Portland’s famed Becky’s Diner now sports 8 flat plate solar hot water collectors to help wash all those dishes.

The Forecaster reports:

When Becky Rand renovated her iconic diner on Commercial Street four years ago, she wanted to add solar heating panels but couldn’t afford to do it.

She made sure the necessary plumbing was installed, though, so if the funds became available, she would be able to add a solar hot-water system in the future.

So when ReVision Energy called Rand and told her about a grant available through Efficiency Maine and federal stimulus funds, plus a tax incentive, she jumped on the opportunity.

“That made it affordable for me,” Rand said.

Rand worked closely with ReVision over the next year and a half, filling out the many necessary forms and documents to make her solar-heated hot-water system a reality.

Finally, last week, the eight panels and a 160-gallon water tank were installed. Rand said that in the height of the summer, when the diner is the busiest and is using the most hot water, the panels should provide all the heat she needs for hot water.

… “For people like me, with grandchildren, you want to think you’re leaving something nice for your grandchildren,” Rand said. “Maine is special – we don’t appreciate what we have here, how beautiful it is. I want that maintained.”

The system, which is tied in to an existing natural gas heating system, will offset roughly 1,131 therms of natural gas each year and produce 248,000 Btus a day in the summertime. Inside the restaurant is a display panel that tracks system production and tank temperature for real-time analysis of system production.

Next time you’re looking for a nice bowl of chowdah, you can rest easy knowing the water washing your dishes at Becky’s is heated by the sun!

The solar hot water system for Bow-based homeowners Gail and Leon Kenison allows them to use their oil boiler for backup only, with a wood stove for primary heating.

We had a chance to speak with Gail Kenison, a homeowner in Bow, New Hampshire who recently had us install a cost-effective solar hot water system that will essentially keep the boiler off from May to October.

Gail and her husband, Leon, had already cut down oil use in their home dramatically by choosing to heat primarily with wood. In the winter, their oil boiler still served as a source for hot water and backup space heat. But with their boiler running throughout the summer for the sole purpose of heating water, they decided to take the next step and invest in solar hot water.

“We’ve tried to stay in tune with all the renewable energy options, and had wanted to do something for a while,” Gail says, “We learned about solar at a continuing education class, and discovered that solar thermal presented a great solution for our home.”

Solar Hot Water Works

The Kenisons had ReVision Energy install two American-made Chromagen 4×8 flat plate solar hot water collectors and an 80G super insulated dual-coil solar storage tank. Whenever the rooftop collector temperature is hotter than the water at the bottom of the 80-gallon storage tank, a differential temperature controller automatically activates the solar circulating pump, which pumps solar-heated propylene glycol (a sugar water antifreeze solution) down from the collectors and through the bottom heat exchange coil in the tank, thereby transferring the heat from the sun to the water in the tank. The system includes automatic hot water backup from the oil boiler for those times of year when the solar resource is not strong enough to meet 100% of domestic hot water demand.

“The experience has been great so far,” Gail says, “The install team was knowledgeable, very professional, and clearly took the time to do the job right. They made us feel very comfortable with their work and took the extra time to help us understand the system. We couldn’t be more pleased.”

Even as the Kenison’s solar thermal system enters the heating season, it should produce up to half of their household’s hot water. Since they’ll be heating primarily with wood, that means their boiler will only need to run as a backup for both heat and hot water – creating some substantial fuel savings and CO2 reductions!

When Bill Babb and his wife Barbara retired from their jobs as school teachers, controlling monthly costs was an important way to maintain the good life. Investing in financial markets looked shaky, and they wanted to see something positive result from their efforts. After seeing a presentation by a former student, Hans Albee, they started looking seriously at a solar energy investment – and they liked what they saw.

“For years, the upfront cost was an issue with solar,” Bill says, “But when we looked at it recently we were pleasantly surprised – the cost of solar panels had dropped considerably, and with state and federal incentives, we found we could purchase a system that would be a better investment for us than the stock market. Barbara and I both agreed that the cost of energy will only rise, and rise faster than it has in the past.”

As a pragmatic environmentalist (and climate change skeptic), Bill was attracted to solar’s minimal impact on the natural landscape. He likes that his clean power doesn’t add turbines to untouched landscape, block up or contaminate waterways, or contribute to air pollution. He also likes the impact solar has had on his monthly bill.

