This 3.2kw solar electric system will offset roughly 6,603 lbs of C02 annually. That’s the equivalent of planting 33 trees or reducing 12,000 miles of car travel.
For Maureen Quinn, energy efficiency and conservation is a key part of owning a home.
She had been thinking about solar for years, but the generous state and federal incentives made it easy for her to get started. “Now seemed to be the ideal time for me to make it happen,” she says.
Quinn met ReVision’s Will Kessler at an open house, where she had the opportunity to see the systems up close and get a feeling for how the process went. After a complimentary site visit, Will designed a 3.2kw grid-tied solar electric system to be installed on her south-facing roof. The project specification, according to Quinn, “compared favorably with the competition, particularly in regards to experience and price.”
Saving Green by Being Green
Quinn reports that ReVision’s installation team “exceeded my expectations completely” and had the system running in only two half days. Now she’s enjoying keeping tabs on how much energy she’s sending back to the grid!
“I love saving money every month by using the power of the sun instead of fossil based fuel to power my home,” she says. “It is great to keep some green for being green!”
Maureen’s system will produce roughly 4,402 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable electricity annually, offsetting 6,603 lbs. of CO2 emissions. The 3.2kw system will generate roughly 65% of her home’s total electricity.
The system consists of 180 evacuated tube solar hot water collectors which heat twin 80 gallon Stiebel Eltron solar hot water storage tanks.
The closed loop system contains non toxic antifreeze which pumps from the tanks to the collectors, where it is heated by the sun, and then back to the storage tank where it passes through a heat exchange coil to heat the domestic hot water supply.
From May to September the array will provide nearly 100% of the hot water used for the flagship store’s employee shower, custodial basins, 2 cafes and 29 sinks. Beans’ existing propane hot water heater serves as a backup.
“This system can heat enough water on sunny days so that we won’t need to fire up the water heaters in the store,” says George Croston, HVAC Senior Supervisor in Facilities and the project manager for the solar panel installation. “On overcast days and on cold days in the winter, the system will still preheat water so that we’ll use less energy to get it up to the right temperature of 120 degrees F.”
Here is a video of ReVision cofounder Fortunat Mueller (who designed the system) explaining how it works:
L.L. Bean: Showing People Solar Works
“We want visitors to see these solar panels and make the positive connection that L.L.Bean is investing in and promoting renewable energy,” says L.L.Bean Senior Public Relations Representative Laurie Brooks. “The more businesses that make these types of changes, the better. It’s our hope that eventually green technology will become mainstream, and prices for solar technology will become more affordable.”
The solar hot water investment is part of larger environmental stewardship efforts by L.L. Bean, which include upgrading lighting systems throughout the company, converting heating systems to natural gas (from oil and propane) and implementing a corporate energy policy.
“In concert with additional energy efficiency projects, [the solar hot water system] will allow us to achieve our EPA Climate Leaders goal of reducing our greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2012,” adds Laurie. Climate Leaders is a voluntary partnership between industry and government that encourages companies to develop long-term strategies that reduce CO2 emissions.
L.L. Bean has also committed to build all new structures according to the US Green Building Council’s LEED standards and has converted their heavy-duty truck fleet to biodiesel fuel.
L.L. Bean expects to use 850 fewer gallons of propane each year with the new system, resulting in a savings of nearly $1,900 in fuel costs in the first year alone, and more than $51,000 in fuel savings over the warrantied 15-year life of the solar heating system. The system should last much longer than that—the solar panels L.L. Bean installed on the roof of their Taylor Building in the 1980s are still producing hot water for that building’s restrooms and employee showers decades later.
“In addition, use of renewable energy, in concert with additional energy efficiency projects, will allow us to achieve our EPA Climate Leaders goal of reducing our greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2012,” adds Laurie. Climate Leaders is a voluntary partnership between industry and government that encourages companies to develop long-term strategies that reduce CO2 emissions.
The stimulus funding reduced payback projections for L.L.Bean’s new hot water solar system to less than 5 years, with immediate cost savings.
Next time you visit Freeport, be sure to keep an eye open for the system, which sits to the right of the legendary Bean Boot on the flagship store (on the roof of the camping area).
