Tel: (845) 626-2627   Home   Contact  
Sun Volt

Sun Volt Solar

earth, the final frontier

Clean Energy, Clean Environment

We are at a cross roads in human history, we can choose to continue on as we have been, or we can make a change to improve our future and quite possibly the future for several generations to come. We are here to promote energy independence, a better environment, a secure future and a higher return on investment for your hard earned dollar. It is what I believe in, it is why I am in the solar business.

Gravity Film Heat Exchangers or GFX

29 Dec 07 | Conservation, Environment, Solar Hot Water

Update: Sun Volt Solar is now an authorized dealer of ECO-GFX gravity film heat exhangers!  For more information, check out our GFX web page.

I am always looking for ways to improve efficiency, especially in energy use. I came across something called a Gravity Film Heat Exchanger or GFX system. These units recover heat from waste water and return it to the hot water tank. Since 80-90 percent of household hot water heat goes down the drain, literally, what a great way to recover some of that energy and reuse it.

Here is how they work: Hot water from a shower or sink runs down the drain and out into the sewer. If there is a vertical run of pipe, the water, because of adhesion, runs down the wall of the pipe (and not the center). If the pipe is metal, heat is transfered from the water to the metal pipe wall until the pipe is the same temperature as the water. All of this happens in any sewer line. If the vertical section of pipe has a heat exchanger attached to the outside of it, the heat from the metal pipe is conducted away to be reused. Most often cold water feed into the hot water tank is run through the heat exchanger. The system efficiency depends on the difference in temperature between the waste water and the incoming cold water. The greater the difference, the higher the efficiency.

This system only works where there is simultaneous hot water use and immediate drainage, say a show or sink. Something like a bath or laundry would not work well because the hot water is drawn off, used, then drained away.

It appears that the system is around 45-50 percent efficient. Therefore, if you use 70 percent of your hot water in showers or sink use, you would recover 30-35 percent of your total hot water energy. Not too bad.

These systems would work very well with solar hot water systems. I am contemplating installing one at my house to see if they work as advertised. The only requirement is that they be installed vertically. In fact, in order to work properly, great care should be taken to make sure the unit is perfectly vertical. For more information, see the NREL website on waste water heat recovery or this .pdf file called Heat Recovery from waste water using Gravity Film Heat Exchangers.

Tags: , , ,

29 Dec 07 | Conservation, Environment, Solar Hot Water | Comments (0)

Solar Energy Consortium, Kingston NY

21 Dec 07 | Solar Electric, Technology

I was reading the local on line news source this morning when this caught my eye:

Just under $1.5 million has been secured by Congress for the Solar Energy Consortium in Kingston.

Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who secured the funding, said it will be used to develop solar technology.

“These funds will be used to bring a new manufacturing partner into the field here of the solar consortium, and as a result, that consortium is going to grow as a whole and help strength the Hudson Valley’s identity as well,” he said.

Hinchey has already secured $3.2 million for C9 Corporation to conduct solar research and development in conjunction with TSEC.

Which leads me to the question who or what is C9 and TSEC? Here are some of the answers. About 2 years ago, C9 corporation opened a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Kingston. They have been working on research and development in several areas.

C9 Corp. plans to produce three advanced technologies. First, it will manufacture silicon carbide-based, wide band gap, superlattice wafers for high power electric switching devices and high temperature, high speed chips. Superlattice is an alloy of different elements used to form a highly-ordered, crystal lattice structure in semiconductor materials. Wide band gap semiconductors such as silicon carbide have about three times the band gap of silicon with corresponding increases in power density, temperature tolerance, speed and voltage.

For example, wide band gap silicon carbide would allow organizations like NASA to create 600 degree C Integrated Circuits to tolerate the harsh environments encountered by spacecraft, which it can only do in the lab today.

If you have a background in electronics or electrical engineering, you can appreciate the importance of what they are doing. Basically, the enemy of all semiconductors is high heat. Heat will kill a transistor or computer chip, and it makes photovoltaics run less efficiently. Developing a heat tolerant semiconductor will greatly improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells.