“We were expecting the system to produce around $50 a month of power, but so far it’s produced closer to $60-70,” Bill says. “We’re happy to be banking some power for the winter months, and seeing our electric bill dramatically reduced. The system has done everything I wanted it to do from day one.”

Solar Hot Takes it Farther

Bill and Barbara’s positive experience with solar electricity lead them to adding a solar hot water system, which further reduces their home’s fossil fuel needs by allowing their boiler to go dormant for 5-6 months of the year. We caught up with Bill just a few weeks after the system was installed, and he reports that so far, it had stayed well above the 110 degree mark that would trigger his boiler to turn on.

“The furnace has been turned off for weeks and we have had plenty of hot water, even without changing our lifestyle” Bill says, “On days that are a cloudy mix with little direct sun, we’re surprised at how much heat the system produces. We like it!”

Unity College’s TerraHaus is the first college dorm build to passive house standards. Solar thermal collectors will provide most of its hot water

Just in time for classes, Unity College opened up the doors to TerraHaus, a boldly innovative, low-energy college dorm that aims to demonstrate the height of high performance building on college campuses.

The building, designed and built by by G*O Logic’s architect Matthew O’Malia and carpenter Alan Gibson, is the nation’s first dorm to meet passive house certification standards. Like their prior net zero G*O Logic home, G*O Logic chose ReVision Energy to design and install the solar energy systems. The TerraHaus sports 120 evacuated tube solar hot water collectors, which should meet nearly all of the building’s hot water needs (showers, washing, etc.).

Here’s what Doug Fox, Director, Center for Sustainability and Global Change, Unity College, said about the choice of renewable energy:

In an era of global change and uncertainty about future oil costs, thinking about resilience in our home and work systems is prudent. The cost of heating water with solar is independent of the price of fossil fuels, hence adding resiliency to our residential systems while also mitigating climate change. Leaving aside the alternate investment calculations that a financial advisor might want me to make, it gives me comfort to think that in my home I have, in a sense, pre-paid for 250 gallons or so of heating oil per year for the next 20 years or more at $1.40/gallon.

More of Doug’s comments and photos of the story of TerraHaus’ construction at: TerraHaus blog.

The Morning Sentinel also featured the building:

The standards, the highest international standards for energy efficiency, require that the dorm use 90 percent less energy for space heating than standard buildings.

On Thursday, Gibson and O’Malia, as well as landscape architect Ann Kearsley of Portland, gave the Unity staff tours of the eco-friendly, stylish tan-shingled cottage.

TerraHaus, which cost about $475,000 and took about three months to build, is nearly airtight, has a heat recovery ventilation system, is exceptionally well insulated and has superior quality windows.

Those high-quality features, said Gibson, will allow TerraHaus to be heated this winter with an electric baseboard heater at a cost of about $30 per person.

Gibson and O’Malia also designed the GO Home on Crocker Road in Belfast, the first passive house-certified home in Maine and the 12th passive house in the country.

According to Doug Fox, director of the Center for Sustainability and Global Change at Unity, TerraHaus is the first of three planned residence halls on the Quaker Hill campus that will comprise the SonnenHaus village of energy-conscious dorms.

Read more: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/gree-terrahausready-for-students_2011-08-25.html

It was a true honor for ReVision Energy to work on this project in collaboration with Unity College. A number of our staff members are Unity graduates, and the College has shown truly exceptional dedication to their environmental mission and serves as a model for other campuses nationwide.

Thought you couldn’t build an apartment building in Maine without depending on fossil fuels? Think again! Paul Ledman proves with his new 3-unit dwelling in Portland that exceptional insulation and smart mechanical systems can work to make a home that requires no source of energy other than the sun… even in Maine! Even with tenants!

We’re proud to have this exceptional building in our backyard and thank Paul for taking the time to talk to us about this exciting project.

SMCC’s SEA Director John Brautigam standing before a suite of solar energy systems recently installed by ReVision Energy.

ReVision recently wrapped installation of a suite of solar systems at Southern Maine Community College’s Sustainable Energy Alternatives (SEA) Center.

The SEA Center is a major part of SMCC’s efforts to become a regional center for education and training on renewable energy and sustainable building practices. The building is equipped with cutting-edge professional equipment and state-of-the-art educational tools designed to help students understand theories of building science including air infiltration, insulation issues, and thermal properties of building materials to help equip them for a career in energy efficiency and/or renewable energy.

