This 10KW solar electric array will offset nearly 5 tons of C02 emissions each year!

Featured on WGME 13 this week was ReVision’s completion of a 10KW solar power installation for the Freeport Public Library!

You can visit WGME’s website for a video showcasing the solar project, with a word from ReVision project manager Josh Baston.

This clean, renewable solar energy system will offset nearly 5 tons of C02 emissions each year. Real-time system monitoring is available so that the public can see the impact of the system.

Here are some additional pictures taken by ReVision Energy of the installation, from our photo gallery:

This passive solar house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire has a 3.4 kilowatt Sun Power photovoltaic (PV) array mounted on a 40-degree pitched roof, and a Sun Power 3000 inverter.

The solar electric array generates most of home’s electricity during the course of the year, averaging about 380 kilowatt hours each month.

This solar power system is grid-tied with no moving parts and smart inverter technology that allows the import of electricity to the electric panel on overcast days or when electric load is high. In clear sunlit conditions the array will export energy out to the electric grid, and credit is banked under New Hampshire’s net metering program.

Using solar power at home not only produces clean energy reliably, it reduces the strain on the electrical grid during times of peak demand.  Since solar energy has no emissions, this system will eliminate an estimated 6,890 lbs of CO2 from the atmosphere each year!

In addition to not burning oil in over a year, this house now generates 4.4 KW of grid-tied solar power!

This past week ReVision Energy installed a 4.4 kw grid tied photovoltaic system on a customer’s home in New Durham, New Hampshire.

The solar power array, comprised of 21 Sunpower modules, uses a Sunframe rail system which eliminates gaps between the panels and leaves a beautiful finish on the rooftop.

This customer already has in place a wood boiler and a flat plate solar hot water system. The solar electric array we installed completes his full suite of renewable energy systems.

He says he burns about 4 cords of wood a year and has not used any oil in well over a year!

More Images From Our Photo Gallery:

The Beachmere Inn’s solar electric system generates 5-8% of the Inn’s power needs, and solar hot water has reduced oil use by more than a third!

The Maine Innkeepers Association highlighted The Beachmere Inn in Ogunquit, a certified Maine Environmental Leader in Hospitality, in their most recent newsletter.

The Innkeepers Association also recognized that the inn has been independently family owned and operated for the past 72 years.

We featured The Beachmere Inn last May, when we noted how Beachmere took their green initiatives to the next level by installing 3 active solar hot water systems and a 5 kilowatt solar electric system

In the first two months of service, the solar hot water systems reduced oil consumption by 34%. Their solar hot water systems supply hot water for a 32-room main building and generate domestic hot water in employee housing buildings

The 5kW solar electric system covers 5-8% of the Inn’s total demand. According to their website, by mid 2009 more than 7,800 KW kilowatt hours of clean electricity have been produced by the solar array, eliminating 13,100 lbs of CO2.

Here’s a summary of the energy saving measures that The Beachmere Inn reports on their website:

• Solar Panels have been installed for Thermal Hot water for over 32 rooms as well as in our employee housing building.
• Solar Photovoltaic Panels have been installed for production of 5 – 8% of our energy needs.
• As of June 24, 2009 over 7,800 KW has been produced by solar power a savings of 13,100 Lbs. of Co2.
• Compact Fluorescent bulbs will be in used in all lighting
• Cold water laundry processes are being used to save electricity by eliminating the need to heat hot water for the laundry systems through Ozone technology.
• Energy star appliances are chosen first for any appliance replacement
• High efficiency heating & cooling units were installed in 2008 for Beachmere West
• Additional insulation was installed in the exterior walls and ceiling for better building envelope efficiency in Beachmere West.
• In 2007 we installed efficient, timed irrigation for the lawn and drip irrigation for our planting beds, in 2008 that effort has continued.
• High efficiency Low E Eagle windows are installed in Beachmere West (2008) and were used for all the window & door replacement at Beachmere South (2008) and in the Victorian (2000 – on going).
• Since 2000 we have been replacing old inefficient oil burners with Buderus boilers in the Victorian, South and West buildings.

In addition to their commitment to reducing energy and using energy from clean, renewable sources, The Beachmere Inn has a host of green administrative, cleaning, and building practices.

The Maine Environmental Leader in Hospitality distinction recognizes all of these efforts, and in fact, The Beachmere Inn has “one of the highest totals in certification scoring points.”

Sarah Diment, owner at The Beachmere Inn, feels, “It’s important to take steps towards environmental efficiencies as a smart business move. We know by becoming ‘greener’ we have a direct impact on bettering our environment. Our guests appreciate our efforts and implement some of what they see here in their homes.”

Visit the Maine DEP website to learn more about Maine’s Environmental Leader program, or call 1-800-789-9802.

Congratulations again, Beachmere!

Skoglund with his homemade solar water collector

Six new PV panels installed

Photos courtesy Free Press Online

ReVision Energy has anointed Robert Skoglund, aka “the humble Farmer,” the “Solar Pioneer of the Year” for his efforts to make his home in St. George more energy-independent.

Skoglund, whose radio show ran on MPBN for 28 years (and now continues as a podcast and on independent community stations), successfully installed a homemade solar hot water collector, which on a sunny day heats water to 115 degrees. However, he encountered more trouble trying to install a solar electric system and called in ReVision Energy for assistance.

In a single day, ReVision installed six 230-watt Canadian Solar PV panels. The panels will provide close to 1800 killowatt-hours a year of clean, renewable energy each year. The system also has room to add twelve more panels.

