“My goal is to educate the farming community about the benefits of solar generated electricity. Those benefits are both tangible, in the form of new revenue streams of income, as well as the intangibles of renewable energy, reducing our carbon foot print, helping mother earth, etc.” remarked Owen in an off the cuff interview.
The Solar 101 presentation will be delivered to get everyone up to speed on the current commercially available solar technology and teminologies. Then an introduction to Nth Degree Solar is provided followed by sample scenarios of electrical usage and possible grid-tied solar electric solutions.
To attend this presentation, contact Linda at the Colorado Potato and reserve a spot today: 719-852-3322
There is a lot of talk about renewable energy sources, how they are cleaner, last forever, and over the long haul, are cheaper then fossil fuels. Take a look at the following chart to see how America derives its power.
I was driving by one of our installation sites today, and there were some guys installing solar panels on the roof of the building. I pulled in across the street and took a quick picture, so you can see a job in process.
XCEL Energy, a major electric utility provider in Colorado has published their phaseout schedule for Solar Green Tag Rewards. You can find the link here: http://www.xcelenergy.com/Colorado/Residential/RenewableEnergy/Solar_Rewards/Pages/CurrentPricing.aspx
Of course, the XCEL Website will probably tell you the page does not exist, becuaae before you can do anything on their site, you have to have picked a state, so go here: http://www.xcelenergy.com/ and pick Colorado as your state, then go back and try the link above and it should work.
If you want to take advantage of the higher rates XCEL is paying now, vs. the lower rates later, contact us as Nth Degree Energy to see how solar can benefit you today!
Beginning in March, 2010, the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) will offer rebates to Colorado residents who install energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. Please note that the GEO rebates will not be retroactive. This means that measures purchased or installed before the GEO launches the program will be ineligible for rebates.
For Colorado Residents and Businesses: click here if you are a homeowner, landlord or business owner interested in receiving a rebate.
For Contractors: click here if you provide customers with energy efficiency or renewable energy services and want to know how this program affects you.
For Program Partners: click here if you are a local government or utility interested in partnering with the GEO to offer rebates in your territory.
The rebates will be offered statewide on a first-come, first-serve basis through 2012 or until funds are exhausted, whichever occurs first. All energy efficiency and renewable energy rebates are designed to complement existing local incentives and create partnership opportunities when possible. The GEO has developed this program based on stringent criteria from the U.S. Department of Energy and the needs of Coloradans. For general appliance and technology [...] Continue Reading…
XCEL Energy lowered the rate they are paying for residential solar energy (systems under 10 KW in size), since they are exceeding the amount of renewable energy mandated by the government. Nth Degree Solar Energy keeps abreast of these issues so you don’t have to.
All customers get $2.00 per DC watt to offset cost of equipment. Commercial solar installations over 10 KW in size generate production electricity and get paid 11.5 cents per KW hour thye generate.
The rebate rate of $1.50 for residential customers is being lowered in step fashion as more solar PV arrays are installed. Check here for the current rate.
Nth Degree Solar Energy, a Grand Junction, Colorado based solar design and installation firm recently finished a commercial solar installation in Monte Vista, CO. Find it here.
Nth Degree Energy uses the Acme camera kit and PV Watts to do a custom designed solution that fits the customers needs. Here is what an array shot looks like to determine the amount of sun hours a day:
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The solar array was installed on an empty field across a ditch from the house:
[caption id="attachment_132" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Grid-tied Solar PV electric system installation site"]
Solar Analysis Chart
Here is a picture of the completed solar installation:
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The system required two Sunny Boy 7000 inverters:
[caption id="attachment_134" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Grid-tied solar array inveter cross-connect"]
Installed Solar Electric Power Plant - 15KW
You can view the power plant here.
Description of location:
1: Latitude: 37.653 N Longitude: 106.660 W Elevation: 7750’
2: Declination: 9.8 deg E
3: Lowest Temperature -34deg F: Highest ambient Temperature 78 deg F
4: Total Electricity used/Year: 44,863 KHW Total Cost/Year $ 4,640.17
5: Panel Pitch: 35 Deg
6: Hours of Solar Radiation: 6.33 Hours /day fixed for summer
Picture of sunlight hours for House site: The site has 98% of sunlight hours. Sunlight 6.33Hrs / Available 6.20 [...] Continue Reading…
I get asked a lot about net metering, and how it works, so here are some things to think about around net metering and solar power generation.
When you use electricity, it spins your power meter forward. You pay on this meter based on how many kilowatt hours you use during a measured period (usually a month).
If you install a grid-tied solar photovoltaic PV system, it will generate electricity. When this electricity flow through the system, it runs the meter backwards, or unwinds the usage that spins it forward.
During sunny days when nobody is home and electrical use is minimal, the meter flys backwards. Then you come home, after dark and start using the electricity and the meter goes forward again.
The key concept to grasp here is that you are essentially using the power companies grid (the lines that brings electricity to your home) as your storage mechanism, instead of having to have batteris to store the power you generate during the day to use at night.
From the utility company perspective:
Net metering is an agreement between the utility company and the system owner allowing for ‘banking’ excess power produced by a solar system in the electric grid and ‘drawing’ from [...] Continue Reading…
