Where should the Alabama Solar Association be headed in 2012?
Come to our annual meeting and help us decide.
Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest
1221 Montgomery Highway
Vestavia Hills, Alabama http://vestavialibrary.org/
Saturday, January 28, 2012
10:00 AM, General Meeting
10:30 AM, Sealing the Building Envelope
11:30 AM, Introduction to Solar
12:30 PM, Adjourn
The Alabama Solar Association is offering two free classes at the beautiful Vestavia Hills Library in
the Forest for homeowners and small business owners. If you are worried about the prospect of the
energy bubble bursting, as have the dot com, the housing, and the banking bubbles in the past, these
classes are for you. There are steps you can take now to protect yourself against skyrocketing energy
prices that many experts predict are coming soon.
When gas prices rise, we all notice. We see the prices on every street corner. Most of us know that gas
prices rise soon after worldwide oil prices rise. Many do not realize, however, that almost all other
sources of energy closely follow oil prices. Since 1945, even coal and uranium prices have risen and
fallen in tandem with the wholesale price of oil and other energy sources.
Our first class is for everyone who wants to reduce utility bills. Nobody would think of leaving their
front door wide open during the middle of winter, but all the air leaks in a typical new home equal
just that. If a typical new home leaks, imagine the heating and cooling losses of an older home built
when energy wasn’t so expensive. The “Sealing the Building Envelope” class, 10:30 to 11:30 Saturday
morning teaches you how to plug those leaks. It’s a great first step to installing solar panels, but
it’s also smart if you plan to buy all your electricity from the power company.
The second class is for those who want to take a more aggressive role in meeting their energy needs.
“Solar for the Real World” (11:30 to 12:30) describes realistic opportunities to harness the power of
the sun. Photovoltaic (PV) panel prices have been dropping while efficiency has been climbing. Panel
prices have dropped dramatically recent; I saw prices of one manufacturer drop 30 percent in six seeks
last year. Prices now are less than half the cost of those from 2009, while typical modules have
climbed from 175 watts each to 285 and guarantees stretched from 20 to 25 years. System paybacks have
shrunk from more than 30 years in 2008 to an affordable 18 years now in Central and South Alabama.
Paybacks can be down to 10 years in North Alabama, where TVA provides electricity.
Come to these free classes if you are concerned about rising energy prices, or if you are just curious
to hear what all the buzz is about. Professional Engineers can receive one professional development
hour (PDH) credit for each class.
How often would you like to see the newsletter published?
Monthly.
Quarterly.
Never.
Would you be willing to help with the Sundial?
Look for more on the ASA journey into the future coming soon.
Free Professional Development Hours
See free and low-cost opportunities to learn more about renewable energy. Most offer professional
development hours for professional engineers. Visit the ASA
Solar Classes and Training
Opportunities
page.
Question: What is the one thing every single human being on the planet can do that's considered
green? Whatever the answer is, multiply that by billions of human beings and you create some
noticeable Green results.
Teach the children well! Raise yout children to treat "Mother Earth" with more love and respect than
your parents showed.
by Morton Archibald, Huntsville, Alabama USA
It was a clear, cool autumn day, the kind photovoltaics and installers love. It was a delightful
mountain meadow atop an idyllic mountaintop with a cordial and experienced off-grid client sharing
ideas. It was the perfect setting for the beginning of Affordable Energy Solutions to make their first
install.
The four installers included two disabled veterans and two ASA Professionals of the year. We knew the
theory well, but now, we had to put it to work real time.
Our job was to double the 1.4 kW system, augmenting the two three-year old pole-mounted arrays with
two rooftop arrays and to upgrade the inverters and batteries. The new modules were physically smaller
and more efficient than the old ones, but they will collect slightly more electricity in summer months.
The owner plans to orient the older pole mounts for winter collection to get the best year-round
energy harvest.
Learn more about Affordable Energy Solutions and this exciting project on their
website.
Firefly is shaping up!
Thanks to those who showed up last month to work on Firefly. She is beginning to shape up nicely. We sanded down
most of the old lettering and paint. We hope to finish sanding this Saturday and begin the carpentry work. We are
working toward the finished product shown below.
Baby Firefly is Born
During the big grid-power outage of April-May 2011, Dad and I set up a couple sets of ASA's solar
panels. We used them to recharge 12V marine batteries we purchased Thursday after the storms.
In an ideal situation, the panels would be permanently mounted to the house in a calculated
orientation that maximizes input from the average position of the sun over a year. In this
temporary setting, I just wanted to be able to move the panels now and then during the day to track
the sun. One idea (pictured above) popped into my mind.
Now this stuff was quickly and temporarily set on my son's wagon. Perhaps in a more functional setup,
the panels would be mounted a little higher up and be adjustable to accommodate various angles of
elevation, and the battery would sit as low in the center of the wagon as possible, perhaps even
recessed in a cutout in the floor of the wagon. The space between the battery and the panels would
provide a small storage area for the controller, a small toolbox, etc. A modified wagon might be a
good way to roll a setup from the car to the final display location at events, minimizing setup and
tear-down times.
It’s not a very big system, but the 45-watt output will power a few CFL or LED light fixtures,
recharge small appliance batteries, and even run a small refrigerator.
Let’s renew our efforts to complete Firefly into a working solar power generating station. It sure
would have been helpful after the April 27th storm or other storms yet to come. Folks
on the Gulf Coast would have loved to have had some solar trailers after Katrina.
Steve Archibald
Information Director
Please help Firefly!
The Alabama Solar Association is converting your ASA display trailer into a
functioning portable photovoltaic system.
