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lashing down the panel
Tuesday, November 16 2010
Web-based (and anachronistically advertisement-laden) reports indicated that a powerful frontal system was moving this way. There would be a warm front component followed by a cold front component. The first would bring rain and the second would bring rain and wind. These were weather conditions that would affect my main solar hydronic panel, which is still waiting for replacement panes of glass. I'd lashed down a tarp over the panel, so rain wasn't much of an issue, but wind was a real cause of concern. Normally the panel is held up at 45 degrees by three different two by four struts, all of them providing compressive support against wind and gravity. These three struts are each paired with cables that provide tension support against other possible wind conditions. But right now, while my panel waits for glass, it is supported at a lower elevation by temporary struts (random pieces of wood I managed to find). Today I added additional struts, as well as a couple ropes to hold everything down tight in a wind. Gusts of wind can be very strong up on the solar deck, and it would be a disaster if the panel were to either drop down quickly or (God forbid) be thrown over forward onto other panels not affected by this ongoing fix.
It's a fragile system and dealing with it is an activity that must be done extremely carefully, because missteps can result in anything from mild setbacks (the breaking of glass) to death (me falling off the roof). So when I'm working on such a project, it's good to have another more straight-forward brain-dead project specifically for the blowing off of steam. That is where the oddly-addictive greenhouse well project comes in. Progress on that had slowed in recent days because most of the remaining rock is either too close to the foundation walls or incredibly hard. I've noticed in this area that surface layers of rock tend to be heavily fractured, though fractures disappear about three feet from the surface. I wonder if the cracks are the result of ice-age glaciation; I can imagine surface rocks being heavily damaged by the constant stream of boulders dragging across them over tens of thousands of years.
Today, though, I managed to remove a surprising amount of rock, significantly flattening the bottom and steepening the walls of the well/cistern.
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http://asecular.com/blog.php?101116 feedback
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