Last week was quite a week of developments in the United States, especially for anyone interested in solar energy. The following is a notice from ASES (the American Solar Energy Society): “With the stroke of a pen President Obama has rewritten the future of solar energy.” Now signed into law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides billions in investments to increase the use of solar energy, promote energy efficiency, improve financing options and remove market barriers. This legislation provides powerful investments to accelerate the U.S. towards a sustainable energy economy. Key provisions of this legislation include:

• Solar and energy efficient improvements for federal buildings
• Solar water heating incentives, removing the $2000 cap on the 30% personal tax credit (excludes pools and hot tubs)
• Green-collar job training programs
• Ending the state and municipal ’subsidized financing penalty’
• Smart grid investments
• Expanding research and development programs for renewable energy and energy efficiency

This legislation also funds solar and energy efficient upgrades for schools, solar grant alternatives to the investment tax credit, solar manufacturer incentives, and other historic investments. You can read or search the text of this legislation (HR 1) here. We applaud the incredible efforts of our colleagues at SEIA, Solar Nation, and the many passionate individuals throughout the solar community who added their voices of support in the weeks leading up to the signing of this legislation. There’s still a long way to go, but this legislation provides a tremendous step forward that will help generate green jobs, reduce energy costs, tackle climate change and power the new energy economy for years to come.

Here is an update from SEIA (Solar Energy Industries Assoc.)…note the removal of limits on solar water heaters. It’s looking better and better for Maryland homeowners considering solar energy.

Yesterday, congressional conferees reached a deal on the final language for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The final cost of the bill is $790 billion. Once the final language is released, SEIA will complete a more detailed analysis of the final Recovery Act. Based on our conversations with congressional staff, we expect our top priorities to be included in the bill as follows.

Renewable Energy Grants: Offers DOE grants (as an alternative to the ITC) equal to 30 percent of the cost of solar property. To be eligible for the program, the project must commence construction in 2009 or 2010 and be placed in service by January 1, 2017. Applications must be filed by October 1, 2011.

Repeals Penalty for Financing Solar Projects: Allows businesses and individuals to qualify for the full amount of the solar tax credit, even if projects are financed with local development bonds or other subsidized energy financing.

Loan Guarantee Program: Establishes a temporary DOE loan guarantee program for renewable energy and electric power transmission projects. The program is available for any renewable technology that commence construction by September 30, 2011. The program is funded at $7 billion for renewable energy, which will be used to pay for the credit subsidy costs.

Manufacturing Investment Credit: Provides up to $2 billion to fund 30 percent investment tax credit for facilities engaged in the manufacture of advanced energy property. Projects must be certified by the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, through competitive bidding.

Remove Limits on Solar Water Heating: Repeals the $2,000 monetary cap, making solar water heating property eligible for the full 30 percent tax credit, like other solar technologies.

Government Procurement: We are still tracking down details, but there appear to be billions of dollars available for the installation of solar on government buildings, military bases and schools.

Meet Norman Logan. Norman is a South African native. His interest in solar energy started at an early age; growing up, his family had a solar water heater on the roof before they had electricity. In South Africa, he worked as a game ranger and safari guide among other things. After moving to the United States, he came to the Annapolis area to work as a home improvement contractor while pursuing his solar installation certification. Norman’s first installation was on his own home; he and his family have been pleased with the benefits of solar hot water. Norman and Rachel, his wife of 15 years, enjoy spending time hiking, biking and camping with their children.

Most of the products we buy like groceries, shoes, clothing, etc are purchased through some sort of store or retailer therefore we are paying a retail premium for these goods and services. If you live in Maryland you are probably purchasing most of your energy (gas and electric) from Baltimore Gas & Electric, Pepco, Washington Gas, Delmarva Power, etc…Like any other product or service, when we buy energy we are purchasing it through a large company or what can be thought of as an energy retailer.

Like many things in our lives, the more work we do ourselves the more money we save. For example: If your dishwasher breaks you have the option to pay a retail premium to make the repair or to handle the entire repair yourself. Depending on your do-it-yourself skill level completing a repair like this may or may not be an option, but in the end a dishwasher is a dishwasher and the output from this repair is basically the same whether you pay retail for the repair or make the repair yourself.

Solar energy home improvements are in a league of their own. The successful do-it-yourself completion of a solar PV or solar water heater installation requires a high level of skill and can be a daunting task for even the most experienced do-it-yourselfer. Saving money by completing the project yourself is not always the best choice. Solar energy improvements are in a league of their own because whether you complete the project yourself, or pay a premium for a professional installation, the output from such an improvement has been fundamentally changed unlike a dishwasher replacement.

The value is much deeper than simply going green or saving money on your electric bill every month. You are no longer purchasing energy at a retail premium. You are taking control of your spending, energy consumption and giving yourself a new level of independence in a marketplace where all to often we are forced to pay retail prices for everything.

There is no doubt that generating your own energy is a commitment. After all, what significant worthwhile changes in your life have been anything but a commitment? Real change means taking an active role in the education, investment and implementation of things like solar energy, wind and geothermal.

What are your thoughts on energy independence?

Here is a recorded version of Solar Hot Water Simplified our live, interactive webinar. This is a large file but worth the wait. Solar Hot Water Simplified covers everything from the basic benefits of solar water heaters to pricing and long term planning. Wait for the entire video to download and you will be able to fast forward and rewind between the different sections. Check it out and let me know if you would like to attend the live version.

