Fortunat Mueller, one of ReVision Energy’s resident professional engineers, gave a presentation at the first annual MABEP professional training conference held Jan 12-13 at the Holiday Inn By the Bay.

Fortunat’s presentation was geared towards home energy auditors who want to better understand the economics of solar hot water and in what situations solar hot water can result in tremendous energy savings.

In addition to simply replacing fossil fuels for heating of domestic hot water, a solar hot water system can often enable a home to dramatically reduce the use of a oil burner for water heating – particularly in the summer months, where an oil burner may not need to fire for months at a time.

The above clip shows Fortunat describing why solar hot water works extremely well for domestic hot water, and how boiler upgrades combined with a solar thermal system can dramatically reduce oil consumption.

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:

ReVision’s New Hampshire branch manager, Will Kessler, recently captured this piece of stop motion footage which shows you the process of a solar hot water system and solar electric system coming together on a house in Eliot, Maine!

Watch for the photovoltaic (PV) panels coming in along the top – the solar hot water system consists of the tubes below.

This system will save nearly 300,000 lbs of C02 emissions during its first 30-years of service life.

We stumbled across an incredibly useful tool that allows you to calculate the path of the sun on any given day of the year based on your latitude.

This tool, part of the The Nebraska Astronomy Applet Project (NAAP), will even give really geeky data like the sun’s altitude and azimuth, and allows you to animate the cycles of the sun!

Using the tool, we can plug in our latitude (roughly 43N here in Portland, Maine), program the day to February 15, set ourselves facing south and voila!

We have a beautiful view of what the sun is going to be doing today:

This illustrates beautifully why all we suggest for solar is a roof that is relatively unshaded from 9AM – 3PM… look at all that sun!

When we do an on-site solar evaluation, we figure out whether your house has a good orientation to capture all of this solar energy.

The solar pathfinder tool superimposes a view of the sky facing south from your house onto a guide of the sun’s arc in the sky.

Shaded areas tell us what time of day and what time of year that the sun is being blocked, so we can easily tell you whether you have ample sun or should maybe take out a tree or two.

You can also see an example of the solar potential of Maine by changing your latitude to 51 degrees N, that of Germany’s, the world leader in solar installations (see more of our discussion about Maine’s solar potential).

Look at how much lower the sun sits in the horizon!

Find this kind of thing fun? Try out the Motions of the Sun Simulator for yourself.

Also check out ClassAction, a wealth of information about the earth, sun, moon, and cosmo geared towards teaching astronomy.

For instance, they have a tool that allows you to calculate day length based on latitude and time of year.

Did you know that mid-February has as much sun as late October, and about 25% more daylight than the winter Solstice?

It only gets brighter from here!

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!

Wind energy works in certain regions of Maine, but most homeowners are better off with solar power
Photos courtesy of Blueberry

Last week, our friends at the Shelter Institute posted a report from two of their Small Housebuilding Class graduates.

James and Kim wrote about a small-scale wind project they have recently finished on one of the islands off of Friendship in Muscongus Bay, Maine.

Not only is their story fascinating and impressive, but they make some serious and thoughtful analysis of how wind compares to solar power as a renewable energy.

They remark that while their wind system is performing as expected, for most people they think solar is a better option:

I think the main lesson we have learned (and would like to pass along to others) is that PV panels (solar panels) are much more cost effective as a means of autonomous energy production than wind, unless the wind site is very unique … We did our own informal wind survey and felt fairly confident we’d get at least 1 kWh of production daily in the winter months (but only when the prevailing winds shifted to northerlies), and we’ve met that. However, many people we’ve spoken to have mistakenly used turbine specs rather than an integrated formula for wind speed and time to calculate what they will generate, only to be disappointed in the small amount of energy they actually are able to produce.

… So, for the biggest green generation bang, we recommend solar panels. Compared to wind, the sun is ubiquitous. Our situation is unique in that we know we’ll get wind when the sun isn’t out in the winter, so the wind project fills in a gap in our ability to generate power year round, and we have no other means of getting non-fossil power out here. An alternative would have been to double our solar PV bank and add batteries to our current 2,000 pound battery bank, storing excess energy on sunny days for those days when we have wind without sun.

We have to agree – while wind energy has great potential under the right circumstances, most homes are built on poor sites for wind while solar power is available anywhere the sun shines.

If you’re curious as to whether your home or business has potential for harvesting solar energy, ReVision offers a free solar site evaluation.

A complete write-up of their experience with both wind and solar is up on the Shelter Institute blog – there are also some great photos on Picasa.

We want to thank the Shelter Institute again for sharing this inspiring story!

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.