| Hi One Block Off the Grid Member,
You’re invited to a special webinar Wednesday evening, “Community Solar Basics for Cleveland.” This is likely to be a popular webinar because of the lucrative SREC program in Ohio, so reserve your spot now! Reserve your spot for “Community Solar Basics,” What you’ll learn:
You can watch and listen to this webinar right from your home computer or laptop, so it’s an incredibly convenient way to learn about solar. There’s even a way for you to send us your questions during the event! We look forward to seeing you there. Best Wishes, Bill Bill Cummings |
Posts Tagged ‘Solar Power’
One Block Off the Grid in Ohio!
Monday, September 20th, 2010Time for the Solar Tour!
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
October 2-3, 2010 – Annual Ohio Solar Tour.Green Energy Ohio welcomes the annual 2010 Ohio Solar Tour! Green Energy Ohio is the Ohio Chapterof the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), and GEO’s 8th Annual Ohio Solar Tour is part of theNational Solar Tour managed by ASES. This FREE statewide event on October 2 & 3 provides the uniqueopportunity for people to select from 200+ open houses or a few guided tours. Attendees will have theopportunity to talk with owners living and working with clean energy technologies.”The economic benefits of investing in clean energy technologies have never been better. Learn howfriends and neighbors are combating rising energy costs, slashing utility bills, reaping rich cashincentives and big new tax credits. Visit an Ohio farm powered by wind, a home heated and cooled byground source heat pumps, a commercial building supplemented by solar electricity, or a school with a’living-machine’ and LEED certified dorms. Alternative energy solutions can be found in all 88 Ohiocounties…learn about opportunities for all Ohioans to invest in a brighter, cleaner future by joiningGreen Energy Ohio during the 8th annual Ohio Solar Tour, Saturday and Sunday, October 2nd and 3rd.”How to Participate: Visit the Ohio Solar Tour Welcome Page on the GEO website(www.GreenEnergyOhio.org). Read the detailed information on creating a ‘self-guided tour’ to openhouse sites (a few organized guided tours will be available as well). Once directed to the Search Page,you will be able to build your ‘self-guided tour’ by selecting the following criteria you are interested in:location, date & time, type of building, and type of technology. Using Google Maps, you can print amap, directions and description of each site on your ‘self-guided tour.’ Enjoy your clean energy journeyacross the Buckeye State!Sponsors: Green Energy Ohio, The Ohio Department of Development, The Gund Foundation, AmericanElectric Power, The University of Finlay, Third Sun Solar, AstrumSolar, Ameridian, Dovetial Solar & Wind,Extreme Solar and The American Solar Energy Society.Contacts:Northeast/Northwest Ohio: Athan Barkoukis; (216) 526-5545; Athan@GreenEnergyOhio.orgCentral/Southeast Ohio: Sarah Straley; (614) 985-6131; Sarah@GreenEnergyOhio.orgSouthwest Ohio: Jack Clock; (513) 604-7251; Jack.Clock@GreenEnergyOhio.org
A solution as simple as a sunflower…
Friday, February 26th, 2010
How do you get electricity to undeveloped places at a cost that makes it truly viable? Sometimes the answer is not in a high tech application of newer technology, it is sometimes the answer is really far more low tech and genius in its simplicity. First off, we put solar panels all over the place and to make sure that they are as efficient as possible, we have come up with a variety of technological solutions. However, to make these solutions, you have to add thousands of dollars to the cost of solar power. This starts to put it out of reach for many. If you are living in an undeveloped country, then it is practically impossible. We take electrical production for granted here in the US. But in places like Africa, they often do not even have enough reliable electricity to power simple units that make it possible to operate hospital equipment or to keep blood or medications refrigerated. Enter Chris Clark and his company Sunflower Solutions.
