Does rolling mountain makes the land more or less valuable? (Chino Valley: buying, general contractor)

[PaulieM]

Originally Posted by fengxg

I am thinking of and off-grid 2KW system + battery, and a solar heating system to keep the house warm and supply hot water.

Two K's a small system but I'll assume you've done energy requirement calculations to arrive at that. If I may, you should also consider passive solar in the design of your new abode. It's an exciting undertaking and I wish you good luck in you endeavor.

[fengxg]

Originally Posted by PaulieM

Two K's a small system but I'll assume you've done energy requirement calculations to arrive at that. If I may, you should also consider passive solar in the design of your new abode. It's an exciting undertaking and I wish you good luck in you endeavor.

Yes I did my calculation. I live a simple life. No lights needed during daytime. Only one refrigerator. I plan to use solar heater for hot water. What is passive solar? Mind elaborate?

[PaulieM]

In a nutshell you utilize the sun to light and heat your home. It's a pretty extensive topic that cannot be covered here but think in these terms. Orientation of home toward sun, design of overhangs for light and heat in winter and shade in summer. Materials that provide thermal mass for storage of the sun's energy to be utilized in overnight. Floorplan in relation to sun, most utilized rooms on the south side...etc.
All this is better stated on sites such as Arizona Solar Center - Your Guide to Solar and Other Renewable Energy Sources in Arizona - Your Guide to Solar and Other Renewable Energy Sources EEBA | The Energy & Environmental Building Alliance Welcome | Southface
And I'm not sure I can post this but there is a great book titled "The Sun Inspired House" by Debra Rucker Coleman you will find in the better libraries.

[magnum0417]

I have land in Valle 30 miles north of Williams. It's flat at 6000 feet with great views of the San Francisco Peaks. However, it is strictly for RV/Camping usage. A lot of reddish clay in that area which may make the perc test difficult. As the gentleman above said, that area of Juniperwoods near Ash Fork and Seligman has acreage on flood plains which makes it impossible during monsoon season . Those roads near Juniperwoods and Kaibab Estates require slow speeds when it's dry, they can be completely impassable during inclimate weather. Nothing wrong with Valle. Grand Canyon Subdivision has plenty of 1 acre lots that are accessible from Rte 64 or 180 without beating the crap out of your pick up truck or RV.

[kytoaz]

What's perc? just curious.

[Gandalara]

Percolation.

wiki - percolation test

[fengxg]

Originally Posted by PaulieM

In a nutshell you utilize the sun to light and heat your home. It's a pretty extensive topic that cannot be covered here but think in these terms. Orientation of home toward sun, design of overhangs for light and heat in winter and shade in summer. Materials that provide thermal mass for storage of the sun's energy to be utilized in overnight. Floorplan in relation to sun, most utilized rooms on the south side...etc.
All this is better stated on sites such as Arizona Solar Center - Your Guide to Solar and Other Renewable Energy Sources in Arizona - Your Guide to Solar and Other Renewable Energy Sources EEBA | The Energy & Environmental Building Alliance Welcome | Southface
And I'm not sure I can post this but there is a great book titled "The Sun Inspired House" by Debra Rucker Coleman you will find in the better libraries.

Thanks for the info!

[fengxg]

Originally Posted by magnum0417

I have land in Valle 30 miles north of Williams. It's flat at 6000 feet with great views of the San Francisco Peaks. However, it is strictly for RV/Camping usage. A lot of reddish clay in that area which may make the perc test difficult. As the gentleman above said, that area of Juniperwoods near Ash Fork and Seligman has acreage on flood plains which makes it impossible during monsoon season . Those roads near Juniperwoods and Kaibab Estates require slow speeds when it's dry, they can be completely impassable during inclimate weather. Nothing wrong with Valle. Grand Canyon Subdivision has plenty of 1 acre lots that are accessible from Rte 64 or 180 without beating the crap out of your pick up truck or RV.

I carefully picked my land. It is about 3 miles from exit west of Ash Fork. If you go a little further on 66 the unpaved road is even shorter. The muddy days could be problem but it is still one of the more accessible parcels in this area. Most of the land is about 20 meter raised and won't be flooded. That's why I started this thread. The lower area is about 10 acres and can be used for planting of fruit trees. The only problem is that the land is covered with rocks of various size. I have nothing against rocks. I like rocky landscape. My only concern is the perc problem.

[crazyjae]

Originally Posted by fengxg

I don't like hauling water. I am thinking of building a water-collection system. I believe real off-grid life should be like you don't need to leave your land to survive. You have power, water, sewage. You can bath under the sun or gaze the star at night. You can also watch NFL in your couch. We should import some cheap rain-water collection systems and solar panels from China. They have surplus of products, but not nice land in Arizona!

The land I bought is intersting, part of it is elevated, and part is near a big pond with a lot of weeds on it. The view from the elevated area is fantastic! It overlooks the land and the cone-shaped peak on south side of I-40 to west. The land is heavily-wooded. I like it very much. The only thing bothers me is the black rocks covering the elevated area. There are black soil looks like of volcano dust nature. I don't know if there will be perc issue. Any comments my friends?

You are correct, those rocks are volcanic. The area is surrounded by volcanos.

With that said, the perc should be very easy as you are likely to hit cinders at a ver shallow depth. For a long while the county used to just sign off on septic systems without requiring a perc test because of this.

Good luck on Chinese solar panels. The US just imposed a 250% tariff on them because of the pump and dump scheme the Chinese Gov was playing with the market. Of course panels from other countries are still running around $1-1.5 a watt so its still very cheap.

You'll need to be familiar with how to get water by hauling or having it delivered. There are plenty of people that catch rain water but you cannot count on that to keep you supplied. In the past 6 months I have had 1.5 inches of rain at my house. Most of that was from the big storm last week.

Don't plan on using that stock pond as a water resources. Cattle regularly pee and defecate in those things. And its illegal for you to fence the cattle out of it. Plus you'll see it dry more often than not. We get about 12" of rain a year, which is not a lot.

[Gandalara]

Originally Posted by crazyjae

Good luck on Chinese solar panels. The US just imposed a 250% tariff on them because of the pump and dump scheme the Chinese Gov was playing with the market. Of course panels from other countries are still running around $1-1.5 a watt so its still very cheap.

Not all.

From Bloomberg: "Suntech was told to pay 31.22 percent, Trina’s levies were set at 31.14 percent and 59 other Chinese companies were told to pay duties of 31.18 percent. All other Chinese producers received a rate of 249.96 percent"