The solar panels will produce 21,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, according to an e-mail from Town Treasurer Angela Cushman.
Last year, the town used about 24,600 kilowatt hours of electricity for the municipal building, which includes heating and cooling, at a cost of about $3,600, said Cushman.
The system uses real-time data monitoring so that the town can track performance of the system.
Peace Fleece is a unique yarn company committed to helping historic enemies cooperate and prosper through trade. Peace Fleece offers knitting yarn made from a blend of Russian, Romanian, American, Israeli and Palestinian wools as well as felting supplies, batts for quilters. Also Russian handpainted knitting needles and wooden buttons, patterns, knitting, crochet and felting kits and batting and raw fleeces for hand spinners as well as Waldorf puzzles and toys made in Russia. The company’s energy efficient offices are located in a barn on a sheep and horse farm in the idyllic town of Porter, nestled in the foothills of southwestern Maine
Peter Hagerty and his wife, Martha Tracy, started buying wool from the Soviet Union back in 1985 with a goal of using mutually beneficial trade to help diffuse the threat of nuclear war. Since then they have journeyed through eastern Europe, central Asia and the Middle East in search of farmers and shepherds who are willing to set aside historic enmities in exchange for opportunities leading to mutual understanding and economic interdependence.
Their journey to solar energy began with an interest in another renewable resource – wood. For over ten years the farm’s major source of heat has been a Tarm gasifying wood boiler which our sister company ReVision Heat sells and services. On a visit to Peace Fleece in April, ReVision Energy co-founder Phil Coupe helped Peter and Martha assess solar electric options for their farm.
Thanks to a suite of strong rebates and more affordable solar electric prices, Peace Fleece decided to put a 4.2kw grid-tied solar electric array on their barn roof, which is oriented to ideal solar south. The system features Enphase micro-inverters, which provide real-time internet data monitoring that Peace Fleece has made available to the public:
Peter writes of his experience with ReVision:
The great thing about living in the State of Maine is that everyone is connected one way or another. When the Revision crew arrived for the installation, the crew leader Josh and I quickly realized that we not only had several friends in common but also shared a committment to bio-fuels.
On that day I was having trouble with a bio-diesel engine that is pulled by our draft horses and powers our haying equipment. Josh described to me how a friend had run parallel fuel lines so when one filter clogged he could switch over to the other line and stay in business. I went back to my haying and Josh climbed back up on the roof to finish the installation.
The system is expected to produce roughly 4,400 killowatts of clean, renewable energy each year. This energy will offset 5,722 lbs. of CO2 emissions that otherwise would have been produced by fossil-fuel burning energy plants.
The solar hot water system for Scratch Baking Company has reduced their natural gas usage by more than 25%
For Bob Johnson at the Scratch Baking Company, solar hot water was a matter of “very simple math.”
With a modest investment in a solar hot water system, his business could “take a pretty big chunk out of our carbon contribution as well as save money by using less gas to heat hot water.”
With such a nice intersection of environmental stewardship and economics, it was simply a matter of finding the funds to invest in the system.
“Based on our calculations, the payback [for the system] would be relatively short, but we still wanted to find some sort of grant or partial financing so we would not have to take the full cash hit on the install,” Bob says. “ReVision’s staff was on top of this goal and advised me last fall that there was a Commercial Projects Grant available for solar energy projects of our size and scope. This was a Federal grant administered by Efficiency Maine. Jen (from ReVision) and I partnered in putting the grant together and it was awarded to Scratch in February.”
Make Hot Water While the Sun Shines
ReVision Energy co-founder Fortunat Mueller, one of the leading solar thermal experts in the northeast, designed a 120-tube solar hot water system with a Rinnai Continuum natural gas on demand hot water heater serving as backup. When the sun is shining, sun-heated antifreeze pumps from the rooftop collectors through a heat exchange coil at the bottom of a super-insulated storage tank, producing domestic hot water for Scratch.
When someone in the bakery turns on the tap, water flows from the solar tank and through the Rinnai hot water heater. If the water temperature is above a pre-determined setpoint, the Rinnai does not fire up at all. If the water needs to be warmed by a few degrees, the Rinnai is able to fire up to provide just the amount of heat required to get the water to the appropriate temperature.
