Now I can charge my car with the sun.
One of our other major summer projects was the installation of a solar-panel tracker from Solaflect Energy – a local company from Norwich, VT that designs, builds, and installs its custom solar-tracker system in households and small businesses around the Upper Valley. We’ve been interested in going solar for years, and finally decided to take the plunge. As an added bonus, it (indirectly) serves to fuel my new Tesla. Read on!
Andy’s summer project.
Last weekend we held a launch party for Andy’s summer project, a Pompeii-style pizza oven. Andy has been dreaming about making a pizza oven for years, and it seemed like a good pre-college summer project. It turns out to be a lot more work than one might expect! We were fortunate to have expert advice and assistance from Doc, who has built several such ovens and whose YouTube video series has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. We chose to simplify the process a bit, by using a kit from Forno Bravo. Doc’s advice was invaluable in making sure we ordered the right kit, used the right kind of mortar, the right kind of bricks, the right methods for construction, down to the right kind of flour and tomato sauce for the pizza. The results were outstanding!
Due to a back injury in early August, I personally helped very little in the actual construction. Andy and Doc did most of it, with help from Pam and Mara. Check out the photo gallery to get a sense of the many steps involved over two and a half months of effort.
Next summer Andy will complete the project, adding tiles and a countertop on the front, tiles on the dome, and structural-skin coating on the sides of the base.
David Kotz 