The solar electric system on the fire station in Manchester, Maine will provide more than half the power for the building

The Town of Manchester, Maine, has one of the first solar-powered fire stations in the state! Last month we finished installation of a 9.2kw grid-tied photovoltaic array, which will provide over 11,000 kWh of clean energy annually – or roughly half of the power used in the facility.

The Kennebec Journal reported on the project. Keith Edwards writes:

A new array of 44 solar panels atop the fire station is expected to supply about half the electricity the building needs.

“It’s in, it’s making electricity right now,” [Town Manager E. Patrick] Gilbert said of the system.

The system is connected to the power grid, so when it is producing more power than is needed at the fire station, that excess electricity goes into the grid, and the town will get a credit on its bill from Central Maine Power Co. for that electricity.

“Whatever we don’t use dumps back into the grid,” Gilbert said. “There will be good (electricity-generating) days and bad days.”

… Gilbert said the location is expected to allow the panels to work at about 95 percent of their capacity … He said he hopes to ultimately make the system’s monitoring information available on the town’s website.

The project was supported by a grant from Efficiency Maine made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Bob Emory’s 4.7kw grid tied solar electric array will offset over 7,600 lbs of CO2 emissions each year.

On a clear day you can see Mt. Washington from Bob Emory’s home in Barnstead, New Hampshire. With such vibrant natural splendor in one’s backyard, it’s hard not to care passionately for the rugged landscape that characterizes Northern New England.

Affectionately calling himself a “treehugger,” Emory says that “Solar has been on my radar for decades,” ever since the days when lead acid batteries were the norm.

With the development of grid-tied solar, which interties directly with the electric grid and requires no moving parts, Emory felt that the technology had finally come of age. And with prices of coming down and a generous 30% federal tax credit available, the economics worked out, too.

Solar Power and the Big Picture

With all of the troubles in the world, Emory feels good that his solar energy system is making a tangible difference, reducing CO2 emissions in the region by offsetting his home’s power use. “I can’t stop tsunamis,” he says, “So solar is the next best thing.”

He is a loyal attendee of the Common Ground Fair held each September in Unity, Maine, and it was there he bumped into ReVision Energy. Apparently, our reputation precedes us as he remarks that “I was really just making sure you didn’t do something that ruled you out.”

So far, so good – he feels great about his decision to choose us as his partner in transitioning to renewable energy, which he felt was summed up the first words one of our installers said when we arrived on the job site – “Thank you for going green.”

The System

Emory’s system consists of 4.7kw of grid-tied solar electric panels that will produce around 5,875 kWh of clean solar electricity each year. Bob reports that during recent sunny spring days his system reports an output of around 32.5 kWh, power he is happy not to be buying from PSNH!

With PV just installed, Bob is already talking about solar hot water for his home – particularly because of the generous New Hampshire state rebate.

“I have nothing but very high praise from start to finish,” Emory says, “ReVision is a company who stands behind their systems and has been personable throughout the process. I look forward to many years of solar power ahead!”

Cliff Babkirk’s 5.4kw grid tied solar electric array will nearly completely offset the electric load of his air source heat pump, his home’s primary source of heat

Energy conservation had been on Cliff Babkirk’s mind for years, but it reached a head in 2008 when he received an invoice from his heating oil company for $5,000 for a pre-paid contract. “I knew I had to do something different,” he says, “I wanted to get off oil for environmental reasons already but now I had economic reasons too.”

His search for an alternative heating system initially lead him to geothermal, though quotes of up to $50,000 for a retrofit installation made the project uneconomical. Instead, he learned of an similar, but significantly less costly solution – the Acadia air source heat pump.

Immense Savings with Electric Heat

Made by a Maine company, the Acadia offered many of the same benefits as a geothermal system, and integrated with most of Babkirk’s existing system – including his air handler and duct work. He had the unit installed before the 2008 heating season, and estimates it saved him $3,200 after the first year alone!

Of course, the drop in heating oil costs were offset, in part, by a rise in electricity costs to run the heat pump. Babkirk also had an energy audit done and learned that his basement and attic were two big culprits for energy loss. So, for his next step, he set about to better insulate the trouble spots in his house, and then to offset the electric load of his heat pump with solar electricity.