While in college getting his degree at the University of Miami Ohio, Chris worked with some classmates to create a way to power an electric well. The plan was to help his buddies find a way to support developing nations who had little or no access to water. His idea was the simple solar panel. The problem with solar panels is not the cost in itself, but really the cost of making them efficient. A stationary solar panel is far less efficient than one that tracks the sun. The problem with the systems that track the sun is that they are cost prohibitive for most people, and for places like an African village, practically impossible. Chris came up with an ingenious answer. Figure out a way to make a stand for a portable unit that could be used by anyone, regardless of location and language barriers.
These solar panels together will generate about 16.8kwh, that is enough electricity to power about half of the average American household. For a hospital in a developing country that means incubators, stable blood supplies, and medications that need to be kept cool. For a school that means better food or computers to learn on. For a village, it might mean a water pump for a well or irrigation for a dry field, providing food for those in need.
What makes them so productive is the way they can easily track the sun. The complex calculations of the seasons, global positioning and time of day have been reduced to an easy to understand series of markings. These units are designed to be portable, which means they can be deployed all across the planet and even moved to where the need is greatest. The stands are also designed to be easily assembled and have few parts that are easily broken. This means that when deployed to the middle of a country like Chad, that there is little chance of the unit being rendered unusable for long periods of time-a problem with some hi tech systems. The simplicity of the design also means that you can train villagers to use the systems themselves and help to make them self sufficient.
So who are Chris’s clients? He is marketing to charities and those around the world that are doing good works. These are the folks who are already doing the work to help those in need in underdeveloped countries. The units are fully customizable based on the needs of the client. The price for one of these units ranges from about $10,000 to $14,000. The low tech solution keeps th price within reason, and allows a charity in Africa to produce a heck of a lot more electricity than they would otherwise be able to produce for their money. It also allows them to ship them nearly anywhere and leave them to be operated by the locals. What is amazing is Chris’s passion for solar power. He gets excited in what he does and shows a dedication that is rarely seen these days. Just read the Sunflower Solutions mission statement:
Around the world, 1.6 billion people do not have power. One in 12 people is malnourished, 1.1 billion are without clean drinking water, 2.4 billion are without proper sanitation, 2.1 billion do not have an education, and 1 billion people do not have appropriate medical care.
That’s hard to imagine since most of us will never know what it’s like to be a part of one of those statistics. Still, around the world these problems persist and threaten the lives of millions of people every day. But how do we provide health care without first powering health centers? How do we educate without having access to lights, computers, or the internet? How do we bring clean water without a means to power the water pumps? How do we feed the hungry without first helping farmers irrigate their fields?
Sunflower Solutions’ mission is to eliminate life threatening conditions around the world by bringing low cost and reliable power to areas where it is needed the most. We seek to EmPower education, health, clean water, agriculture, and businesses that struggle around the world. Using the flexibility of solar technology to generate power, along with a little practical ingenuity, Sunflower Solutions sells the lowest cost power solution for the developing world.
Come see for yourself! Next month Chris will be the featured speaker at Eco Tuesday. Eco Tuesday is a group with a three year history of gathering, educating, and promoting sustainability across the country. Last week was the launch of the Cleveland chapter and the speaker was Brad Masi of the New Agrarian Center. Held the 4th Tuesday of the month, March’s event will be held at the Key Club. Come and hear about Chris and his company Sunflower Solutions. Already written about in the Plain Dealer, this is likely to be a packed event, so RSVP right away.
What the heck in an REC?
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
REC stands for Renewable Energy Credit. Every solar panel and wind turbine around the country generates electricity from a renewable source, as do hydroelectric sources. In addition to the electricity that is created, a credit is created based on the amount of power that is produced. For example, if a solar panel is installed on a business, it will generate electricity that the business can use. If it doesn’t use it all, it can sell it back to the grid. In addition, that company also gets a credit. This credit is completely separate from the electricity and varies by the amount of electricity that they are creating. Other sources of renewable power create credits as well, and the amount of credits vary from one power source to another.
What good are these darn credits? First off, you can use them in your carbon footprint calculations. The more credits you produce, the more carbon you are offsetting from your use. But this is the 21st century and we have found a way to make money on anything. In much the same way that you can buy gold or other goods for your World of Warcraft account, you can buy and sell these Renewable Energy Credits. So, if you install a solar panel on your home or on your business to make your own electricity, you can also sell off the credits that are created along with the power.
