The 8.2kw photovoltaic system at Greely High School will offset more than 14,000 pounds of C02 emissions each year

Greely High School students are giving solid proof that committed young people can make a difference.

Part of that difference? Making a 8.2kw grid tied solar electric array on the school’s roof a reality.

The Forecaster reports:

The Global Awareness Club … recently raised almost $50,000 for the purchase and installation of 36 solar energy panels at the school… The panels could save School Administrative District 51 about $150 a month in energy cost, or an annual savings of more than $1,800.

The savings would come from 11,428 kwh of renewable energy a year, and would prevent nearly 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year.

Seeing how much teenagers can achieve is rewarding for [club member Katie] Longo and her fellow club members. “You kind of say to yourself, oh, if I put my mind to it I can do a whole bunch,” she said. “But now … every week, you’re getting together with people and you’re actually seeing a project through and seeing its effect on the community that you live in.”

We applaud the efforts of this committed group of students. It has been an honor to work with numerous students over the years as they pursue efforts to secure grants and financing for solar projects on their schools.

See more examples:

• Solar on Winthrop High School
• Solar on Falmouth High School
• Solar on Yarmouth High School
• Solar on Bangor High School
• Solar on Gray-New Gloucester High School

The new home of Susan Turner and Karl Karnaky will be net-zero, meaning it generates as much energy as it consumes during the course of a year. It was constructed using the “rammed earth” method and features numerous recycled/repurposed materials.

Although Maine is still the most oil dependent state in the U.S., a Bar Harbor couple is proving that people can live comfortably year round at our latitude with virtually no fossil fuel energy.

Rammed earth involves packing a mixture of sand, gravel, and cement into a form, which then that solidifies into walls. This dense material is an excellent thermal mass for passive solar applications, and practically soundproof.

The home also features numerous recycled/repurposed elements including a recycled aluminum and steel roof, a soapstone farm sink from a cabin found on the property, and plank flooring and beams recovered from an 1836 house in Dexter.

Going Solar

Turner and Karnaky’s sustainable mindset applied to their choice of mechanical systems, as well.

“Deciding to go with solar was the easy part,” Susan Turner writes. “We found that we could get a system that would cover the entire winter’s [radiant floor] heat. Knowing that the panels are creating our electricity leads me to consciously decide how I will use electricity and to be aware of not wasting it.”

Turner and Karnaky were so impressed with the installation that they opened their home up this past October to be on NESEA’s Green Building Open House Tour. Approximately 50 people visited to see the “striking” house which the MDI Village Soup said combines “the earthen feel of an ancient construction technique, the intriguing attractions of vintage elements reanimated by new use and the aesthetics of a contemporary sensibility.”

Enjoying the Sunshine

The new home should be “net zero,” meaning that it will generate as much energy as it consumes throughout the course of the year, required no fossil fuel inputs!

The 5kw grid tied photovoltaic (PV) system will produce roughly 6,000 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable electricity annually. Electricity will be used for normal household loads as well as a Thermolec electric boiler which supplies radiant heat, and a backup element to the solar hot water system.

From May through September, the evacuated tube solar hot water collectors will provide nearly 100% of the home’s domestic hot water supply. Combined, the two systems will offset roughly 11,600 lbs of C02 emissions each year.

“We hope our home will inspire more folks to decide that solar is the way to go,” Turner says, “We are excited about ‘free’ heat without using non-renewable energy, and we love the hot showers provided by the sun!”

This week the Union Leader reported on the growth of jobs in the solar industry and ReVision’s plans to open a new shop in the Granite State.

Good news for the economy of Maine and New Hampshire – both Environment Maine and Environment New Hampshire are promoting a first-ever US Solar Jobs Census (PDF) which shows that solar jobs have nearly doubled in the last year, and should grow by 26% over the next year.

Compared to the rest of the US economy, solar jobs are growing almost 13x more quickly!

