If we treated them like many treat their feet.....
My random thought of the night as I pull a splint off of my arm as my wrist heels. It is amazing what just two weeks of immobilization has done to my arm. It isn't good.
Colorado balcony / plug-in solar goes live tomorrow, Aug 12.
Been digging through HB26-1007 and some utility guidance and it’s actually pretty interesting. Curious what everyone else here knows / has found.
My understanding so far:
Colorado created a “portable-scale solar generation device” category up to 1,920 watts AC output to the grid.
Utilities can’t require prior approval, can’t charge an interconnection fee, and can basically require notification that you have it and how large it is.
The weird part is 391 watts.
At 391w or less there is a special exemption that basically lets you use existing building wiring without getting dragged into the normal solar installation requirements.
Above 391w and up to 1,920w is still legal portable-scale solar, but you lose that wiring exemption.
La Plata Electric Association put up a pretty useful page with their take on the new law:
https://lpea.coop/what-you-need-know-about-plug-or-balcony-solar
Obviously LPEA’s interpretation isn’t controlling statewide, but it is interesting to see how one Colorado utility is reading the law. They’re interpreting the larger 391–1,920w systems as needing a dedicated circuit/outlet and UL3700.
Which is interesting because I already have a dedicated outdoor 20a 120v circuit right where I would want to put one.
EcoFlow’s new STREAM micro is what sent me down this rabbit hole. It does 1,200w AC, has 3 MPPTs, 60v max Voc per MPPT and 450w per input. Seems like it would be pretty awesome with 3 oversized 600ish watt panels if EcoFlow allows the overpaneling.
But right now it looks like the missing piece is UL3700. It has UL1741, but not UL3700 yet.
For the 391w and under category though, it seems like you could potentially buy a properly listed UL1741 plug-in microinverter with anti-islanding and use it right now without waiting for UL3700.
The other thing I’m trying to figure out is Xcel Colorado net metering.
HB26-1007 says Xcel can’t make you get permission before installing one of these, but Xcel’s existing net-metering tariff talks about having an interconnection agreement. Colorado PUC rules also say investor-owned utilities have to provide net metering for qualifying customer-side renewable generation.
So I’m curious what actually happens if you notify Xcel that you installed a 390w plug-in system. Do they put the meter/account into net metering and give 1:1 kWh credit, or does any export just disappear into the grid for free?
At 390w it almost doesn’t matter if your daytime house load is always above that, but I’d still like to know.
Also curious how cities are going to handle the “portable” part of this. Arvada has historically treated backyard solar like a major ground-mount project and can get ridiculous about engineering/soil requirements. I have a hard time believing that was what the legislature had in mind for a couple portable panels feeding a wall outlet.
AI TLDR of the rabbit hole so far:
* Law goes live Aug 12
* Up to 1,920w AC qualifies as portable-scale solar
* Utility approval/interconnection fee generally goes away
* 391w or less gets the really easy existing-wiring exemption
* 392–1,920w is legal but local electrical/code requirements still matter
* LPEA says UL3700 for systems above 391w
* EcoFlow STREAM looks almost perfect at 1,200w, but no UL3700 yet
* Existing dedicated 20a circuit may solve most of the wiring issue for larger units
* Xcel net-metering treatment is still the part I’m least clear on
Anyone else been following this or talked to Xcel / an AHJ yet?
I went to a show last night and parked Upper North. It was my first time so I figured I would try the lower entrance from the upper north parking lot.
I got there pretty early.... about an hour before doors opened.
I learned that using the lower entrance meant that everybody had to be wanded for security which meant significant delays getting into the venue. I guess there is no room for walkthrough security scanners at this entrance and everybody has to be wanded individually. There was only one person doing this.
It seems as if using the upper entrance would have been much faster.
Is this typically the case?
Somewhat annoying because because we could have gotten better seats. It really negated the advantage of getting there so early.
Currently having an overlapping stay. July 31 - 1 for the first hotel then July 31-aug 3 for the second.
I checked out of the first one July 31 at 11pm and checked into the second Aug 1 at 2am.
I'm guessing this is considered an overlapping stay regardless of the actual check out and check in times?
It seems the advice is to call into support and have them recognize the longer stay?
I didn't realize it was a one way valve. Apparently the lock is designed to defeat the twist method. The barrel rotates independently of the teeth.
Any suggestions on how to get it off?
I've had my S22 Ultra since launch, and it recently stopped charging with cables and chargers that I knew were good.
In the past, I'd flush the USB-C port with a little water, but apparently that wasn't enough.
I wrapped a thin wet wipe around the end of a flat wooden coffee stirrer so it fit snugly in the port. A few gentle passes pulled out a surprising amount of grime from the contacts, and now it's charging normally again.
Looking at rec.gov it's showing it as FCFS for the next couple of days. Is that accurate?
I'm curious what address they are coming from? Or just town and zip. Is it obvious it's the armbands?
It looked like a standalone restaurant. The receipt didn't mention the hotel, it had it's own website, and it's own pens. But if course codes as a hotel.
What are the odds of getting Amex to manually fix it?
Hotel Phoenix. Rate was $396. $150 property credit.
Staying next week I'll report back.