According to the Customer Sited Tier Program released on June 29, 2010:

The following guidelines are expected to be incorporated into the solicitation(s):

1. Eligible measures are solar water heating for residential (single and multifamily), commercial buildings, and non-profits that replaces or displaces electric water heating. Equipment and systems must be certified by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC).
2. Expected performance will be based on the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) estimates or standard industry software such as RETScreen.
3. Incentives will be based on expected performance in $/kWh/yr or $/MMBtu/yr up to a maximum of 40% of installed cost after all other tax credits have been applied, with a set dollar maximum for residential and non-residential systems.
4. The program will be first-come, first-served. The residential program is likely to be implemented as a simple incentive process, as the typical residential system is small and often pre-packaged.
5. Solar Thermal hot water systems will receive incentives as an alternative to electric water heating only. MWhs saved due to electric water heating replacement/supplementation with solar water heating will be calculated and scored towards the RPS goal.
6. Installers will be required to conduct annual follow-up visits for a designated period of time.

Customer Eligibility Criteria:

• customers must pay into the RPS
• new or existing homes and buildings will be eligible
• five-year warranty for the system will be required
• residential customers must have a New York ENERGY STAR® home or have a “clip board”” or walk through energy audit conducted to determine cost-effective energy efficiency measures related to electricity use. Customers will NOT be required to implement energy efficiency measures to receive an incentive.

The largest cost savings gains can be realized by those who use electric to heat their hot water.  As I discovered first hand, about three years ago, my electric bill dropped by 1/3 when I installed a Solar Domestic Hot Water (SDHW) system.  My electric use went from over 12,000 kWh per year to just under 8,300 kWh per year.  In today’s money, that equates to $600.00 annual savings in electric costs.

The goal of NYSERDA in creating this incentive is to raise awareness of ST and increase installations to the same level as PV, which is about 20,000 installation per year in NYS.   As I have outlined in the past, the benefits of ST are:

1. Less expensive than PV.  Consumers that use electricity to heat there water can make an apples to apples comparison and find that a SDHW system will cost about 10-15% what a PV system costs for the same energy output.
2. Faster payback times.  Because of the reduced costs, paybacks range in the 5-6 year time frame with fewer rebates.
3. Less regulator concerns.  A PV system requires many, many layers of bureaucracy to complete.  A ST system permitting and installation is usually straight forward.
4. Energy output from ST is stable and does not decline with time.  PV systems age and slowly reduce the power output from individual panels.  ST systems have no such issues.
5. More tolerant to shading and siting problems.  Not that a system should be intentionally installed in a shaded location, however, they will not drastically reduce their output if subject to some minimal diffused shading such as deciduous trees in winter time.

Not that I want to beat up on PV, that too is a fine system.  Solar Thermal, however, has several distinct advantages over PV, especially for a homeowner on a budget.

To start, he purchased a portable saw mill and began clearing the lot.  Using trees he cut down on site, he built this temporary power shed to house the inverter, charge controller and batteries:

We used a bit of left over rubber roof membrane to water proof the roof prior to installing the PV panels.  The PV panels are Sharp NU-235F1 mounted on Unirac rails.

The inverter is a Xantrex XW-6048 with a XW-MMPT solar charge controller.  Also used are the XW power distribution panel, the XW control panel and generator start panel.  Since this system is going to be used in the finished house, we choose the larger inverter.  This house has a well that is 380 feet deep and uses a Goulds 1 1/2 HP submersible pump.  This pump is the largest single draw in the entire system, starting surge of about 5,000 watts and using 2,100 watts when running.  The 6 KW inverter is able to handle this without problem.

The batteries are  16 Surrette S-530 flooded cells.

The wall between the batteries and the inverter has 30 pound roof felt to act as a corrosive barrier between the batteries and the electronics.  Ventilation is copious.  The tarp is placed over the opening when the system is not in use.

