Sunday, August 30, 2009

Consumer Energy Customers time is running out

If you are a Consumers Energy customer and want to get involved with EARP program this year so that you can receive the 65¢ kWh feed-in tariff. You only have three months left to take advantage of this offer from them. After that, 2010, the amount drops to .525¢ kWh. The system most be installed before 2010 to take advantage of that higher rate.

If you install a 1700 watt system and it produces 265 kWh a month you will be paid $172.25.

Plus with the 30% Federal government tax credit that system is even better.

With the onset of winter coming this makes it more difficult for that to happen.
So do not wait any longer, call today and lets get started right away. (231) 715-1170

Friday, August 28, 2009

Skystream Prices

I am always asked if prices on these wind turbines are ever going to go down. Today I got the new pricing for Skystreams and the answer is maybe. The 33' and 45' system went down. But the 60' went down if I use their poles and went up if I did not. But here is the thing you have to buy their equipment and their equipment only. Unless it has been approved ahead of time.

So the answer is yes and no the price will come down and go up. Stay tune for more in the future.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Vertical Axis

I have one question why are they not used commercially? This is the last time I am going to talk about vertical axis wind turbines. Good luck. I will only focus on what I am currently doing and the products that I am using.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Packaged Solar Panel Deals

The other day I talked about buying wind turbines on the internet. Well today I am going to talk about buying solar panels on the internet.

I was looking at my dad's brand new master catalog for a major tool company. In it had a bunch of packaged renewable energy kits in there, like solar panels, just plug and play. There was this one kit it said that it provides 1250 running watts of power. The kit includes 2 - 120w panels, charge controller, rack, batteries and an inverter 12v DC to 120v AC.

The first thing that sent all these red lights going off was that fact it was going to give you a 1250 running watts of power. How is 2- 120 watt panels going to do this? Especially here in Michigan.

Lets start with a little information on how solar works. There is a period of time throughout the day where the sun is at its highest peak. When it is at its peak that is when the solar is making the most power. For places like the Southern part of the United States it is around 5.2 hours a day from about 9:30 - 2:30. For us that live in the Northern part of the United States it is 4.1 hour a day or from about 10 - 2.

So the packaged solar panels say that it will produce 1250 watts of running watt of power if you live where it has peak sunlight for 5.2 hours a day. Not here in Michigan where we have less time during the day.

Well how did they come up with that number?

They took the 2 -120 watt solar panels which equals a total of 240 watts. Now you take that 240 watts and multiply by 5.2 peak sun light and you get 1250 watts of power that it produces for that day.

If you used that same system here in Michigan, it would only produce 984 watts of power for the the day.

The other thing that sent off all these red lights was the cost, $4,799.00. I just quoted a guy the other day a system that was installed for 4 -170 watt panels with all the stuff and connected to the grid for $5,567.00 and it would produce 2788 kW in one day or 83kWh a month. So for $768.00 more when you buy from me, you could a much larger system, you do not have to install, one that you can actually use and not just be standby power like the other one.

So again buyer beware about what you read in a book or see no the internet is not always the truth. So if you are looking for a real solar panel system that will actually be beneficial to you, give me a call for a free quote or buy one from that catalog tool company book and good luck with it.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Schools getting renewable energy.

I just received this email tonight about schools that would like to qualify for a possible renewable energy system for their school. I currently bidding on this project for a possible 2 -10kw units for two different schools. So here is how you can get your school involved.

he following is being submitted by the Michigan Public Service Commission on behalf of Energy Works Michigan. Please direct any questions to Energy Works at the contract information below.

Michigan K-12 schools,

Energy Works Michigan has been awarded a grant by the Michigan Public Service Commission to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency measures at public and private K-12 schools throughout Michigan. Energy Works is an unbiased technical resource helping build foundational capacities in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.

For the Michigan Renewable Schools Program, Energy Works developed a coordinated set of programs for Michigan K-12 schools designed to demonstrate energy technologies, raise public awareness, and educate the next generation so that they can fully contribute to meeting and exceeding the 2030 and 2050 carbon reduction targets.

Schools are invited to apply for the programs by submitting the Expression of Interest Part 1 Application attached to this email. The application and answers to frequently asked questions are also available on our website: www.energyworksmichigan.org.

Thank you for your interest in the Michigan Renewable Schools Program,

The Energy Works Team
215 E. Washington, Suite 201
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
www.energyworksmichigan.org.

Vertical and roof mounted wind turbines.

I came across an article today on vertical and roof mounted turbines. This article is one that I have seen before so here is a link to that article. It is very well written and packed with a lot of good things to think about when considering a unit like this.

