Solar Savvy

Greasecar TDI Edition: Part 2

2007-09-10T20:15:00.000-04:00

"The diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils and would help considerably in the development of agriculture of the countries which use it... The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time."

-Rudolf Diesel, 1911

This quote (featured on the web sites of a lot of vegetable fuel systems) amazes me every time I think about it. Talk about someone being ahead of his time - the fact that Rudolph Diesel said this nearly 100 years ago, and it carries more truth today than ever before is astounding. It's a little known fact that the diesel engine was invented to run on vegetable oils - fuels made from entirely renewable resources that have less carbon emissions, less particulates, and less carcinogens than anything else on the road. It didn't take long before the diesel concept was hijacked by the petroleum industry, but if you ever hear somebody speaking skeptically about diesel vehicles being able to safely run on vegetable oil, just tell them that's what it was invented for.

Anyway, apologies for the digression. The install is finally finished. This whole jumble of fuel lines may look like a rat's nest, but there's a method to the madness. You can see the fuel selector valves that switch from diesel to veggie are mounted on the front frame. The 10 micron veggie filter housing is mounted to the left of the battery box, and is surrounded by copper tubing filled with hot radiator fluid. The red hoses carry the fuel and coolant lines to the tank in back of the car.

The myriad of wires are for the computer system that mounts on the dashboard. Another reason I went with the Greasecar kit is because I really like this concept. The "Co-Pilot" monitors the engine and oil temperatures to take the guesswork out of switching over. The temperature sensors are programmable and tell you exactly when the coolant and oil is hot enough. The computer also helps you regulate the purge cycle and gives you an alarm sound if you try to shut the engine off without ecompletely flushing out the vegetable oil.

This is what everything looks like in the end with the engine cover back on. I'm not running on vegetable oil just yet. I want to take a few days to monitor all the fuel and coolant lines to check for loose connections and air leaks before I start trying to run on veggie. But by the end of the week I'll be running on the cleanest fuel on the road - 100% renewable and not made in the Middle East.

The conversion has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and the process doesn't end here. The technology is still in its infancy, and as companies put out all kinds of new products and auxilliary heaters - flat plate heat exchangers, in-line heaters, 12V DC and 120V AC heaters for running veggie in the winter - I'll continue to read up in the forums and web sites and expand the system accordingly. I've truly caught the bug, and I'm now fascinated by this stuff. If any of you are thinking about doing this yourself, let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Otherwise, I hope to see many of you soon when I embark on my magical veggie mystery tour over the next few months.

Stay tuned...

Greasecar TDI Edition: Part 1

2007-08-13T21:03:00.000-04:00

After months of doing homework, research... and a lot of waiting... I'm finally converting my Volkswagen Golf TDI to run on waste vegetable oil. I did my best to educate myself on diesel engines before I bought the car about 2 months ago, and I also spent the better part of the last few months learning about the different conversion systems on the market. Now that I finally have my Greasecar kit and I'm ready to go, I'm going to keep a bit of a running diary for anyone out there who's interested in following along.

There are four companies that I looked at before making my decision - Greasecar, Frybrid, VO Tech, and Golden Fuel Systems. All of them are good guys with great products, and all of them were really helpful over the phone. There's a lot of different ways to set up a system like this, and no one really has it right or wrong. For anyone out there thinking of doing this, you really have to do as much homework as you can and just go with the system that sounds the best for you.

I went with the Greasecar kit for reasons you'll see throughout the posts. Without going into too much of the technical stuff (You can get tons of info about how these systems work on the different company web sites), vegetable oil has the same properties as diesel fuel when it gets hot enough - visualize heating vegetable oil in a frying pan and watching it get thinner - that thickness is called viscosity, and vegetable oil has to have the same viscocity as diesel fuel for it to inject properly into the engine. So the way the system works is you install a separate tank with separate fuel lines for the vegetable oil. You start the vehicle on diesel, and when the engine gets hot enough, bingo, you switch over to grease lightning. The tricky part is remembering to purge the lines and switch back to diesel at the end of your trip, otherwise the oil will cool in the engine and fuel lines and it will be a whole mess.

This is a photo of the ISI Solar company truck (In front of a 3 KW system we installed on a detached garage in White Plains, NY). It's a Ford F350 Powerstroke that my boss did the Greasecar conversion on about 2 years ago. Since my boss is also helping me install the system on my VW, part of why I went with the Greasecar kit is because I knew it would be familiar.

Back to the whole heating thing - in order for the vegetable oil to get hot enough, the system taps into the engine coolant and uses it to heat the vegetable oil in the tank and fuel lines. The first problem with the Greasecar kit that I wanted to remedy is that they use a copper heat exchanger in the fuel tank. Since copper can have an adverse chemical reaction with vegetable oil, I replaced the copper in the tank with 5/8" aluminum tubing. A lot of the other systems have done the same, and to be honest, I can't quite figure out why Greasecar hasn't replaced the copper.

The nice thing about the system is that the tank is designed to fit right in the spare tire well beneath the mat in the trunk. We ran the fuel and coolant lines under the heat shield beneath the car and drilled into the tire well to connect the tank.

After it's all done, the spare tire cuts into your trunk space a bit. I may end up trying to mount the thing along the side.

Next time we'll be mounting the valves under the hood, installing the computer system, and if all goes well, tapping into the fuel and coolant lines for the final connections.

ISI Showcase

2007-02-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

These are sunny days at ISI Solar. We've been selling a lot of systems, and it looks like it's going to be a busy summer. For those of you who have asked about what ended up happening with the rebates in the new year, I'm happy to say that the rebates, although slightly lower, are going to remain solid for at least another 2 years. In fact, the new incentive program includes higher rebates for schools and non-profits, which is a great idea. Hopefully solar will start to have more of a presence in schools and outreach programs in the coming years.

