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Not quite so cut and dry…

Most of us who live here in Anne Arundel County appreciate our proximity to the Chesapeake Bay, changing seasons with spectacular Spring and Fall temperatures, and mature wooded areas. However, these pros quickly become cons during snowstorms, thunderstorms and Maryland’s annual hurricane season from late August through October when Hurricanes such as the infamous Isabelle and Sandy blast through our wooded, watery region, bringing floods, downed trees and – the clincher – power outages. If not for the threat of the power outage, we may sit back and enjoy a hurricane as a powerful force of nature, so long as our lights are on, heat or ac is blasting, and refrigerator’s chilling.

Hurricane Sandy caused around 300 thousand power outages here in Maryland, with an estimated 60 thousand in Anne Arundel County alone. It’s a no wonder that many prospective solar system owners – as well as existing solar system owners – want to know if a solar power system can power any of their appliances during a power outage, even if only while the sun shines. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

For both functional and safety reasons, there are several additional complexities to a “hybrid” PV system that connects to the grid but also provides backup power during a power outage. To start, during an outage you need to be able to safely isolate your “solar generator” from the grid to protect the line workers. You will also need energy storage (batteries) to balance solar energy supply and household demand. In most cases, you need an additional inverter to convert the batteries’ DC electricity back to AC electricity for your household. Lastly, most battery systems require some level of maintenance as well as replacement one or more times in the lifetime of the solar system. The bottom line is that unless you are willing to pay a nominal 30% premium for a solar system that includes the necessary batteries, transfer switches and additional inverter(s), you might be better served with a more traditional approach to backup power, like a gasoline or natural gas generator, and possibly just for critical loads.

Don’t get me wrong. Hybrid systems are growing in numbers and technology advancements, consumer demand, and smart grid capabilities all will help to drive down costs to make these systems more affordable in the future, ideally making our grid more stable with many distributed sources of energy. In the mean time, most solar installers can offer a hybrid (battery backup) or traditional generator back up options, so you can decide what suits you best.

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While still a relatively well kept secret among the general public, large scale solar water heating is popping up in more and more places. While this technology is relatively mature, the practical deployment is still in its infancy.

While we’ve seen lots of growth in recent years, what is holding back solar water heating? Three things actually: Awareness, Cheap natural gas, and Inertia.

We’re overcoming the awareness challenge slowly but surely. Every week there is another article in the trade press about a prison, dormitory, military barracks, restaurant or health care facility adopting this valuable technology. These systems are piquing the interest of facilities managers, engineers, and architects on the demand side and mechanical contractors and manufacturers on the supply side; helping to raise awareness among the traditional commercial water heating business community. This is particularly the case in markets like Washington DC, Maryland, North Carolina, Nevada, and California where solar water heating systems benefit from the existing solar PV incentive markets.

Cheap natural gas. I’ve written on this before, but it’s worth repeating. Today’s wholesale natural gas prices are close to a ten year low, and more than 75% below their most recent peak in July of 2008. Recent data indicates that prices are trending up again, but the current low price combined with economic uncertainty has facility managers and CFOs hesitating until they can see a faster payback on a solar water heating investment. While a 4 year payback may not seem enticing in today’s economy, the problem with waiting for the inevitable price increase of natural gas is that you forgo some of the best incentives existing today that will surely be lower or absent in the future. Remember, the solar fuel is free in the future, so increasing gas prices will only improve the economic return in the future.

Inertia is one of the most powerful social forces I know. It plays a huge role here. As engineers and architects continue to gain experience and confidence in specifying SWH systems, volume will continue to drive down costs in much the same way that we have seen with solar PV. The federal government has required the use of SWH on all of their new construction, if feasible. The number of contractors who are capable of installing and servicing these systems continues to increase, giving prospective system owners’ confidence that the systems will not be supported in the future.

Below are a few links highlighting some commercial systems recently commissioned in the U.S. Read on and learn how commonplace this simple technology is becoming.

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]COUNTY DETENTION CENTER TO GET SOLAR HEATING

The Frederick County Adult Detention Center is going green as work has begun on the installation of a solar power array that officials hope will save the county money in the long run.

The roof-mounted system will be used to heat water for the jail, which Lt. Keith Welty, commander of fiscal services, said is one of the counties largest users of hot water…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Maryland Solar Water Heating Bill Moves Forward

The House of Delegates voted 132-5 Saturday, following the Senate’s unanimous 47-0 vote March 17.

The legislation would allow owners of solar water-heating systems to sell renewable energy credits. The credits are bought by utilities and power companies that need to meet government quotas of renewable energy generation; if they can’t generate enough green power on their own, they can buy credits from someone else who has.

The ability to generate credits via solar water heating makes those systems a more attractive investment and rewards the buyers for using less fossil fuel. That is expected to be a boon for the green power industry, seen as a growing source of new jobs.

Gov. Martin O’Malley pitched the legislation along with dozens of lawmakers as co-sponsors. House and Senate versions of the bill still must be passed by the opposite chamber, which is expected since the two bills are identical. O’Malley is then expected to sign off.

WASHINGTON, DC:  Solar Energy Services, Inc. has engaged by Skyline Innovations, Inc., a third- party solar project developer, to install a solar water heating system at Porter Street Apartments to add an additional 360 gallons of hot water to the building’s current capacity.

The eight 4′ x 8′ flat plate thermal panels will transfer heat to three 120 gallon Vaughn Solar Sepco tanks plumbed in parallel to feed solar heated water to the building’s existing gas water heater.

ANNAPOLIS, MD:  Solar Energy Services, Inc. has been contracted by Johnson Controls, Inc. to incorporate solar water heating into their office headquarters on Harry S. Truman Parkway in Annapolis, MD.

The system will displace electricity used for heating water for laboratories.  SES is to install 7 roof- mounted 4’x10′ AET-40 Solar Collectors and a single 120-gallon Vaughn solar tank for further distribution to the existing hot water loop.