…C9 is helping Nanodynamics-88 develop and manufacture large, high-voltage SiC Schottky diodes and other power devices for the power conversion market. The contract is for next-generation hybrid electric military vehicles.

Or their civilian counterparts… More interesting stuff:

For 40 years, researchers and the government have been trying to produce silicon carbide semiconductors, which have a Figure of Merit improvement of 136 over silicon. Figure of Merit is a number that represents a composite of all the positive features of semiconductor material.

What has held back the success of silicon carbide is the defects that occur from the extreme temperatures – 1,600 and 1,800 C—that must be used to produce it. The primary defects are micropipes, which show up as Swiss cheese-like holes in the wafer, and screw dislocations, which are crystal imperfections throughout the material.

“C9 has developed a technology that is free of both micropipes and screw dislocations,” said Donegan. “C9’s version of silicon carbide can extend the functions of silicon devices to include high temperature operation. Our form of silicon carbide will complement silicon by extending Moore’s Law of Exponential Advancement to several generations,” said Dr. Wang. Moore’s Law states that the transistors on a wafer will shrink in size by 50% every 18 to 24 months.
Dr. Babiak referred to the potential for C9 to manufacture advanced silicon carbide materials as a technology leap that would result from overcoming a number of technical problems, including the limitations of narrow band gap.

The band gap of semiconductor material determines its temperature and voltage characteristics. One of the original semiconductor materials predating silicon is germanium, which has a very narrow band gap and consequently unfavorable temperature and voltage characteristics. Silicon’s wider band gap vastly improved upon that, bringing temperature ranges up to 125 to 150 degree C operation and thereby making electronics available for everyday use in every aspect of life from automotive to home appliances, entertainment and office products.

Silicon carbide’s even wider band gap vastly extends the operating temperature range, speed and voltage characteristics of today’s semiconductors, allowing the creation of new devices that will be a major leap in semiconductor technology. This will affect everyday life in much the same way silicon did 20 years ago with the introduction of microelectronics.

That development would be highly beneficial to photovoltaic technology as well. One of the downsides to photovoltiacs is their low efficiency and high cost. Increasing the band gap width is huge step forward.

Photovoltaic cells produce electricity when they are struck by photons from the sun. When a photon hits the cell surface, one of three things happen; it either passes through the panel, bounces off of the panel (reflected) or is absorbed by the panel. When a photon is absorbed by the panel it excites the electrons in the semiconductor material, which is the desired effect.

However, if the electron is not excited enough to move through the band gap to the next (conduction) level, it generates heat, which is undesired. If the photon contains more energy than what is needed to move through the band gap, the excess energy also creates heat. Heat lowers the efficiency of the semi conductors in general.

By increasing the band gap, more energy will be converted to electricity. By increasing the efficiency of a photovoltiac cell, less raw materials and labor will be needed per manufactured watt, this will be key to lowering costs.

And this is really exciting, to me anyway.

Tags: ,

21 Dec 07 | Solar Electric, Technology | Comment (1)

Name Change

18 Dec 07 | General Business

In talking with a potential distributor, it was brought up that the name “Hudson Valley Solar” was too close to another business’s name. In effort to avoid confusion and hard feelings, I have decided to change the name of my business to Sun Volt Solar, which is more generic and less likely to cause confusion and hard feelings with the other guy.

I felt that rather than become a pain in the rear end, I’d rather just come up with something unique for the area and be done with it. So, Sun Volt Solar it is. Good thing I have not printed any stationary or business cards yet. Soon. Soon.

Tags: ,

18 Dec 07 | General Business | Comments (0)

Obstructionist, Corporate lackies, Bush sycophants

14 Dec 07 | Commentary

Last night, at 6:25 pm, the US Senate choose to uphold the current policy of corporate welfare for Big Oil companies and voted for the stripped down version of the 2007 energy bill. Since this bill has everything the Republicans wanted, Bush will naturally sign it into law.