In honor of things looking good, I thought I'd dedicate a post to some of our installations. This one is a 5.1 kw system in Pearl River, New York made with BP solar modules. You might be surprised to know that most of the leading solar module manufacturers in the world are companies you're already familiar with. BP, Sharp, and Sanyo are some of the main manufacturers that we use.

This is an 8.1 kw system in Amawalk, New York -also made with the BP's. This system is actually big enough to produce close to 100% of the home's electricity. Net metering enables the homeowners to store enough credits from their energy production to compensate for the electricity they need at night and on rainy days.

This is a close-up of a 4.8 kw system in Valley Cottage, NY using Sanyo modules. Sanyo makes the most energy-dense module on the market, meaning you get the most wattage out of the smallest square footage (it's also the most expensive if you break down the dollars-per-watt)

This is an 8.8 kw ground-mounted system we did in Montebello, NY using Sharp modules. The homeowner didn't want the system on his roof - he preferred to have a kind of a lawn exhibition.

This is pretty neat. It's a 4.08 kw PV laminate job that we did for the Department of Public Works in Upper Nyack, NY. This is a technology made by United Solar Ovonic in Michigan. It's actually an adhesive that's ideal for standing seam metal roofs. There's no roof penetration, it adheres directly to the roof material to blend in with the fascade.

Click the link if you're interested in having us do a site evaluation for you, or if you'd just like some more information

Sunlight Hype: 40% Efficient Solar Cell

2006-12-06T19:30:00.000-05:00

Boeing-Spectrolab's announcement that they had broken the 40% efficiency mark with a new solar cell was enough to wake me from my slumber and write a very long-overdue post. Let me start by saying I'm at the top of the list of solar enthusiasts that would love to believe the breakthrough is going to have a huge imapct on the solar industry in the near future. But I'm a bit skeptical.

Most solar cells use silicon as their principle semiconductor. Without hitting you with excessive jargon, the semiconductor is basically the material that turns photons of sunlight into electricity. The problem with silicon is that it has gotten more expensive in recent years. The solar world has been growing in leaps and bounds, and silicon refineries haven't kept up. There are plenty of plans for expansion, but even as refineries ramp up their production, most analysts don't expect supplies to level out the costs until 2008. So we'll have relatively high costs of solar modules for at least another year or so. In the meantime, plenty of startups have begun investing in alternative semiconductors in hopes of discovering a cheaper alternative to silicon, and that's what Boeing-Spectrolab has done.

I shouldn't be completely dismissive. Boeing-Spectrolab is using a multi-junction solar cell, which is a new technology that has a lot of potential. Silicon cells basically have one layer that transforms anywhere from 12%-22% of all sunlight into DC electricity (depending on the silicon crystal). These multi-junction cells feature multiple layers, each of which transforms a different wave from the entire spectrum of light into electricity. That's where the 40% efficiency comes from. This past May, Sharp announced they had reached 37% with a multi-junction cell that uses gallium-arsenide as its semi-conductor, and Boeing-Spectrolab is probably using something similar.

(Surprise, surprise, Boeing-Spectrolab isn't telling anyone yet what they're using)

But here's why I'm skeptical. Throughout the entire history of solar cells, there's a plethora of researchers and scientists that have reached high percentages in the lab. But the difference between what's possible in a lab under certain specific conditions, and what's economically producible on a large scale is often significant.

Even aside from that, let's say, hypothetically, that the technology does turn out to be commercially viable, most of these alternative semiconductors are rare metals. Not only do most US Geological Surveys indicate that there aren't enough supplies of raw materials of these semiconductors to meet solar market targets for the next thirty years, but most of these metals are also byproducts from other mining processes. If these semiconductors (again, hypothetically) were to become profitable enough that the byproducts became main products, the result could be hundreds and thousands of tons of mining waste that could cause an ecological disaster.

Silicon will never have these problems. It's the most abundant element in the earth's crust, and can be collected and refined with a minimal environmental impact.

But I'm not trying to be captain of the player-haters for the multi junction cells. The truth is that this probably will be the technology of the future. But there are a lot of issues that need to be ironed out before we get there.

Once we find out what exactly Boeing-Spectrolab is doing with these cells, we might be doing carwheels in the streets. This could be the biggest breakthrough in the history of solar cells. But even if it is, I still wonder how many years away we are from working out the kinks to get the product on the market.

Time will tell.

I Don't Want to Wait in Vain for the Sun

2006-11-14T23:05:00.000-05:00

You may remember my recent post on solar incentives in New York State. Until now, a strong combination of rebates and tax incentives has made solar energy for homeowners a lucrative investment.

The reason why I say “until now” is because all of that might change. Sure, it probably won’t, but it might, and it might happen as early as January 1st.

Funding for the solar rebates since 2002 has come from the Systems Benefit Charge – it’s a small fee added on to the electric bills of ratepayers in most of New York State. The Systems Benefit Charge is used to finance all kinds of programs to promote energy efficiency and renewable technologies. (Unless you live in Long Island, take a look at your electric bill, you’ll see it)

But with the implementation of a statewide Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), mandating that 25% of New York’s energy supplies come from renewable resources by 2013, funding for solar rebates will soon be coming from the RPS – a similar, but different ratepayer’s fee from the Systems Benefit Charge. Confused yet?... I know, this is a lot more complicated than it needs to be, but bear with me here for a sec.

The problem is that funding is switching over to the RPS on January 1st, and as of right now, today, November 14, the Public Service Commission still hasn’t announced what the incentives will be. The only thing we do know is that funding in 2006 for solar rebates was about $6 million. Funding in 2007 under the RPS will probably be about $3.5 million. This is the part that really matters, because where the state is going to have to pinch and save a couple of bucks to make up the difference, no one knows.