The house itself is in progress, with the foundation completed and the floor slab being prepared for pouring soon.

In New York State, a move is afoot to increase the RPS standard by increasing an already existing surcharge on all publicly traded NY based electric utilities.  As the report indicates, it would cost the average utility costumer about $0.39 per month additional.  For this amount, it is estimated that 22,000 jobs will be created in the solar power sector and $20 billion in additional economic output will be realized.

I normally cast a jaundiced eye toward job creation claims in pending legislation, those claims are usually highly optimistic and never fully pan out.  Even so, if this proposed bill produced even half the estimated jobs, it would be a good thing.  Further still, when all the publicly traded utility companies in NY ban together in strong opposition of said bill, it is worthy of a second look.  Things that highly agitate the utility companies are likely good for the consumer.

The camera operator seems to think it is coming from the rain, it may be, it may not be.  According to NOAA:

National Weather Service Science and Operations Officer Charlie Paxton says while it’s always possible a water spout could pick up some oil and carry it a short distance, the notion of black rain is just not possible. Paxton says that’s because oil does not evaporate. As a result, talk of black rain is just a myth.

Alright, black rain, myth, I’ll buy that, but crude oil does evaporate, even at low vapor pressures found on the surface of the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico. I don’t know the chemical composition of the crude bubbling out of the broken well head in the gulf, but if it is similar to other gulf crude, then it has a lot of VOC’s mixed in with heavier components. Sunlight shining on a patch of brown crude sludge floating on the surface would more than likely raise the vapor pressure high enough to cause it to evaporate. Based on what I learned in chemistry 101, it would be a safe bet to say that 10-20% percent of the surface oil will evaporate.

It is also not at all a stretch to say that those compounds could condense with the low temperatures at high altitude, the same way water vapor does.  So, while black rain might not be possible, light brown or clear oil rain is possible.  What is not clear in this video is whether or not this is spilled oil seeping up through the pavement and washing away, or if it is light oil coming down with the rain.

Watching the enraged public demonstrating in front of BP service stations and the somewhat muted anger of our chief executive is an interesting contrast to the true situation.  Deep water drilling and production is a hugely complicated and expensive enterprise.  To be sure, no one at BP could foresee these events and perhaps the actions of the drill rig crew were a little lax.  But the truth of the matter is, BP would not be drilling in deep water if there were not customers for their product.  They certainly would not go through all that trouble, expense and exposure to produce a marginal product that might or might not be sold.

To be certain, BP and the drill rig operator, Trans Ocean are culpable, there is a long list of others that contributed.  All of those that drive cars, trucks, ships, ride on trains, aircraft, buses, use electricity from the electrical grid, and use petro chemical products like plastic containers are also responsible.  Without end users, BP would have no reason to be in deep water drilling for oil.   So, while it is all good fun to drive home after the demonstration and upload the photos to the internet, look in the mirror; you can blame that person too.

We know what the problem is, an addiction to oil, it is up to all of us to fix that problem, each in his or her own way.

In all likelihood, this will continue until the relief well is completed in August.  By that time 1.7 million barrels (71.4 million gallons) of oil will have been released into the Gulf.

There are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Oil breaks down naturally in sunlight into mostly CO2 and water.  A great majority of oil formed in the past eons has seeped to the surface to evaporate and be broken down by the sun.  Only oil trapped under impermeable rock has formed reservoirs.  This is less than 5% of the hydrocarbons created.  The oil released into the Gulf will go the same course, over time.
2. The US alone burns 19,498,000 barrels of oil per day.  To give some perspective 29 Gulf oil spills will be needed to equal one day of oil consumption in the US.
3. An active Hurricane season may hasten the breaking up of oil globs and cause it to break down faster, so long as the storm surge does not push large amounts of oil inland and contaminate shore side marshes.