Who wants these RECs anyway? If you are a homeowner or a small business, these credits may not do you much good. Sure, you can claim the bragging rights of producing less carbon dioxide, or spend less to become “carbon neutral,” but you can do little else with them. However, utilities are being required to get more and more of their electricity from renewable sources. In Ohio, a percentage goal of a utility’s energy production has to come from alternate sources-that is sources other than coal. The goal standard is 25% from alternate sources. 12.5 % of that has to be renewable energy-0.5% has to be solar electric. Additionally, they cannot wait until 2020 and start, they have to show annual percentage increases. Let’s face it, we are not seeing the huge solar panel grid systems going up that would enable Ohio utilities to reach these goals. However, they can purchase the credits they need from other producers of electricity. These credits (Ohio Renewable Energy Credits) are created by anyone producing electric power within the state. Since the state mandates are already in place, utilities are trying to buy the RECs from everyone they can that has a solar panel up. The more credits that they buy, the less alternative energy they will have to produce on their own.
If you have a solar panel on your home or small business, you probably have already been approached to sign a contract for the REC from your panels. Even small producers have some sort of credit, even if it is only a partial one and has to be bundled with several others for it to count toward the utilities’ goals. Signing a contract with any company means that they will effectively own those credits for the length of the contract. You will still use your own electricity that you generate, and sell back to the grid any excess. The credits are a completely separate commodity from the underlying energy itself. As such, their value will fluctuate and is in no real way tied to the price of electricity. This means that by selling off you RECs you can help accelerate the return on your investment in solar power. You can contact Erika at RePower Solutions if you want to know more: erika@repowersolutions.com
The Cleveland Browns need solar power to win the Super Bowl.
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
WE hear lots of talk of offshore wind turbines. While there are productive wind farms in many countries in Europe, we are still in planning stages around the US. Some projects actually got to the drawing board in some regions, but as yet there is no real progress toward getting a real productive wind farm built. Here in the Great lakes Region, several cities and states are scrambling to figure out how to be the first to get a wind farm constructed. Cleveland is included in that list. Of course, there is wildlife to considered, studies to be conducted, and migration patterns to be studied. But we can study til we are blue in the face, when can we get started? Here are some of the things that are slowing us up:
Money. With the latest economic downturn, states and cities around the country are suffering. How can we tell the residents of Cleveland (or any other city) that we can have wind power, but sorry-no cops or firefighters. Cities must remain solvent. The budget MUST be balanced. But I fear that we are playing a game of chicken and egg. If we are building wind turbines, we will create a new industry. This creates jobs, attracts new business and builds the local tax base. But to start this new industry, we have to find new money and in this region tapping into the public by adding taxes is a strain on the citizens that may not be tolerated. The stimulus package provides money for this sort of thing, but unfortunately, I think we are coming to the table too late.
The next issue goes hand in hand with money-lack of product. While we in Ohio are producing many of the parts to make wind turbines of the size necessary to create energy on a regional scale, we are not producing the final assembled product. I spoke with Linda Abraham-Silver (president of the Great Lakes Science Center) once about the wind turbine at the GLSC facility. She admitted that the only way to get that turbine up in any reasonable amount of time, was to purchase a used turbine (from Europe) and have it refurbished and then brought to Cleveland. If only we had developed the industry at that time, we would be sitting pretty now. Instead we face the same issue that haunts solar panel production: lack of product. I spoke with reps from a couple of the photovoltaic (solar) panel manufacturers in the Toledo area. I would prefer to have locally produced panels on our building. The response was that the local facilities could not keep up with production demands from California and other states, so no panels would even be available in Ohio. So we want new jobs and a better economy, we know what industries are booming, and we cannot seem to find a way to tie those two key ingredients together.