The rebates might go down from the current $4 per watt to $3.50 per watt. Or the system size might be reduced, so that only smaller systems will qualify for the rebates. No one really knows.

Did I mention that today is November 14? These changes are going to be effective in 46 days, and no one has a clue what they will be. Solar installers are staking their livelihoods on the success of this industry, and they have no idea what kind of business plan they should be developing a month and a half from now. How can this be happening?

Imagine if taxes were going to be restructured across the state, or if health care, educational funding, or social security was going to be almost cut in half, and 40 days prior, the state still wasn’t disclosing the actual logistics.

This is what solar folks are facing right now. We’re all going about our business because it doesn’t seem that anything too drastic is likely to happen. But funding is going to be cut almost in half, and for people trying to make a living in this industry, that’s a pretty big deal. The least they could do is let us know in advance if the rug is going to get pulled out from under us.

Instead… we’ll keep waiting… but it’s getting to be quite a drum roll.

The Dawn of a New Edison

2006-10-27T12:52:00.000-04:00

Google’s big announcement last week that they were installing 1.6 megawatts of solar modules on their California headquarters is the most recent addition to an ever-growing list of corporations making the investment in solar energy. Staples, Whole Foods, and General Motors are some of the players that have already gone solar.

This is a great development for the solar industry, and it’s beneficial enough for the companies involved that they’d be stupid not to do it. Take Google for example. Aside from the great publicity this will give them, they’ll receive financial incentives from California’s solar program, and they’ll qualify for a 30% federal tax credit. The system will pay for itself in energy savings in less than 8 years, and will be productive for over 25 years, saving them millions of dollars on their electricity bill.

Obviously, solar on this grand of a scale is much more lucrative than the 5 kilo-watt system on the roof of your neighbor’s house. Certain third party financers are realizing this, and making a living off of these large companies by doing the financing for them.

The most successful and well known to date is Sun Edison. They’re using a financing model called Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). The New York Times just featured these PPA’s on the front page of the Business Section last weekend

Here’s how it works: Sun Edison installs, owns, and maintains the solar system on the roof of Company A. Instead of Company A paying the power utility $0.15/kilo-watt hour, Company A signs a 25 year PPA with Sun Edison to pay $0.14/kWh, that way their electricity is cheaper, cleaner, and they’re not responsible for the solar panels. Sun Edison takes care of all that.

(I just pulled those prices out of thin air, by the way. The actual PPA’s vary from contract to contract and region to region.)

The model works for Sun Edison because now instead of Company A getting the rebate incentives and tax credits, they get them. And instead of Company A making up the system costs in 8 years, Sun Edison recoups their initial investment, and laughs all the way to the bank for the next 25 years. And Sun Edison does this enough times for enough different clients that they make a fortune.

Not bad.

And the customers love the trouble it saves them. A big corporation might know that solar can save them a lot of money, but they don’t feel like going through the hassle. They don’t want to have to put the capital costs up front, and they don’t want to have to maintain a gigantic power plant on their roof that they know nothing about. Companies like Staples and Whole Foods have more important things to worry about.

Solar systems like these cost a lot of money, and to make it work Sun Edison is always luring in third party investors. If you’re skeptical of the financial viability of all, consider that their investor portfolio includes over $20 million from Goldman Sachs.

Don't Take My Word For It

Click these links for the Sun Edison web site, the New York Times article, and here is the Press Release for the Staples Project in California

Solar Power Conference 2006 - Part 3 - Google and Schwarzeneger

2006-10-20T01:29:00.000-04:00

The conference wrapped up today with Governor Schwarzeneger making an appearance to address the packed house. The speech was typical Ah-nold, but he got a huge standing ovation from the crowd, thanks to his signing of the California Solar Initiative last month to put $3.2 billion into the solar industry in California over the next ten years.

I was joking with some of the solar guys who have been with the industry through thick and thin over the years: "If someone came to you in 1990, and told you that someday the solar industry was going to be saved and championed by Arnold Schwarzeneger, would you have believed it?"

No, they wouldn't.

But nonetheless, here we are, looking at a great model for how to develop the solar industry worldwide, and a Hollywood body-builder-turned-Governor is to thank. Go figure.

The other big story of the week was Google. On Monday Google announced plans to put 1.6 Megawatts on their Bay Area headquarters - over 9,000 solar panels, enough to power 500 average California homes. Their headquarters is a 6-building facility, and they consume a ton of electricity, so even a system this big is only going to cover about a third of their overall demand. Still, a system on this kind of scale will pay for itself in energy savings in about 8 years, and the system will be warranted for 25, so it's a great financial investment for them.

Here's the Wall Street Journal write up.

This is the kind of stuff the industry needs. Staples has already put over 500 kw on their California Distribution Headquarters, and Whole Foods recently put 121 kw on their distribution center in Connecticut. The more we see high profile projects like these, the better.

In any case, lots of great stuff from the conference. But I decided I can write about all of it one idea at a time and string it out over a month, so why shoehorn it all in now? So whoever's out there reading this little blog, check back soon.

Solar Power Conference 2006 - Part 2 - Sharks in the Water

2006-10-19T03:59:00.000-04:00

Let me start by plugging Sun Power... These guys are the class act of the solar industry, and yes, I'm saying that mostly because they've sponsored some great networking events this week and provided tons of free drinks and food, but also because they're really reaching out to the rest of the industry folks here. They have the most efficient solar cells on the market, and they're probably the most successful solar manufacturers in the world to date. Check them out.

