Solar Energy Find of the Week

I want a solar powered home. Although my home is not yet ready for solar panels, it’s fun to find small, simple ways to incorporate solar energy into daily life.

Take this solar iPhone charger from Sollight, for example. If you’re hiking or traveling with your nifty little iPhone, this could come in handy.

Here’s the quick list of features from the sollight website:
•    Solar-powered!
•    Works with both original and 3G iPhone
•    Plug the SOLiCharger into your iPhone or iTouch to automatically charge your iPhone or iTouch battery
•    Built-in solar panel on the back side that will fully charge it in just four hours of sunshine
•    Weighs only 1.4 oz.
•    Charges quickly in one of four ways:
o    Directly from the SUN! Free solar power!
o    Directly from your computer via the Apple/USB cord
o    Directly from the 110v Apple® USB charging cord
o    Directly from any 12v Apple compatible car charger

Christmas Eve for a Solar Energy Enthusiast

I am happy it is Christmas. I am also happy the winter solstice is passed.

I do enjoy the rhythms of nature the Creator initiated that keeps the earth living and growing, producing and resting, providing us with all we need for life.

I appreciate the change of season when our South Texas summers finally cool down a few degrees. We know fall is here, not so much by the temperature, but by the color of light. The light changes from blinding white to creamy gold.

Yet, I find a different pleasure in the winter solstice which happened December 21. The winter solstice signals the beginning of the lengthening of day light hours.

By Christmas my mind and body long for more sunshine. I am tired of the dark mornings and too early evenings. The winter solstice signals a return to light. My mind starts planning the spring garden.

It is not surprising that Christians celebrate Christmas this time of year. Christmas is the celebration of the coming of the light of God into a dark world. On these cold, dark days, we most appreciate and recognize our need for a warm, life-giving light.

Image by clownfish via Flickr

Lower Energy Bills — Build a Solar Home

All of us want to cut our energy bills. Some of us are retrofitting our homes to incorporate solar energy.

Others are building green, solar homes from the ground up.

Now with the new federal tax incentives it makes financial sense for retrofitters and builders alike.

The U.S. Green Building Council offers a Green Home Guide. The guide gives information on how to make your home more energy-efficient, tax credits and incentives and more.

Check out the Green Home Guide to help your energy efficiency and green home projects.

Here are a few more resources for you:

• U.S. Green Building Council:
• A state-by-state list of incentives
• Information on federal energy efficiency tax credits
• The EPA

Building a Solar Home

Going solar for us means retrofitting our existing home to use solar energy. However, the least expensive way to “go solar” is to build an energy efficient/solar home from the ground up.

If your interested in building a new home. I found these house plans. Check them out.

ZEH House Plans

Sustainable Future would like to work with customers and builders to get several Zero Energy Houses built.  The passive solar designs below come from the Appalachian State University Building Science Program.  By adding PV and solar hot water systems these houses can become ZEHs.  Such is the case with the Catawba Valley plan that was built as a ZEH for Habitat for Humanity.   If you are interested in building a ZEH please contact David Bolt at Sustainable Future.

	The Sun Ray (3 BR, 2 BA, 1188 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 5.8 mb
	The Mountain Laurel (3 BR, 2 BA, 1150 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 6.9 mb
	The Orion (3 BR, 2 BA, 1176 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 5 mb
	The Baby Cape (3 BR, 2 BA, 1286 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans not yet available
	The Cardinal (3 BR, 2 BA, 1200 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 4.9 mb
	The Catawba Valley (3 BR, 2 BA, 1132 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 4.9 mb
	The Garden Window (3 BR, 2 BA, 1140 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 8.5 mb
	The Bay Breeze (3 BR, 2 BA, 1166 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 6mb
	The Hide-Away (2 BR, 1 BA, 960 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 6mb
	The Dogwood (3 BR, 2 BA, 916 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 6.5mb
	The Blue Ridge (4 BR, 2 BA, 1208 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 6.7mb
	The Cottage (3 BR, 2 BA, 1186 sq. ft.) Floor Plans House Plans 5.8mb

Information provided by Sustainable Future, LLC.
For most current information refer to http://SustainableFuture.biz.

Is it possible to create a net zero energy home by renovating an existing home?  Yes!  This 2,400 square foot house was built in the 1970s.   With a desire to live sustainably, the homeowners decided to set an energy budget of 10 kWh/day for their home. A budget of $100,000 was set for the renovation.  The budget was very roughly 1/3 for solar photovoltaics (PV) and solar hot water, 1/3 for energy-related changes such as the metal roof and new appliances, and 1/3 for other changes including the addition of a master bath, replacement of carpet with hardwood and tile, and removal of a retaining wall.

In the first year of full-time occupancy by one person the house generated over 1,500 kwh more power than it used.  So with one occupant, the home was actually better than net zero energy, it generated more power than it consumed.  Beginning in  July 2007, three additional family members moved into the house.  As of July 2008, some of the accumulated credit had been used up, but overall the home has still generated more energy than it has used.

Changes to this home are ongoing in the hope of bringing the house back to net zero energy with four occupants.  These changes include:

1. Removing all fiber insulation from attic as preparation for foam insulation
2. Adding 1×3 furring strips in attic from the soffit to the ridge vent and tacking lauan to the furring strips.  This creates an air gap from the soffit to the ridge vent for foam application
3. Adding 4 inches of foam on lauan, 3 inches of foam on gables, and 1 inches of foam flashing on ceiling (scheduled for end of September)
4. Adding a whole-house fan
5. Replacing the old 4 ton Seer 10 heat pump with a  2 ton SEER 18 unit, (mainly for humidity control)
6. Caulking and foaming air leaks reduced air infiltration  from 2300 cf/min to 1700 cf/min at 50 pascals
7. Tilting PV panels to allow for more ventilation and better winter power production
8. Tilting the solar thermal panels to 50 degrees for a winter bias, and adding more collection and storage

Information provided by Sustainable Future, LLC.
For most current information refer to http://SustainableFuture.biz

How Our Simple Home Solar Energy Project Began

Our simple home solar journey began with keen understanding that governments are inept at finding solutions. People create solutions.

So we asked ourselves, what can one ordinary couple do? We are not among America’s wealthy. We live on a budget which tightens with the arrival of each month’s fuel bill.

Exiting the fossil fuel treadmill requires embracing alternative energy sources. They are solar power, wind power, waterpower, and biofuels. We knew that we would have to start where we live, with the resources at hand that fit our interests and abilities.

Not having enough sustained wind speed here in our part of Texas, wind power isn’t feasible. Our dry climate does not lend itself to waterpower. Living on less than four rocky acres, biofuel is not practical.

But what we do have is sunshine. And lots of it! Harnessing the lovely solar energy that pours on us each day seems the most practical alternative energy source for us. Our initial research revealed the costs of a PV energy system.

The keeper of the budget had a seizure.

Yet, we are unmoved. We want to go solar! We will find a way.

We began with what we call Phase 1, finding out just how much energy our home uses. Are we efficient or wasteful? How do we decide what is efficient? What is a reasonable energy efficient goal to work toward?

Our Phase 1 began with a basic energy audit. We did a simple do-it-yourself audit. We learned our energy efficiency could be increased by adding new weatherstipping and insulating the electrical outlets.

Now, using a nifty little Kill-A-Watt meter, we are finding out just how much energy the appliances in our home are using.

We post our finding here in these blog pages as we collect our data.

What alternative energy sources make sense where you live?