This is a disappointment and a set back for all those that were looking for a change of direction from our elected leaders. The difference between the House bill and the Senate bill are huge. The worst impact, for the ordinary environmentally concerned citizen, is the loss of the tax incentives for installation of solar power, which will expire at the end of 2008.

Fortunately, many states have picked up the ball and carried it a great deal of the way, New York being one of those. As we watch our national “leadership” give away our future to huge mega rich oil companies, it is comforting to know that at least some people have the moral courage to do the right thing. Will it be enough? I don’t know, only the future can tell.

Perhaps during the next election, we can remember the names of the Senators who voted against the non-stripped out 2007 energy bill. Here is a list:

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lott (R-MS)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

If you are from any of those states, keep this in mind the next time you are standing in front of a voting machine. In the mean time, perhaps the issue will come up again next year and we will get a second chance.

Tags: ,

14 Dec 07 | Commentary | Comments (0)

Filibuster!

13 Dec 07 | Commentary

In the second procedural vote, the Senate has voted 59-40 for the 2007 Energy Bill. This is not the 60 vote majority needed to prevent a Senate Filibuster by the mostly Republican minority that opposes this legislation.  So what, let them filibuster.

From the Energy Smart Blog:

Senator Reid should not be so quick to cave in front of 40 Senators willing to put their fossil-fuel friends before the nation.  40 Senators willing to put their fossil fuel friends before the future of all humanity.

Senator Reid:  KEEP THE SENATE OPEN for the weekend.  Make the 40 read the phone book in support of tax subsidies for the oil and gas companies.  Make this “CALLOUS MINORITY” explain themselves to the nation.

I agree, let Senator McCain, who is attempting a presidential run stand in front of the country and explain why he does not see the need to encourage development of alternate energy.  Let the rest of the minority opposition explain why, when oil is trading at $94.00 per barrel, it is not important to invest in renewable energy.  Let them explain why, when oil companies are reaping record profits never before heard of in the history of US business, they need huge tax payer subsides.  I for one, would look forward to such an explaination.

Tags: , ,

13 Dec 07 | Commentary | Comments (0)

The outcome hangs in the balance

11 Dec 07 | Commentary, General Business

It seems that Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has the interests of Big Coal and Big Oil at heart. Being the Republican Senate minority leader, this position is not unexpected. Senator McConnell has supported George W. Bush in most things, including the Iraq war (that is until it became unpopular to do so, at which time he changed his mind on Iraq).

What McConnell and the other Republicans are missing is the fact that change is in the air. The environmental and energy issues are too large to ignore, and enough people have taken notice that it can no longer be business as usual. Momentum favors the things that are in motion. At the risk of creating a public backlash to the Republican party in general, these Senators are on the road to greater dependence on oil and coal, not less. I hope and pray that the voters of this country are paying attention, taking notes and looking at the alternatives. If so, I would postulate that these stalwart Republican Senators, who are only interested in voting the party line as defined by Bush, are treading the path to their own reelection defeat and subesquent retirement ceremonies.

For myself, the decision on whether or not to jump fully into the solar business hinges on whether or not the tax incentives will be renewed. Without the tax incentives, both federal and state, it would be difficult to make a living in the solar business. We rely on incentives to even the playing field and make solar thermal, photovoltaic and wind turbine technology affordable to the average home owner. Even with the incentives, it can be a tough sell, especially to someone who does not fully understand the technology, or appreciate the environmental benefits of a solar installation.

If the big oil and coal companies were not receiving huge incentives from the government to produce cheap energy, these renewable energy incentives would not be necessary. This is the European economic model, they have very high energy prices, which makes renewable energy competitive with conventional energy systems including nuclear power. This would be what I would call, a true market system. Something to think about.

New York State has an excellent photovoltaic incentive program through NYSERDA. Unfortunately for those just starting, in order to qualify for those incentives, you have to be a certified photovoltaic installer through NABCEP. As they advertise in all the trade magazines, it is the certification “that is hard to get” mostly due to the experience requirements. Of course, this is a catch 22, how do you get the experience if you can not be a certified installer without experience?