This conference has been fascinating. Granted it's only my first one, but from what I hear, this seems like the beginning of something big. 5 years ago when this conference was first launched there were 50 people. Last year there were over 1,000, this year there are 6,000. As Martin Green, who conducts thin film solar cell research at the University of New South Wales in New Zealand said at the beginning of his speech this morning, "I have always described the solar industry in the United States as a slumbering giant... it's quite exciting to be here and witness the giant awakening."

Word.

The theme for the conference is "Sharks in the water." The overall scene features the environmentalists and technology geeks it's always had. But the consensus seems to be that the jump to 6,000 people is largely attributable to the big banks and investors who are here scoping out financial opportunities. It's a bit uncomfortable, and I'm glad I'm not a small solar business owner who has to worry about getting swallowed up by these sharks, but honestly, it's not a bad thing. The industry needs these folks to really grow.

Man, I'm so tired. More tomorrow, unless Sun Power keeps me out on the town again.

Solar Power Conference 2006 - Part 1

2006-10-17T01:16:00.000-04:00

This week I'm out at the Solar Power 2006 Conference in San Jose. I'm going to do my best to keep some kind of running commentary.

Day 1 - After a whole lotta travling, capped off by the fools at the Travelodge botching up my reservation, I finally got a place to dump my stuff and rest my head before heading to the opening reception. Plenty of folks talking german, plenty of geeky solar wonks with cool exhibits, and plenty of showroom girls with bikinis made out of little solar panels... okay, I made that last one up, but you get my point. It's a solar guru's wet dream.

Here's one of the cooler things I saw tonight - a company in California that's found a way to maximize the output of silicon solar cells by using these magnifying glass-type crystals (didn't talk to him long enough to get a more technical description just yet)

...Still adjusting to the time difference... need to get some sleep... more tomorrow.

A few other good photos:

Top- Solar Cells manufactured by Q-Cells in Thalheim, Germany - the second largest solar cell manufacturer in the world (Sharp is #1).

Bottom - A solar thermal heating module

Gore for President

2006-09-25T22:15:00.000-04:00

I’m jumping on the bandwagon. Maybe I’m just setting myself up to be disappointed, but I can’t help it. Gore is going to run, I can feel it.

This isn’t just about An Inconvenient Truth. I didn’t even love the movie. Don’t get me wrong, it was thorough, compelling, and right on point. But for a film that was hyped to sound the trumpets and rally the masses against global warming, it just seemed to come up short. I thought it was going to inspire people to leave the theater, buy an energy star air-conditioner, and a dozen compact fluorescent bulbs on the way home.

(I was even ready to start handing out my ISI Solar business cards right outside the theater).

But it didn’t. His big message at the end…

“we need more political will…”

Political will? Really? That’s all the film was aiming for? No specific ways people can make a difference? He couldn’t aim any higher than us just needing more political will??

I spent the next few weeks talking to people who had been overwhelmed by the film, thought it was great, but hadn’t done anything differently in their lives. I would jump into all the important solutions I wished Gore had explored at the end. But it was too late. The movie was done, and people had left the theater. Their attention spans were gone.

Gore had let perhaps the greatest opportunity in human history to mobilize the American public against climate change slip through his fingers.

But now he’s starting to make up for it.

In response to the criticism that the film didn’t explore more inspiring solutions (apparently I’m not the only one who’s been saying it) Gore gave a speech in New York last week where he focused only on potential solutions. And he’s got some good ones.

Like the “Electra-net,” a new model for energy infrastructure that incorporates more renewable distributed generation, like solar and wind, into the grid.

(Also strikingly similar to the Solar Savvster’s post on New York City’s blackouts)

And the “Connie Mae” foundation, where lower interest mortgage rates would be made available to carbon neutral buildings.

He also talked about restructuring state and federal taxes by changing payroll taxes to carbon emission taxes, so that instead of companies having financial disincentives to hire more workers, they’ll have financial disincentives to produce more carbon emissions.

The speech won me over. I still wish he had made brief mention of this stuff at the end of the movie, but better late than never.

And maybe that needs to be Gore’s campaign slogan in 2008: “Better Late than Never.”

Because the truth is, now is Gore’s time. He probably would have loved to talk about all of this stuff back in 2000, but he wasn’t allowed to. It wasn’t a relevant topic, and his campaign managers probably thought it would only hurt him. His go-to guys micro-managed the entire campaign for him, telling what to say, what not to say, when to smile, when to wave. It probably made him even more of a stiff.

Now global warming is relevant; it tugs the heart strings and earns him the adoration of millions. He can finally be the Al Gore he always wanted to be. The self-ridiculing jokes even give him a touch of a personality.

A very small touch… but it’s a start.

So are the clips about his son, and the shots of his early life growing up on a tobacco farm. It’s the personal side of Gore’s life that we’ve never seen, and I don’t believe for a minute that it’s coincidental. I think Gore is trying to show the human side that was always missing. And if this is his way of launching himself into the election, then he’s got my vote.

So what if he pulled his punch at the end of An Inconvenient Truth? Maybe he just wanted to leave a little something for the sequel.

Better late than never.

Don't Take My Word For It

“Don’t Take My Word For It” is a feature I’m going to include at the end of every post. It’s a link to a credible, scholarly source, for those of you looking for more info

Read the article write-up, or click here to read the full speech

Edward Norton: Solar Robin Hood

2006-09-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine who lives in LA pointed this out to me, I think it’s incredible. Mad props to Edward Norton.

Norton is a huge solar enthusiast. He’s got solar panels on his house out in California. Evidently, his grandfather started a non-profit organization called The Enterprise Foundation that works to expand affordable housing in Las Angeles.

So Norton decided to connect the two. He founded a partnership between the non-profit and BP solar, it’s called the BP Solar Neighbours Program.

