Soloar powered homes in Austin (loan, house, heat pump)

[papa_whealie]

I am curious if there are many homes in the Austin area that use a complete Solar electric (PV) system for their primary source of electricity? It looks like there are good incentives to install one or integrate one into new construction. For those who have one or experience with one, what kind of performance can one expect in terms of power supply versus costs compared with using Austin Energy as a primary power source?

[austifornian]

There are not a lot of 'off the grid' installations in town but there are quite a few panels up. These will knock of a portion of your monthly electric bill but it takes a lot of panels to be entirely self sufficient. Your property will contribute a lot of specifics to the actual efficiency that you get as well as to the amount of panels that you can install. Some subdivisions may disallow the installation of panels entirely.

Generally, even after the rebates it takes a few years to pay for the equipment and actually realize any monthly savings. It is a good value in the long run both for you and for the environment. If I was going to do it I would use a combination of PV's, Solar Water and a geo-thermal heat pump for AC.

[TedH71]

Change to Sun Mar refrigators that run on propane and change your washer/dryer to a very energy efficient one ( I forget what brand), change your electric stove to a propane one then your electricity bill will drop big time. Also go around your house seeing what equipment you have that draw phantom loads. A lot of people have difficulty with that concept. Basically phantom load is an equipment that draws or steals electricity even when it's off. A good example is the tv....microwave, alarm clock, any plug ins such as lamps, etc. You may think of them as off but they still drain electricity. Those phantom loads are what kills solar electricity. Change light bulbs to more energy efficient ones.

Personally I would love to work in the solar installation field but do not know whom to contact for that field in Austin area even tho I lived on and off in Austin for 15 years until recently.

[Trainwreck20]

An acquaintance of mine who was very paranoid about the Y2K effect put in 'after market' solar for his house. It was not 'off the grid' but it was intended to supply quite a bit of power (for fridge, lights, and a few other things). One of the big expenses is the battery storage for night-time power. The batteries cost quite a bit and do not have an unlimited life. They are typically lead/acid batteries and I think his 'small' battery storage unit was ~$5000 and was expected to have a life from 10-15 years. Of course, there is little in the way historical data to show how long the batteries last in actual use.

If you are not going off the grid, you can reduce you battery pack and just depend on grid power during cloudy periods/night time. You get lots of days of sunshine and will still get quite a bit of power. If you are assisting in larger wattage items (A/C, in particular), you will not have excess to store anyway most of the time.

[G Grasshopper]

Does anyone know of local architects and builders who specialize in low energy consumption housing. We are interested in building a home in as green a way as possible. There are, by the way, new solar technologies that can produce even on cloudy days. I don't know if they are on the market yet.

[austifornian]

Austin is a great city for photovoltaics and has a great rebate program. Even with the rebates the payback will take 5 to 7 years in most cases (but your energy savings will most likely cover the interest payments on the loan you get to install the system). Their systems are on the grid systems. In the daytime they run your meter backwards adding power to the grid, in the daytime you draw power from the grid. They also have a list of Green Building proffesionals and sponsor green building work shops.

Check it out: Green Building Resource Guide.

[TedH71]

Try Backwoods Solar Electric Systems for your energy needs.

[papa_whealie]

So, if there are phamtom loads draining the electricity from a home, is there a way to control or limit the drain?

I found this PDF article on Austin renewable energy and companies in the area working on solar and wind power:

http://www.coolaustinjobs.com/docume...Assessment.pdf

[papa_whealie]

Another good PDF article on Solar Power in Austin Texas:

http://www.utexas.edu/ati/cei/docume...tunity2007.pdf

[GregJD]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

Does anyone know of local architects and builders who specialize in low energy consumption housing. We are interested in building a home in as green a way as possible. There are, by the way, new solar technologies that can produce even on cloudy days. I don't know if they are on the market yet.

Have you tried looking at Austin Energy's directory for green building professionals?
Austin]Sorry...Page Not Found Energy - Directory Search

Also, they provide this little sheet which is helpful:
http://www.austinenergy.com/Energy%2...ofessional.pdf

There are a lot of builders listed, and some do more than others as far as how "green" they truly are, so just make sure you ask about past projects and if you know what you want - and it seems that you do - tell them and see if they think they can do it and have done it in the past. Also ask how their projects have been rated by Austin Energy, they give out ratings from 1-5 stars.