Solar Thermal installations also have a tax incentive through New York State, but not enough to make it viable without the additional federal tax incentive.

As of now, my business plan includes both installation work and some type of retail sales. Without both these components, the business model does not work, I will not make enough money to feed my family and cover all my expenses, so my future in the solar business hangs in the balance. Here are some particularly critical swing votes that could push support for the energy bill over the critical, filibuster-proof 60 votes mark. If one of these Senators “belongs” to you, call, call and call again:

Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
Ensign (R-NV)
Greg (R-NH)
Grassley (R-IA)
Levin (D-MI)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McCain (R-AZ)
Sessions (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevents (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thune (R-SD)

Anything you can do would be a help.

Tags: ,

11 Dec 07 | Commentary, General Business | Comments (0)

Hot Water Formulas and Calculations

09 Dec 07 | Solar Hot Water

The general use calculation for hot water heating system design is about 80 gallons of hot water for a family of four. That is a very rough estimate, however, it holds up well in most cases. As far as solar hot water system design, I (and others) recommend installing systems this size on most residential housing units. It is not all that much more expensive than a 60 gallon system, which is the next size down.

Even if less than four people live in that particular house, solar domestic hot water (SDHW) systems have service lives of 25-35 years or more. Chances are good that the property will transfer ownership in that time, possibly to a larger family.

Several years ago, the US Department of energy put a great deal of effort into defining an equation which would more precisely calculate hot water use. Their work is below:

Daily Hot Water Use

Use the following equation to estimate average daily hot water use in gallons per day.

vol = ( -1.78 + 0.9744 x per + 6.3933 x age1 + 10.5178 x age2 + 15.3052 x (age3+age4) -0.1277 x thermostat + 0.1437 x tanksz – 0.1794 x wtmp + 0.5155 x atmp + 10.2191 x athome – (1-dw) x dw_use – (1-cw) x cw_use ) x IF(senior_only,0.379,1) x IF(NOT(pay),1.3625,1)
variable units (or equation) description
age1   number of people aged 0-5 yrs
age2   number of people aged 6-13 yrs
age3   number of people aged 14-64 yrs
age4   number of people aged 65- yrs
per = sum(age1,age2,age3,age4) total number of people in household
tstat °F water heater thermostat setpoint
tanksz gals rated volume of water heater
wtmp °F inlet water temperature
atmp °F average annual outdoor air temperature
athome = 1 if TRUE, 0 if FALSE adult at home during day
pay = 1 if TRUE, 0 if FALSE residents pay for energy to make hot water
senior_only = 1 if TRUE, 0 if FALSE only seniors live in household and it is a multifamily residence<
dw = 1 if TRUE, 0 if FALSE dishwasher present in home
cw = 1 if TRUE, 0 if FALSE clothes washer present in home
dw_use =0.692^per+1.335^per gal/day hot water use by household dishwasher
cw_use =1.1688^per+4.7737^per gal/day hot water use by household clothes washer
(if use hot or warm water for clothes washing)

Daily Water Heater Energy Use

To estimate average daily hot water energy consumption in BTUs per day, use the following equation.

variable units (or constants) description
vol gals/day average daily hot water use.
RE   recovery efficiency of water heater
UA BTU/hr-°F standy heat loss coefficient of water heater (if not available see section below)
Pon BTU/hr rated input power of water heater
Ttank °F tank thermostat set point
Tinlet °F inlet water temperature
Tamb °F air temperature around water heater
dens 8.293752 lb/gal density of water
Cp 1.000743 BTU/lb-°F specific heat of water

Annual Water Heater Energy Use

To estimate average annual hot water energy consumption by type of fuel, use the following equations.