Here’s how it works: For every celebrity Norton gets to install a solar electric system on their house, BP donates a system to a low income family in California.

Since the program started, over forty celebrities have bought systems, including Carlos Santana, Robin Williams, Don Cheadle, and Alicia Silverstone.

Don’t Take My Word For It

“Don’t Take My Word For It” is a feature I’m going to include at the end of every post. It’s a link to a credible, scholarly source, for those of you looking for more info

Click here to see the Solar Neighbors page on the BP website

Q & A

2006-09-01T19:48:00.000-04:00

Couple of good questions after my last post:

"to power the entire country with solar, we would only need about 10,000 square miles of solar panels."Any idea what the cost of that would be?I heard somewhere that a nuclear power plant costs $10 billion to build. How many nuclear plants would it take to power the whole country?Just wondering about the economics as they stand right now.

First of all, let me say that I don't know what exactly 10,000 square miles of solar panels would cost, but it would probably be in the ball park of $7.5 trillion (I just crunched some EIA stats, I didn't just whip that off the top of my head, I promise) But that's irrelevant, because it's not going to happen. Solar has a lot more potential as distributed generation. I brought that figure up to show how much potential energy there is in sunlight.

As for nuclear, it's hard to say how much it costs because you could build a 10 megawatt plant or a 50 megawatt plant. I couldn't even give you a figure of what it might cost per watt, but I guarantee you that if you google it, whatever cost you find won't factor in how much it costs to cart the radioactive waste around the country to find a place to bury it. And if the whole country was on nuclear power, that'd be a mess.

Here's another good question:

Is there any expectation as to how long state and federal financial incentives to go solar will last? As hybrid cards have become more popular, federal financial support (in the form of tax rebates) is being phased out, after only a few years. Is there a fear that the same thing will happen with solar power incentives?

This is actually a great question. Yes, New York State is going to be putting less funding into solar next year. (This information isn't public yet. But it will be, and when it is, remember where you heard it first) The rebates should remain where they are, but with a smaller piggy bank, some jobs might find themselves on hold until the following year.

Which is stupid, but the reason why it's stupid requires a bit of explanation.

Contrary to what some people think, it's not the government's job to make solar a slam dunk. It's the industry's job to make solar a slam dunk. It's the government's job to support the industry, and that's what the rebates are designed to do. If the rebates aren't effective, then it creates conditions where solar is overly-dependent on the incentives. And that's not sustainable.
Let me give you an example:

The best success story for solar energy is in Japan. The government put some aggressive, hefty incentives in place - rebates, net metering, and low interest loan financing. The package was sufficient enough to drive the industry towards economies of scale, and the incentives slowly tapered off. But only after they effectively stimulated enough economic growth to drive the cost down. A few years ago, the incentives finally tapered off altogether, and now the price of solar is actually cheaper than standard electricity. No one even misses the incentives, they don't need them.

That's what a government should do.

For another example, take a look at California. You can say what you want to about Ah-nold, but Schwarzeneger got it right. He campaigned on a platform that included a powerful solar law, and he delivered. The state put together a 10 year, $3 billion incentive plan, with the rebates slowly tapering off over the course of the ten years. It includes rebates, expanded net metering, and even a mandate requiring newly constructed homes to present solar power as an option to buyers (It'll go in the brochure right next to the marble countertops).

It's a great plan. For the incentives to be effective, they need to stimulate the market towards economies of scale, then slowly taper off. And that's what California's plan will do.

New York's incentives, while decent, haven't been massive enough to warrant tapering off already (Our incentive funding is about $5 million - California's is 600 times more). The industry isn't close to being competitive with standard electricity. For the rebates to contract now would make them a band aid over the last few years.

But installers aren't bumming yet. It's not a dead issue, a lot can still change. Plus, the incentives are still good enough that the market will be fine next year.

But if we're thinking down the road... then yes...we're bumming

If you're a homeowner contemplating going solar, now's the time. Grab the rebates while you can.

Don’t Take My Word For It

“Don’t Take My Word For It” is a feature I’m going to include at the end of every post. It’s a link to a credible, scholarly source, for those of you looking for more info

Click here to read about California's new Million Solar Roofs Law

The US Energy Roadmap

2006-08-20T12:28:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I was talking to a guy who works for a company that sells wind power. He started making comments about how solar energy is uneconomical and impractical, all the while bragging about how much cheaper wind is. It was like he was trying to pick a fight with me. I wanted to tell him, “Buddy, I’m your friend here, aren’t we on the same side?”

Environmentalists make me nuts. We can’t get the political heavy-hitters to listen to us, so we argue and nitpick with each other. We’re fighting an uphill battle against big corporations with money, power, lawyers, policy wonks, and lobbyists behind them, and this schmuck is trying to drive a wedge between wind and solar. Unbelievable.

Most people know that the United States is dangerously dependent on non-renewable sources of energy. These sources – namely coal and natural gas, are finite, meaning they’re going to run out eventually. The difference between the two is that natural gas burns clean, with minimal carbon emissions. Coal is…well… you can imagine what coal looks like when it burns.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, about 50% of our electricity comes from coal, while only 18% comes from Natural Gas. About 20% comes from nuclear power, which has no emissions, but it’s also non- renewable, since it comes from limited supplies of uranium.

(There’s also that little “deadly-carcinogenic, kids-born-with-three-feet, radioactive-waste” problem, but we can just keep cramming it in Homer Simpson’s shirt pocket, right?)

The safest alternatives would be the major renewable energy sources – wind, solar, and hydro. They’re entirely abundant and renewable, since wind, sunlight, and water won’t be running out anytime soon. They’re also clean, since they burn zero fossil fuels, emit zero greenhouse gases, and produce zero emissions.