The system has been living up to expectations, allowing Scratch to seriously benefit from the solar spill we experienced in May. So far Bob estimates that the hot water system has reduced his natural gas usage by more than 25% during the first month that the system was installed.
“I go down to look at the tank temp every morning when I get to work,” he says. “If the day before was a sunny day, we will be sitting on 210 gallons of 145 deg. water that we will need to blend down to 120 deg.”
But it’s the environmental benefits that excite Bob the most. “I believe Scratch is a perfect application for this kind of technology, and being a neighborhood bakery that is a values driven business, a very good use of these kinds of funds. And because of our location and customer base, we have a real opportunity for educating people about what is possible with solar.”
the customer-generator may elect to be paid or credited by the electric distribution utility for its excess generation at rates that are equal to the utility’s avoided costs for energy and capacity to provide default service as determined by the commission consistent with the requirements of the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978 (PURPA)
Emphasis Added
Wow!
How Much Will I Be Reimbursed?
In Germany, getting paid for solar electric generation is well-known, the special rate that you receive for excess solar electric generation is called a feed-in tariff.
New Hampshire’s program is a bit different, in that customers will get reimbursed closer to market rates for electricity, rather than a special “feed in” rate (which, in Germany, generates a roughly 8% return on investment for owners of solar systems).
The legislation puts it this way:
Each net energy metering tariff shall be identical, with respect to rates, rate structure, and charges, to the tariff under which a customer-generator would otherwise take default generation supply service from the distribution utility.
While the legislation is still in the process, should the full distribution cost of electricity be included in the reimbursement, that would result in a rate of close to .15c/kwh. We will post a follow-up once we better understand the details of the program!
When Can I Get Started?
The legislation is marked to be effective August 13, 2010.
In the meantime, solar electricity continues to spin your meter backwards and reduce your electric bill to zero so there’s no reason to wait!
Contact us to keep updated as we discover more details about this exciting new program (which hopefully shall inspire neighboring states to follow suit).
ReVision has commissioned our latest educational solar project – a 15.4kw grid-tied solar electric array installed on Winthrop High School, a system that will offset roughly 28,149lbs. of CO2 emissions annually.
The project, which was funded in large part thanks to an Efficiency Maine Block Grant, will save the school more than $3,000 a year for several decades.
Carl Swanson, a retired electrician and Winthrop Green Committee member who helped oversee the project, said this of the work:
[ReVision has] very knowledgeable, clever, capable workers who seem to know their stuff. Even though they are electricians they have had to learn the intricacies of solar power, which I can see is quite a field all its own. I have developed a great admiration for their work, having watched them work for the past 2 weeks. [This is] a first-rate job that will last many years that we can be proud of.
As with all educational installations, the system has been outfitted with a data monitoring system so that students can learn how the system works and monitor usage historically and in real-time.
Jen and Hans Albee celebrated their July 4 with an Open House for Energy Independence
This Independence Day ReVision employees Jen and Hans Albee (both of whom work out of our Liberty office) held an open house at their home in Brooks to celebrate their growing energy independence.
Earlier this year, Jen and Hans finished installing a 40-evacuated tube solar hot water system to supplement their Rinnai on-demand propane hot water heater.
Though on-demand Rinnais are extremely efficient energy users, nothing feels so good as hot water from the sun! Their system will generate roughly 12,045,000 BTUs of clean energy each year.
Weatherization in Tandem with Solar Hot Water
In addition to solar hot water, the Albees are participating in the Home Energy Savings Program, which will rebate homeowners up to $3,000 for approved energy efficiency projects, regardless of income.
They’re working with Curry Caputo of Sustainable Structures to air seal and insulate attic and second floor walls and drop down stairs, as well as adding better ventilation to their bathrooms.
In our photo gallery you can see some additional photos – with Hans putting on the finishing touches on the system, and the other of Hans and Simone (their dog) enjoying the sunshine over the holiday weekend:
The Granite State has already been a solar leader in New England with their generous 