Click here to download

Over the past several weeks I have been collecting information from AtisSun clients and other Maryland homeowners who have installed and are using renewable energy to power their homes. Solar PV (for electricity), solar water heaters, geothermal, etc…

I’ll be posting this information in the Share Your Success category on this site. We will be covering what works, what doesn’t and what to expect when upgrading to solar energy and other systems. This information will be very helpful for those of you who have yet to make the switch.

If you are currently using renewable energy to power your home I would love to talk to you. Your personal experience could be very helpful to someone who is still on the fence about upgrading to a more sustainable lifestyle. Please contact me or leave a comment sharing your story.

This is from last July, but I thought it would be worth posting again. What do you think of his goal?

]]> http://atissunlife.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/al-gore-carbon-free-by-2018/feed/ 0 Matthew http://atissunlife.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/solar-for-maryland-homeowners-evacuated-tubes/ http://atissunlife.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/solar-for-maryland-homeowners-evacuated-tubes/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:44:54 +0000 Matthew Bartlett http://atissunlife.wordpress.com/?p=577 ]]>

Evacuated Tubes- Simple Overview For Maryland Homeowners

This post is designed to be a very basic explanation of evacuated tube solar collectors. If you would like more technical details simply leave a comment or contact me by e-mail.

Evacuated tubes absorb solar energy converting it into heat for use in your household water heating. Many countries such as Canada, Germany, China and the U.S. have been using evacuated tube systems successfully for many years.

Each evacuated tube actually consists of two glass tubes an outer tube and inner tube. A special coating is applied to the inner tube to absorb more solar energy.  As you can see from the picture (from Apricus) there is space between the outer and inner glass tubes. During manufacturing the air in this space is evacuated forming a vacuum. The number of evacuated tubes in a residential installation varies, but the typical residential Maryland installation consists of 30 evacuated tubes.

As you can see from the picture each evacuated tube is hollow. Inside this space is a small copper tube called a heat pipe. As the sun shines on the evacuated tube the copper pipe inside heats up. This heat is then transferred to your hot water storage tank heating your water.

A fully assembled evacuated tube solar water heater looks like this…

Tomorrow we will take a look at flat plat solar collectors.

This is exciting news for anyone in Maryland interested in energy efficient home improvements. This article was written by H. JOSEF HEBERT. Note the highlighted paragraph below.

WHO GETS WHAT: Tax breaks for energy conservation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Looking to buy a new furnace or air conditioner or replace drafty windows? Congress may soon give you a break that could save you hundreds of dollars.

There’s also money to install solar panels for the water heater, or add insulation to the attic — maybe even put up a small windmill.

The $900 billion economic recovery package before Congress includes more than $50 billion in energy-related grants, tax breaks and loan guarantees to spur solar and wind energy development and to cut energy use in everything from government buildings to schools and homes.

“This far outstrips any previous federal funding for such programs,” says Kateri Callahan, president for the Alliance to Save Energy, an energy conservation advocacy group.

While the recovery package is touted as a stimulus to create thousands of “green energy” jobs, the average homeowner could be among those who will reap major benefits.

Both the House-passed stimulus package and the Senate version include $4.3 billion in tax breaks for residential energy-efficiency improvements including the purchase of more-efficient furnaces, heat pumps and air conditioners as well as for energy-tight windows and more insulation.

There’s another $300 million to go to states as matching grants to promote utility-sponsored rebates for the purchase of more energy-efficient appliances, and tax breaks for people wanting to install solar panels to power water heaters.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama directed the Energy Department to end long-standing delays in more stringent energy efficiency standards for an array of consumer products, including dishwashers, lamps, ranges and ovens, demanding they be issued by August.

“This will save consumers money. This will spur innovation,” Obama said.

Unlike past efforts by Congress to use taxes to spur energy efficiency, the proposals in the stimulus package are substantial: A credit of 30 percent of the cost of the equipment with a maximum for a household of $1,500, triple what Congress enacted four years ago.

The improvements must meet a minimum efficiency standard, generally 15 percent to 20 percent higher than the base standard. But that kind of equipment could cost $1,500 to $2,000 more than models that would not qualify, with the total price tag of a unit coming easily to more than $5,000.

Will people invest in these improvements in today’s dire and jittery economic times, tax break or not?

“People are still going to have to come up with the other two-thirds” of the cost, says Lowell Unger, policy director of the Alliance to Save Energy. But he says the credit could pay for the energy-efficiency improvement. “If the furnace goes out, hopefully they’ll replace it with a good one.”

“It will get some people to buy,” says Steve Nadel of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. “Other people just aren’t going to be able to come up with the money.”

The 30 percent tax credit also could be used by people looking at solar energy — or even a small wind turbine — to provide power for their homes. The stimulus bills would remove the current $2,000 (solar) and $4,000 (wind) caps on the tax credit.

And that could help businessmen like Jeffery Wolfe, founder and chairman of GroSolar, a distributor and installer of solar panels, based in White River Junction, Vt.

Wolfe would benefit from more residential business, but he’s more interested in several provisions in the stimulus package that would help him get access to cash in these times of tight credit so he can continue to expand his business and hire more people quickly.

“We’ve been growing fast, but it’s been difficult to get lines of credit. It’s hard to grow when the economy is in such turmoil,” Wolfe said in an interview.

Maryland Solar Installation

AtisSun just installed this solar water heater a few days ago.  This Anne Arundel County homeowner decided to include a solar water heater in his complete home renovation project.  His new Schuco flat panel solar energy system will last for decades an provide substantial savings over the years. He has also dramatically reduced his carbon footprint. Way to go!