Hydro-power is the leading source of renewable electricity in the country. But some people worry about the ecological impacts, since river dams can affect the migratory and reproductive patterns of fish, while also impacting plant life.

But there are ways to avoid these risks, and in general, hydropower is a well-utilized source of power for many parts of the country. But even with our hydropower resources being utilized to the fullest, which most experts will agree they are, hydro still only represents 6.5% of electricity supplies in the country.

The other renewables make up only 2.3%... yup…this wind guy wanted to fight with me for a bigger share of 2.3%

The fact is, the wind and the solar guys need to be on the same page for the US to reduce its impact on climate change. We’re not doing anybody any service by competing with each other. And in truth, most of us are working together. My ignorant adversary was really an anomaly. Take a look at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), and The Alliance for Clean Energy in New York (ACE NY) to see the ways in which renewable energy is moving forward.

But what does this mean? How do we move forward?

Many of you have seen An Inconvenient Truth, you know that this is important. You just don’t know what the answer is.

Well, I hate to disappoint you, but there isn’t one answer. Environmentalists need to get over these pie-in-the-sky delusions of windmills and solar panels saving the country from global warming. It’s a naïve theory, and it hurts our credibility in circles where politicians, policy-makers, and scientists are thinking seriously about climate change.

The real answer lies in 4 parts, and anyone who doesn’t include all of them in describing our energy landscape is missing something. Here they are, in order of significance.

1 – Energy Efficiency

We’ve got to start using less energy. There’s no reason our consumption levels need to be this high. While this means being smarter, it doesn’t just mean we have to change our lifestyles. It means that the technology needs to get better. Energy Star Appliances are a great start – the air conditioners and refrigerators, for example, use a lot less energy than conventional models. If you have old appliances around the house, get rid of them. The newer energy star models will save you enough money on your electricity bill to make up the cost in just a few years.

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs are another biggie. The difference between these and conventional incandescent light bulbs isn’t even close – they use 4x less energy. I’ve heard stories of people who changed every bulb in their house and their electricity bill dropped by 50%.

And the technology is still improving.

2 – Cleaner Technology for burning fossil fuels.

As much as I’d love to see wind and solar replace coal, it ain’t happening. Environmentalists need to get over themselves. Coal is cheap, and there’s probably enough of it to power the world for another 800 years.

What we should focus on instead is how to burn it more cleanly. The US and China are both researching new methods of burning coal that would produce lower levels of carbon emissions. Don’t ask me how, I’m not familiar enough with the studies, but it’ll happen someday soon.

Another interesting technology is called Sequestration. This is where Carbon Dioxide is actually filtered out of the air and pumped back into the ground. Don’t ask me how this works either, scientists still haven’t quite found a way. But it’ll also happen soon

3 & 4 (tie) – Wind and Solar

In the long run, solar is more abundant than wind. But wind is a lot cheaper right now, and we can’t sit around and wait for solar to become less costly. We need to use the technologies that are affordable right now.

A lot of states in the country have implemented Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). This means that by a certain year, they’re going to have to incorporate a certain percentage of renewable energy into their portfolios. (For example, New York has an RPS of 25% renewable energy by 2013)

All power utilities are going to have to meet this, and in order to do it cheaply, most of them are looking into wind… not solar. It’s still not as cheap as coal, but it’s getting close. And in order to make up the difference, a lot of utilities are passing the extra costs onto willing customers.

For example, Con Edison offers a great program through one of their subsidiaries, Con Ed Solutions. Customers can sign up to receive their power from wind farms instead of conventional fossil fuel plants. It's a bit more expensive – a few cents more per kilowatt-hour, adding up to about $50 more per year on your electricity bill. But plenty of customers are willing to pay it in order to support renewable energy.

If you’re a customer with Con Ed, click here to sign up for wind power. Aside from the extra costs, it won’t change the way you receive electricity at all.

I will happily bash Con Ed for all of their shortcomings, but this isn’t one of them. It’s a great program.

But as cheap as wind is, studies have found that in order to power our entire country with wind, we would need to put up windmills in a landmass the size of the state of Colorado…

…which ain’t gonna happen

By comparison, to power the entire country with solar, we would only need about 10,000 square miles of solar panels.

This portion of the Nevada Desert has the capacity to meet all of our country's electricity needs through solar energy

Make no mistake about it…this ain’t happening either… but it shows how much potential energy there is in sunlight. As the technology gets cheaper and more efficient, we’ll be able to tap into more and more of it.

Maybe by 2200, the entire country will be powered by renewable energy. But for now, in our lifetimes,

-We need to use energy more efficiently
-We need to burn coal more efficiently
-We need to put policies in place that will enable the wind industry to continue to provide affordable electricity to homes all over the country
-And the solar industry needs to continue to grow, so that costs will go down, and solar power will become more and more economically viable.

That’s the roadmap… now let’s see if we can follow it.

Don’t Take My Word For It

“Don’t Take My Word For It” is a feature I’m going to include at the end of every post. It’s a link to a credible, scholarly source, for those of you looking for more info.

Dr. Klaus Lackner at Columbia University is one of the most highly regarded experts in fossil fuels and climate change in the country. This is a link to a paper he published on carbon reductions and sequestration of carbon emissions.

Solar Economics for Homeowners

2006-08-07T21:03:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love about doing solar installations is the people I meet. Talking to homeowners who have made the decision to go solar is both fascinating and gratifying. Some do it for environmental reasons, others do it for the economic benefits, and some people do it just because they love the freedom and independence of producing their own electricity.

Whatever the reason, solar energy is a wonderful investment. I hope and believe that one day solar is going to become the next super-trend. Rich mansions in Beverly Hills are going to be equipped with solar arrays, just so lawyers and investment bankers at barbecues can say things like, “Oh, you only have a 9 kw system? I have a 10 kw, and it’s earned me over $6,000 since I had it installed.”