Here are some other interesting figures:

• Over half of all solar employers expect to increase their number of solar jobs in the next 12 months
• Solar jobs exist in all 50 states.
• Employers from all of the studied subsectors expect significant employment growth over the next 12 months.
• The average solar installation firm employs 14 solar workers.

To go along with this great news, ReVision is happy to announce that we will have a new home in New Hampshire at 7 Commercial Drive, Brentwood, NH.

The Union Leader also took the opportunity to highlight this milestone in the growth of the solar market in New England.

Gretyl MacAlaster writes:

[ReVision Energy] is opening an office in Brentwood next week, and it expects to add 10-15 more New Hampshire jobs … Solar employers nationwide expect to the increase the number of solar workers by 26 percent, or nearly 24,000 net new jobs by next August.  The rate is higher than both the expected 3 percent loss in fossil fuel power generation and the economy-wide expectation of 2 percent growth over the same period, O’Hare [program associate with Environment New Hampshire] said.

Read the rest of the article (PDF)

There’s never been a better time for solar energy – with sound financial incentives and carbon reductions that help move us from a non-sustainable, fossil fuel economy to our clean energy future.

Sweden’s Director of Climate Policy, Lars Westermark, will present Sweden’s ambitious climate change policies, regarded as among the most successful in the world. Topics include climate targets, Sweden’s measures to reduce GHG emissions, and international climate agreements.

Westermark directs The Climate Unit, which coordinates the Swedish EPA’s work in the climate field and is responsible for the environmental quality objective of Reduced Climate Impact as well as for the follow-up of the Swedish climate strategy. It is responsible for the Swedish EPA’s work on emissions trading and prepares matters ahead of decisions by the Council for Emissions Trading Allocations. The Unit is also responsible for the involvement of the Swedish EPA in international climate negotiations. It evaluates and develops policy instruments in the climate field and coordinates the Swedish EPA’s work as regards adaptation measures.

For more information see this flyer (PDF)

ReVision installs the panels on a new 3.4kw solar electric system – this year we’re on track to install more than 1/2 a Megawatt of Solar; in America about 500 MW will be installed total.

This year the solar industry in America hits a psychologically important milestone – according to research from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research the installed capacity of photovoltaic (PV) electric will double to near or above 1GW.

US Today reports that “California installed the most solar electric capacity in the first six months of this year, followed by New Jersey, Arizona and Florida. A total of 341 megawatts was installed nationwide, but the report expects a stronger second half for 2010 because of projects slated for completion.”

This rapid growth should make fans of clean air and green jobs breathe a sigh of relief. Despite a challenging economic climate, homeowners, businesses, municipalities, nonprofits and utilities are moving towards renewable energy.

Doing It Local

ReVision’s own story mirrors that of the national news – so far we are on track to install more than double the amount of solar electricity in 2010 than we did in 2009!

We will install more than 1/2 a Megawatt of solar this year (1000 kilowatts), for a total of more than 1MW installed by ReVision since 2007.

To put this into perspective, 1MW of installed PV will generate 1400 MW/hrs of electricity each year, enough power for 22,000 homes, and offsetting more than 85,000 tons of C02 annually.

Who’s making this happen?

• Nearly 100 different individuals from 70 communities in Maine and New Hampshire – as far south as Mont Vernon, New Hampshire and as far “Down East” as Roque Bluffs, Maine.   Homeowners in nearly all of Maine’s 16 counties have added solar electric this year!
• Locally owned small businesses including summer camps, kitchen and bath stores, hotels and restaurants, and general stores.
• High schools, colleges, town offices and libraries.

In short – ordinary people motivated by conscience and sound economics.  Since PV is now cheaper than grid power in the long run, solar’s on track to provide a major portion of the energy needs of our oil-dependent state.

This sunny environmental forecast is good for the economy too – a new report this week shows that solar employment is expected to grow by 26% in the next year (more on this exciting story soon).

Here’s a chart marking the growth of the industry… We’re proud to be part of the solution!

