solar 101 presentation & better together announcement
TRANSCRIPT
Lakewood Alive – “Knowing Your Home”
11 June 2016
Solar 101
Solar 101u Efficiency 1st … Always
u Energy and your home
u Solar Specific Information
u Photovoltaic Effect
u Solar Vocabulary
u Advantages
u Disadvantages
u Solar and your home
u What?
u Where?
u Why?
u How?
How can you improve?u Get an energy audit performed on your home
u Plug air leaks around your doors, windows, outlets, etc.
u Insulate or Increase your insulation on the top floor
u If you use forced hot air/AC, make sure your duct work is sealed well
u Consider a programmable thermostat (i.e. Nest, Sensi, ecobee, Honeywell)
u Trust in what’s old, they don’t build them like they used to.
u If you can keep and maintain your old windows, add quality storm windows
u Invest in solid doors and a good storm door for main entrances
u Replace every incandescent light with CFLs or LEDs
Your Electric Bill
Net-Meteringu Billing mechanism
u Credit is given for electricity sent to the grid
u Credit is at customer’s generation rate. Typically around $0.06/kWh
u For example, if a residential customer has a PV system on the home's rooftop, it may generate more electricity than the home uses during daylight hours.
u First Energy installs a bi-directional meter that measures both electrical consumption and distribution.
Your Electric Bill, cont.u Your bill also includes a “Usage
History” section.
u As a solar installer, this is the most important part of your bill.
u You can calculate just how much you’ve spent on electricity if you know this and the “fully loaded” rate from the previous slide.
u Trailing 12 month calculation
22,956𝑘𝑊ℎ𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
×$0.09527𝑘𝑊ℎ
= $2,187.07𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
Electricity Usage/Rates in Ohio
u Ohio Average is 11,000 kWh at a fully loaded rate of 13¢ per kWh
Solar 101 – An Introduction
u “Solar Power is a photon powered electron pump.”
u What does that mean?
u Photons are a product of the thermonuclear fusion occurring in the sun
How Much Solar Energy Hits Earth?u Interesting Question …
u The amount of solar energy hits earth’s surface in 40 minutes equals the total annual energy consumption of all the world’s people.
u 27 years’ worth of worldwide energy consumption equals only one day’s worth of solar energy hitting the earth.
u Using modern solar equipment, we can harness about 12 Watts DC per square foot.u 25’ x 12’ = 300 Square Feet
u= 3,600 Watt Solar Array
Photoelectric Effectu Metals can emit electrons if hit with a beam of light.
u Solar cells depend on this relationship between incoming solar radiation and the ejection of electrons
Solar Vocabulary, Part I
uParts of a solar arrayuSolar Modules – Photon Harvester
uInverter(s) – DC to AC conversionuRacking – Something has to hold them down.
uCircuitry and Data Monitoring
Solar Module – The Photon Harvester
Invertersu Convert DC from the module to
AC that can be used in the home
u Two Main Residential Types
u String Inverters
u Mount on the side of the home or inside near the main breaker panel
u Microinverters
u One per module and are mounted on the same rails as the modules
u All are “Utility Interactive”u Grid sensing
u Anti-Islanding
Racking u Solar modules need to be held
down to your roof or the ground by something.u Pitched Roofs = Roof Attachments
u Physically Adhered to roof/rafters
u Flat Roofs = Ballast
u Uses weight to pin modules down
u Ground Mounts = Poles/Concrete
u Pole is buried deep in the ground
Conduits and Connectionsu Modules combine in series to make a string.
u Strings are combined in parallel at the String Inverter
u AC circuits need to be run from the inverter to the main breaker panel.
u Ampacity and the 120% ruleu Pass = Back Fed Breaker (Load Side)
u Fail = Line Side Tap
How Much Electricity?
