solar power, continued

And just like that, the 40 photovoltaic panels were set in place today. Jordan, Jorge and the crew from Electron Solar set the p/v panels in pairs in between the standing seams. Each photovoltaic panel is 15.5 inches wide; they're designed to sit within the 16-inch spacing of standard standing seam metal roofing, but our panels are 42" wide, which allows us to mount two p/v panels side by side between the roof's seams.

Each photovoltaic panel is rated at 124 watts, which gives the whole array a generating capacity of 4,960 watts (just shy of 5kW).

One clever aspect of the installation is that we'll use the two-part steel trim at the top of the roof to conceal the wires for the solar panels. This saves us from having to mount a large plastic raceway across the top of the roof.