Published: July 03, 2008 02:24 am         

Cover story: Couple follows sun to energy efficiency

Originally published in the June 27, 2008, print edition.

Nestled in a heavily wooded area just outside New London, the country home of Graden and Becky West is virtually 100 percent energy efficient thanks to a rotating solar panel that follows the sun.

This unit, tied to a photovoltaic tracker system, “harvests” up to 1,500 kilowatts per hour. It’s this “free energy” from the sun that powers the pump for three, 150-foot-deep ground-source “energy wells” that provide a year-round energy source for both heating and cooling.

Granted, a well-insulated house is the starting point when you’re talking thermal heating. Three sides of the West home are backed up by earth berms. A glass-filled south wall captures more solar energy whenever available.

“At the time we built, we put in as much insulation as possible. Were we building today, with newer products, newer design we would use even more insulation,” said Becky, a retired nurse still providing community health services through her local church. Graden retired after a career with the Federal Department of Fisheries & Wildlife.

Using propane as their basic feedstock, their move to solar sprang from environmental concerns with the possible drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Area Refuge. Wanting to be part of the solution to energy issues, ground-source energy seemed to be their answer.

“However, with deep wells some electricity is needed to run the system. And that’s what moved us to the solar panel system with the voltaic cells,” she said. Their particular system was sized to offset the amount of electricity required. Sometimes the panels generate even more than needed so the excess is metered to the Kandiyohi Power Cooperative, which under the net metering law passed in Minnesota several years ago, refunds back to the Wests the current average yearly retail rate of electricity.

“That currently is about 7.7 cents per kilowatt hour,” said Dan Tepfer, Energy Management Key Accounts Rep for Kandiyohi Power Cooperative in Willmar.

“We’re not at net zero but we’ve stepped up about as much as we possibly can. More important is that our family, our friends and our community understands how important conservation of the earth’s resources have become,” Becky said.

Their particular solar panel setup has a production capacity of 1.5 KW. On June 19, for example, the Sunny Boy recording instrument indicated the system was generating 1.247 KW at 11 a.m. Since the system was installed on Earth Day, 2006 (April 22), the unit has generated 6,054-kilowatt hours and has 9,159 operational hours

“What an exciting way to celebrate Earth Day,” Becky said, with a chuckle.

Their rotating system was the first installed in Kandiyohi County. West said that at day’s end, the system stops and slowly ratchets back to its starting position facing the rising sun the next morning. A small metering device “reads” the sun as it moves through the sky and moves the panel system accordingly. The only operator assistance is four times per year when the angle of the panels is changed to correspond with the season changes in the angle of the sun.

Wattsun Solar Trackers of Albuquerque, N.M., is the manufacturer of the tracking system at the West residence. The installation took about a week, and the cost was about $18,000; rebates in effect at the time covered about 60 percent of the cost. “We were told to figure a 20-year payback but based on our first two years, it looks now like it will be 10 years, maybe even fewer. Of course the price of LP fuel certainly makes a difference, too.”

Becky said the system is virtually maintenance-free. “About all we need to do is cry on a cloudy day. When we see the panels facing east to the house on a cloudy day, rather than moving with the sun on a sunshine day, it’s almost like a death in the family.”

Cloud-free winter days is when the system generates the most electricity. “So global warming is not a good thing for us,” laughed Becky, noting that on one such day last winter the system generated 1.704 KW, more than was needed and thus flushing out a minor rebate on the monthly electric bill from Kandiyohi Power Cooperative.

“Tapping into what Mother Nature provides free, and without any disturbance of the environment is what this is all about,” she said. The Wests welcome visitors “by appointment” but she admitted there really isn’t that much to see — the panel system sits in an open space in their yard which is much like a wildlife and nature arboretum. For more information, send an e-mail to thegreenway@tds.net.

If Congress would step up and reinstate a rebate package for these types of solar units, West thinks there would be a groundswell of development.

Tepfer thinks, too, that solar systems are on the cusp of becoming much more common throughout their trade area. “As fossil fuel prices continue to rise, there is growing interest, and demand, for alternative energy systems. Solar panels obviously are one direction. For new construction, geo-thermal systems tied to ground-source heat pumps seem to be more efficient,” Tepfer said.

The initial investment has been the stumbling block but as people look long-term and better understand the years of virtually trouble-free operation that are part of these packages, he sees a rapidly developing new market.

“And the nice thing about a geo-thermal ground system is that you have the same productivity month after month. With wind, you have more production spring and fall. But summer, when electrical loads are usually the highest, your wind power is the least,” Tepfer said.

     

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