We will use the rebuilt trailer for demonstration purposes, for power at outdoor
events, and for emergency power when needed. We will have a top array of 4’ x 8’
and possibly a side array of 3’ x 8’. Both arrays will to take best advantage of
the sun any time of year.
We have tentatively named the trailer “Firefly.” Like those delightful creatures that
brighten Alabama skies on summer nights, “Firefly” will generate its own power albeit
small. We need a snappy name, such as the New Mexico Solar Society’s “Sun Catcher.”
Please suggest names you feel might be appropriate for this and future generations of
solar trailers—we plan two more of progressively larger sizes and power.
We currently have nine 15-watt silicon PV panels. These panels will not provide much
100 VAC power. So we need more.
<.P>
Can anyone donate any of these materials?
Solar panels, any size, any capacity, any technology?
Big batteries, preferably deep-cycle such as golf cart or marine?
A charge controller?
One or more inverters?
Two tires, size 5.750-8, new or used and in good condition?
Aluminum bar and angles, new or used, any size?
Plywood, marine or exterior grade, new or used, any size?
If you would like to help but have neither time nor materials, you can always make
a cash donation. Any amount would help. Just click on the green “Donation” button on
our join or donate web page to use PayPal,
or you can send a check to:
The Alabama Solar Association
PO Box 143
Huntsville, AL 35803-0143
“Firefly” appreciates any help you can give, time, materials, or money.
We want "Firefly" to be an inspiration to school kids and adults alike. Won't
you help us explain the advantages of clean, renewable solar power to the people of Alabama.
With three damaged Japanese nuclear plants leaking and possibly melting down, Americans are naturally
concerned about the safety of nuclear energy. TVA has proposed replacing existing dirty coal-fired
plants with cleaner nuclear reactors (see below). This is a mixed blessing. Nuclear releases less
harmful pollutants into the atmosphere, unless something goes terribly wrong, as it did in Japan.
The International Atomic Energy Agency placed a 19-mile no-fly zone around the damaged plants. The
U.S. Navy Tuesday detected low levels of airborne radiation at Yokosuka and Atsugi bases, 200
miles away from the nuclear plants. Dangerous levels of radiation are still leaking from one
crippled plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors after an explosion
and a fire escalated the crisis spawned by the earthquake and tsunami.
Japanese officials told the IAEA that the reactor fire was in a storage pond and that "radioactivity
is being released directly into the atmosphere." Long after the fire was extinguished, a Japanese
official said the pool, where used nuclear fuel is kept cool, might be boiling.
PV to the rescue!
Workers set up a solar power system for a temporary office building
in the town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, March 31. (Daisuke Uragami AP)
Japanese engineers should consider replacing electricity they were getting from
the disabled nuclear reactor swith photovoltaic-produced electricity the original
nuclear power – solar.
We advocate nuclear power from that star we call “the sun” from 93 million miles away.
The final IRP supports TVA's comprehensive mission of service, which includes meeting the electric
power needs of its customers in a reliable, affordable and sustainable manner. The plan identifies
the resources that will be needed to satisfy expected energy demand in the Tennessee Valley region
over the next 20 years. It is consistent with TVA's Environmental Policy and it supports TVA's renewed
vision to be one of the nation's leading providers of low-cost and cleaner energy by 2020. We still
believe it does not give adequate weight to the potential of rooftop solar to increase renewable energy
contribution and reduce transmission difficulties.
The IRP is intended to equip TVA to meet its customers' needs effectively while addressing the
substantial challenges that face the electric utility industry. The planning direction it recommends
will hopefully give TVA flexibility to make sound choices amid economic and regulatory uncertainty. The
recommended planning direction tries to balance costs, energy efficiency and reliability, environmental
responsibility, and competitive prices for customers. Components of the recommended planning direction
include:
Component
Guideline MW Range
Window of Time
Recommendations
Energy Efficiency and Demand Response (EEDR)
3,600-5,100
(11,400-14,400 GWh)
By 20201
Expand conributions of EEDR in the portfolio
Renewable additions
1,500-2,5002
By 20201
Pursue cost effective renewable energy
Coal-fired capacity idled
2,400-4,7003
By 2017
Consider increasing amount of coal-fired capacity idled
Energy storage
8504
2020 - 2024
Add pumped-storage capacity
Nuclear additions
1,150-5,9005
2013 - 2029
Increase contribution of nuclear generation
Coal additions
0-9006
2025 - 2029
Preserve option of generation with carbon capture
Natural gas additions
900 - 9,3007
2012 - 2029
Utilize natural gas as an intermediate supply source
Note1 – This range includes EEDR savings achieved through 2010. The 2020 range for EEDR and
renewable energy does not preclude further investment in these resources during the following decade.
Note2 – TVA's existing wind contracts that total more than 1,600 MW are included in this
range. Values are nameplate capacity. Net dependable capacity would be lower.
Note3 – TVA has previously announced plans to idle 1,000 MW of coal-fired capacity, which is
included in this range. MW values based on maximum net dependable capacity.
Note4 – This is the expected size of a new pumped-storage hydro facility.
Note5 – The completion of Watts Bar Unit 2 represents the lower end of this range.
Note6 – Up to 900 MW of new coal-fired capacity is recommended between 2025 and 2029.
Note7 – The completion of John Sevier combined cycle plant represents the lower end of this range.
Alabama Solar Association applauds the plan’s proposal to increase efforts on energy efficiency and renewables,
but we question the wisdom and the ability of TVA to meet the timetable for nuclear. We fully support nuclear
power, as long as it coed from that big nuclear power plant 93 million miles away we call the Sun. we will watch
anxiously over the next years as the plan develops. We believe the inevitable spike in energy prices worldwide
will drive more conservation and renewable fuels into the mix.