Read more about this project in the Free Press Online article.

Receiving the Leed for Homes Innovative Project Award
Photo courtesy Bright Built Barn blog

The Bright Built Barn recently won the prestigious 2009 LEED for Homes Innovative Project Award from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The award recognizes projects, developers and home builders who have demonstrated leadership in the residential building marketplace.

Phil Kaplan from Kaplan Thompson Architects and Tedd Benson from Bensonwood went to Phoenix, Arizona to accept the award at GreenBuild, the USGBC Annual Conference, this past December.

A write-up of the event is available on the Bright Built Barn blog.

We also received this report of performance of Bright Built Barn’s solar systems, one year later:

I’m happy to report that [BrightBuilt Barn] has exceeded all expectations.

On a subjective level, it has been a joy to live and work in – warm in the winter, cool in the summer, light and airy and lovely to look at all year round. I am also delighted to report that I have not had one minute of trouble with any of the systems – high praise indeed from a guy who hates maintenance and repair, and who has had his share of woes while living in a number of conventionally built houses over the years. The solar systems in the Barn are simple, with few moving parts, and highly reliable – so far, they just work.

BrightBuilt Barn Generated a surplus of more than 5000 KW/hrs in 2008-09

ReVision installed the solar hot water and solar power systems in this innovative, net-zero building.

In its first year, the home’s PV system generation a surplus of 5094 kilowatt-hours – or enough energy to power 5 conventional homes for a month.

Building owner Keith Collins goes on to say that “The Barn does, in fact, power my conventionally built main house (over 15 years old and no paragon of energy efficiency) which sits about 100 feet away, and has produced over 60% of that home’s electrical use.”

You can see real-time system performance of the Bright Built Barn online at brightbuiltbarn.com.

Ben Tipton’s house is smaller than many conventional homes, uses sustainable building materials, and has a PV and solar hot water system

Last year we discussed the construction of a sustainable four-person household built by the Tipton family in Woolwich, Maine.

Completed in October 2008, Ben Tipton recently shared data about his home’s energy performance with us.

Over the course of the year, Ben Tipton reports that his Maine solar power system generated about half of his family’s energy needs, and that his current home uses roughly 2800% less propane for heating and hot water than his previous home.

Here are some details:

Thank you to all that helped on our house. Even if you did not pound a nail your support, encouragement and friendship has been felt all along the way. I now have one year of data and the numbers look really good. No place to go from here but down. I have posted them here and on the blog. We could not have done it without all the help.

Here is the final first year tally…..

• Cost per day: $0.93
• Kw created on site: 1415
• Kw sent out to the grid: 700
• Kw purchased from grid: 2614 (wind and eco-friendly hydro power)
• Yearly Cost: $339.86
• Monthly utility Cost: $28.32
• Total Kw used: 3329
• Propane for cooking: 25 gal
• Wood: 1.5 cords sustainably harvested from the land

So what is a net carbon impact this year??? The only thing that wasn’t made on site or in Maine was the 25 gal of propane. Our last house used over 700 gallons propane, 3 cord of wood and 5000kw. I have to say that these number are impressive and have exceeded my expectations. I owe a huge Thank you to all that helped on this project.

Ben

As part of Ben’s and his family’s commitment to sustainability, they continue to look for ways to reduce their energy consumption and sustainably produce what energy they do use.

You can follow Ben’s story on his blog, Simple Living in Maine.
<h3>From our <a href=”http://www.revisionenergy.com/solar-projects/residential/”>Residential Solar Photo Gallery</a>:</h3>

See more installations on our <a href=”http://www.revisionenergy.com/blog/maine-solar-power-projects/”>Solar Projects Map</a>

The Redfern House in Portland, Maine Achieved a LEED Platinum rating

We were impressed when we heard that the designers of the Redfern House intended to build a home so efficient that it would not need a fossil fuel boiler (no oil nor gas) – even in Maine’s cold climate!

The finished product has exceeded everyone’s expectations, resulting in a Platinum rating from the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes Program.

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction for new design or renovation.
Located on Victor Road in Portland, Redfern is another super-efficient creation of Catherine and Jonathan Culley of Redfern Properties in Portland.

The Culleys, who are refreshingly passionate about green design, set out to build a home that was both green and affordable.

Catherine explains that “green design doesn’t work if only a few people can afford it.  We wanted to make it so that it’s attainable for more people – so that sustainability is less ‘pie in the sky.”‘

Redfern Properties chose to work with LEED accredited architect Chris Briley to come up with the design of the home. Chris is the founding principal of Green Design Studio, based in Yarmouth.

Coming in at just under 2,000 s.f., the two-story, 3 BR, 2.5B Redfern House is built with resource efficient materials and incorporates low mass, high efficiency electric on-demand hot water heater which is powered by a 2 kilowatt grid-tied solar electric system.

Other features of this home include non toxic paints, cellulose insulation, a detached garage and resource efficient framing. Being located in the downtown region, it’s assessable to public transportation and to Greater Portland’s resources.

Horizon Residential provided consultation on insulation, ventilation, and heating performance. Horizon is also serving as the ‘rater’ for the home in a number of the LEED categories. Other sustainability partners that helped to make this project a success were Cuddledown, Furniturea, Green Designs, Ember Grove, Angela Adams, and Back Cove Yardscaping. Learn more at www.redfernproperties.com.