When that finally happens, it’s going to be a great day for the industry. But for now, I enjoy meeting the folks who are on the cutting edge of this trend, before it becomes a high-brow phenomenon.

These are the folks who realize what a great deal it is. Different state and federal policies have made solar energy more affordable right now than ever before. In fact, the biggest problem with the incentives is that not enough people know about them.

In New York State, there are rebates that will cover 50% of the equipment costs. There is also a state tax credit worth $3,750 (It will go up to $5,000 on Sept 1st) and a federal tax credit worth $2,000.

So let’s say you’re a homeowner looking to buy a 5 kw system for $40,000 (A decent-sized system that can reduce your electricity bill by about 70%). Here’s what you’re looking at:

Initial System Cost: $40,000
50% State Rebate: -$20,000
State Tax Credit: -$5,000
Federal Tax Credit: -$2,000
Final System Cost =$13,000

$13,000 for a $40,000 system… it’s not going to get much better than that anytime soon. And that remaining cost can be easily financed with the state loan program, which provides financing for solar electric systems at 4% below lender rates.

But what do you really get for all that money?

Whatever you spend on your system, whether it’s $13,000 or $50,000, it will take you about 10-12 years to make up the cost in energy savings. But solar panels have a warranty to be productive for 25 years, and most will actually produce for 30. So once you’ve made up your initial investment in 10-12 years, you’ll probably have another 18-20 years of energy savings.

That means a $13,000 system could earn you as much as $30,000 over thirty years. It’s not the most lucrative investment, but wouldn’t you rather save $30,000 than spend it?

Not to mention the fact that this payback is based on the prices of standard electricity remaining where they are now. If fuel prices go up (and they will) the payback could double or triple. In fact, plenty of large companies are investing in solar as a type of hedge-investment against spikes in natural gas prices.

The other day I came across this bestsolarenergyblog, which features a nice article about how building owners are investing in solar as a way of “freezing” their electricity costs, and avoiding volatile energy prices.

But I digress…sorry…back on track…

There’s also net metering, where your system can earn you money if it produces more than you use (Click here to read my last post on net metering)

Another facet of the financial angle is increased property values. Real Goods, based in California, cites the Appraisal Journal of the National Appraiser's Association as saying that property values increase by $20 for every $1 of annual energy savings. That means our $13,000 system could increase property values by $20,000.

You'd be up $7,000 from day 1.

Truthfully, these increased property values are somewhat skewed, since they're based on finding someone who's interested in buying a house with solar panels, and since the panels might be done with their productive lives by the time you're looking to sell the house. But still...

Solar energy may not be the most profitable way to invest your money, but you’re going to have to pay for electricity one way or another anyway. Isn’t it better to purchase your power in a way that will save you money, even if it’s only $1, than to do it in a way that will cost you a thousand dollars a year?

Don’t Take My Word For It

“Don’t Take My Word For It” is a feature I’m going to include at the end of every post. It’s a link to a credible, scholarly source, for those of you looking for more info.

For those of you in New York State, visit the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) web site to find out more about the state incentives.

For those of you outside of New York State, visit the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) to find out what types of incentives are offered in your state.

Net Metering - How Con Ed will PAY YOU to Go Solar

2006-07-31T14:18:00.000-04:00

Before we dive into how you can get power companies like Con Ed to PAY YOU for going solar, let’s establish a few things.

When you install solar panels on your roof, you can produce electricity to power your home anytime the sun is out – even when it’s cloudy. You just won’t produce as much electricity as you would if it was sunny. But what if you have 5 cloudy days in a row? What if you have 10 rainy days in a row? What about the electricity you need at night when the sun’s not shining?

In order to solve such conundrums, it used to be the case that you needed a battery bank - a series of deep cycle car batteries that could store extra electricity for a rainy day (or night). That way, when your solar panels were producing electricity, you could use whatever juice you needed, and whatever was left over would go into the piggy bank.

Sounds good, right?

The problem is that a battery bank can add $7,000 onto the cost of your system, which isn’t going to encourage anybody to go solar. So then somebody thought, “Instead of storing extra power in expensive batteries, what if we could just store it in the power lines? You could connect the panels directly to the utility meter, that way any extra power you produced could be fed into the grid, and whatever power you needed on nights and rainy days could be pulled from the grid. You wouldn’t need batteries.”

Brilliant.

Now, what happens if you’re actually producing more electricity than you’re using? That would mean you’d be giving power to Con Ed.

You’re thinking, “I’m not giving those #*#&%ers a nickel!”

You’re exactly right, my friend. This is when Con Ed buys electricity from you.

The concept is called Net Metering – it means that you use whatever electricity you’re producing, but anything extra goes into the grid. And by law, anything extra that goes into the grid, power companies like Con Ed must buy from you at the same rate that you would otherwise buy it from them.

I’m serious… it’s required by law in 40 states… look it up.

Here’s the cool part: When you have a chance, go outside and look at your electric meter. You’ll see that there’s a turning dial that’s counting the number of kilowatt-hours you’re consuming. If you decide to go solar and net meter, you can go look at your meter on a hot sunny day and find that your meter is actually spinning backwards. At the end of the year, if your meter is lower than when it started, Con Ed will mail you a check.

So why would Con Ed agree to do this?

As I mentioned in my last post, power companies like Con Ed need more creative ways to meet their peak demands and avoid the risk of blackouts. Coincidentally, these peak demands (people turning on their air conditioners) happen to coincide with solar panels reaching their peak production (hot sunny days). It’s a match made in heaven.

