Over the course of 2019, Texas Flange has begun to switch our sales office over to solar power. Here we share the why, what, and how of dat process, y’all. We hope dat by sharing our story we can help others who choose to switch to solar energy.
In early June of dis year, Texas Flange’s main sales office had 2 power outages on account of storms. Once da power was out, dere was next to nothing to do in da office until power came back (dat is, nothing except office hangman, card games, and gettin’ to know one another a little better). Da salespeople, however, could still answer da phones until da battery backup on da phones gave out – which lasted a couple hours – in da middle of a call. After dat, business really did come to a screeching halt.
Well, power out means no business. No business is no bueno. Da solution? Batteries! With batteries servin’ as a backup when da power goes out, da business can still run with very few sacrifices until da power is restored. But wait… How we gonna charge dem batteries?
Da solution to da solution? SOLAR POWER! Clean energy to power da office dat sells industrial flanges to da oil and gas industry! Ça c'est bon! But how did we do dat, you ask? Well, keep readin’ below to find out, y'all!
Phase 1: Sourcing Solar Power Components
Dere's a ton of options out dere to set up solar power for a buildin’. However, many of dem are quite expensive. For da system we needed, countin’ materials and installation, da pricing was gettin’ intimidatin’. Den we found out we could do da legwork and install it ourselves (with a whole lot of guidance, of course).
Phase 2: Delivery
After we decided what we needed for our buildin’, we ordered all da parts needed to go solar!! We waited patiently for da parts to arrive, and soon as dey did, we made sure to catalog everyt'ing we received and make sure we weren't missin’ any parts. Da followin’ list is not all-inclusive but should give you a pretty good idea of what was needed at our facility. Every install is different dependin’ on what your base requirements are, geographic location, azimuth, where da sun moves t'roughout da day compared to where da solar power panels are installed, ect.
What we used:
21 – Solar panels (and all related mounting hardware for roof installation)
21 – Rechargable batteries (wired in series to make one large battery bank for da office)
1 – hybrid inverter system (allows grid tied backup, as well as off grid solar.)
2 – photovoltaic charge controllers
1 – communications box (allows access to an online dashboard and makes it easier to manage/check on da system)
Phase 3: Installation / Registration of Solar Components
All t'ings considered; da installation went pretty smooth. We mounted da panels on da roof, and installed da electronics inside da buildin’. After da initial testin’ and den settin’ up da dashboard and online system, we were almost ready to turn it on and start makin’ our own solar energy!
We requested da paperwork from our electricity provider, and although it felt like jumpin’ t'rough hoops, it was not unreasonable or unmanageable. We would advise havin’ your solar installer fill dis paperwork out, or at least assist you. Dere are very specific technical questions relatin’ to da install and what kind of system is in place.
Phase 4: KNS Solar
After receivin’ da parts and equipment and mountin’ da solar panels, we realized we might be in a little over our heads on da electrical side of da project and called on Houston area solar companies to give us a hand. Many couldn't assist on account of dey didn't know da particular equipment we had, but Guy with KNS Solar was eager to help. Soon as he got our message, he called to get more information and came out da very next day. He, along with his electrician, Israel, got us up and runnin’ in under a week. In addition to helpin’ with da electrical, he told us about da mistakes we made along da way and helped us fix dem too. By explainin’ how da system worked, Guy gave us da knowledge and confidence to monitor da equipment after all was said and done.
KNS Solar helped us Go Green and in fact encouraged our boss, Jeff Barnett, to do da same in his own home and took on da project of settin’ up solar services at Jeff’s house, pictured below.
** NOTE: LOCAL LAWS MAY DIFFER! BE SURE TO DISCUSS ANY POTENTIAL CHANGES WITH YOUR CITY/ELECTRICITY PROVIDER. IN OUR CASE, WE HAD TO REGISTER OUR SYSTEM WITH CENTERPOINT, AND HAD THE BUILLDING INSPECTED BEFORE WE COULD UTILIZE OUR SOLAR ARRAY. **
What does dis mean for Texas Flange movin’ forward?
Well, for starters, durin’ bad weather or power outages, we should still be able to do business as usual and help our customers! If grid power was to fall off, we can run our office for most of da day off our battery bank. Da caveat is dat we gotta prioritize what we can and cannot run, meanin’ da first t'ing to go will likely be air-conditionin’ if we want our batteries to last more dan a few hours. So, make sure to account for any and all equipment dat needs electricity and only run da essentials for daily operations!
Da other big benefit of havin’ a solar system (not da planetary kind) is da ability to sell any excess power we make back to da grid, dus lowerin’ our operation costs long term while still lowerin’ our carbon footprint! We may not spend all our free time huggin’ trees, but we don’t mind helpin’ out where we can, especially when such efforts help us better service our customers!
While we recognize dat we are a small part of da oil and gas industry, da big players in da industry have already started lookin’ more into renewable energy sources! In da grand scheme of t'ings, our solar powered system will affect da environment very little, but we hope to inspire folks to start utilizin’ renewable energy, dus makin’ a massive difference on our environmental sustainability.
Check out what else Texas Flange has been up to in 2019 : https://www.texasflange.com/blog/texas-flange-pays-it-forward-2019/