An issue that haunts wind production that is not an issue for solar power is wildlife. There is concern that migrating birds and other wildlife will be affected by offshore wind production. While I am a big lover of nature and believe that we must do whatever we can to preserve all natural species, I believe CO2 emissions are doing more to harm natural wildlife all over the planet than wind turbines ever would. There are plenty of studies that say that wind farms are naturally avoided by birds and bats and that they have little or no impact on the local ecosystem. I am sure that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but I would say that if it were discovered that there was a big enough impact to the local environment to warrant disassembly, then the current shortage of turbines would provide for ample ability to move or sell off the installations. I would also add that we have a huge breakwater off the inner harbor (and I believe another near Edgewater). Why not make use of this breakwater and install some turn=bines on a point of land that is already existing and will due no real further impact to the water wildlife?
Imagine this view of Cleveland with a line of beautiful turbines powering the city.
Lastly, there is the question of aesthetics. I read this great article at Planetsave that discussed this issue. The crux of the article is that to get the public to support wind farm power generation, care must be given to the overall look of the set up to make it pleasing. While I agree that aesthetics of wind farms are important, I really do not see the issue. When I look at the images of existing wind farms, or proposals for new ones, all I see is beauty. I think the turbine downtown is awesome to look at and more would only enhance the city’s skyline. Check out the US Offshore Wind Collaborative website to see what an off shore wind farm could look like. While you are there look at each state to see what is (or more precisely, isn’t) being to done.
Let me put it in perspective who says this is a waste of time and money. Imagine if the Browns Stadium, The Q and Progressive Field were all powered by the cities own cheap electricity. How much could we lower the cost of operating sports teams here, and how much more could we then pay our players to attract the top talent? The better the talent, the better our teams, the more our wins, the more championships in our town, the more tourist dollars to the local economy. Then imagine how all the best players would be begging to come to Cleveland to play with all the other top players in the league(s). Now you can see why the Browns ( and Indians, and Cavs) need alternative energy.
Solar powered trash cans are a big hit!
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Solar powered garbage compacting cans from Big Belly Solar
When we went to the Greenbuild conference last fall, one of the coolest products I saw was a solar powered trash can. A trash can is a trash can, right? Why does it need solar power? The Big Belly Solar garbage can is a can that will compact its contents on a regular basis. And it does it with solar power, so it does not need to be plugged in to the grid. This makes it ideal for parks, bus stops, sidewalks, even the outside of stores and malls. Ever pass by a garbage can that was so full and overflowing that nothing else would go in, and to make matters worse, garbage is falling on the ground to be blown away bey the wind and dirty up the landscape. That is the perfect spot for a Big Belly Solar can. The other advantage is that compacting garbage means fewer pickups for cities and fewer emptying for retail. That is good news for both as emptying the cans is the hardest thing to get accomplished. It is also a big expense for cities and may be one reason why there are so few public garbage cans in this town. These compacting garbage cans can hold something like 5 times the amount of trash as conventional cans. When full they send a wireless signal that they need to be emptied, so no needless pick ups and that cuts down on the carbon footprint of retrieval. They have similar products for recyclables. While I wish we could get them both here in Cleveland, I would settle for a comprehensive curb side recycling program that doesn’t have a 6 year roll out.
Waste Management is going to install them in Houston to make their waste programs more efficient. Philadelphia is adding 500 of them to their city center. Fenway Park is adding them to cut down on pickups during games. The NSA is adding them to their facilites. Fairfax, VA is adding them to schools. We all need garbage cans, so why not them do the work of compacting and monitoring for us?
There goes the neighborhood…
Saturday, May 16th, 2009Sometimes the challenges of living greener can be difficult. We live in a society that embraces convenience an profit, and our whole lives have been built on that. Our homes are built faster and cheaper, rather than built to last for hundreds of years. When demolished, they are put into landfill, instead of salvaged for all the parts. It is cheaper to buy new than to repair appliances. We buy new cars every few years: the whole leasing program is built on changing the vehicle that you drive on a regular basis! In Cleveland, not all neighborhoods even have curbside recycling (yes, my biggest pet peeve.) In the face of this kind of environment, it can be difficult to stick you your convictions and do what is right. It often feels like no one person can make a difference. One thing that has come our of the recent election cycle is the realization that one person CAN make a difference-just look at Minnesota elections as a prime example. One person added to another, added to another, etc and the results are staggering. We took a long time to get into this mess, and now we can all take some steps to get us out of it. Just to keep you in the right frame of mind, I am including some interesting perspectives on how we are affecting the planet.
