Boston Citizens Connect Update

I received an e-mail with a tracking number for my request. I'm pretty impressed.

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for contacting the Mayor's Hotline about sidewalk repair. Your service request, opened on 11/8/11 at 2:33 PM, is case number 101000352062.

Our Public Works Department responds immediately to public safety issues in order to make them safe, typically with a temporary asphalt patch.

If there is additional work needed, the department will schedule permanent repair to be completed within a year to eighteen months.  Please note that major sidewalk and roadway reconstruction may be deemed a capital repair and require engineering and budget review.

Boston Citizens Connect

I was walking a stroller in Chinatown when used the sidewalk overlooking the Pike on Shawmut Ave from Marginal Rd to Herald St. The condition of the road and sidewalk made me cringe so I reported it on Citizens Connect Live Chat. 

 Metal plates covering holes in the asphalt which are directly over train tracks.

Q-Cells Builds Superlative Photovoltaic Power Plant

Q-Cells Builds Superlative Photovoltaic Power Plant

Category: Press release Q-Cells SE, Bitterfeld-Wolfen

• Q-Cells signs contracts for mega-project with investors LUXCARA and MCG
• Brandenburg-Briest solar park is Europe’s largest photovoltaic generating plant at 91 megawatts (MW)
• Completion planned in record time of eight weeks by 2011 year end

Bitterfeld-Wolfen, 3 November 2011 – Q-Cells SE, one of the leading photovoltaic companies in the world, is building Europe’s largest solar park and continuing its 2011 success story in the large-scale photovoltaic applications business. The solar park being built in Brandenburg-Briest will have a capacity of 91 MW. A total of around 22,500 households will be supplied with renewable energy from the solar park, avoiding CO₂ emissions of approximately

Solar Panel Equipment Ordered

I just paid for the solar panel equipment with Sungevity using a credit card. It came down to just under $3K because of introductory pricing on the east coast and I will never have to pay anything else to them.

There was a $1,000 cash reward which will be sent after solar panels are installed.
I will also receive an iPad2 once its completed but their app is still under development which will allow monitoring.

Get your free quote for solar panels.

DIY NStar Net Meter

I guess you just stick a Net sticker on your meter.

Woot! CompoSpin Outdoor Composter with Rolling Base for $79.99 + $5 shipping 10/29/11

 

Features:
All-weather, patented composter is fun to use, can handle all kinds of compostable yard, garden and kitchen waste, has a large 50-gallon capacity, is easy to assemble with only household tools, includes base, and can create nutrient rich compost in as little as 6 weeks

Nest Thermostat

This is one expensive thermostat. It may be inspired by Apple products but you could probably buy an iTouch and get an app to control the temp for less.
http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html

Solar facility underway in Dorchester

National Grid is building a solar generation facility at Commercial Point in Dorchester. The site is the last of five locations that the company will build under the state's Green Communities Act.

National Grid's other Massachusetts solar facilities are located in Haverhill, Everett, Revere, and Whitinsville.

Sungevity Plan Details

Here are some of the details of the equipment being installed.

Suntech Power STP190S-24/Ad+  Panels

Bootstrap Usable Compost Rocks

Bootstrap Compost read about my post and gave me my usable compost the very next day after I replied. Because it was so late in the season, I didn't have any vegetables to use it on so I'm saving it for next season. I'll be looking to install a green roof by then.

One thing that I like is their customer service. And even if I forget my compost bin outside on Monday, they will make an extra effort to get your compost so you're not left with a full compost bin for another week longer.

Sungevity - Step 5 of 8

Sungevity finished the electrical and structural drawings. It will now be submitted for approval.
Take a look at the drawings.

Result of my Renew Boston Energy Audit

The folks at Next Step Living came to my place to perform an energy audit through the Renew Boston program. This is completely free since we actually pay for this through our utilities like NStar or National Grid.

The audit was thorough, they answered all my questions. They took over an hour to examine for air leaks, water heater, a/c and appliances.

Clearance Deal on a Lifetime Raised Garden Kit

Last Friday, I went to Costco. Way in the back I saw the Raised Garden Bed kit for only $29.99, they are listed by the manufacturer at $179.99 but really around $140-149 at Home Depot and Amazon.

Merger may impact nation's 1st offshore wind farm

BOSTON (AP) -- The nation's first offshore wind farm enjoys high-profile federal and state backing, but it hasn't been able to win over one important party: the second-largest utility in Massachusetts.
Cape Wind sorely needs to attract big power customers to obtain the financing to fully build out its 130-turbine project in Nantucket Sound. But the utility NStar has taken a tepid public stance on Cape Wind -- chief executive Tom May once proclaimed his company "agnostic" about it.
It may be about to get religion.

New report shows U.S. solar industry grew 69 percent

Chris Meehan

Sep 21, 2011

The U.S. solar industry continued its mercurial growth trend throughout the first half of 2011, with photovoltaic installations growing 69 percent in the first half of 2011 compared to 2010, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight quarterly report released Sept. 20.

MWRA Installing a Huge Wind Turbine in Charlestown, MA

I was at Costco in Everett, MA when I noticed this huge wind turbine from the parking lot.
According to the MWRA site.

MWRA is installing a new, 1.5 megawatt wind turbine at the DeLauri Sewer Pump Station in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
The turbine will generate 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per

Bootstrap Compost - Because my composter is full

Last year I bought a $50 composter that sits on the side of my house. It didn't take long before it got full and decided that I would just throw food out.

Then I read about Bootstrap Compost in JP which basically takes your compost and does all the work for you. It costs $8 a week and they come out on Monday's to collect and replace your bucket. They cover

NStar Energy Pilot - Vantage Portal

Manage your household energy use from any computer connected to the Internet. The Vantage Portal is a browser-based Internet application that delivers the tools and information you need to better understand,