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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.

Waste not want not; The coming new energy age.

29 May 08 | Conservation

Energy efficiency. It is not as sexy as installing a PV or solar hot water system, it doesn’t produce power, nor is it really something that can be seen or felt. However, I begin almost every sales call with the same statement:

The first and most important part of any renewable energy system is conservation. Take any and all steps necessary to reduce your electrical and heating loads first, then consider an alternative energy system.

These steps include:

  1. Replacing inefficient appliances with Energy Star models
  2. Replacing incandescent lights with CFLs
  3. Installing timer switches on bathroom fans, heat lamps and other similar fixtures
  4. Eliminate phantom (standby) electrical loads
  5. Add installation to attic, walls and floors
  6. Increase attic ventilation to reduce summer heating load
  7. Replace old single glazed windows with double pane units

Once these steps are done, then properly sized alternative energy systems can be installed. These include:

  1. Solar Domestic Hot Water. This requires a good south facing exposure with little or no shade between the hours of 9am to 3 pm all year long.
  2. Solar How Water space heating. This requires a very well constructed house, preferably with radiant floor heating and a very good south exposure with no shading.
  3. Solar Thermal air heating units. This requires a good south facing vertical wall with no shade
  4. Photovoltaics system properly sized for 50-90 percent of annual electrical load. This requires a south facing exposure with no shade between the hours of 9am to 3pm (preferably longer) year round.
  5. Small WInd Turbine. This requires a good wind resource and zoning allowance
  6. Micro Hydro plant. If a small stream or pond is available, this is an excellent energy source.

All of these systems are called distributed power generation. The advantage of distributed power generation is that is has no transmission line losses, which can be as high as 20 percent of the total power generated. They can be operated in a stand alone situation, grid connected or a combination of the two. Two systems can be combined to generate power in a hybrid system, an example of this is a PV/wind system.

In short, a renewable energy system allows you to control your own destiny and not be in the hands of the local utility company.

We are terrible at converting energy to useful purpose, with an overall efficiency of around 35%:

us energy flow 2002

Check out the transportation sector. Cars, trucks and other vehicles are extremely inefficient, averaging around 26%. In this time of $4.00 per gallon gas, that means that for every gallon of gas you purchase, 3 dollars is burned and dissipated as waste heat.

Unfortunately, the only control an average consumer can have over the transportation industry is to purchase the most fuel efficient options available. Thus, we are at the mercy of the car companies to design more fuel efficient models if we want to own a car.

Residential energy use is a different matter. As the chart shows, the largest energy waster is electrical generation. Every homeowner can take steps to reduce their electrical load right now. Here are a few things that everyone can do little or no cost:

  1. Vacuum the refrigerator condensing coils off every 6-12 months (the condensing coils are located on the back or bottom of the unit). Make sure the unit has enough air circulation to cool the coils as needed. If the air is restricted by dirt or blocked by a wall, it can make the appliance work harder. Many freezers have a “condensation saver” setting. This is a heat strip embedded in the freezer door that uses quite a bit of power. Turn it off and wipe up the condensation with a rag every so often.
  2. Make sure that your air conditioner is in good shape. Wash the condensing coils off at least once per year, (these are located outside and can often get clogged with dirt, leaves, and other debris) change or clean the air filter too.
  3. Dishwashers should be ran only when full. Use the “air dry” or “energy saver” settings for drying the dishes.
  4. Make sure that you clothes dryer lint trap is emptied after every load. Check the vent and make sure it is not clogged with lint, clean as needed.
  5. If possible, use a clothes line to dry clothes instead of a clothes dryer
  6. Don’t use portable electric heaters if a all possible
  7. Turn the temperature on your hot water heater down, it should be high enough to be comfortable, but not scalding
  8. Replace burned out incandescent lights with CFL bulbs. Remember to dispose of the CFL bulbs properly at the end of there life.
  9. Get rid of phantom loads by unplugging them or turning them off when not in use. These include things like laptop battery chargers, cellphone chargers, TVs, VCRs, DVD players (pretty much anything with a wireless remote control) microwave ovens, etc

One thing is very clear, energy is no longer cheap and in the future may not be plentiful either. I think that most people are used to electric lights, hot and cold running water, heated or cooled buildings, cooked food, cold storage for perishables, easy transportation, easy communication, etc. Ask yourself this question, could you live without electricity for a week? A month? A year? Longer?