How Much Electricity? (2)
Solar Advantages
u Reliability
u Durability
u Low Maintenance Costs
u No Fuel Costs
u No Sound
u Modularity
u Safety
u Independence
u Grid Decentralization
Reliability, Durability, and Maintenanceu No moving parts means less goes wrong
u 30-50 Year expected lifespan
u Robust warranty on partsu Modules = 25 years
u Inverters = 10 – 25 years
u Racking = 10 – 25 years
u Wind, hail, snow loading
Independence and Grid Decentralizationu Independence
u As a consumer of electricity, you should have some choice in how your electricity is produced.
u Energy efficiency and alternative energy technology are often “made in America” and represent a way to wean our dependence on foreign energy
u Both energy efficiency and alternative energy make our environment cleaner and our air healthier.
u Grid Decentralization
u Distributed generation helps stabilize the local grid by reducing demand during the hottest parts of the day
u Reduces the possibility of outages on the grid
Solar Disadvantages …
u Initial Cost
u Solar is not cheap. A 5 kW array for a home runs between $16,000 and $18,000
u Cooperative Buying Program Starts June 20th 5kW = $15,000
u There are financing options available for everyone.
u Eco-Link and Key Bank have created programs to maintain a positive solar cash-flow
u Solar Radiation Variability
u The sun isn’t out all the time. If it’s cloudy, you’re producing a lot less electricity
u Energy Storage
u Battery technology lags far behind generation
u Education
u New and unfamiliar technologies lead to slow adoption
and how to overcome some of them
Solar Specific Incentives u Federal Investment Tax Credit (All Solar Installations)
u 30%, dollar-for-dollar reduction in the income taxes a person pays
u Example: A $15,000 solar array qualifies for a $4,500 Federal tax credit. If this customer owes $4,500 or more in Federal income taxes for the year, exactly $4,500 will come off his/her tax bill. If the customer owes less than $4,500 the remainder can be rolled over.
u Depreciation (Commercial Solar Only)
u Companies can depreciate 85% of the original project’s basis
u Uses 5-year MACRS schedule and benefit depends on the business’s tax rate
u 50% Bonus Depreciation until 2019 and Section 179 Eligible
u Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC)
u For every 1,000 kWh generated by the array, ONE SREC is generated
u SRECs are sold on an open market
u Satisfy Ohio’s Renewable Portfolio Standard
u Most recently equates to $0.014/kWh
Tipping point?
Tipping point?
Tipping point?
Solar and your home
u So you’re interested … What happens next?
u Satellite survey of your homeu Take measurements as
best as possible
u Look for penetrations, shading issues, and orientation
u We’ll talk about how much electricity you use
u I’ll ask you about a budget, timeline, and if the location is viable, about setting up a site visit.
The Solar Site Assessmentu Roof condition, age, and pitch
u Rafter condition and locations
u Main breaker panel
u AMP service
u Room for breakers?
u Utility meter location
u Locating conduit runs
u Shading Analysis
u Solar Pathfinder
u Measurements, a lot of them
u Pictures of all of the above
Solar Pathfinder Analysis
Solar Pathfinder Analysis
Next Stepsu You love our proposal, great! Now what?
u A 1/3rd deposit to begin allocating resources and buying materials
u Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (in that order)
u We file a lot of paperwork on your behalf.
u Permits with the AHJ
u Registration with the utility (Interconnection Agreement and Net-Metering Rider)
u Registration with PUCO as a Renewable Energy Generator
u Registration with PJM-GATS to track generation and create SRECs
u Once a building permit has been issued, we procure all materials
u Material delivery date dictates construction start date
Construction
Construction (Standing Seam)
Residential Portfolio Examples
Residential Portfolio Examples
Residential Portfolio Examples
Commercial Metal Roof Example Near West Theater (71.28 kW)
Commercial Flat Roof ExampleBaldwin Wallace University (102 kW)
Standing Seam Metal Roof Example(21.25 kW)
Ground Level 3D
New Program Announcement!!
A Solar Program for NE Ohio with negotiated deeply discounted rates.•When we reach 20 systems installed, everyone gets a $1,000 rebate check.•When we reach 40 systems installed, everyone gets an additional $250 rebate.•Sign up now to join the program!
