Solar Air Heating Unit on Home North of Kansas City

This product is  a supplemental space heater powered by solar energy.  It is mounted vertically on the south wall of your home.  Air is drawn from inside the room through the bottom of the collector and blown out through a duct in the top.  The unit is self-powered and no electrical hook-up is required. 

The smaller unit is about 4’ by 5' and will heat rooms up to 300 square feet. Installed cost is $2,300.  The larger unit is about 4’ by 8’ and will heat up to 700 square feet of living space.  Before tax credits, the full installed cost is $2,900.  Contact us at 913-495-9434 for more information and check out the story about a Missouri family that owns one.

The whole installation took two hours. This video is 47 seconds and shows our team installing all of the solar panels. 

Antonio's New Solar Panels

My good friend, Antonio Cutolo-Ring, finally took the plunge and installed a 3.2 kW solar pv array on his home in Weston, MO.  The array is grid-tied and we (The Energy Savings Store) used 14 - 225 watt Sunpower panels with Enphase micro- inverters (because of shading issues).  Antonio e-mailed me after the first few days: "Yes, everything seems to be working well.  I know the solar panels won't be always be producing as much electricity as they have the last three days, but it looks to me like that if they did and I don't use any more electricity than last year that I'd be producing as much electricity as I use!  Pretty cool." 

Antonio's home is very energy efficient already and we estimate it will produce about 85% of his electricity needs. 

In addition to the 30% federal tax credit, he was able to take advantage of KCP&L's new $2/watt solar rebate - cutting his installation cost in half.  Antonio and I are both on the board of Concerned Citizens of Platte County together - we work on environmental and health issues.  He told me "I'm very pleased to have finally been able to put my money where my mouth has been for so long!" 

A note on the photo: that's Taneasha Bledsoe - our new Staff Engineer looking so cool on the roof.

Solar Panels on Tracy Sterns home

Tracy Stearns, a principal with 360 Architecture, was familiar with the benefits of solar energy, and wanted to explore ways to leverage solar power in his home office. Solar can be used to create electricity, heat potable water or swimming pools, or heat the air in a room. Tracy decided to take advantage of two of these applications in his home studio office in Linwood, Kansas, and brought in his friends from The Energy Savings Store to install a solar PV and solar water heating system.

The solar PV system consists of eighteen 208W panels by Sharp. The system is tied to the grid, so that in the event that consumption exceeds production, additional electricity can be pulled off the grid. On days when the system produces more energy than needed, the excess capacity flows back onto the grid once the battery backup system is fully charged. The battery backup system can provide up to a week of power to the home and office in the event of a power failure.

The solar water heating system uses an evacuated-tube technology by ThermoMax. This 5kW system heats all the water used in the home, with a backup system available in cases of extended cloudy days or extremely heavy use. While Stearns only uses the system to heat his potable water, a similar system could be used to warm a home with a radiant heating system.

The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities Build Green Energy Efficiency Award at the 2010 Build Green Conference was awarded to our proprietor, Bob Solger, and Ann Brandau-Murguia, Argentine Neighborhood Development Association (ANDA). 

The Energy Savings Store provided design and installation of Solar Hot Water, Solar Air Heating, Solatubes, and Solar Attic Fans for four new affordable homes in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas.

ANDA secured grants to install the energy efficient systems. The ongoing electrical utility bills will be lower than the surrounding homes. Because these energy efficient homes will cost less to maintain,  it was easier for people to qualify for the home loans. ANDA was pleased with how quickly they were able to sell the homes....  and to bring renewable energy into the neighborhood.

The windmill will produce energy for the household, powering things like their TV and computers. To take advantage of the excess electricity it will produce, it is  tied to the electrical grid of their utility company (Platte-Clay Electric). When more power is generated than the family can use, they will sell the electricity back to the utility company (this is  referred to as net-metering). 

While they love the idea of selling electricity back to the utility company, reducing their reliance on traditional fossil fuels is very  important to this family. They will do both, in addition to reducing their electric bills.

The Evance 5 kW windmill is on an impressive 60 foot pole (mono-pole). We placed it about 250 feet from the home.

Solar Panels on the Chapman Home

She was thrilled to find Greg Rothers at Rothers Design/Build .  Greg had experience with straw bale construction and had previously partnered with The Energy Savings Store on solar projects.  

Together, we built radiant-heated floors using solar energy and a solar hot water system. The water piped through the concrete floors is heated by 4 Heliodyne solar panel collectors mounted on the south wall of a detached garage.  The pre-heated water is stored in two tanks. Janet also uses it  for normal domestic hot water purposes. 

“We appreciate Greg partnering with us early in the process,” says Bob Solger, Proprietor of The Energy Savings Store (TESS).  “Many clients considering building a green home often come to us first and Greg is one of the builders we recommend because of our collaborative relationship.” 

Jim Kostucik, with Redstone Homes, is another builder assisted by TESS when a client was interested in using thin-film solar panels on a metal roof in Stillwell, KS.  “Involving us early in the design process can avoid problems and delays later on,” says Bob.  “Our engineering team and experience  can help builders wade through the enormous amount of information about wind turbines (windmills) and solar panels.”

This picture shows them standing in front of one of four new energy efficient homes in the Argentine area of Kansas City, Kansas.  Solger’s Lenexa, KS,  based wind energy and solar power company installed solar hot water units, Solatubes for natural light, SolarSheats for space heating, and solar attic fans on each home. Other energy saving features include improved insulation, vapor barriers,  and spray foam around the homes’ rims.

