Well I went into the permit office this week and walked out with
a permit. I showed up super early and was the first inline. You would think
that would mean that I would be the first to meet with someone. It’s just like
the DMV, I received my ticket and waited for my number to be called, but
everyone else seemed to be getting called ahead of me. After a few questions
back at the reception desk I was given a new number. This time I’m waiting in front
of the DDOE station window and I see the guy moving papers around, sharpening
his pencils, tapping away at his computer, but not calling my number. After staring
at him for almost 15 minutes (keep in mind I’ve already been waiting for 40
minutes with a number and another 30 minutes before the place opened). Finally,
I hear my number and I sit down with the guy and explain what I’m trying to do
and show him my drawings. He starts asking me questions about the forms I was
given as if he’s never seen them before. For example he says to me “what do you
think an ‘existing dwell units’ means?” I say it’s a single family home, so it’s
1 unit. He says “you don’t think it means the number of bedrooms?” I mean isn’t this your job? So then he starts
drawing all over my drawing (thankfully I brought a bunch of extras in addition
to the 4 sets I need to get stamped and signed). After 15 minutes of this he
finally realizes that I’m the homeowner and not a contractor and suggests that
I talk to someone in the Homeowner’s Center where they are more helpful. At
this point I’m a bit frustrated that I wasn’t directed here in the first place
since that’s exactly who I asked to speak with, but I’m just glad I’m headed in
the right
The Homeowner’s Center is a breath of fresh air. The guy
here is straight forward and just asks me to show him my materials and what I’m
trying to do. He tells me to go wait in the lobby and he’ll have everything in
order in a few minutes. 5 minutes later he hands me a receipt and say go pay
this and when you come back ill have your permit ready. Sure enough, 10 minutes
later I have my permit in my hand and jumping for joy.
The next thing I do is call my contractor and send him the approved drawings and our
detailed work items. We're ready to move forward. Next up, we need to get a revised quote and sign on the dotted line. Then the contractor needs to get the plumbing and electrical permits (they don't give those the regular folks like me).
Detailed Work Items
I thought I should revisit my solar project now that it’s been up and running now for 4 months. According to Enphase Energy, the company that digitally tracks my house’s energy production, I’ve produced 1.72 MWh which is enough energy to power 57 houses for 1 day. Additionally, they say my carbon offset to-date is 1 ton or the equivalent of 30 trees. The Enphase meter reading system is pretty cool they gave me a little device that plugs into my router that displays my current energy production and relays that information to their website. I can view the energy production of each of my solar panels in real time and if one of the panels isn’t working correctly I’m notified immediately. 