The Need for More

New England made less exciting headlines this month with reports that New England had record-high electric use in July.

ISO New England, which serves Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, said that the region used 13,385 gigawatt hours of electricity in the month of July.

Chart-topping electrical use is married to eye-popping heat, as it was also reported that this July was the second hottest on record.

Given the scientific data about climate change and the enormous amount of C02 emissions created by coal-fired electric plants, this close relationship of energy demand to heat is particularly alarming (Earlier this year Grist reported that 2000-2009 was the hottest decade on record).

While the sheer amount of electricity we use can be daunting, the hopeful news is that renewable energy is becoming more plentiful, more affordable, and more economical.

With very real climate and energy realities becoming obvious, we hope to see government and utilities seriously implement alternative models such as the Grid Solar small scale solar utility projects and innovative feed in tariff legislation.

American Installed Solar: The Global Picture

While America’s doubling of installed PV this year is encouraging, we will only be installing roughly 1/2 GW of a global marketplace of over 10 GW of new solar installations.

According to a Barclays Capital analysis, “German installations are now expected to reach approximately 5.8GW in 2010″ while China is poised to move aggressively into solar and hopes to increase their installed base to 2GW by 2011.

While America has a ways to go before we’ll be leading the clean energy global economy, our progress so far is hopeful, and significant. We’re all breathing cleaner air thanks to the contributions of hundreds of thousands of solar installations nationwide, and in 2011 we hope to see the amount of installed solar double again.

Here’s to a sunny future!

The Bangor Daily News has featured the super-efficient solar space heated home of Ian and Zofia Weiss.

The Weiss’ house has R values of 50-58 throughout the structure, a perfect southern orientation, and radiant floor heating distribution throughout. Solar energy heats water for the radiant system, which is backed up with an on-demand electric unit.

Abigail Curtis writes:

The Weisses have designed and built their home to be warm in the winter without the use of fossil fuels. It’s heated primarily with sun-warmed water gathered with a rooftop array of solar tubes, and it is superinsulated, the walls packed with blown-in fiberglass insulation that is a foot thick.

Although there is a small Franklin wood stove on the ground floor and a similarly small electric heater, for nine months out of the year their heating source will be the sun.

Read more at the Bangor Daily News website.

The elegantly and minimally designed home of Ian and Zofia Weiss is heated nearly entirely from the sun.

Photo courtesy of locative DRD

What defines a home? The materials it is made out of, or the human experiences that happen there?

For Ian Weiss and Zofia Weiss, a home is a combination of both. In 2008, the husband of wife team, founders of locative Design Research Development, started on a journey to build a new home and office for themselves that would combine two different, but not antagonistic ideas:

• The Rational House – Designed and built to efficiently endure Maine’s climate for the next century
• The Emotional House – Designed to serve socialization between people and interaction with place

They write:

An energy-efficient house appeals to a person’s rational side. It does more with less. It requires less energy, thereby reducing the burden on the owner of securing, paying for, and shouldering the consequences of that supply … Working among the various ideas surrounding sustainable architecture, we came to the conclusion that energy use should be the primary measure of whether a house is “green” or not … An energy-efficient house’s savings over its lifespan CAN outweigh all other choices a person makes regarding energy use.

Yet, a home is more than the sum of its parts:

The architecture facilitates a way to sit and read, to observe the outdoors beyond, to enjoy the sun … The Emotional house concept as we perceived it … was built on favorite moments in houses and apartments we lived in, exciting features we came across in houses of friends we visited. It was the settings of our most emotional memories, indoors and out, the places that served as the backdrops and stage sets for the actions of people. It was angles of sunlight in the morning and afternoon, the warmth of a kitchen.

Solar Heating as a Solution

“Our primary goal was to build a new house of our own design that did not rely on fossil fuels,” writes Ian Weiss. “It became obvious early on that a super-insulated house would require only a small heat source, which opened the door for employing solar hot water for space heating as well as domestic hot water. The combination of solar hot water with in-floor radiant heat was a perfect fit that would provide the majority of our heating.”

