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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.

Delinquent Clients

20 May 09 | General Business

This happens to every business. You provide a service and the customer decides not to pay. There are several reasons for this, some of which are predictable and thus can be avoided.  They include:

  1. Sudden loss of income.  During the installation the customer looses his or her job.  This happens and there is almost nothing that can be done about it.  My business model has always relied on down payments, e.g. 1/3 on order, 1/3 on delivery and 1/3 on completion of a job.  Therefore, at any point in a project I am not that far behind.
  2. Inability to pay.  This is completely preventable and can be determined during the early stages of a project.  It is the reason why a contractor should always completely explain the costs and get a signed contract with the customer.  If there are any doubts, as for a different payment plan, e.g. 1/2 on order, 1/4 on delivery and 1/4 with completion of the project.
  3. The customer is an asshole.  This one should be apparent during the sales presentation.  Things to look out for; customer has a past history if stiffing contractors,  suing contractors, seems dishonest, etc.  Sometimes it is nothing more than a bad feeling.  Often times when this happens my schedule suddenly becomes booked solid for the next 6 – 12 months.

It is important to follow up on things.  This means sending out an invoice promptly when payment is expected.  After 30 days, a statement of monies due and a follow up phone call.  Often times, simply asking if they received the invoice and statement, then asking when you could expect a check will suffice.  Sometimes not, however.

In many cases, things can be worked out.  In case number one, often times a payment plan can be put into place.  Generally, these people want to do the right thing, but due to circumstance beyond anyone’s control, they cannot.

In the case where the customer never had the ability to pay, this is the fault of both parties.  The customer is at fault for lying and the contractor is at fault for not checking out his potential customer before starting work.  Chances are that this customer will never have the wherewithal to pay, nor would any legal proceedings be fruitful.  This may end up being a business loss that is written off at the end of the year.  It does happen occasionally, but a credit check can almost eliminate these situations.

If you are dealing with a customer that can clearly pay but for some reason has decided not to, then there is something called a Mechanic’s Lien.  This is a last resort measure and requires a solid paperwork trail.  The requirements vary from state to state, however, in New York, a Mechanic’s Lien must be filed within four months of the completion of work.  What then happens is the property cannot be sold, transferred or refinanced without the lien being satisfied.  Often times, on a new construction, the bank will not release the next draw until the lien is satisfied.  It becomes public record.  I would not go to this well very often, but if you are out a lot of money, it is a way to get payment.

In short, if you want to stay in business, then you need to get paid.

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20 May 09 | General Business | Comments (0)

Can plastic piping be used in a solar hot water system?

12 May 09 | Solar Hot Water, Training, solar thermal

Short answer: Don’t do it.

Plastic piping such as PEX, PEX AL PEX, PVC, ABS, etc. can be safely used with hot water systems, radiant floor heating and so forth.  It is much cheaper and usually easier to work with than copper or stainless steel.  That being said, it is not appropriate for use in any solar thermal application.

Solar thermal systems have much less control over high temperatures than conventional fossil fuel based systems.  Summer time collector stagnation temperatures can easily reach 300° F.  At these temperatures any plastic piping will melt.  This will cause the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) to leak creating a big mess and likely an insurance claim.  The only type if piping that should be used in a collector loop is copper or stainless steel.

Even copper fittings with rubber gaskets (AKA Pro-Press or Viega fittings) are only rated for 250° F.  They should not be used in a solar loop either.

It is worth the extra time, effort and expense to solder copper piping and or purchase stainless steel tubing for use in the solar loop.  This will ensure that the system works well for years to come with no leaks and no call backs.

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12 May 09 | Solar Hot Water, Training, solar thermal | Comments (0)

Is it a good time to buy a solar system?

07 May 09 | Commentary

Short answer:  It is always a good time to buy a solar system.

Now is especially good however because there is an overstock of Photovoltaic panels and Thermal collectors.  Prices are lower than they have been in several years.

Of course, going against this over supply is a general lack of credit and/or cautious outlook.  That is understandable in any circumstance because solar systems require a large outlay of money, more so for PV.

Here is a short list of reason why now would be a good time to install a solar system:

  1. Lower prices.  Most distributors have an overstock of PV panels on their hands that they would love to move.  Prices have dropped about as far as they can go without some companies going out of business, which would be bad.
  2. Installers (like my self) are looking to fill in some installation dates on our calendars this summer.
  3. Energy prices are relatively low but that will change once the economy begins to recover even a little bit.
  4. Excess government borrowing and huge national debt is likely to trigger high inflation.  Now would be a good time to get your energy prices locked in for the next 20-30 years.

