It is my goal to make every post approachable, so my apologies for the parts that were confusing! Feel free to ask any questions regarding sections that could use clarification.
I'm always happy to spread the good word of open-source GIS! If contractors and installers spent more time considering solar radiation throughout different times of the year, the efficiency would greatly increase, thus reducing the time required to pay off the expense and making them more affordable for everyone!
Como Lake is indeed quite polluted . There have been many studies by the Capitol Region Watershed District considering the level of impaction, and several projects by the Como Active Citizens Network attempting to improve the situation, but progress is slow.
QGIS is a very hefty download, mostly because they have included a bunch of tools in the latest version and have actually integrated GrassGIS and SagaGIS . If you wanted to try a functional old version with a few less bells and whistles, version 2.6 should be a little smaller in size. Good luck! Thanks for checking out my post!