Plug, Figuring the angles, Transferring

Yesterday I got a guy scheduled to install the NEMA 15-40 outlet that I will use to charge the Tesla.  He is supposed to show up tomorrow.  Yesterday I also did a bank transfer to cover the non-loan portion of the purchase so other than calling my insurance before Saturday to add the car to the policy, I should be good to go.

Another portion of the equation is the Prius which should be transferring ownership today from me to Cindy’s daughter.  I am gifting the vehicle to her so she at least avoids sales tax although she still will wind up paying a few hundred dollars to title and register the car in her name.  Tonight when I get home I’ll pull out any personal stuff of mine and then it’s all Katie’s.  The driveway is going to be a little crowded for a little while with five vehicles in the household.

I also have been coming up with how I want to handle the garage situation once the Tesla arrives.  Right now the Tacoma lives in the garage and is kept in nice condition by being protected from Florida’s brutal sun all day long.  However the charging hardware for the Tesla will be in the garage as well.  So my plan is overnights the Tesla will be in the garage charging and during the day the Tacoma will be in there hanging out.  Sure it is a bit inconvenient to have to play musical chairs with the vehicles every day but nothing I can’t deal with.

So when I installed my coop solar panels I angled them slightly up, figuring that since I am in south Florida only a minor angle was needed.  Somebody commented on my solar video that my panels looked a little too flat and that I would get better efficiency with more angle.  I sort of dismissed the comment at first but I then looked up my location in an online solar angle calculator.  The results I saw were surprising.

If we are talking about June, my initial feelings were correct as it said the optimal angle for the panels is 88 degrees, or nearly flat.  However in December the optimal angle is something like 46 degrees, woah.  I had no idea that there would be such a huge difference in optimal angle in Florida.

Well my panel install is stationary however the good news is there are brackets you can use that allow you to adjust the angle easily.  I ordered one set to do a test run on a panel, if it works as I hope I will order two more.   In theory all I would need to do is adjust the panels once a month to the new optimal angle, a minor task to maximize full energy potential.