The bad news is that as the oil breaks down, especially the underwater oil plumes, they will rob oxygen from the surrounding water creating huge dead zones.  There will also be deposits of residual chemicals such as sulfur and heavy compounds that will settle to the bottom of the sea.  No one really knows what effect the chemical dispersant will have on life in the Gulf, but one can hazard a guess that it will not be positive.

So, what effects has this had on the energy discussion in the US?  Sadly, not much.  There are a number of outraged persons demonstrating in front of BP gas stations, that is true.  Unfortunately, unless members of congress can be swayed, nothing bad will happen to BP or the oil industry in general.  I would expect the oil lobby to contribute handily to many re-election campaigns this year, ’cause thats how business is done.  Once the spill is capped, everyone will calm down and it will be business as usual for the oil business.

As an energy and environmentally conscious individual, all I can do is turn inward and make sure that I and my family do everything possible to reduce our own use of fossil fuels.  That is all any of us can do.

It really makes me angry when I think about how much effort was put into offshore drilling safety and technology and yet, this spill is about to eclipse the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989.  When will we learn?  Where are all the “Drill, baby drill!” advocates now?

Lets get serious about ending the fossil fuel addiction before it kills us.

This is the problem with artificial economies created by government incentives and rebates.  Withdraw the incentive and the market goes away.  There are two forces at work; first, the public is expecting the incentive and have become conditioned to it.  Even as the incentive shrinks, many feel that if they wait, it may come back.  This is true even as prices of PV panels continue to drop, many folks will just wait around for a better deal.   Second, those that are selling these systems get used to having that incentive there like a crutch.  The solar industry is facing the same issue it faced in the late 1980’s when Regan cut the tax incentives for solar systems.  After that, most of the industry dried up.

The main issue is the subsidizing of the fossil fuel industry, which makes energy prices artificially low (however, it makes taxes high).  As many of my customers will tell you, this practice needs to go away in order for renewable energy to be come a viable option in our economy.  Rather than pay out incentives for solar, wind, geothermal, have them compete head to head with “traditional” energy sources by removing the coal, oil and natural gas producer’s incentives.  Of course, the prices of gas and oil will go up, but only to the extent that they will eventually go up anyway.

Competing head to head will solve several issues; reduce pollution through conservation and renewable energy investment, reduce taxes by eliminating payouts to fossil fuel and renewable energy sectors, cut government bureaucracy and remove control from government officials, give consumers a real choice when it comes to energy sources.

In other words, what a market economy is supposed to look like.

Being certified as a NABCEP PV installer opens up several state sponsored incentive programs which opens up more business possibilities.

This is not the end all for PV installers, continued education and learning is always required.  Keeping up with the latest technology can be a chore, especially in a developing technology like PV.

In September, I intend to take the Solar Thermal Certification for all the reasons noted above.

Their solar thermal line is Phoenix Systems collectors, line sets and pump stations.  From an installer perspective, having a prepackaged system eliminates several hours of on site work and makes installations go very fast.  Here is the equipment list for the base system:

Phoenix Classic SDHW system -

1. 2 Infinity 323 flat plate collectors
2. Dimensions: 7.09′ x 3.77′ x 0.31′ each, Area in total 54.04 sq ft
3. Stainless steel flex pipe to connect collector to line set
4. Complete pitched roof assembly kit, includes racks
5. Station type Flow-Con-C with pump built in, type WILO-STAR S21 U15
   Controller/included in solar pump station BS3 and 2 sensors
6. 6.57 gallon expansion tank with connecting kit
7. 5 gallons 50% Propolene glycol antifreeze mix

Tanks are sold separately.  The tanks are Bradford White 75 or 120 gallon with one or two double walled internal heat exchangers.   The advantages are:

1. Modular design speed configuration and installation
2. Collectors are light weight (86 lbs vs 153 lbs)
3. fast racking system
4. Stainless Steel flexible pipe set available in 50 or 75′ lengths, no soldering required
5. Corn based glycol

I look forward to working with Earthkind solar.