Cross posted with pictures at Docudharma.
Saturday October 4, 2008.
Solar homes, active and passive, all across the country are open to the public for viewing and learning about solar energy through the ASES National Solar Tour Day.
To find a location near you, go to the ASES website.
Every year, the first Saturday in October is National Solar Tour Day, as part of National Solar Awareness month.
We’re participating for the second time. Over the last two years we had more than 120 people from all over the state visit our partially earth sheltered, passive solar designed home, to which we added 4kw of photovoltaic panels in July of ‘06.
From the ASES website:
The ASES National Solar Tour is the largest tour of sustainable energy features for buildings in the U.S. Now in its 12th year, some 100,000 people across the nation will see how neighbors are using clean sources of energy to save on energy bills and protect the environment. Through a series of open-houses and informative tours participants learn about renewable energy options, energy efficient design, real-world costs, current rebates available, and other valuable insights.
The National Solar Tour highlights energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and methods that are working and available right now, in real places for real people. These sustainable energy choices help the owners reduce operating costs and improve comfort and health while investing in local communities.
Tours show attendees how home and building owners provide for their power needs from the sun, wind and other renewable sources. An increasing focus of tours is on saving energy through building design, energy-efficient appliances and building materials.
Tour guests learn how sustainable energy choices protect against power outages, support energy independence and reduce carbon emissions and impacts on the environment. Many tours provide information on utility, state, and federal incentives for the installation of energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions.
We built our house on a south facing slope 25 years ago (Excavation Labor Day weekend 1982).
All glass on the south side.
(The window at farthest right still has an insulated cover - we put up in winter when nights get below forty to keep the warm air inside).
On TVA’s Generation Partners program, we’ve had to pay electric bills in only January and February of the last two years - a total of $50. That’s for a house with three computers, two printers, a scanner, two tv’s, central heat and air, a swimming pool pump and an airconditioned wine cellar and includes our household water which comes to the house from a spring via electric pump.
Here is a list of energy-saving features of our house that we will have available for folks on Saturday:
Step 1 - Design, orientation & construction.
Earth sheltered, waterproofed with Bentonite clay.
Passive solar gain from large windows which face true compass & solar south. Roof overhangs calculated to allow direct sun Oct. 10 to April 10 but no direct sun during summer. No east windows, 1 on the north, 2 on the West. (Heat reflective)
Two water heaters for short runs to kitchen, utility, and bath water use areas.
Ducted for air circulation from cool tubes. Supplemental wood heat -- circulating Rumsford fireplace & master suite wood stove & sauna.
Add on room constructed with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF). Roller shutter for light control and tornado resistance.
Step 2 - Energy conservation & efficiency.
Insulation, & multipane windows
Solar clothes dryer, paddle fans, night venting, compact fluorescent lights, energy star refrigerator & front load clothes washer, super efficient dishwasher & water heater. Geothermal heatpump (separately metered for energy use monitoring) with heat scavenger for water heating. Solar pool heater, two speed pool pump. Solartube for electricity free daytime lighting.
Step 3 – Photovoltaic solar electric power generation.
4 KW max from 40 panels. Cost $39,000, installed. Subsides: Federal income tax credit $2,000, TVA Generation Partners installation rebate $500, Generation Partners electric bill credit of 15 cents for every kilowatt hour generated.
Maybe sometime I will get a chance to write about how we built the house, drystacking the concrete blocks for the earthsheltered wall, then using a fiberglass reinforced surface bonding cement on the house side and bentonite filled cardboard panels on the earth sheltered side. (It's volcanic clay and expands so that no water can get through. It’s worked great these past 25-6 years ). But the construction is a whole ‘nother story.
Remember, you can find a site near you for an informative solar home tour THIS Saturday at
the ASES website