Jerry and Betsy Klinken, shown here, are very happy with their new solar photovolatic (PV) system that generates clean, renewable energy. The system will supply about two thirds of our electricity needs.

The project is featured in the 2009 Dec/Jan issue of SolarPro Magazine. Link to Article (PDF)

Rich Louis, who designed and installed the system, is shown here installing the first panel.

There are a total of 34 Sanyo HIT Power215N 215w panels totaling 7,300 watts (7.3kw). According to the calculations provided by PVWATTS, which factors in the average sunlight for the central Maryland area, this system is expected to generate 8.9 million watts of electricity annually.

We're making progress. Since the skylights had to be removed to make room for the solar panels, I installed two small octagon windows, shown just to the right of the thermal panels, to provide ventilation in the sunroom.

Justin Knott of B'more Mechnical, who performed the plumbing on the solar thermal panels installed in 2008, is shown here with Rich Louis finishing up the move of the solar thermal panels, which were installed in 2008 and are used for heating hot water. These panels needed to be moved from the roof where the solar PV panels were mounted. Solar PV can not tolerate any shade and the upper roof gets no shade at all, which made it an ideal location for PV. The lower roof gets morning shade from the upper roof, but the performance of the solar thermal panels is not really affected.

After receiving four bids, we decided on Rich Louis, shown, of Sunnyside Solar Energy to install the system. Schemm Electric did the electrical work. This fall, Rich will be helping to design a solution for heating an existing hot tub using the solar thermal system.

Two Fronius inverters were mounted in the basement next to the circuit boxes. An inverter converts the Direct Current (DC) from the solar array to Alternating Current (AC). The smaller one is a Fronius IG 3000 for the 3kw array, and the larger one is a Fronius IG 4000 for the 4kw array. The small box on the right is a combiner, which combines four of the sub-arrays into one circuit for the 4kw inverter. There are a total of 6 sub-arrays, shown in this diagram.

Apart from the solar PV project, in an effort to address the solar thermal overheating issue, a heat dump was installed. The purpose of the heat dump is to remove the excess heat from the solar thermal panels by circulating the glycol through copper tubing when it gets too hot. Without this heat dump, the thermal system went into "steam back" daily, meaning the glycol reached boiling temperature and converted into steam, causing the system to shut down and the glycol to expand into the expansion tank. This process, called stagnation, eventually degrades the glycol and could potentially damage the panels.

The tubing was run into the floor of the greenhouse, which will act as a thermal heat sink - storing the heat under the floor and helping to heat the greenhouse when the weather turns cooler.

The greenhouse floor is shown here completed. In addition to the 6" of sand surrounding the copper tubing, the bricks will provide thermal mass and help store the heat. One-inch high-density insulation was also used under the sand to insulate the thermal mass.

BGE requires that the system have a manual disconnect from the electric grid, shown on the left. This is in addition to the automatic disconnect provided by the inverters in the event power is lost from the grid (to protect the BGE workers from a back feed). The analog meter was replaced by a digital meter that provides net-metering.

The installation of the solar PV panels was completed on July 13, 2009, and turned on.

The installation of solar actually accomplishes multiple goals: 1) to provide a long-term financial investment, 2) to use clean energy instead of polluting coal to generate electricity, 3) to support the renewable energy industry and help in a (very) small way with the economic recovery, and 4) to reduce carbon emissions to do our part to help address climate change. The end result is a residential solar installation that is productive, attractive, and a continuation of the journey to live light and be green.

Our interest in clean, renewable energy and the environment isn't something new. Back in 1985, I designed the 2,500 square foot house with energy conservation in mind. It includes a passive solar sunroom, a geothermal heat pump, 6" walls for extra insulation, and a Thermal Energy Storage System (TESS) fireplace designed for efficient wood heating. The roof was constructed at 39°, the optimum angle at this latitude, with the intention to eventually hold solar panels. Twenty four years later, it finally happened.

The decision to invest in solar PV was made easier after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed, which allows a 30% personal federal tax credit with no limit. In addition, the Maryland Solar Energy Grant Program was extended, allowing up to a $10,000 grant for solar PV. Plus, Anne Arundel County is providing a property tax credit on the value of the house (not the property). To top it off, the electricity produced can be sold as solar renewable-energy credits (SREC). Altogether, these incentives cover two-thirds of the cost of the system.

A summary of the various incentives can be found at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) web site.

Factoring in the electricity savings (money that you would normally pay to the electric company), the solar PV system will provide a 6% return-on-investment, and is expected to supply around two-thirds of our total electricity needs. The pay-back period is difficult to calculate because it depends on a lot of unknown factors, including the future cost of electricity and usage due to advancement of energy conservation technologies. However, with the way energy costs are increasing, I'm expecting a pay-back less than 10 years.

However long it takes, the financial pay-back is not the primary reason we did this. Environmental concerns and the climate crisis are the real reasons. Air pollution, for example, is a serious problem in the Baltimore / Washington area. The Environmental Protection Agency concluded that the air here is as bad as Los Angeles and causes life-threatening asthma and other health problems, especially in children and seniors. Our air contains high levels of chemicals from burning coal for power, such as mercury, the most poisonous of all, and mercury is poisoning our bays, rivers, and oceans, and affects everyone who eats seafood. From mining to burning to combustion wastes, using coal for electricity scars lungs, destroys the land, kills miners, pollutes water, devastates communities, and makes global warming worse. Below is a summary of the devasting effects of coal from the Sierra Club report , " The Dirty Truth About Coal: Why Yesterday's Technology Should Not Be Part of Tomorrow's Energy Future." We are just trying to do what we can to be part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.

Is solar for you? If you have a sunny roof, or a spot in your yard or field to ground-mount or pole-mount solar panels, it really is worth thinking about. To help folks afford the upfront costs of a solar system, there is a new residential loan program under development, to be managed by the Arundel Community Development Services (ACDS) office. Property owners who choose to participate in the program receive funds to cover the capital costs of purchasing and installing a solar electric or thermal system. Participants agree to repay the loan with assessments through their property tax bill. It is expected that the savings on participants’ energy bills each month will partially or fully offset the additional costs of repayment reflected on the property tax bill.

The cost of electricity continues to climb and solar photovoltaics is a proven technology and will provide electricity for at least 25 years. Solar thermal is a less expensive option that will heat your hot water, which typically accounts for one third of household electricity usage. Installing solar may not be so far-fetched and out-of-reach as you may have once thought. If you are interested or would just like to ask some questions, please email me or or email Rich Louis or call him at 443-742-4156.

-- Jerry

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