To showcase the variety of solar energy installations likely to be encountered, SMCC had ReVision install two solar hot water systems, one with evacuated tubes and the other with flat plate collectors, as well as a modest photovoltaic (solar electric) array. All of the “guts” of the system – pipe run, tank, wiring, etc. – is on display and labeled so students can understand how it works and observe it in practice. The systems also feature robust web-based data monitoring options that will be viewable by both students and the public.

ReVision has had the pleasure of working with an SMCC Electric Engineering student, Melanie Janarelli, as an intern this summer, who helped install the system. Director John Brautigam is featured in one of our upcoming Solar Road Tour episodes, so stay tuned!

More Photos:

A strong state rebate for solar hot water and high oil prices have lead to a huge demand for solar hot water systems in New Hampshire.

We’ve been all around the Granite State – from Seacoast to the Massachusetts border, up to Lakes Region and nearly to Vermont. Below are some examples of recent work we’ve completed.

Nashua, New Hampshire

Since his awning mount solar hot water array was installed in early June, Lou Juris reports that hasn’t needed to use his backup system at all. Going solar for his hot water gives him peace of mind that as costs for energy increase, he won’t face any shocking gas bills.

Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

These 6 flat plate collectors installed in Wolfeboro arrived just in time for 15 guests! Our happy customer says that the entire time the party was there – showering, washing dishes, doing laundry – solar provided 100% of all the hot water.

Deerfield, New Hampshire

Maureen Quinn, who had us install a solar electric system last year, re-invested the proceeds from PV federal tax credit into a solar hot water system. The rebates were just too attractive to pass up, says Quinn, who also is looking forward to decades of hot water and electricity provided by a free fuel source in the sky – the sun.

Roughly 2/3 of the electricity used in the new Black Dinah Chocolatiers commercial kitchen will come from the sun!

“When you live on an island, it shapes your thinking,” says Steve Shaffer, one of the proprietors of Isle au Haut based Black Dinah Chocolatiers, “You learn that everything you carry in you must carry out. You have the think things through. And this characteristic has shaped everything about our business.”

It was quite a journey for he and his wife Kate from a co-op in California to a rugged island off the coast of Maine, where they now specialize in delectable chocolates made from fair-trade, organic, and local ingredients. While their business started with a great idea operated out of their home kitchen, the popularity of their creative chocolates soon outgrew their home-based set-up and it was time for the business to expand.

“We were eager to grow though we were also concerned about the long-term costs of running the new facility,” says Steve, “Our business’ single biggest liability was energy costs. On the island, electricity costs roughly twice what it does on the mainland, so offsetting our use with solar electricity made a lot of sense. Likewise, solar hot water would help keep our propane use under control.”

ReVision Energy helped Steve and Kate navigate the various incentives and rebates available for businesses as they designed their new commercial kitchen, including work on an ARRA grant that helped make the project more feasible. The new facility featured all new appliances – commercial dishwater, chest freezers, and convection oven – which, while as efficient as they get, still require lots of energy to work. We designed a 3.29 kw grid-tied solar electric system to provide about 2/3 of their electricity, and a 60-tube solar hot water collector array to preheat an on-demand propane water heater.

A Little Bit of Independence

“Our goal was not to get to net-zero, but to keep our energy bills around the same as when we were running the business out of our home,” Steve says. “So far, we seem to be on track. The solar electric production has exceeded our expectations and we’ve hardly needed to run the propane water heater.”

The solar energy systems give Steve confidence that his business is protected from rising costs of energy. It also plays right into the mission of their organization.

“When you spend so much time with food you develop a relationship with it. We love knowing the Peruvian co-op where we get our chocolate. We also love using local cream, herbs, flowers, fruits, and spices in our chocolates. So it only makes sense that we’d use local energy, too.”

About 70% of Black Dinah’s business is web-based, and you can shop their delights at www.blackdinahchocolatiers.com. Also stay tuned to their Facebook page which features news from their summertime cafe, events, photos, and more.

And… we couldn’t help it – below is a photo of their delicious local Farm Market chocolate collection (all with ingredients grown on an Hancock or Knox County farm):

More Photos from Our Commercial Solar Photo Gallery:

For more installations, see our Solar Projects Map