Increased oil prices may be coming sooner than most people think.  Right now Crude prices are slowly moving up to $60.00 per barrel.  Motor fuel is inching up slightly faster because refiners have closed down several refineries to put some downward pressure on the supply side.

High inflation is almost inevitable at this point.  There does not seem to be any other logical conclusion about the US financial system other than the creation of vast amounts of dollars by the Fed to bailout banks will have consequences.  Look for inflation in the mid teens starting in mid 2010-11 or so.

When a homeowner purchases a renewable energy system, they in essense, lock there energy prices at a certain rate for the life of the equipment.  For example, if a 2 KW PV system costs $7,000 (after incentives)  installed and generates 79,000 kWh over the next 25 years, the cost of that electricity is $0.08 per kWh.  Less than half the current NY state average of $0.165 per kWh.  That is a great hedge against energy price inflation.

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07 May 09 | Commentary | Comments (0)

Calculating energy needed to heat water

05 May 09 | Solar Hot Water, solar thermal

In order to properly size a Solar Domestic Hot Water (SDHW) system, a few pieces of information are needed:

  1. Current and future occupants of the house or average hot water use.
  2. Water supply temperature
  3. Desired hot water temperature
  4. Stand by loss of heating unit

We know that in this area (Mid Hudson Valley) ground water temperature averages 53 degrees.  I know this because I have personally measured the well water temperature at all of our SDHW installations.  This is a good starting point.

Most people desire their hot water temperature to be between 110 to 120 degrees.  There are some applications where hotter water (laundry, dish washers, etc) is desired.  For general purposes 115 degrees is a good ending point.

We also can base average hot water useage on the number of occupants of any house.  The rule of thumb is 20 gallons per person for the first two people, 15 gallons per person for any additional people.  This means that the average family of four uses 70 gallons of hot water per day (20+20+15+15 = 70).

Standby losses for water heaters generally range from 5-10% for electric and oil fired systems and 40% for natural gas or propane water tanks.

For the purposes of Solar Hot Water, an appropriate unit of energy would be the BTU.  If we were using SI units (metric) it would be the Mega Joule (MJ).  Since most HVAC contractors understand things in terms of BTUs, it is easiest to use this unit.

A BTU is defined as amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by one degree Fahrenheit.   That is close enough for our purposes.

Therefore, the formula to calculate energy use is:

BTUneeded= 8.34 x Gallons x (desired°F-supply°F) x Standby

Where:

  • BTUneeded = BTUs needed to heat the water for one day
  • 8.34 = Weight in pounds of one gallon of water
  • Gallons = Gallons of hot water used in one day
  • desired°F= Desired temperature of the hot water
  • supply°F= Cold water supply temperature
  • Standby= Standby loss of the heating appliance

A typical family of four heating their hot water with electric or oil would expect to use:

BTUneeded = 8.34 x 80 x (115°F-53°F) x 1.10 = 45,503 BTU/day

A typical family of four heating their hot water with gas or propane would expect to use

BTUneeded = 8.34 x 80 x (115°F-53°F) x 1.40 = 57,913 BTU/day

To get an idea of cost, BTUs need to be converted to energy units that are used for electricity, oil, and gas.

  • Electricity has 3412 BTU per kWh.  Therefore 45,503 ÷ 3412 = 13.3 kWh.  Going rate per kWh is about $0.16.  13.3 kWh x $0.16 = $2.13 per day or $778.83 per year
  • Heating oil has 138,700 BTU per gallon.  Therefore 45,403 ÷ 138,700 = 0.33 gallons.  Going rate per gallon $2.459.  0.33 gallons  x $2.459 = $0.81 per day or $269.19 per year.
  • Propane has 93,000 BTU per gallon.  Therefore 57,913 ÷ 93,000 = 0.62 gallons.  Going rate per gallon $2.428.  0.62 gallons  x $2.428 = $1.51 per day or $549.46 per year.
  • Natural gas has 102,000 BTU per CCF.  Therefore 57,913 ÷ 102,000 = 0.56 CCF.  Going rate per CCF is $1.633.  0.56 CCF x $1.633 = $0.93 per day or $338.42 per year.

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05 May 09 | Solar Hot Water, solar thermal | Comments (0)