TO PV OR NOT TO PV

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Day three was the climax. Hour upon hour was spent connecting hundreds of different wires, while a container to hold nine deep-cell batteries was placed in the garage. After what seemed like a lifetime of repetitive testing on gauges and other equipment the moment of truth arrived.

All of the students, teachers, family members, and even a few neighbors gathered at ground zero in the garage. Ed gave a short but eloquent speech, outlining what had taken place over the previous three days. One student held the cork down on a bottle of champagne, waiting for the precise moment, while the others giggled like schoolchildren waiting for the bell to ring. My family and I stood proudly, our hearts pumping with anticipation at the first generxated watt.

Hoisting eight $2,500 panels 75 feet in the air on a windy day was not a sight for the weak (or thrifty) to watch

Ed reached over and flipped the big switch labeled "A".

And nothing happened. No bells, no whistles, no alarms, no power producing sounds whatsoever.

Ed's smile grew from ear to ear as the rest of the class let go with a tremendous "Hip-hip, hooray!"

We just stood there dumbfounded. What was happening? Why was everybody so damn happy? Had we just spent a great deal of money for nothing?

"Perfect," Ed said, calmly. He began p ushing buttons on the miniature screen that was part of our AC/DC inverter on the garage wall.

"Perfect? Nothing's happening. How can you say it's perfect?" I asked politely, but with an edge of uncertainty that Ed had seen through from the beginning.

"That's exactly what it's supposed to do," he replied. "No sounds, except maybe for the cooling fan inside the inverter. Look here, see these numbers? Well, this one tells you how many amps you're currently creating, while this one..."

And he continued for the next few minutes. I stared in awe but listened with great intent as he explained what was silently taking place upon my roof. It was not only working perfectly, but their experiment with an extra battery (nine instead of the standard eight) was adding to our total capabilities as they had hoped.

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