I was at Sea Shell City yesterday and I was watching the Windspires that they have there. Even though it was wind the looked like they were having a hard time spinning. Also they are way to close together so I think that they are stealing the wind away from one another. All wind turbines need to have a lot of space so that wind doesn't get disrupted by one of the others.

One other thing they are sitting right next to the building where there is a lot of of air turbulence.
It will be interesting see how well they will do there.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Are you a Consumers Power customer?

I just quoted a solar panel system for a customer in the Sanford Lake area by Midland so if there are anyone else that is looking for something like this we can do it. The system that I quoted was for 1700 watt system that would produce around 209 kWh a month. The system would be mounted on a pole in the yard. The cost for something like this is between $15k - $16k

Consumers Energy is paying a feed in tariff of 65¢ for every kWh that your system generates. The only requirements is that you have a system over 1kw, it be grid connected and the people installing must be from Michigan.

So if this something that you would be interested in give me a call today (231) 715-1170

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Wind Turbines on roofs

Youtube
Here is a good example of why wind turbines can not be mounted on a building. Watch how it moves back in forth not staying in a good straight position. Even at one point it stopped spinning. Just goes to show how it is not a good idea.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Buying turbines on the internet

I have a story that I heard from a guy the other day while I was at the Buckley Old Engine Show about buying turbines on the internet. His brother but 3 - 2kw Chinese wind turbines off the internet and now can not get them approved by the building department or the power company.

First the equipment most have engineering for the components like the tower, foundation and etc.. With out these things you can not even erect them.

Second they most be UL Listed or equal before you can even connect them to the grid. Without the listing no one will even approve them. The equipment most shut down in case of power failure on the grid. Because if they do not it will back feed out onto the grid and may kill a lineman.

So now this guy is spending all this extra money to get all these engineered drawings and trying to find a UL listed inverter all because he thought he was saving money by buying a turbine on the internet. The UL listed inverters are going to to cost more than what he pay for all the turbines that he bought.

This is a good reason to buy from someone that does this for a business not try and do yourself. It never fails you get what you pay for.

Buckley Old Engine Show Review

We had a great turnout at the Buckley Old Engine Show. I gave out over 200 brochures and educated a whole lot more. We had 7 people sign up for site visits. I will be back next year.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Are you on Consumers Energy and do you want them to pay you? Here is how.

Consumers Energy is pleased to announce the recent approval of the Company's proposed Experimental Advanced Renewable Program ("EARP")

Consumers Energy is pleased to announce the recent approval of the Company's proposed Experimental Advanced Renewable Program ("EARP"). The Michigan Public Service Commission recently approved the plan as part of the Company's renewable energy plan filing, and the rate AR tariff was approved on June 3rd. Per our approved tariff, the new Rate AR program will commence on August 27, 2009, and work is underway to make the necessary changes to our internal processes to accommodate this new program. The company expects that we will be able to begin accepting interconnection applications for EARP systems after July 1, 2009.

The program offers the following rates for energy produced by qualifying Solar Photovoltaic systems:
For residential systems available in 2009, the approved rate is $0.65/kWh. For residential systems available in 2010, the approved rate is $0.525/kWh.
For nonresidential systems available in 2009, the approved rate is $0.45/kWh. For nonresidential systems available in 2010, the approved rate is $0.375/kWh.
The rates paid to participant systems will be fixed under contract for up to 12 years. Residential systems must have a name plate capacity of at least 1 kW, with a maximum size of 150 kW. Commercial systems must have a minimum nameplate capacity of 20 kW, with a maximum size of 150 kW. Systems equipped with a battery back up system or other energy storage system will not be allowed to participate under the EARP pilot. All net energy produced by the solar energy system must be delivered to the utility, and the utility will own any Renewable Energy Credits and Capacity associated with the system. Any energy consumed by the system during periods of non-operation will be billed at an appropriate retail rate, with all associated taxes and fees. Participants will also be assessed a System Access Charge for the EARP service that is equivalent to the existing distribution account used to qualify for the program.
To qualify for the program, participants must be Consumers Energy customers with an existing distribution account in good standing. The solar PV system must also be installed on the premises of the existing account or on an adjacent property owned or leased by the account holder. Installed systems must be manufactured in Michigan or constructed by a Michigan Work force to qualify.
To enroll in the EARP pilot, customers will follow the existing interconnection process, documentation and instructions for which are currently being revised to conform with the State's new interconnection rules. If any new distribution facilities outside of a new overhead service are required to connect an EARP system, the costs will be charged as a non-refundable participant contribution. Upgrades to existing distribution facilities will be covered by the MPSC's interconnection rules as set forth in U-15787.
The Experimental Advanced Renewable Program pilot has a capacity limit of 2,000 kW of installed nameplate capacity, with 500 kW reserved for residential customers. Participants will be taken on a first come, first serve basis. To prevent unqualified applicants from blocking space in the EARP queue, participants will have 45 calendar days after being notified that all necessary review of their application is complete to show qualified evidence that they have the resources necessary to construct the project. While an unqualified participant will not be removed from the interconnection process at 45 days, they will be moved to the end of the line for EARP participation until it can be shown that the resources to proceed with the project are available.

