wet snow. I had to stop several times to remove the packed “ice-cores” from the blower-chute. Time-lapse video recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Daily Electric Energy Used (88.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (2.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Snow and sleet. The solar panels partially covered with snow. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 86.7 kWh.

Thursday (18-February-2021) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

About 4 inches of snow and sleet. I waited till late afternoon until the precipitation stopped to clear the driveway. More snow, sleet, and frozen rain expected tomorrow. It is a lot easier clearing the snow right away. Time-lapse video recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Daily Electric Energy Used (85.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels totally covered with snow. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 85.3 kWh.

Friday (05-February-2021) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

More snow early this morning. I went out after the snow stopped to widen the path to the road using the Brush Mower with Snow-blower attachment. First had to replace the broken collar connecting the Snow-blower attachment to the Brush Mower. Luckily, an extra collar was included in the assembly kit from the manufacture. Some of the snow had melted and refrozen making the task more difficult. I need to get chains for the wheels. Time-lapse video taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Daily Electric Energy Used (70.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (8.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny, however the solar panels still significantly covered with snow. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 62.2 kWh.

Tuesday (02-February-2021) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Heavy Snow all day long. I went out after noon to make a path to the road using the Brush Mower with Snow-blower attachment. Had a hard time since the snow was wet and heavy. I need to get chains for the wheels. Time-lapse video taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Daily Electric Energy Used (73.3 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Lots of Snow. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 73.3 kWh.

Thursday (31-December-2020) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Visitors to the birdfeeder: White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (65.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (6.1 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Rain and clouds. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 59.5 kWh.

Monthly Electric Energy Used (1963 kWh) from Sense. Monthly Solar Electric Energy Produced (551 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 1412 kWh.

Annual Electric Energy Used (20,515 kWh) from Sense. Annual Solar Electric Energy Produced (15,082 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 5543 kWh. The SREC credits (15 MW) and not needing ~$4K of fuel oil more than pay for the deficit.