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 categories offered in March of 2010, please follow the link to “Colorado consumer residents” above. Funding for these rebates is provided by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.

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:

Solar Analysis Chart

The solar array was installed on an empty field across a ditch from the house:

Grid-tied Solar PV electric system installation site

Here is a picture of the completed solar installation:

Installed Solar Electric Power Plant - 15KW

The system required two Sunny Boy 7000 inverters:

Grid-tied solar array inveter cross-connect

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 Hrs

Calculate amount of solar needed to meet Electrical needs:

1: Average solar per Month: 44,863 KHW/12 =3,738.6 KWH/Mth
2. Average solar per day 3,738.6Kwh/30 = 124.612 KWH
3: Amount solar per hour: 124.612 / KWH/6.20hrs*1000watts/1KWH= 20,099 Watts/Hr
4. Inverter efficiency: (20,099 watts/hr)/.96 = 20,936 Watts/Hr
5: # of Sharp 235W panels: 20,936W/235W= 89.089 or 90 panels
6. # Inverters: 3 Sunny Boy 7000US (240V) Inverters
7.  System Size 21.15 KW
8. Actual Size:  15.51 kW

If you are buying electricity from the power company, you are renting those watts, generally at a rate of 8 - 12 cents per watt hour used. If you are a business and consume large amounts of electricity, you generally also pay a demand charge or fee, based on your highest peak usage durng the billing month.

If you install an electric solar system, then you own the electricity being generated, and do not have to pay rent to consume it. For businesses in the right utility areas, not only do you own the electricity you get to use for free, but the power company will pay you rent on it as well!

So, one more advantage to installing a grid-tied photovoltaic solar energy system is that you go from being a renter of electricity to the owner of your electricity. Like your house, once the system is paid off, you own it and what it generated free and clear.

Is the sun shining now as you read  this?  If so, you could be making money with solar energy!  If not, was it in the last 24 hours?

Solar Energy is a no brainer.  Why rent electricity when you can own it?  Do you own your own house, why not your electricity?

The public utilities are raising rates again, and cap and trade may make it even more expensive to build the next generatin of power plants due to all the emiisions laws, but solar energy is renewable, and cheap!

Why not buy a solar energy solution from the Grand Junction solar installers at Nth Degree Energy?

Nth Degree Energy, a Grand Junction Colorado solar installer doing business in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona will be attending the Green Expo and Workshops 10am-4pm on August 22 at Two rivers Plaza in Grand Junction.

find out more here: http://www.tworiversconvention.com/events

With all the hype of solar energy, you need to be away that there are good and not so good things about solar.

Let’s start out with the disadvantages, and get it over:

• It only works when the sun shines
• Generation is the easy part, storage is the hard part
• Power companies generally limit what you can connect to the grid
• If you buy today, you may miss the new technology of tomorrow

but enough doom and gloom, what are the advantages?

• Go Green
• Reduce your electricity costs
• Lock in your current rate for future power
• Get paid to install solar

These are just a couple advantages.

Most grid-connected solar energy systems work the same way:

1. Solar Energy is converted to electricity via photo-voltaic modules
2. An inverter converts the DC (think battery) electricity into AC (what our home use)
3. Some sort of cut-off switch or breaker is used to isolate the system from the grid
4. Your meter measures the solar energy created by your PV array.

You are thinking about putting solar on your house.  At an average price around $8 per watt installed, that is a lot of money.

But wait, if you have a big utility company like XCEL or Black Hills they will give you $2 per watt towards equipment, and another $1.50 - $2.00 per watt for your green tags, so now the price is getting to be around $5.00 a watt, which is a fairly decent price.

Of course, the banks got into trouble, and congress and the new president decided to bail them out, to the tune of TRILLIONS of dollars, some of which can be had by YOU, as either a residence or business purchasing renewable energy, like solar.

So, what is the difference between the resident and the businessman when it comes to help? Both get a 30% tax reduction, but the individual gets it in the form of a credit (to be deducted from what you owe, so if you owe less, you get less of a write-off), whereas the commercial business entity gets it as a rebate: that is right - they get a check from Uncle Sam himself for 30% of the out of pocket price (after all other rebates, grants and credits).  Now we are talking about $3.5 a watt for a solar installation that will keep paying you in free electricity for life.