|
The Road to a Solar Home - A Diary
If you are reading this for pure technical details then this is not the document for you. It is more about making the decision, and then following a solar power system's progress during the installation and initiation phase. It is perhaps an emotional account of how, and why, I decided to embark on the road to making my home one that is powered by the sun.
I embraced solar power for several reasons, the first of which being it's the right thing to do since I am a resident of this planet. The second is more of a practical nature. Many homes surrounding mine are being built in the design of "McMansions", and I felt I needed to do something to make my house stand out. To be more competitive in the resale market, I thought a garage roof full of photovoltaic panels might do the trick. (I chose the garage because it is angled toward the south.)
Finding a Contractor:
I learned that experience is a relative term. I found solar system designers and installers fell into three basic categories. The first of which are large electrical firms that specialize in commercial enterprises. They begrudgingly install residential systems if they are in need of exposure to commercial customers in your area. I did not fall into that into their desired segment so they did return phone call until a month after my initial contact attempt.
The second category of contractors is the kind that identifies them selves as experienced because they have attended one four-hour seminar. They were quick to respond to contact requests, but once on premises for a site survey it was pretty obvious they were clueless. They sent a salesman to close the deal rather than a knowledgeable individual to discuss system design.
The third category is the one I chose in the end. He was quick to respond to both phone calls and emails, was a third generation roofing company, and even though I would turn out to be customer #1 for him, he had installed a system on his own home and garage. Since my installation would be on top of a new cedar shake roof, I thought the roofing experience was a prerequisite.
The best part about my selection of a contractor was that he was a proselytizer about solar energy. He was a convert.
System Design:
After making a decision regarding a contractor, it was time to discuss system design and actually verify that it would work. The initial site survey by the chosen contractor was educational.
The chosen contractor showed up with a ladder and a solar pathfinder meter and proceeded to take a look around. He took measurements on all four corners of the garage rooftop. His initial findings showed that I would need to remove some trees on my property that left the roof in shadows at times during the day.
The next thing he looked into was my existing electrical panel and how to run the wiring from the PV cells to the necessary inverter to the existing panel area. I got lucky because the proposed inverter area is located just over an electrical panel area, and there are several walls that have open construction in between.
Then came phone calls to my homeowner's insurance company (more on that later), a consult by a structural engineer to satisfy my township so they would give me the needed construction permits, and the ordering of the required materials.
Signing the Official Contract:
I signed a contract with Larry, the solar guy (yes, that's really his name)
[Rooftop Solar Solutions, LLC] to begin work as soon as some state issues for rebates, grants, and tax credits were passed through the legislation. Now, I get to hurry up and wait. Funding via state bond proposals is currently at a standstill.
In order to meet the state grant requirements, one of the committee's initial restrictions was that a formal contract had to be in place when the grant application was made. Of course, no contract would be complete without an equipment list. My particular contract, and system design, lists the following equipment:
224 watt Sharp PV - quantity 30
Fronius IG 6.0 Plus 6.0 UNI Inverter
Total System Size: 6720 watts
Solar Obstruction AC power (kWH) w/shading: 8014.2
Project Cost: $8.82 per watt
It's getting real - construction has begun:
Materials have arrived and actual construction has commenced. I was uber-impressed by my contractor because he was on top of the delivery from the start. He knew the truck's route each hour of the two days it was on the road from the supplier. He inspected each photovoltaic panel before he accepted the shipment.
We were experiencing a few days of bad weather so my contractor used the time to work on the interior portion of the system. After a further rain delay, I'm now into the second week of system construction, and the interior connections to my electrical panel have been (mostly) completed, a filled conduit snaked from my current electrical meter area to a solar junction box put in place, and one half of the cells have been mounted.
The current gating item is the electric meter, used to record power going from my system out to the power grid. Because of the different capabilities of a solar electric system, the standard meter has to be replaced.
Solar System Construction Completed:
It has been a fascinating installation to watch! My chosen contractor has handled both the new equipment and the existing structure with care and I've only overheard a few "oops" so I feel confident that it has gone well thus far. There have been a few issues surrounding a new technology as well as a contractor new to running his own show and by that I mean a business owner who has chosen not to work for another firm but rather to make solar installations his own turnkey business.
That means not only designing and writing the technical specifications, installing the materials, doing all the associated state and federal paperwork as well as arranging the sale of excess power produced to a power co-op, but the often ignored part of a business that means realizing that the installation location is more than just a job site to the homeowner. It is their home.
It's Finished But…:
The system installation is complete but I couldn't officially "flip the switch" yet. A township inspector needed to come for a final look and the electric company must make a site visit and install two new power meters, one to track power grid usage and the other to track my solar power production. Since this involves a profit reduction for the electric company, obviously they are not in a hurry to finish their portion of the project.
Results:
Total System cost $59,300.00 (6720 Watts x $8.82)
Minus ITC $17,790.00 30% Federal Income Tax Credit
Minus Sunshine Rebate $15,120.00 (6720 Watts x $2.25)
Net cost $26,390.00
Now that a few months have passed, specifically my electrical costs as billed were:
August 5 year average cost - $280 August 2009 - $76.45
September 5 year average cost - $196 September 2009 - $53.37
Reduction - 72.7%
Income from the sale of Four Renewable Energy Credits $1,120.00
Epilogue:
Now that the decisions are over with, the bills paid, and the solar energy system is up and running, I have no regrets. It's been exciting to be at the beginning of a potential paradigm shift, and probably most of all, the emotional roller coaster of "did I do the right thing?" is past.
It feels good to have done the right thing. Cheryl W. Kennett Square, Pa.
|