Solar Panel Upgrade Completed!

Greetings Virginia Lakes folks!!

Over the weekend of September 13th, a significant solar upgrade was completed at the Virginia Lakes solar pump house. Thanks to the hard work of Ross Oswald, Mark Shaff, and Lucas Shaff, solar panels were removed and replaced with new, higher-capacity panels. The crew erected scaffolding, expanded the existing panel racking, and completed the installation under cool fall skies, with a light rain passing through.

This improvement builds on last year’s enhancements to the pipes and valves near the pump house, extending up to the junction where flow splits to the high and low tanks. As a result of the solar panel upgrade, the increased power enables both tanks to be pumped concurrently using solar power alone. This marks a substantial increase in off-grid pumping capacity, which helps reduce our fossil fuel use and lowers operational costs.

While the high tank does not yet automatically (manual pumping for now) call for water when its level drops—this function will be activated next season—the solar system is now well-positioned to support it. Ross also diagnosed and replaced a faulty electronic control unit that had been affecting the high tank pump.

Additional work included trimming pine limbs in order to allow space for the new panels.

Many thanks to all involved for their time and expertise in making this important upgrade a success.