Solar became the solution for Ray and Kathy Baisch after seeing their electric rates increase by over 30% in the last three years.  Located in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, the Baisch’s had been considering a solar-powered electric system for years.  The couple got serious about making the investment when they learned that KCP&L was offering a new solar rebate.  The new rebate was a result of Proposition C that Missourians overwhelmingly passed in 2008 (read more here). The $2/watt rebate covers about 25% of the price of a solar system.  Combining this incentive with the 30% Federal tax credit - and nearly half of the cost is covered.

After meeting with a Renewable Energy Consultant at The Energy Savings Store, the couple decided to purchase a 4.14 KW system.  The solar energy system will offset nearly 90% of their energy usage.  The system was placed in service the first week of January. “The Baisch’s may be the first rebate recipients in the state,”  said Roland Maliwat, Manager of Sustainability at KCP&L.  “We supported Prop C and are very happy to see it result in solar installations for our customers.”

Net Metering
Not only are Ray and Kathy excited about being the first KCP&L customers to receive the rebate, they are also eagerly awaiting the possibility of watching their electric meter spin backwards when their system is producing more than they need.  In addition to the rebate the utility company will allow the couple to "net meter."  With "net metering" the Baisch’s will be able to accumulate credits for months that their system produces more than they need.  When they have months that they use more electricity than their system produces they will be able to use the accumulated credits from the prior month.

Over the course of the year the Baisch’s will end up paying very little on their electric bills. They are looking forward to a day in the near future where the energy savings will have paid for the cost of the system - after that Ray and Kathy can expect decades of free electricity.

I've been selling solar energy systems for a number of years and have learned a thing or two about helping people select the solar panels that are right for them.  I love being back in Kansas City and hope you'll come in to see some of the solar power equipment on display and ask some questions. 

Making a solar photovoltaic (PV) system purchase can be intimidating to say the least.  There are many things to consider - correct placement, the variety of technology and innovative solutions now available, are among them. I'm going to try and shed some light on the process for you. It may help you to see some of what I'm talking about in our showroom. 

We carry traditional solar panels as well as the solar PV laminates (which are somewhat less efficient) and the more upscale solar roof tiles.  While there are some similarities, there's a wide a variety of differences in panels, and they are suited to fit particular situations. 

Our staff at The Energy Savings Store has the most experience installing solar panels in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois - we have a pretty good sense of what's going to work well in our area and for your particular situation. (As a side note, we also ensure that our clients get all the available financial incentives.) If you talk with  different installers, you'll want to be informed about what the important issues are: I've outlined them below. 

Your Utility Bills
First take a look at your last twelve months of utility bills. Your electric bill will show you the present and previous meter readings, along with the difference, which is your usage.  This is how you’re billed for electricity used, measured in kilowatt hours (or kWh for 1,000 Watt hours).  You’ll likely have peaks in the summertime due to the cost of air conditioning, and even greater peaks in the wintertime if you have electric heat.  For homes with non-electric heating, the average usage is about 12,000 kWh per year.

Assuming you’ve already completed a number of projects to make your home more energy efficient than average, we’ll suppose you use 10,400 kWh annually.  You then need to decide what percentage of that total you’d like to offset with clean, renewable solar energy.  For this example, we’ll assume you want to produce half of your electricity with the solar.  Now you can contact several solar installers to find out what it will take and cost to do that.

Example A
Let’s say Installer A proposes to install eighteen 230 watt (W) panels from a leading solar panel manufacturer with a good reputation.  The 230 W power rating is calculated using standard test conditions accepted in the industry.  This means that that each panel is capable of generating 230 watts of power, and under ideal circumstances the panel could produce 230 kWh in an hour if operating under perfect conditions.  The array of 18 panels forms a total of 4,140 watts, or 4.14 kW.  You’re told that the system will require approximately 400 ft² of roof space, and can be expected to produce 5,206 kWh of power annually.

Example B
Installer B provides you with a proposal to install sixteen “high-efficiency” panels from a different manufacturer, which are also rated at 230 W.  Because of the higher efficiency (18.1% compared to 14.2% for the competitive panel), this 3.68 kW system is expected to produce 3% more energy than the larger system – 5,363 kWh annually – for about the same price.  It also requires only about 250 ft² of roof space to install.

What's the Difference?
On the surface, it might appear that the higher rated system would be the better value.  However, if the southern exposure on your roof is limited, you might opt to go with the higher efficiency panel with the smaller footprint.  The return on your investment, though, is best measured in the actual output, or the kWh produced.  By looking at the total amount of energy produced over the life of the system, you can project a fixed cost of the electricity produced.  Panels typically last 40-50 years, but degrade slightly (about 1% per year) over time, so 30 years is commonly used as a typical life span of a system.  By multiplying the annual production by the 30 years, the larger system (A) produces 156,180 kWh, while the smaller, more efficient system (B) produces 160,890 kWh. By dividing the rebated cost by the total energy production, you come up with a fixed cost p/kWh.  Given the available financial incentives, in most cases this will be only slightly more than current rates. 

We all expect energy prices to rise – the question is how much.  In the past 25 years, electric rates have risen an average of 4.4% per year nationwide.  Industry analysts predict 6-9% annual increases over the next 25 years.  If you take a conservative 5.5% annual increase, you’ll see a $0.09 p/kWh rate turn into $0.19 in 15 years.  In 30 years, it will be $0.42.  So if your fixed rate ends up being 10-12 cents, you can rest assured that you’ll be smiling about your investment in future years.

Conclusion
The bottom line here is to ask questions about how much energy a system will produce, and how the installer arrived at that number.  Ask to see how the efficiency ratings stack up against other panels.  Picking the best solar PV panel is one of the most important decisions that you will make for your solar power project. We can help you through the process as well as make sure you get all the financial incentives possible.