In 2009 he added 2″ of rigid foam insulation to his basement walls (,) added closed cell sprayed foam to his rim joists, and undertook some serious air sealing work. In 2010, he pulled out much of his home’s existing attic insulation and replaced it with super-dense R49 blow-in cellulose insulation. Finally, in 2011, he added grid-tied photovoltaic installed by ReVision Energy to offset his electric usage. His initial goal was to drop his load of 16,000 kWh a year to around 10,000 kWh a year – his electricity baseline prior to the installation of the air source heat pump.

Solar Exceeding Expectations

“Our goal was to be producing around 500 kWh/month with solar and so far the system has exceeded our expectations,” Babkirk says, “The best part is that the energy I’ve paid for today with my solar panels is never subject to a rate change. I’ve locked in the cost of a portion of my electricity for the next 20-25 years at a rate below current utility prices. In addition, through the benefits of net-metering, CMP gives me a credit on my bill for excess electricity produced by the array that I don’t use.”

Cliff is a big fan of data monitoring, and has been using The Energy Detective (TED) to monitor his household’s electric use since 2008. He was immensely satisfied to send us this photo of his household’s electric use soon after the PV system was installed:

More Solar Power on the Horizon

While he’s made great progress already, Cliff plans to take his 30% federal tax credit from his first PV array and use it to buy more panels. “My goal is to get to 50% of my energy use being offset by PV,” he says. He and his wife plan to stay in their current home – overlooking a pond in Sanford, Maine – well into retirement, and so the idea of getting control over their utility costs is immensely comforting.

“We like the idea of reliable systems and predictable costs,” he says, “Currently our oil boiler is nothing but a fancy hot water system and a backup source of heat when we lose power or should the Acadia system require maintenance… And once we can find an alternative backup heat source I like even better, we will finally have a fossil-free house.”

In the meantime, Cliff can expect to generate over 6,576 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable electricity annually, while offsetting roughly 8,812 lbs. of CO2 emissions that would be generated from coal, natural gas, or liquid fuel power plants.

The 18.3kw solar electric array on Supercuts’ Brewer location is expected to provide 100% of the energy efficient building’s electric loads!

On busy Wilson street in Brewer, perhaps the most striking building is the new Supercuts, which boasts a bold architectural design and a 18.3kw grid-tied solar electric system. According to building owner Carol Epstein, this is all by design.

“I wanted it to be visible, a statement, an advertisement – so everyone could see the panels,” she says in a Bangor Daily News article on the project. “We could have done a flat roof and put panels on a little stand, but we really wanted to show off the panels, so we did this big, pitched roof.”

In addition to making a strong environmental statement, economic conditions were right to make the Supercuts project a reality. With a 30% federal tax grant, accelerated depreciation which amounted to nearly another 30%, and a $2,000 state rebate, the project was reduced to close to a third of its original cost… Add to this a lower than ever cost of installing panels (around $4.5/watt installed for this project), and you have a very powerful case for solar electricity!

David M. Fitzpatrick of the Bangor Daily reported in a special section:

When Epstein Commercial Real Estate entered into talks with Supercuts, Epstein found the company’s vision of energy efficiency a good match for hers, and she and her team took the challenge of creating the new store very seriously. “We looked at their electric bills for three of their typical stores around New England to figure out how much electricity they use,” Epstein said. “We sized the system to that.”

Epstein Commercial Real Estate has been pushing for energy efficiency in several of its properties in the past four years, doing such things as installing energy-efficient lighting inside and outside, increasing insulation, and adding timers and motion sensors. “We’ve really looked at the whole spectrum with heating, lighting, air conditioning, insulation on all our properties,” Epstein said. “I think we’ve put in close to a thousand new lighting fixtures.”

… In addition to the solar panels, the building is very green in its design. It features big windows for plenty of natural light, low-watt fluorescent lighting, supplemental LED lighting, and many other features. As for the solar array, a remote control that looks like an electronic Rolodex allows you to flip through data screens that report the electricity being generated, or what was generated that day, week, month, and so on.

“Our tenant is very excited about it,” Epstein said. “They have a number of SuperCuts all around New England, and … they were designing this building — we were all designing it — to be their showcase in the area for SuperCuts.”

