Renewable Energy For NC Homes

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Renewable EnergyFor NC Homes
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Fix Energy Leaks First
Chapter 1 Helping the World through Solar Power.
Chapter 2 Surveying Your Household Energy
Efficiency and Use. Chapter 3 Making Your Home
Energy Efficient.
Image Source /beforeyouinsualte.com
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Local Zero Energy Habitat for Humanity Home in
Hickory, NC
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Where is my Solar Energy?
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Will Wind Energy Work For Me?

• Good wind resource?
• 1 acre is a good rule of thumb minimum property
  size for a small wind installation capable of
  powering the whole house
• Issues with local zoning rules/process or
  neighborhood covenants?

Areas designated class 3 (dark orange) or greater
are suitable for most wind turbine
applications http//rredc.nrel.gov
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Solar Hot Water
ALR 13

• Solar water heating is much better today. THIS IS
  NOT THE 1980s. New Solar Hot Water Systems work
  great!
• Better equipment and controls
• Better installation and maintenance
• 5-10 year warranties, 20 year expected life
• A typical solar DHW system is sized to provide
  50 to 80 of the annual hot water heating load.
• Paybacks are determined by climate and local
  energy prices and use. Typical in NC for a family
  of four, 5-15 years.

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System Components

• Collector
• Storage
• Controls
• Heat Exchanger

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Flat Plate Collector
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Evacuated Tube Collector

• Most are Heat pipes (allow wet replacement)
• Can deliver higher temperatures

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Solar Water Heating Around the World
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Indirect Glycol/antifreeze System

• Pros
• Excellent freeze protection
• Can be PV driven
• Careful sloping of piping not needed
• Cons
• Must inspect/replace glycol periodically
• Heat transfer properties of antifreeze fluids
  inferior to water slightly reduced performance
  

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Drainback System

• Pros
• Excellent freeze and over temperature protection
• Low maintenance
• Uses distilled water
• Cons
• Noisier than other types
• Requires larger pump
• Requires piping slope

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ALR 13
Drainback Example
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Solar Hot Water NC Cost Example
ALR 13

• 6,000 installed system
• 35 NC tax credit equals (2,100) 1,400
• 30 Federal tax credit equals 1,800
• But you must pay federal taxes on NC tax credit
  so (assuming 30 tax bracket) you owe 30 times
  1,400 ( 420) in taxes
• --------------------------------------------------
  -----------------
• Cost of system to you
• 6,000 - 1,400 - 1,800 420 3,220
• Annual Savings (electric WH) 175 to 300

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Photovoltaics (aka PV, solar)

• Converts sunlight into electricity
• Can be used with or without batteries

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Myths and Facts
MYTH 1 Solar devices require more energy to
manufacture than they produce in their
lifetime. FACT This study linked below by the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
conclusively demonstrates that energy payback for
photovoltaic (PV) power is, in the worst case,
less than 4 years, many are paid back in 1 to 2
years. Given that PV module lifetimes are
generally in excess of 20 years, a PV system will
produce far more energy than it consumes over its
lifetime.
www.seia.org/cs/about_solar_energy/myths_and_facts
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Myths and Facts
MYTH 2 Solar won't work where I
live FACT Solar thermal and PV devices are
dependent on light, not heat - and this light
does not need to be direct. More important than
place-to-place variations in solar intensity is
the price of daytime electricity where you live
and the existence of state incentives for clean
energy.
www.seia.org/cs/about_solar_energy/myths_and_facts
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(No Transcript)
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System Design

• Hire a professional PV designer/installer, must
  be certified electrician
• Efficiency first!!
• Siting issues similar to SHW, but shading is more
  important
• Modules rated for DC power output at Standard
  Testing Conditions (STC)
• Actual AC power output approximately 75-80 of DC
  rated output
• So at 2 kW will never give 2kW of useable AC
  power in the real world

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Utility Interactive (Grid-Tied) PV System

• Most common type of commercial/institutional PV
  system
• Simplest type of PV for buildings

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PV System ComponentsPhotovoltaic Panels!
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Standard Crystalline Silicon PV Modules