But Con Ed will only go along with this as long as it’s helping them, and not costing them too much money. In New York State, the law mandates that you can only net meter solar energy systems of up to 10 kilowatts in size (For a reference, an average house would need a system of about 8 kw to meet all of its energy needs). The law also states that power companies will only accept applications for net metering until 0.1 % of peak demand levels are met.

By comparison, New Jersey allows up to 2,000 kw systems to net meter, with no percentage cap (Yeah, New Jersey’s plans are a lot better than ours)

California really has the best incentives in the country, but since my long lost brother Solar Dweller on the west coast has Cali covered, I’m just going to focus on the East Coast.

The industry folks don’t hoot and holler too much about the 0.1% cap in New York – it’s bigger than you think. The 10 kw capacity is what really gets them riled up. It means that larger buildings can’t net meter, since they need hundreds, sometimes thousands of kilowatts to meet their energy needs.

You’d think that the blackout in Queens would be enough for the state to realize the benefits of larger buildings net metering, and easing the loads on the power lines. But those power companies can get greedy.

The New York Solar Energy Industry Association is pushing hard to get net metering expanded to 2,000 kw, but we’ll have to see what happens.

Don’t Take My Word For It

“Don’t Take My Word For It” is a feature I’m going to include at the end of every post. It’s a link to a credible, scholarly source, for those of you looking for more info.

Take a look at the New York Solar Energy Industry Association (NYSEIA) position on Net Metering

NYC Blackout 101: Distributed Generation

2006-07-26T17:15:00.000-04:00

All of you folks in Queens probably got here by googling "solar energy" after the power finally came back on yesterday. You're thinking, "There's gotta be a better way,"

Well, there is. Solar energy in New York City would have prevented the blackout. Here's why:

The reason you didn’t have electricity for the last two weeks is that most power utilities, including Con Ed, operate through Centralized Generation. Whenever you have electricity being generated through one centralized power plant, the grid is always going to be susceptible to failures. All it takes is one power line going down, and all of a sudden twenty thousand people can be caught without electricity.

Distributed Generation (DG) means that power supplies are decentralized, and generated on a smaller scale in numerous locations. DG makes the grid more reliable by easing the burden of transmission and distribution. Power lines won't be as likely to fail because they won't be carrying such heavy loads, and if a power line does fail, it will only affect a small area.

Solar energy is a prime example of DG. Buildings produce their own electricity on site, cutting down on the amount of power that needs to be transported from distant power sources. New York City gets more than enough sunlight to meet its energy needs, and solar modules even produce electricity when the weather is cloudy.

This 210 kilowatt solar array on top of the Stillwell Ave Subway Station produces 250,000 kilowatt hours per year

The concept of Distributed Generation is gathering momentum, and changing the ways cities and utilities are thinking about power. Most power companies realize they got burned by the blackout in 2003, and they’d love to not have to worry about something like that happening again.

Believe it or not, the blackout in 2003 wasn’t caused by a lack of power – the grid was actually operating at a surplus. The blackout happened because one power line failed, and it caused a chain reaction all over the northeast. If electricity across the country had been more distributed and less centralized, that probably wouldn’t have happened.

New York City is what’s called a load pocket – it means that the level of power consumption is too high for electricity to be pumped in from outside the city. The power lines wouldn’t be able to handle it. As a result, regulations mandate that 80 % of New York City’s energy supply must be generated within the city. In order to meet this figure, and avoid all the problems associated with central generation, a lot of power companies, like Con Ed, are starting to turn towards different forms of DG.

Unfortunately, they're using dirty forms of DG, called “peakers.” These are generators in different substations around the city that get turned on during peak demand hours (hence the name). On hot summer days, when utilities need to meet the demand of 8 million New Yorkers turning on their air conditioners, these gas-guzzling peakers burn up fossil fuels and spew carbon dioxide into the air at three times the rate of normal power plants.

Solar energy is a cleaner example of Distributed Generation. Con Ed could invest its resources into setting up small, solar powered sub stations on rooftops all over the city, and New York wouldn't have to worry about another blackout for thirty years. A scientist at the Florida Solar Energy Center calculated that NYC would have needed 500 megawatts of distributed solar energy to have avoided the 2003 blackout.
The cost of bringing this much solar power to NYC - $3 billion
The cost of the 2003 blackout in tax dollars - $8 billion
... and all of you folks in Queens would have had power the last two weeks.

And imagine the environmental benefits. Instead of using peakers, New York City could meet its peak loads with 100 % clean, renewable, solar energy, burning zero fossil fuels, emitting zero green house gases, and producing zero air pollution.

Want to know something else? Every year, 7 % of all generated electricity is lost through transmission and distribution in the grid. In New York City, that’s almost $2.5 million dollars per year. Distributed Generation would fix that, too.

But, hey, who needs to start putting up solar panels? The power's back, so the problem is fixed… right?
We're not going to have any more blackouts...
Forget that it’s not even August…

Don’t Take My Word For It

“Don’t Take My Word For It” is a feature I’m going to include at the end of every post. It’s a link to a credible, scholarly source, for those of you looking for more info.

Rethinking the Grid: Distributed Generation and Urban Development by Jeff Perlman

Jeff Perlman is the President and Founder of Bright Power, a New York based company dealing with energy efficiency and renewable energy. This is an article he wrote last year about Distributed Generation. It’s a great read for those of you looking to learn more.

Coming Soon...

2006-07-26T16:51:00.000-04:00

Global Warming, Renewable Energy, Climate Change... You want to keep up, but it's all a bit daunting. Especially all the environmental types that overwhelm you with their figures and terminologies.
Well despair not. This is going to be a happy place, where you can read all about what's going on, what should be going on, and things you can talk about that will make you sound smart. I just gotta get the hang of this whole blog thing first, but stay tuned...