Read the complete Bangor Daily News special section, or another article which headlined the Business section, Here comes the sun: Cost, rebates making solar an option.

And of course, be sure to check out Supercuts next time you’re in Brewer. ReVision staffers report that nothing feels quite the same as a blow dry when you know the power is from the sun!

The combined solar hot water and solar electric systems at Meredeth Winter’s home will offset more than 14,000 lbs of C02 emissions each year.

We recently had the delight of installation a combination solar hot water and solar electric system for Meredeth Winter in South Freeport.

Meredeth’s 4.8kw grid tied photovoltaic array will generate over 6,602 kWh annually, enough to offset 8,583 lbs of C02 emissions.

Meanwhile, her Chromagen flat plate solar hot water collectors will produce more than 19,000,000 BTUs of clean, renewable heat energy annually, offsetting an additional 6,000 lbs of emissions!

Below is an account, in her own words, of the experience deciding to go solar with ReVision Energy:

It would be hard to speak too highly of the wonderful job ReVision Energy did in designing and installing the solar system for our home. From the first walk-around the property, through the proposal, the logistical arrangements, the paperwork for rebates, the installation and the follow-up afterwards, every step was handled not just professionally, but quickly and warmly. You get the sense that every person on staff is happy and skilled in their job and approaches each day knowing that they are doing their part to make the world a better place.

Once we determined what we wanted to include in our system (both hot water and PV panels) and committed to the project, we got a clear sense of what the process looked like and when installation would occur. I received thoughtful advice (that included crawling around in odd nooks and crannies of the house) on installation options to minimize the visual impact inside the house.

Meanwhile, on the roof, it must have been a large solar-powered jigsaw puzzle experience fitting all the panels just so. Actual installation began right on schedule and went more quickly than I could have dreamed. Everyone seemed to know their part in the process and went quietly and efficiently to their work, taking time to answer questions from my young children and to pet the extra large and inquisitive dog along the way. I work from home and was on hand to answer questions, but these were kept to a minimum. Each time I emerged from a phone meeting or concentrated session at my computer, it was hard to believe the amount of progress made.

As a side note, there was one incident that really highlighted the dedication to the planet shared by ReVision’s employees. The gentleman who was working with the boiler and hot water heater pulled me aside to tell me of a discovery he had made during the day. We have hot water pipes that run under our front brick patio for snow melt. I’m ashamed to say that I had noticed over time that the bricks seemed to be warm all the time, not just when I turned on the timer switch. From time to time I thought that I ought to do something about it, but it had never quite risen to the top of the to-do list. At any rate, during his time in our furnace room, this gentleman had noticed the furnace working when it shouldn’t have been and began to trace pipes and wires.

Upon tracing the furnace use to the pipes under the patio, he investigated further. It turns out that in addition to the timer switch that I knew of, there was an exterior unit buried behind the bushes at the side of the house, designed to automatically turn on the bricks when snow piled up on it. This unit was corroded beyond use and so constantly sent signals to the heating pipes to be running hot. Once disabled – voila – the pipes now work as designed: when turned on manually they melt the snow; when not needed they rest and don’t burn energy. When I expressed my gratitude for going above and beyond the call, the simple answer was that it didn’t do much good to look for ways to reduce reliance on oil in one way when another part of our energy profile was busy burning unneeded energy day-in and day-out. If your job is to make the world a better place, you don’t ignore things just because they’re not detailed in the contract. What a wonderful lesson to take away!

A mere couple of days later, there I was, a proud energy producing station. I found myself glued to the monitor that shows me just how much power the sun has, even on short, wintry Maine days. I have to say that I look forward to receiving the electric bill in a way that I never would have imagined before. Many thanks to everyone at ReVision who got me to that moment.

Thank you to Meredeth, again, for your very kind words and for making a difference by going solar!

With the price of solar electric panels hitting record lows, we’re hearing from many existing customers who are eager to expand their photovoltaic systems to further cut their carbon emissions and electric bills. Below is such a system at the Vassalboro home of Michael Pomerleau, who recently doubled his system size, from 2.76kw to 5.5kw:

Before:

After!