So if you would be interested in doing a project like this contact me. Lets get you in one of these systems and get you into this program right away.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

What is a kilowatt and how can a wind turbine produce enough power for a whole house?

Some people do not understand what a kilowatt is or even less what a kilowatt hour is.
Lets start with what is a watt. A watt is the unit used to measure power, equal to one joule per second. In electricity, a watt is equal to current (in amperes) multiplied by voltage (in volts).
A kilowatt is a thousand watts.

Lets take an example on how to figure out what a kilowatt hour is. Say you have a 100 watt light bulb on for 10 hours. That 100 watt light bulb used 1000 watts of power, divided by 1000 or 1 kilowatt hour.

Now the average home uses 750 kWh a month so that means it uses 750,000 watts a month or it is like leaving around 10.4- 100watt light bulbs on all day for one month.

Wow that is a lot of power when you stop and think about it.

But some people say that a wind turbine can not power a house because it is only 2.4kw or 24- 100 light bulbs and it does not run all the time. But I say it can. Here is why, just because it does not run all the time does not mean it does not power your house. You have to look at how many kilowatt hours it produced, not how much power it generates that moment. For example a turbine may produce nothing for one day. But the next day it produces 30 kWh for the whole day. Then following day it produces 5 kWh and so on for the whole month until you get a total amount for that month. Say it produced 400 kWh for the month and you used 500 kWh. For that month your cost was offset by that 400 kWh your turbine produced. Now you will only pay for that 100 kWh from the power company. See how that works, your turbine did not run all the time but it produced power for the whole house, none the less, saving you money in the end.

It also depends on how much you use on an average month, the size of your wind turbine, and how much wind there was for that month.

So if you do the math the turbine will produce enough power for the whole house.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Buckley Old Engine Show

We are at the Buckley Old Engine Show all the rest of the week. We have a tent up at the flea market area. Just look for the small wind turbine and the red tent. Stop in and say HI!. We will be have a drawing for $50 Walmart gift card. For more information about the show got to http://www.buckleyoldengineshow.org/ Hope to see you there!!!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Are Vertical Axis Turbines Better?

I receive a lot searches everyday on vertical wind turbines. Here is a great article on vertical wind turbines. You should read it and it is a quick read.

Wind Power: Are Vertical Axis Turbines Better?

Shared via AddThis

Monday, August 10, 2009

Wind outputs a month period

Here is a chart of three Skystreams that are in the area.
What I did was go to each turbine today and download the data from them for a one month period. Each turbine is about thirty miles apart from one another. Each turbine is the same brand and size unit, 2.4 kw. But their towers are all different sizes 45', 60', and 120' tall.

What I found to be funny is that the 45' tower did better than the 60' tower. Which I can not figure that out, because the 45' tower has a lot of trees to the NE side of the turbine and the 60' tower has nothing but open space. The only thing that I can think of, is the 60' tower was out balance, which today it seems that I have it balanced right where it needs to be. I guess next month will be interesting to see if it made a difference.

The total kWh for the one month period goes like this:
45' tower - 88.55 kWh for the month
60' tower- 79.52 kWh for the month
120' tower- 209.82 kWh for the month

So as you can see from the chart and from the totals that is always best to get as high as possible with your tower for your wind turbine. We been experiencing some very low winds this summer, lower than previous years. But though that is the case the 120' tower still was over 200 kWh for the one month period.

It will be really interesting to how each one does this winter once the wind really picks up. Which we are starting on the up swing this next month.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Newsletter

My next newsletter will be released tomorrow morning. If you do not receive my newsletters here is the link to signup for it. Subscribe to newsletter


-- Post From My iPhone

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Meeder Project

Just finished the Meeder project. We added a 17' extension on to the bottom of his 45' pole making it 62' tall.


-- Post From My iPhone

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Here is my new TV commercial


This is my new tv commercial that will be running on TV 29 and 8. It will start airing on Monday.