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29 May 08 | Conservation | Comments (0)

National Day of Action, May 20, 2008

20 May 08 | Commentary

Today is the day, Tuesday, May 20, 2008.  For far too many months, congress has been dallying with the extension of the solar tax incentives.  This period of unknown has begun to take it’s toll on the investment and building of the Solar Economy here in the United States.  To that end, several industry groups, companies, coalitions and others have joined their voices together in an effort called the National Day of Action for Clean Energy.  Hopefully, hopefully, like the in movie “Horton Hears a Who,” the House and Senate will hear us.

So common now, I know you can do it.  Everyone needs to make noise of the noisiest kind.  Contact your Congressperson and Senator, let them know that it is important.  Write a letter, make a phone call, send an e-mail drop by the local office in person, do something to make a difference.

Like all the Who’s in Whoville, I don’t want our little spec of dust boiled in beazzle nut oil.

You can read the news iteration of the bill called “HR 6049 renewable energy and job creation act of 2008” and make an informed call.

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20 May 08 | Commentary | Comments (0)

Business Cards

13 May 08 | Sales, marketing

It seems like a small thing, but I ordered business cards the other day, take a look:

sun volt solar business card

These came from Black Bear Printing, a local outfit right here in Kerhonkson, NY. I have to say, they came out pretty good! They have a site called The Printing Den, where you can design your own card online, or upload a design for printing. Since I already had a logo and a general idea of what I wanted, I chose to use the online design application. All in all, it was pretty easy to use. I paid $48.00 plus shipping for five hundred cards.

As part of the marketing effort and generally appearing to have one’s act together, I think this is an important step.

Since this blog is about starting and running a solar business, I am going to post more about the back end business stuff since that seems to take up at least half of my time.

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13 May 08 | Sales, marketing | Comments (0)

Something to think about when calculating ROI

07 May 08 | Sales, solar thermal

In my sales manual, I have a whole section devoted to Return on Investment (ROI) for SDHW systems. Basically, it shows the money saved by reducing energy use vs. the cost of the solar system minus the incentives. I have several charts that show the different conventional fuel type and how they compare with SDHW, when the payback will be, what a payment would be on a financed system, etc. Most clients eat this up as it is the nuts and bolts of any sales presentation.

One problem I have is predicting the future price of energy. For the purpose of the sales presentation, I use a standard 2.3 percent inflation figure. As everyone knows, energy has been rising at a much higher rate than that.

I read a very interesting article on The Oil Drum about the possible future prices of a barrel of oil. It does not look good. Grant it, these guys are the peak oil gloom and doom predictors, however, it must be said that everything they have predicted so far has come to pass more or less. Based on market pressures, their analyst is predicting $200.00 per barrel oil by 2010 and a steeper rise after that. This is supported by Goldman Sachs group which states:

The possibility of $150-$200 per barrel seems increasingly likely over the next six-24 months, though predicting the ultimate peak in oil prices as well as the remaining duration of the upcycle remains a major uncertainty,” the Goldman analysts wrote in the report dated May 5.

This is a chart from Oil Drum showing predicted prices for the next decade:

price of oil forcast oil drum

As goes the price of oil, so goes the price of electricity, propane, heating oil, natural gas, food and all the other energy sources. Of course, this is a difficult concept to convey to most people because they don’t understand how much our society depends on oil to function.

The current high gas prices at the pump are only a small inkling of what is in store for the next winter’s heating season. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to have to make some tough choices next winter.

As always, it is difficult to tell what the future has in store for us. Without being too alarmist, I try to convey to the potential client that now is the best time to install one of these systems because as the price of energy goes up, so will the price of materials. A small sacrifice now may reap large rewards later on.

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07 May 08 | Sales, solar thermal | Comments (0)