937 words Renewable Energy 101 2010 by Fred Klammt (www.winsol.

org)

Has anybody not heard of solar PV? If you believe the mass media, it appears that this is the most effective renewable energy (RE) system. There are many more proven and more effective renewable energy systems than solar PV. These are exciting times for RE, as the entire energy sector is in transition. We are past the oil peak, and fossil (carbon) based fuel prices will continue to climb as it gets more difficult to extract these fuels from decreasing and harder to get at reserves. At the same time renewable energy adoption, research, and innovation is gaining momentum, and prices per unit are countering the carbon based energy industry prices. This is not a gold rush (although some would say that solar PV is), similar to the 1980s or the 1910s solar energy upswings. Making Sense of RE So how does one make sense between the hype and realities of renewable energy (RE)? It all starts with demand and supply. Or, more aptly put: with your needs/wants and your risk aversion. Its a delicate chicken-egg balance. Before you call up an RE contractor, answer these four simple questions and you will be ready for a more detailed, technical RE assessment: 1. 2. 3. 4. Why am I interested in RE? Why do I want to adapt RE? Where am I located? Which RE is available there? What are my energy needs? What is my risk aversion?

1. Why am I interested in RE? Why do I want to adapt RE? What is your motivation? Do you want to do the right (green) thing? Do you want to be an early adopter ahead of the curve? Do you want neighborhood bragging rights? Are you just curious? All of these are OK of course, but you want to make sure that you are fully informed of the real pros and cons of each RE type. A good place to start is the Federal web site of the NREL (http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_solar.html) 2. Where am I located? Which RE is available?

Your local site and orientation determines how much RE is available, and its not just based on the sun. Wind, geothermal, gravity, etc. are ALL available at every single site. Others like micro-hydro, hi-capacity wind and solar, etc. will depend on your location and many other factors. If you are located on the north side of hill, or have a lot of adjacent buildings or tree shading, solar may not be feasible without some major changes. On the other hand, if you have a large SW exposure, or are located on top of an unobstructed hill, or if you have a local stream running close-by, then you may have many RE options available to you. 3. What are my energy needs? First issue here is: are you residential or commercial? Commercial has special RE considerations that are beyond the scope of this short article. For residential, you want to get your current energy profile: your utility bills are where you start. Do you use electricity, natural gas, propane, oil, coal (back east these are common), generator, others? How much do you use of each, which months are highest/lowest? Next are a listing of all your energy loads, usage, and priorities (mission critical). If you are a typical residence, there are some great free tools out there to help you with that. I can highly recommend looking a Google Power meter (http://www.google.com/powermeter/about/) or you may want to look at the Feds EIA programs (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/) Once you have an inventory of your energy needs you may want to prioritize them and look at which can be easily separated out for an RE system. 4. What is my risk aversion? Its all about money and bragging rights here. How much do you want to risk? Would you buy stock in a solar or electric car company? How much money do you want to spend? What is your expectation on payback return on your investment? This is directly related to your answer to questions #1. If you have a high risk aversion (fiscally conservative), then you may want to make sure you get a quick payback, and check out all the rebates, incentives, etc. available. If you have a low risk aversion, you may want to try out some of the new wind gensets coming onto the market, or even some of the thermo-siphon evacuated tube solar hot water systems that several China companies recently rolled out at the InterSolar Conference in SF. (www.intersolar.us) .

After you have answered these four questions yourself, you will have a good idea of what you want to do regarding RE. For instance:

- If you want bragging rights, have limited southern (S) exposure, use natural gas, and have high risk aversion; then current RE systems may not be for you. -If you want to do the green RE thing, if your site has a good blue-sky SW, shade-free SW orientation, if your entire energy need is based on electricity, and if you have low or medium risk aversion; then you can look at geothermal, wind, and of course solar PV. -If you want bragging rights, if you have limited or partially shaded southern orientation, if you have medium to high risk aversion; then you should consider looking into solar hot water first (I recommend drainback yes, I know the concerns, especially with the CSI requirements).

If you want to learn first-hand experiences about RE systems in the Maidu area, circle your calendar for November 17th (???? Bob is this the date??) - thatll be our meeting on energy issues.