fuel type equation (with units) description
electricity = 365 * Qin / 3412.76 kWh/yr annual water heater electricity use
natural gas = 365 * Qin / 100,000 therm/yr annual water heater natural gas use
propane = 365 * Qin / 91,500 gal/yr annual water heater propane use
fuel oil = 365 * Qin / 138,690 gal/yr annual water heater fuel oil use
 
variable units description

Standby Heat Loss Coefficient

To calculate UA, if necessary, use the following equation.
UA has units of BTU/hr-°F. EF, RE and Pon come from water heater product data.
This calculation is based on the DOE Energy Factor test procedure for water heaters.

variable units description
EF =   Energy Factor
RE =   Recovery Efficiency
Pon = BTU/hr rated input power
Qout = 41093.7 BTU/day Energy content of water drawn from water heater during 24 hour test.

Source:
1996 Lutz, J. D., Liu, X., McMahon, J. E., Dunham, C., & McGrue, Q. T. “Modeling Residential Hot Water Use Patterns” No. LBL-37805. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. November 1996
About Hot Water Heating Module

Tags: , , ,

09 Dec 07 | Solar Hot Water | Comments (7)

House passes Energy Bill, Bush promises veto

07 Dec 07 | Commentary

Update: Since this post, dated December 7, 2007, congress has made two more attempts to pass some sort of renewable energy legislation.  This bill and the subsequent bill failed in the Senate.  The Current bill, H.R. 5351 has passed the house and is on its way to the Senate as of February 28, 2008.

The same players that blocked the last two bills are still in place in the Senate.  Therefore it remains to be seen if this will even make it to the President’s desk for signing.

Stay tuned.

The house passed the 2007 energy bill last Wednesday. The bill features some very favorable solar and wind power incentives as well as minimum gas mileage standard for cars, SUVs and light trucks (known as CAFE). Here are some of the highlights:

  • Increases the efficiency of vehicles to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, for the first time in a generation;
  • Makes an historic commitment to American-grown biofuels;
  • Requires for the first time that 15 percent of our electricity come from renewable sources;
  • Improves energy efficiency of a wide range of products, appliances, lighting and buildings; and
  • Invests in clean renewable and alternative energy tax incentives to build viable markets and create jobs.

For more specifics you can read the whole thing here.

One very exciting thing is the continuation of tax credits for installation of residential solar and fuel cells. This was set to expire at the end of 2008, however this legislation seeks to extend that to 2016. Also, the tax credit cap, which was initially set at $2,000 has been increased to $4,000.

Naturally, there are detractors of this bill. The Senate is attempting to pass its own very weak version of this legislation, with Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) leading the charge to gut all of the important parts of the bill (If you live in New Mexico, give your senator a call, let him know how you feel).

As far as the cost of this bill, if I read the document correctly, it looks like the total cost would be 16.2 billion dollars, much of which would be offset by repealing several subsides to big oil companies. The total tax burden would be around 6 billion.

A few months ago, former chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Alan Greenspan, admitted that the Iraq war was more or less about oil. Therefore, it is fair to compare the cost of renewable energy implementation to the Iraq war. Currently, the Iraq war costs us about 1.4 billion dollars per week. So far the total tab is around 475 Billion dollars with no end is sight. Several economist estimate that before it is all over, the cost will be around 1.2 Trillion dollars.

bush

Even if the bill gets through the Senate unscathed, Mr. Bush as already promised to veto it.

Because, why, when oil is between $90-100 dollars a barrel, gas is running $3.20-3.50 a gallon, diesel and heating oil are well above $3.00 a gallon, would we possibly want to pass legislation that would curb our oil use? What are we, stupid? Perhaps crazy? I mean, I love spending my paycheck at the gas station. It makes me feel good to know that the money that is supposed to go toward my daughter’s college education is being used to buy heating oil. I feel like I am really doing my part to pay the CEO of Exxon Mobile’s annual bonus and at the same time, pumping tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. After all, we don’t want the world to get colder, do we?

I would also like to add I am proud to be an American!

Tags: ,

07 Dec 07 | Commentary | Comments (0)