The keys to a successful solar space heating system are a super-insulated building envelope, excellent southern exposure, and low temperature distribution (i.e. radiant floors vs. radiators). The Weiss’ included all of these aspects in their design, with R values of 50-58 throughout the structure and a perfect southern orientation on their home (which also helps with the Emotional side of the house – providing ample sunlit areas to work and live during the day).

Due to the high insulation value, the heating needs of the space are low, which means that solar thermal is viable as the home’s primary source of heat. In deep winter, when the sun is at its weakest and the heating needs are at their highest, the energy gap is made up with seamless electrical backup, as well as locally harvested wood.

The Weiss’ created this useful graph for understanding this energy gap when compared to a conventional home:

Solar Space Heating Design

The great part about solar hot water space heating is that the same system provides all of the home’s domestic hot water.

The system we designed and installed consists of a 120 evacuated tube hot water array tied into two solar hot water storage tanks. When the temperature at the collectors is hotter than the tank, the pump begins to circulate a non-toxic food-grade antifreeze solution through the collectors and into the heat exchange coils in the storage tanks.

Should there not be enough sun to heat the domestic tank to its set point, the integrated electric element turns on and provides automatic backup.

The Experience

“The installation was simple because our project was new construction,” says Ian. “The design phase went smoothly with ReVision trusting us to handle energy modeling and to determine a design load we were comfortable with. Easier than expected? Yes.”

Now he and his wife are living in the home and starting to enjoy the more emotional parts of the experience:

When the sun shined, our solar array made hot water, even when it was 15 degrees Fahrenheit outside. We were thrilled to be so warm. Yet, the Rational House’s performance in the winter conditions told half the story of our satisfaction with it. The Emotional House was the one we really lived in, wrapped inside an energy-efficient super-insulated rational shell.

Learn more from their profile of the 57 Union St, Belfast home, or see Locative DRD’s website.

From our Residential Solar Photo Gallery:

For more installations, see our Solar Projects Map

This home in Falmouth served as a model for what a modular green home might look like. In addition to extreme energy efficiency, it uses solar hot water collectors for domestic hot water and supplemental radiant heating.

At ReVision we’ve had the honor to work on several pilot projects for net-zero homes – projects like the Bright Built Barn and GO Home which have proven to produce more energy than they use.

This leading edge building science is starting to move from the realm of demonstration to reality, marked yesterday in the Portland Press Herald’s coverage of new green modular homes developed by Kaplan Thompson Architects and Keiser Homes.

Tux Turkel writes:

To achieve net-zero performance, Keiser looked at a site-built home Kaplan had recently designed in Falmouth. That home, which is 1,680 square feet and has three bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms, served as a prototype for the line. It’s being offered as the Great Diamond model, with a starting price of $235,000.

Each model combines energy efficiency with features that promote healthy indoor living, such as low-emission paint and heat recovery ventilation for fresh air exchange. South-facing windows help warm the homes in winter; roof overhangs block hot sunlight in summer.

Each home will be plumbed and wired for solar. For buyers who choose the option, solar hot water, solar electric systems or both will be installed.

Choosing both systems could add another $40,000 or so, although tax credits could lower the cost. The systems are designed to soak up enough energy over the course of a year to offset electric bills. The extra power generated by the solar electric panels in the summer and fed back into the grid is intended to make up utility costs in winter — resulting in net-zero energy consumption.

What makes the homes remarkable is that they are not being marketed at the top-tier of development, but towards middle class families. “We think this is the direction of the future,” said Josh Saunders, Keiser’s sales manager. “Even more than sustainable, energy efficient is what people are going to gravitate to. That’s where the payback is.”

As we’ve mentioned before, investing in a solar electric system allows you to pre buy electricity for less than today’s grid rates. Add to that a life of minimal utility bills, and net zero starts to mean as much economic sense as it does environmental sense.

More info at Kaplan Thompson’s website.