WASHINGTON, DC:  Solar Energy Services, Inc. began work today on the installation of a solar water heating system at Webster House, a condominium complex in downtown Washington, DC.

The building houses 175 units on its 9 floors, and contracted with Skyline Innovations, a third party solar developer, to offset its large heating load with solar.  The building will be outfitted with 44 solar thermal collectors and a 3,111 gallon thermal storage tank.  The system promises to offset a huge portion of the building’s conventional water heating system.

WASHINGTON, DC:  Solar Energy Services, Inc. of Millersville, MD has been contracted by Skyline Innovations, Inc., a Washington, DC third-party solar developer, to install two solar water heating systems at the George Washington University campus in downtown DC.

The systems include a ballasted 30-panel evacuated tube system on the flat rooftop of one dormitory and a similar 60-panel system on the flat rooftop of another dormitory. The 30-panel system design will utilize an existing 2,500 gallon storage tank in the penthouse for solar storage, while the 60-panel system design utilizes an existing 2,500 gallon tank in the basement mechanical room.

Click HERE for post-installation pics

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“Energy touches every aspect of our lives, from the cost of heating our homes to sustaining our resources for future generations.” O’Malley said. “We’re all here today because we understand that we are in a fight for our children’s future. Maryland is leading the nation’s efforts in clean energy and sustainability, and our state’s growing ‘green’ sector is vital to our ability to create jobs and compete globally in the new economy.”

The governor’s appearance, coupled with a growing vendor and visitor base, was seen by Lopez as a good sign.

“It’s good to see the governor is paying attention to these issues,” Lopez said. “The face that we have more than 500 people here shows the public is starting to take notice, as well. Now we just have to take the things we’ve learned and apply them. We need to make these things mainstream.”

One of the vendors was Millersville-based Solar Energy Services. Founded by Roger Perry in 2006, the company analyzes homes and installs solar panels for electricity, hot water and pool heaters, among other uses.

To heat enough water for an average family of four, Solar Energy Services installs two 4-foot by 8-foot solar panels at a cost of approximately $10,000, Perry said. But residents will receive Solar Renewable Energy Credits, along with other state and federal incentives, that will allow the panels to “pay for themselves” in just over two years, Perry said.

Both Perry and Solar Energy Services President Rick Peters say business has been exploding recently.

“We’re growing 80 percent a year, ” Peters said. “We’re growing and we just hired mroe people, so we’re also creating jobs.”

Another Millersville company, Kenergy Solar, also was at the expo. Though the company is only 2 years old, it already has installed solar panels throughout Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties, Coordinator Julia Sullivan said.

Sullivan praised O’Malley and the state’s legislators who are pushing for new, innovative renewable energy policies.

“They’re helping us create a sustainable industry,” Sullivan said.

Lopez is putting putting on another expo in Pennsylvania next month and hopes to eventually expand to Ohio, New York and beyond. He also hopes to add more to the expo in Timonium to a point where the parking lot is full of vendors and visitors alike, he said.

“We haven’t even scratched teh surface of what we can do.” Lopez said.

Maryland Energy Administration Director Malcolm Woolf shared similar sentiments.

“Maryland ahs emerged as a national leader in energy innovation, thanks to the smart choices we’ve made over the last five years,” Woolf said. “Today’s energy summit futher underscores Maryland’s commitment to accelerating our transition to a clean energy future.”

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Your recent editorial (The Capital, April 18) suggested Gov. O’Malley should put more emphasis on the distributed approach to renewable energy, where solar and wind power are generated by smaller systems throughout the state. In fact, the governor intends to sign legislation next month to do just that. Delegate Sally Jameson and state Senator Robert Garagiola sponsored what is essentially budget-neutral legislation (HB/933/SB717) to open up the state’s solar goals to include solar water heating, a very mature and efficient technology, first patented in Baltimore in 1891.

This family friendly technology currently saves a typical family of four about $500 per year on electric bills by obtaining 75 percent of their annual water heating energy from solar. The new law will allow system owners to sell green credits to help utilities comply with the state’s solar goals. Consequently, homeowners will now see simple paybacks on these affordable systems shortened from five to eight years to a very manageable two to four years, on a 25-year lifespan.

Aside from advancing our solar goals, and allowing modest-income homeowners to participate in the benefits of solar, there are significant economic benefits too. Solar water heating is a labor intensive installation, which keeps dollars recirculating in the community. It requires trades people to install it, a group much in need of work.

The components are low tech, but heavy and bulky , so there is strong incentives to manufacture domestically, if not locally. A typical residential system only requires 40 to 80 square feet of sunny roof, drastically increasing the potential pool of participants.

As a daily consumer of solar-heated water himself, O’Malley is well aware of the opportunity for Maryland. I commend him and our legislators for their leadership on this issue.

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WASHINGTON, DC:  Solar Energy Services, Inc. recently completed the installation of a dual solar water heating system at a twin apartment complex in downtown Washington, DC.

Each of the two apartment buildings located on S Street were equipped with 20, 4′ x 10′ solar thermal collectors plumbed into a water storage tank.  The labor and material costs of the solar water heating systems have been absorbed by a third-party solar developer, Skyline Innovations, who will assume the role of a utility company for the solar portion of the building’s hot water load.

WASHINGTON, DC:  Installation of a 14 panel solar thermal system was completed at an apartment complex in historic Adams Morgan earlier this week.

Solar Energy Services, Inc., a Maryland based solar contractor, was engaged by Skyline Innovations to design and install the solar water heating system that will act as a pre-heat to the 33 units that use the building’s conventional heating system.

Real Estate Agency Literally Giving Away Money for Solar Installations

At the risk of appearing to favor one of the cooler real estate agents in town, I’ll just pass on the news that Green D.C. Realty is putting up its own money to entice homebuyers to put solar thermal installations on their new purchases. They’re calling it a “solar home coupon”: You buy a house with them, and they give you $2,000 towards the setup with Solar Energy Services, which will also help arrange near-term financing to tide you over until the federal and city tax credits come through.

As we saw with my story a few weeks ago, local solar companies are trying really really hard to get people over the hump to their first solar purchase. Green D.C. Realty is betting that the incentive will bring in enough business to make good on their investment.

WASHINGTON, DC:  3501 13th St. NW is the latest address to have a solar thermal system installed.  The multi-family housing unit now has solar collectors on the roof, installed by Maryland solar contractor Solar Energy Services, Inc. to pre-heat the building’s existing conventional water heater.

The solar system includes 32 solar thermal collectors, south-facing on the building’s roof, closed-loop plumbed to 2, 806 gallon tanks.  The system is expected to significantly reduce the building’s utility bill by offsetting their water heating load with solar.

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Crosstown Properties, LLC – Multifamily Solar Water Heating (Completed July 2010) – Washington DC

SES was engaged by a third party solar project developer to install a 32 panel (1280 SF) solar water heating system for an occupied apartment building in Washington D.C. The system included the installation and integration of 1600 gallons of additional solar storage in non-pressurized tanks. The system is designed to offset approximately 70% of the water heating load for this 45 unit apartment building. The solar developer provided all of the capital to install the system at no cost to the building owner. The building owner receives clean energy at a discount to their traditional natural gas, achieving a monthly savings immediately upon commissioning of the system.

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HAVRE DE GRACE, MD:  Solar Energy Services, Inc. just finished installing a solar water heating system at Laurrapin Grille in Havre de Grace, MD.  The system includes two, 80-gallon tanks and four, 4′ x 8′ solar thermal panels on the southerly facing roof.  The system is expected to offset the restaurant’s hot water load by at least 50%.