Page 66 - November 2015 Green Builder Magazine
P. 66
The Homeowner’s Handbook FIFTH EDITION
national wind map published by the National Renewable Energy Small-Scale Cogeneration
Laboratory (NREL). You’ll see that not every area of the United
States is well suited for wind-powered living. In fact, if you live in
any of the Southeast states—and you don’t have a place right on
64 the water—wind is a long shot. You will make a lot more power
with a good solar PV setup.
www.greenbuildermag.com 11.2015 PHOTOVOLTAICS The freewatt Plus warm air system captures waste energy from a
furnace component and converts it into electricity, producing 1.2 kW
Looking Sharp whenever the furnace is running. It also provides backup power during
The race is on to build better PV cells that convert sunlight an outage. http://tinyurl.com/qjrtmvw
to electricity. New solar films and panels are being tested that
are more efficient, less expensive and lighter than ever. The Solar Leasing
current challenge is to find a more affordable alternative to the Third party-owned solar PV systems have made solar technology
polycrystalline silicon based panels that dominate the market. affordable to more people. Typically, a solar leasing company pro-
But while that R&D is going on, existing solar products are vides the array at a low (sometimes no) upfront cost. The leaser
becoming more practical. For example, Sanyo recently came out is guaranteed a fixed monthly rate for the term of the lease (often
with double-sided solar panels that can simultaneously provide 20 years); in addition, the leasing company provides all mainte-
shade (in the form of an awning), and take in sunlight on both nance of the array and often enables web-based monitoring of
the top and bottom surfaces. the system. Some companies offer a power purchase agreement
instead of or in addition to a straight lease. In this arrangement,
At the same time, the range of building integrated photovoltaics the customer pays for the energy produced by the panels, at a fixed
(BIPV) has exploded. That’s good news for homeowners. It means and predetermined rate.
you can now have a solar generating system built right into
your roof that looks like asphalt shingles or architectural metal Is it better to lease or purchase a solar system? This often de-
or even clay tiles. And, as we mentioned earlier, many states pends on your tax bracket. If you are unable to take advantage
require utilities to buy any leftover electricity you generate. One
of the key improvements in BIPV in recent years has been the
way they connect to each other and your home’s power system.
The early products were co-dependent. In other words, when
the connection broke on a solar shingle, the whole roof stopped
producing. Newer systems have built-in redundancy in their
wiring, and most are more modular, making replacement of a
single faulty tile or panel less of a hassle.
SOLAR SAVINGS
What You Could Save Over Time Bosch Power
Max 2 EV Charger
What would you do with an extra $20K?
That’s how much the average solar system Bosch’s Power Max level 2 electric
will save you over 20 years. Residents in vehicle charging stations included 16
states with high electricity rates, such as and 30 amp models. Just launched,
Hawaii, can expect to save even more. the new Bosch Power Max 2 includes
a 40-amp variant, which means
SOURCE: ONE BLOCK OFF THE GRID faster charging for EVs that can
accommodate 40 amps.
www.pluginnow.com