For every incandescent bulb that you replace, you will save about $30 a year in energy costs. If everyone in a city the size of Chicago replaced just one main light bulb with a CFL bulb, we would save the greenhouse gas emissions of about 200,000 cars on the road. If everyone in the country did it, we would save enough energy to light 2.5 million homes for a year and it equates to the emissions of over 3/4 of a million cars. Replacing just 16 bulbs is like not driving your car for a year. Trade out one in four bulbs in your house and the amount you spend on lighting will be cut in half. Only 10% of electricity used in an incandescent bulb is given off as light, the rest is heat: a big waste on a hot summer night!
Americans can’t stand to wait a second for an appliance to warm up. We installed a new breakthrough technology called “stand by” mode. This allows everything from your TV to your microwave to be ready and at your fingertips at a moments notice. Unfortunately, that means that when you are gone, asleep, or just not using these items, they are drawing power. Chargers are no different. We now have more people with cell phones than land lines in this country. That means millions of cell phone chargers. When these guys are plugged in, they are drawing power even though it isn;t going anywhere. Unplugging your cell phones and appliances can save you energy and money. It is estimated that “vampire appliance” energy use results in 12 tons of CO2 emissions every year. 40% of electricity used by electronics is consumed while they are off-that is about 17 coal power plants that could be eliminated in America.
We waste paper at an alarming rate. Paper accounts for 40% of the solid waste in America every year. That is about 72 million tons. Making a ton of paper from recycled stock saves 50% of water used and 17 trees. For every 38,000 bills paid online, 5,058 pounds of greenhouse gases are avoided and two tons of trees are preserved. Stop your junk mail! 17.8 tons of junk mail is delivered every year by the postal service. 44% of that goes unopened and less than 25% is recycled. Over 48 % of the Earth’s surface was once covered with forests. Half of those forests are gone and only 1/5 of native forests are left.
We drive too much. Think about combining trips and making the most of your car miles. Every 10 miles you save a week is a savings of about 500 pounds of co2 emissions. We drove enough miles in 2002 to go to the sun and back 13 1/2 thousand times. Every gallon of gas used emits 20 pounds of co2, so no idling and stop that warm up from inside the house! Remove that roof rack when not in use, it can reduce efficiency by 5%.
Support renewable energy! Most of the mercury contamination in the world comes from coal burning power plants. In the US, over half a million miles of streams rivers and coasts and 12 million acres of lakes and wetlands are contaminated. Every wonder why fish is bad for you these days?
Recycling saves resources, energy and money. we genrate 4.5 pounds of trash every day, per person, on average. That is twice what we used in the 60′s. In the last 40 years, residential and commercial waste together has tripled. The recycling industry creates 1.1 million jobs in the US. Recycle your water bottles, about 80% end up in landfill. Better yet, buy a permanent water bottle and switch to tap-a third of water brands tested contained contaminants like arsenic and bottles themselves can leach chemicals. Buy items in aluminum cans. Recycling cans is cheaper and easier than plastics and recycled cans are back on the shelf in as little as 90 days. It takes 95% less energy to make a recycled aluminum can than from scratch. Buy products with recycled content. If every household switched to recycled napkins for one package, we would save a million trees a year.
Think about water. The world is running ourt of clean water. We don’t think about it much in the US, but in some countries clean water is a luxury. One billion people (that is one in 6) do not have access to clean drinking water. A family of four using a low flow showerhead can save as much as 20,000 gallons of water a year. The average American uses 100 gallons of water a day and 40% of clean drinkable water used in the average home is flushed down the toilet. By 2016, it is estimated that 36 states will be having a water shortage. A leaking faucet can wste 20 gallons of water a day.
