Saturday we had the 2nd of two adult classes this month, the first a week earlier was an updated Photogrammetry class like what we taught in the fall. Great class, Rebecca Kerns did an excellent job where we showed folks about using Agisoft’s Metashape (formerly Photoscan) & 3DFlow’s Zephyr. A few folks hung around afterwards, we did a cellphone video of a model car that was converted into a computer 3D model.

The second class, on installing and using Solar Power, was taught by Ed Kirkpatrick – who had more experience than all of us realized! He offered to talk about his experiences with installing the solar panel system on his house, but it turns out he’s been working with different solar systems for years! Starting with R-values and how they save energy, he then covered some of the passive systems he’s built, including heating rocks/walls and solar water heaters.

But most of the talk was on photovoltaic panels. Ed has a 3000 watt system at home he’s upgrading to 6000 watts this summer. And is involved in ETA‘s solar installer certification program. He not only covered the correct way to survey for and install panels, but also different kinds and cost trends. We even got into batteries and storage systems. The group had lots of questions which were answered, then finished up by going outside and using a Solar Pathfinder to do a solar site survey in front of Castlemakers. Thanks for the great class Ed!!