Solar at the Beach

Last weekend, we gathered some friends together and took a day off for a sort of mini-vacation and traveled to the beaches of Indiana for a taste of summer. It was perfect warm, sunny day although a bit windy. There were a few changes in the area that I hadn't noticed last year. First of all, there are wind turbines popping up on properties in Beverly Shores, IN that took advantage of gusty day.

It also seems that more people hit the beach this year, as parking was very difficult. I ended up parking about 2 miles from the beach and had long walk to catch up with everyone. However, it was through the Dunes state park, which had a nice forest and wetlands area which made the walk interesting. I also got to see a nice use of solar energy. Since the area around the dunes is a semi-rural environment, it was neat to see that rather than the unsightly and costly expense of running utility lines all over the place, IN decided to invest in solar photovoltaic panels for standalone streetlight needs. Neat to see that public agencies are implementing long-term solutions to energy issues. Now all we need is more incentive for private citizens to do so.

The beach was great, but I neglected to properly protect myself. Sure, I lathered on the sunscreen all over, but I had forgotten to put some on my feet, which are now sorely burned. Two days later, I am still unable to walk normally without wincing. Damned solar energy! :-)
Oh well, it was all worth it to relax with friends and family at a nice day on the beach.

International Water Heaters and Electric Showers?

In mid-April, we took a brief break from Humphrey House to take a well-earned vacation to Ireland with our friend Jerry and visit some of his family. Of course we took lots of photos of the many interesting sites. There were even some neat things related to construction such as building with local materials (amazing number of slate roofs and stone facades), and a proliferation of renewable energy (lots of solar water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, and large-scale renewables such as wave power and wind turbines result from favorable sustainability incentives).

We got hands-on with some interesting construction when we stayed with Jerry's and his cousin John's home outside of Cork. Besides being an excellent cook, and great guide as we traveled through Ireland, John lives in a fairly recent home (constructed within the last 10 years). At John's house, I of course was interested in the building techniques (such as no basement since Ireland is actually considered in the tropics and has palm trees) while Jen was fascinated by the gardens and chickens.

While the 3-bathroom home has a small oil-heated tank water heater, the upstairs shower actually had a unique feature - an electronically controlled shower valve that incorporates an on-demand water heater (similar to tankless water heater technology, only smaller). We came across this shower control in a couple locations during our travels.

At first, it was a bit confusing as Jen and I were both unsure how to turn it on. Once we figured it out though, we felt dumb because it was pretty obvious. These electric showers are really unique because they are connected to the cold water supply lines, and you just dial in the temperature you want and turn another dial "on" to activate it. This makes them more energy efficient, use less water, and surprisingly, there weren't any performance issues. John told me the two big manufacturers of these are Triton are Mira (owned by Kohler).

It was interesting to see how Europe (Ireland in this case) is more advanced and hold concepts like sustainability as integrated into their core. In many ways, the Irish haven't had a choice - they've had to be self-sustaining and conserving of their resources since they live on a rocky island with limited resources. So besides having a great vacation, we got a bit of education in how other parts of the world approach green building.

Open Houses for Solar Homes on October 6

For those interested, Saturday Oct. 6 is the National Solar Tour, a day where homeowners and businesses with installed renewable energy systems open their doors to the public - not just solar, but wind too. Through a series of open-houses and informative tours participants learn about renewable energy options, energy efficient design, real-world costs, current rebates available, and other valuable insights.

Here in Illinois, the event is being organized and coordinated by the Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA), who have worked with homeowners across the state to showcase their solar and wind powered homes. View the list of solar sites on the IL Solar Tour. The coverage in Chicagoland is great, but even better, there is a thorough list of homes throughout the state. Odds are good that there is one close to you!

Simply show up at one of the tour locations during the hours of 10am and 4pm, and be sure to bring your curiosity and questions! We'll probably be visiting some of the many locations in Oak Park, River Forest, and Berwyn.

Keep on the Sunny Side

Last weekend I finally carved out the time to attend a seminar I've been meaning to for awhile sponsored by the Illinois Solar Energy Association that covered the technologies and applications of solar energy and wind energy, with information specific to Illinois. Since it was down in Pekin, I was able to get my brother to come over from Chambana and attend too. As an electrical engineer working on commercial projects and an interest in sustainable building, it was a natural fit. This was also curious timing as this was 2 days after the Summer Solstice.

The seminar was packed full of information and it was interesting to see how people from central illinois planned to try and go "off the grid" with their homes. Living in a rural area, they have a greater luxury of being able to harness wind energy by installing tall towers with hopefully little or no complaints from their neighbors. At least in theory anyway.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the seminar was the discussion of the economics involved, both from a cost-savings perspective (fixed rate for utilities) as well as from a valuation perspective. There was even a study from The Appraisal Journal cited! Anyway, the bottom line is that solar is both feasible and comparatively affordable to other home improvements, and can postively impact property values. We'll have to investigate this for Humphrey House.

Those in Chicago can learn more this weekend (June 23) for free at Taste of Chicago - Going Green Tent - Solar & Wind Energy Talk 2pm & 4pm. There is also a Chicago-based version of the Solar 101 and Wind 101 workshops offered in July.

I See A

While I was up in the northern reaches of Wisconsin, Jen attended the The Historic Chicago Bungalow & Green Home Expo and picked up some really neat information from tons of vendors on bungalow restoration and renewable energy sources.

Well I was kinda bummed that I didn't get to make it to the expo. So when I heard that last Saturday was national solar day with local tours across the country, I quickly went to the ISEA website (pronounced I-See-A) to find out what the local group had planned. To my surprise, they were planning a viewing of 4 different buildings right in Oak Park! One of the homes even featured the tankless hot water heater that we bought (but have yet to install) for our house. The homes all featured solar thermal technology, which captures the sun's heat using water and transfers to your home hot water heater, essentially pre-heating it. A large system can also pre-heat the return air in an HVAC furnace by running the solar-heated water through a heating coil. Kind of like an automotive radiator that works in reverse. As a bonus, I got to see a converted electric only S-10 pickup and a diesel Jetta modified using a "Frybrid" system. The owner told me he drives for free using used cooking oil from local restaurants(biodiesel). All in all a pretty exciting afternoon!

Getting back to solar thermal systems though, the event put the attainability of a solar system within reach. A professionally installed system, after rebates from the state and a minimal federal tax credit come out to several thousand dollars. But the components themselves are relatively affordable except for the collector plates that mount on the roof. So I'm thinking that before we close up our walls upstairs (yes, we're still insulating), I might run some insulated 3/4" pipe up. Although with copper prices so expensive, maybe PEX is a better choice.