Think about these fun facts. It would be easy for us to save significant amounts of resources and energy by making some simple changes. Remember them, too. You can show off your Green IQ at parties!
Signs of the local economy aren’t all bad…
Monday, May 4th, 2009While developers are suffering and architecture firms are laying off staff by the dozens, not all news coming out of the region is bad. In fact, some of it is pretty good. This weekend a new doggy day care opened its doors in Broadview Heights. It is called Central Bark and is located at 3001 Towpath Rd. They celebrated their Grand Opening this weekend. But they are not alone. Camp Bow Wow opened its doors on their newest location, as well. This spot is in Strongsville, at 14411 Foltz Parkway and will compliment its Westlake camp. I really had no idea that pet boarding was such a hot commodity these days, but apparently business is booming. What it says to me is that there are opportunities available for folks who are willing to take a risk and go out on their own. More and more people are turning to employing themselves these days than finding employment in the land of corporate America. If you have a grand passion or an idea who’s time is come, then this might just be the perfect economy for you. If you are bold enough and smart enough, then you could create your own career. There is money out there. Just look at the likes of Jonathon Sawyer and Micheal Symon. With successful restaurants under their belts, they are not holding back. The Greenhouse tavern just opened in April, and Chef Symon is looking to Cleveland to take on two new ventures. He’ll be opening a spot in the old Coldstone Creamery spot in the Eton Collection, and taking over a now defunct tavern in Avon. Now that lending restrictions seem to be loosening up, entrepreneurship is on the rise.
There are other bright spots, as well. Biomedical companies are up over 35% over the last 5 years. Even more exciting is the rise in renewable energy companies. The Toledo area has a variety of solar companies making Ohio their home. Swift is a company that makes rooftop wind turbines, and they have settled in Michigan. Ohio is seeing a new manufacturer, Green Energy Technologies, join in with its Wind Cube that will be made right here in the state. With stimulus dollars available for projects like weatherization and green energy, the possibilities just seem to explode! In my opinion, it is an exciting time to live in Cleveland!
Stick it where the sun DOES shine…
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009No matter how you feel about the war in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, you should feel just as confused as I do when you hear that they still don’t have reliable electric power. In the middle of the desert, where there is a lot of sunshine, and little to block it, why have we spent so little of the money spent in this region for solar power? Israel has finally figured out that with all their sunshine, they can harness the power of the sun and make their nation less relied on fossil fuels. I think that finally the world is starting to see that solar power is more than a way to make the lives of industrialized nations easier. It is a way to make the lives of emerging nations citizens better and help in making them less dependent on others. How is this happening? Private development.
I was reading about solar powered cell phones. You may think this is great for your carbon footprint, but in developing countries, this is the beginning of the industrial age. While we take for granted that phone service we use, many people around the world do not have the adequate electricity to operate a telephone system. Enter the solar cell phone and a tower, and skip the grid of wires and phone poles that built our service here in America. Phone service can now be made available in areas that have no electrical grid at all. I have seen all kinds of new solar power devices that are coming to market. Lamps, light fixtures and flashlights are the most exciting. Many people have the small solar powered garden lights, but improvements in efficiency, batteries and bulbs have taken this garden light to new heights! In many places on the globe, work is a daytime affair. Anything done after sundown is heavily reliant on expensive kerosene and other fuel based lights. With solar lights taking away some of this burden, cheap illumination can come to the nations who are too poor to install a modern electrical grid. Besides the phone, there are solar powered laptops and radios hitting the market. While we may not see them as practical in much of the US, this can bring communications to parts of the world that never had it. One of the coolest new toys that I have seen is a universal charger with a small solar panel built into it. Now you can charge nearly any portable electric device with a simple gadget. Maybe not great news for cloudy cities like Seattle or Cleveland, but fantastic news for countries in Africa and the Middle East, where electricity is costly and hard to come by.