• Mono or poly crystalline PV cells
• Glass front with polymer back in aluminum frame
• 12 to 48 Volts
• 60 to 300 Watts/module
• 14 to 22
• 4.00/Watt wholesale
• 15W/sq. ft.
• Most come with 25 year manufacturer warranties

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Thin Film PV Modules

• Several technologies in this categories
• amorphous silicon (a-Si)
• copper indium diselenide (CIS)
• cadmium telluride (CdTe).
• Most have glass front with
• polymer back in frame
• 8 to 13
• 1.00 to 4.00/Watt wholesale
• 10W/sq. ft.
• Many warranted to 80 production in 20 years

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PV Laminate for Metal Roofing

• Adheres to 16 metal roofing panels
• 4.00/Watt wholesale (PV only)
• 6 efficient
• 128 Watts per 18 ft section (16 wide)

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PV Shingles

• Integrates with asphalt tab shingles
• 4.50/Watt wholesale
• 24/sq.ft. wholesale
• 6 efficient
• 15 Watts per shingle
• 4000 Watts fit on 750 sq. ft. south roof

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NCSU Solar House

• Built in 1981
• New recycled plastic slate roof
• New 18 efficient 5.4 kW PV system

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Installed PV Power (US)
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PV System Costs

• PV generated electricity cost of about .20 -
  .35 per kWh (NC GreenPower currently pays 0.15
  /kWh)
• PV systems cost breakdown
• PV 4.00/Watt
• Install 2.00/Watt
• Inverter 1/Watt
• Hardware and framework 1.50/Watt
• Batteries 1.50
• Grid-tied without batteries - 7 to 11/Watt
• Grid-tied with battery backup - 12 to 15/Watt
• Off-grid systems - 15/Watt

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PV System Tax Incentives

• NC has one of the largest solar tax credits in
  the nation
• 35 of full installed cost with a cap of 10,500
• Federal tax credit recently extended through 2016
  and had the cap removed
• 30 of full installed cost with no cap of credit
• The taxpayer will owe federal income tax on the
  NC tax credit
• For Example
• 3kW PV system turnkey cost of 30,000 ? after tax
  credits 13,440
• For more details see www.dsireusa.org and
• www.healthybuilthomes.org/docs/Residential_tax_cre
  dit_fact_sheet.pdf

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Can I sell Power Back to the Utility Company?

• New easy signup with NC GreenPower
• Signup producers as demanded
• Currently paying 15 cents/kWh
• Utilities pay avoided costs for extra PV 3
  cents/kWh
• Net Metering also an option, but not with NC
  GreenPower

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Net Metering

• One Meter turns forward and backwards
• NC allowed net metering in Oct. 2005 for
  customers of Duke, Progress Energy, and Dominion
• Participants must pay monthly fee
• Must switch to time-of-use tariff to maintain
  RECs
• Connecting to the Grid gave NCs net metering
  rules an F in 2007

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NC GreenPower
www.ncgreenpower.org

• Non-profit organization
• Funded by voluntary contributions by utility
  customers who want to buy green energy
• Fund is used to pay production incentives to
  power producers --- standard 0.15/kWh for
  systems lt 10kW
• No contract
• Incentive is only available as long as consumers
  continue to make donations
• Cannot net-meter --- must buy all electricity
  used, sell all PV electricity to the utility

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Two Page Color Overview of NC GreenPower,
including how to sign up www.ncgreenpower.org/ele
ments/pdfs/NCGP20Glance20Residential.pdf
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Buy NC Green Power NOW, without purchasing an
expensive system

• Electricity generated by wind, water, solar and
  biomass sources In North Carolina
• Available through Duke Power and Progress Energy,
  some Cooperatives and Municipalities
• Stimulates the development of new renewables
  capacity across NCwill only build in NC, will
  not buy out of state
• Adds a voluntary charge to monthly billfor
  residential, 4/100kWh block
• www.ncgreenpower.org

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Thank you for your time! Questions This
concludes the American Institute of Architects
Continuing Education Systems Program The North
Carolina Solar Center www.ncsc.ncsu.edu