Michael is a huge solar energy enthusiast and accompanied the solar electric expansion with the addition of a passive solar sun porch which helps with home space heating (the home is already heated with a wood boiler). Completing the suite of active solar systems is a solar hot water system which provides up to 80% of his annual domestic hot water use.

The expanded solar electric system should produce 7.4 megawatt hours of clean electricity each year, an estimate Michael is able to verify using Enphase web-based data monitoring. Michael reports generating over 3 megawatt hours last year, and expects a bit more than double that this year. In a single sunny day he generated over 37kWh!

Below is a real-time monitoring of his system, captured around 10AM on a bright sunny day:

Michael reminds us that you don’t need to wait for summer – with long days and clear skies, spring is a wonderful time for solar!

Greg Rossell’s solar powered boat house will provide more than 2/3 of the power used by his home and boat shop.

We love to catalog the stories of our customers – what motivates them to go solar, and why now. This time we’re excited to have Greg Rossell, an active boat builder and board member of WERU, share his story in his own words:

I suspect everyone has a had a different path as to how they decided to go solar. We have long been interested in solar – although over the years the “solar energy” we used was mostly tied up in the firewood we burned to heat our home and boat shop. We became more interested in electricity when in 2004 we purchased a Prius – just before gasoline spiked to 4 dollars a gallon.

Over the ensuing years we have followed the politics of energy – how it is produced and what the actual cost is. All the time we kept eyeing each electrical device we owned with a chary eye – giving the energy hogs the pink slip and replacing them with more friendly models. Solar had a lot of appeal – especially compared to the alternatives. But we dawdled – after all, we were still hooked to the grid and we weren’t using that much power…

What tipped the scales for us was a week long trip we took last summer in a solar electric launch in Ontario. While the boat had a back up generator, it was rarely used it as the solar panels produced all the power we needed to cruise with 6 adults, 2 babies and a dog. All in silence, without fumes, or vibration. This was definitely cool and practical.

Upon our return, we began to do more research. And fortunately, while we had “dawdled” the technology had been continually improving. Solar panels became more efficient as did the micro-inverters that change the DC power to AC. Perhaps as important for us was that we could have a grid tied system where we could send any extra unused energy onto the electrical grid while banking energy credits. We would also avoid the hassle of dealing with batteries and all their cost and maintenance. And, there was the matter of energy credits and rebates that made the investment more affordable for us!

The next task was to look for someone to walk us through the process (and hopefully) do the installation. We decided on ReVision Energy for a number of reasons. One reason is that they are local – many of the folks who are installers are our neighbors. We knew if there was a problem there would always be someone handy to deal with it. They have done plenty of solar arrays in the state so they know the conditions in Maine and what can be realistically expected from a system. They are also business members of WERU radio which indicates that they invest in their community.

The entire experience went like clockwork – from the initial evaluation by Hans Albee, his patient answering of my multitude of questions, the crew’s speedy, clean and efficient installation of the photovoltaic panels, and Jennifer Albee’s technical guidance — walking us through the paperwork involved with getting registered as a energy provider with Central Maine Power and the application for the energy investment rebates.

In the end we went with a system that will provide 2/3 of our home and shop electricity demand. We now have a CMP double meter system that records both the energy from “away” we use as well as the power we put into the grid. It’s a most practical manner of keeping track of those electrons but I have to admit I do miss seeing our old familiar meter running merrily backwards – I could have watched that all day.

Thank you for your story, Greg! Be sure to check out the March/April edition of Wooden Boat magazine which features a shot of this system.

We’re pleased to be able to show, not tell, the story of Suzanne Huard. A recent retiree, Suzanne fulfilled a long-time solar dream with the installation of an evacuated tube solar hot water system and grid-tied photovoltaic array on her home.

ReVision commissioned NowOrNeverMedia, as part of their “Green Screen TV” series, to cover the story of two solar installations in the middle of a blustery month.

Check out the video on YouTube:

We heard back from Suzanne about the project. She’s pleased to report that “things are going great … I can say now that our daily usage of hot water went down 16+% from our Jan/Feb bill to the prior Dec/Jan bill and the residential electricity went down 11+% (they are metered separately).”

Photos From Our Residential Solar Photo Gallery:

For more installations, see our Solar Projects Map