But what does the emerging markets have to do with us here in America? Quite a bit, actually. While we have been adding to the stress of the environment and pouring CO2 into the atmosphere, underdeveloped nations have been adding very little. Now that they are getting a taste of the technology pie, they will be adding to the overall output of greenhouse gases and global waste stream. The big thing, though is that they do not yet have these systems in place. By putting smart systems in place in the beginning, these emerging markets can join the technological savvy west, but in a smarter and cleaner way. Take India, for example. In recent years, their exploding economy has been adding modern conveniences to all members of their society. This could produce a huge strain on the region’s environment and the planet as a whole. India, however is addressing the issues up front. Many cars run on cleaner natural gas or electricity rather than dirty petrol. This is an important fact as India has a population of over a billion people. As we start to add newer economies to the world mix, it is important that they have greener technology to begin with, as retro fitting is a long and expensive process-look at the US. Furthermore, efficiencies in technology can make it easier to solve global problems in underdeveloped countries. Cheap efficient electricity can help to grow more food, educate more citizens and make other nations less reliant on the help of others. This means more money here at home to make our own grid smarter and our houses more efficient.
So while we are spending millions on goodwill around the world, I think we should try sticking some solar panels in the world’s deserts. We need to start thinking of the sunshine available outside our borders not just inside them. The solar panels we put on our new offices will be great, but the same panels would do a lot more good in the deserts of the Middle East.
Water, Ice and Solar
Friday, January 30th, 2009So as the snow falls again, I am looking forward to Superbowl Sunday. No it has nothing to do with the football game, it is just that the temperature is supposed to go above the freezing mark for the first time in weeks (though it seems like longer). I have been dong mostly research on assorted things for the buildings for the last week. I met with a friend and window rep on Tuesday. While waiting, I opened up the building to hear rushing water. Since the water was turned off, I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Unfortunately, the water meter has failed and there was a lake of frozen ice in the basement. I managed to turn the valve off and stop the flow, and was glad to see that there isn’t really much water all things considered. Luckily it was in the basement, which I believe has drainage, and nothing in it to get damaged by the ice. I am hoping that the warmer temperature will stay long enough for the ice lake to go away. I am glad that we made this appointment, or the water could be running still.
The other issue that I have been working on is the solar power. I am planning to meet with Cleveland Public Power, but first I have called the Illuminating Company. Why am I so interested in the Illuminating Company? As a part of First Energy, we may be eligible for a rebate for a large portion of the cost of solar panel installation. As a municipal power company, Cleveland Public Power is exempt from mandatory participation. Furthermore, while First Energy offers net metering as a normal course of business, CPP has to still work out the details. We will have solar panels somewhere on this project, just how much or where remains to be seen.
Here are the incentives. If we can get on the Illuminating Company’s supply, then we will be able to add net metering. In addition, we would be eligible for a rebate of $35000 for the system The problem lies in that since this is a non-residential program, we have a minimum of 10 kW for this system. That means that we have to have a rather large system, which may mean putting a portion on the roof and some in other area of the project (like a carport). Furthermore, a 10kW system runs about $90,000 installed. Now, there are federal tax credits and there is an accelerated depreciation schedule making the payback on the system about 5 years. All the while, we will be saving on electricity and in the beginning even selling it back as we are sure to produce more in the summer than we will be using. While it sounds like a no-brainer, we do still have to come up with the $90,000 to move forward. The roof space is barely large enough to accommodate the size system that we need to qualify for the rebate, and there are chimneys and vents involved. This will take some creative designing. I am looking to see what new technology may be out there that might be slightly more efficient. While I would prefer to install the roll out, self stick, panels that are perfect for a metal roof-their efficiency isn’t high enough. They look good and are inconspicuous (a concern for a historic renovation), but would have to cover most of the site to get the kW that we are looking for. I have to say thanks to Alan at Dovetail Solar for walking me through the requirements that we are looking at. If you are going to the IX Center for the Pro remodel show this weekend, check out one of their seminars. Watch for updates as I work my way through this process.
