I went to MIT today to see the host of WGBH's "This Old House," Kevin O'Connor, speak to the Solar Decathlon team. "This Old House" is running a series of shows on the remodeling of an Austin, TX house as a green building. They increased the square footage by about 50% and lowered the energy bills by 40% as well as getting the highest rating, five stars, from the Austin green building authorities.
However, "This Old House" is not the only WGBH show that is going solar. "Bob the Builder" did a solar electric conversion on a trailer this week, too.
As a matter of fact, solar is busting out all over the TV screen. I was watching the 11 o'clock news on WBZ and there was a commercial from Local 103 IBEW lauding their experience and enthusiasm for solar. Local 103 has a windmill that supplies most of the energy for their union hall and is visible from the highway every day as tens of thousands of commuters drive past it. They are also installing PV panels on their roof if they haven't done so already.
This is the second solar renovation that "This Old House" has done. About 20 years and more ago, they did a show on a house in Brookline, MA in conjunction with Boston Electric, a company that no longer exists. It had passive solar features, solar hot water, and building integrated PV. In response to my question, O'Connor said that all of the systems had been removed by subsequent owners since that time.
I did a video tour of that house back in the day and a friend was one of the carpenters on that project. Oh well, so it goes.
2/28/07 - Solar, As Seen on TV
3/6/07 - Solar, As Seen on TV (2)