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Road trip to Prince Edward County
There is something different about a road trip with an electric car. There’s the obvious: no fuel. Plus you have to stop at charging stations en route if your destination is further than your range. What I didn’t expect was these charging stops end up as little social stops too. I have noticed, especially at stations with multiple chargers and along the 401 corridor, I inevitability end up talking to other drivers. Most are EV drivers as you swap stories about respective cars and mileages (or to help each other figure out which chargers are working). There are still relatively few EVs on the road in Ontario (about 7.2% of…
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A year of solar energy
As I write this post, there’s a thick layer of snow covering everything. Trees and shrubs, roads and cars, houses and roofs, and, our solar panels. There will be no solar production today. Or for the next few days as the winter temperatures persist. Bummer. Yet expected. Fortunately we have banked credits that will cover this snowy patch. To be certain, I took this opportunity to wade through the past year’s hydro bills. Electrifying fun. Our solar panels have been operational for a full year. It’s a good time for a review. I have also received a few questions about how the system is working so I thought I would…
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Solar energy and AC/DC
“That’s how AC/DC got its name,” my husband says confidently though I can’t be sure he’s not joking. We are standing in front of the hydro meter on the side of our house with the sales manager from the company that will be installing our solar panels. She has just explained the installation of an inverter that will change electricity from DC current into AC current and send it to our breaker panel. After the visit, I mention this to my daughter and she adds her learnings from grade 9 science, “AC stands for alternating current and DC is direct current.” Now I am impressed. But still sceptical about the…
