Cohousing-L Mailing List: Middle townhouse units and per-unit solar power

[Bob Morrison (rhmorrison]

  I would like to talk about a pitfall with having per-unit solar power if you 
have a middle townhouse unit. Solar power requires mounting one or (usually) 
two boxes on the outside of the unit and a cable run from these boxes to the 
utility meter. In some cases mounting the boxes on the front of the unit isn't 
feasible and if the boxes are mounted on the back of the unit, the cable run 
from there to the utility meter might not be feasible. 
  I urge all forming groups that plan to have triplex townhouse units to design 
their residential buildings to accommodate this. That is, to have a solar power 
company go over the design and make sure the design accommodates wiring for 
per-unit solar panels on the middle unit. Don't assume that the owner of the 
end unit that has the utility meters will allow a solar power company to attach 
to their unit the utility boxes for the middle unit's solar power. They might 
not. 
  There is more to designing a coho to accommodate future solar power than 
having south-facing roofs and ensuring that the future solar panels aren't 
shaded by trees. 

Bob Morrison
Mosaic Commons Cohousing
Berlin, MA