Update 2012

So far this year started out with a couple of really good jobs. I have been teaming up with some of my competitors on some of their projects.

The first one was a solar project in Grelickville on E. Grandview Rd. It is a 12 panel system mounted on a pole. Here is a picture of that system and how big it is. It is a 2.58kw system with an average monthly production of 309kwh a month. I did not provided the equipment for this system but was the installer only.













The second big project was located out on the Old Mission Peninsula. There is a big windmill out near the end that you can see on Center Rd. out near the lighthouse. but you have to be looking for it.

The interesting thing about this project is that it was off-grid and then they installed the grid onto the property.



So what I had been hired to do is change it over to grid interactive so that the windmill, Bergey, can put the excess power back on the grid. But here is the kicker, there is 3 sources of power to deal with windmill, grid, and generator. Getting them to all interact together was one of the most complicated jobs to date. I used an Outback Radian Inverter . This inverter is what is called a hybrid inverter. It's Outbacks latest inverter. It's a 8000w battery charger and grid interactive inverter. Nice piece of equipment.

Also for this year I have 2 up coming solar projects as a result of Consumers Energy Feed-in tariff. (EARP)

One is a 20 panel system on the roof up in Northport and the other is 22 panel system on the roof on Crystal Lake in Beulah. So be watching for pictures about that soon.

I have been getting lots of calls about off-grid systems. Just quoted a system on an island near here. I will be doing my first international install in Northern Canada next month. Customer here in Traverse City has hired me to come to his place and install solar panels to his house that he has off-grid. So be watching for pictures of that soon too.

The best place to stay informed is on my is, Facebook . I update stuff several times a week on there. So go to that link and like my page.

That's all the fun and exciting things happening here for now. So stay tune.

Do I do off-grid systems?

The other day someone brought to my attention that they were not sure if I do off-grid systems. The answer is yes I do. As a matter of fact I have been getting a lot of requests for just that type of system.

I'm currently working with several people that currently live off- grid or are considering it. Yesterday I started a project that was off-grid and now is being converted over to be grid interactive. So I can go either way on systems.

I have a system that I just finished a few weeks ago that was an AC coupled system with battery backup. The solar panels were grid interactive and the battery charging system interacted with that solar grid- tied system.

There was a man in the area that has over 200+ systems that are off grid and those customers of his have been contacting me to either repair or replace parts of their systems.

I personally will be taking about 60-70% of my house off-grid later this summer. I have been slowly collecting the parts I need to make this happen. I will be using solar at first to power my system. Later the following year I'll be installing a small wind system.

So to answer your questions I am very capable of doing off-grid systems.

Living off the Grid is not right for everybody.

It always seems when I turn around there is always an article in some newspaper about how some guy has been living off the grid for 20 years. I always think to myself that it is so cool. I would like to do that too. But then I get to thinking are you nuts.

Now I am the type of person that could do that but I'll be straight up with you, I am freak-in lazy. Living off the grid takes major dedication. It is not for the average person. For example you need to have some kind of mechanical ability. Batteries have a lot maintenance issues and are very dangerous. They give off toxic gases that are not good for you.

I know that if I lived of the grid and the first time the system failed and my wife couldn't get any water that would be the end of living off the grid. Beside off grid living is not for the poor. The stuff that is used to make this happen is very expensive.

Now the average guy, which I am an average guy, on the other hand can still enjoy the benefits of being close to being off the grid without all that dangerous stuff and monkeying around with batteries.

The first thing is you really need to take a good look at your power usage. You need to figure out how you can reduce to around 500- 600 kWh a month of power usage. That seems to be that magic number for an affordable system. I blogged about this very issue awhile back.

Well how do I know what I use a month? I tell people that then need to get some type of monitoring system for your electricity usage. I really like the TED system

With this monitor you can dial your energy usage right in by the minute. Helping to obtain that desired power usage level.

Next thing I would tell them get an energy audit done. This generally is a cheap way to find out where your energy is going. Once the auditor has come and done a report for you Then you can focus on fixing some of those energy issues.

Once you got your energy usage under control then we can figure out a good renewable energy system size. By reducing it will save you thousands in a new system.

After your new system is installed you can live virtually off the grid without all the hassles of being off grid.

Now back to the guy off the grid, those guys are few and far between and generally are so far back in woods some where it doesn't make sense to be on the grid. If you are that person call me I can help you out with that off the grid system.

Wind or Solar what do you think is better?

I blogged a while back about the pro and cons of wind and solar. I said I would write another blog about what is right for Michigan. Well I am not quite ready for that. But I am willing to show you some data that I have so far.

I have two project that I installed in the area one is a 2.4kw wind turbine and one 2.1kw solar system. Each project has their issues. The wind turbine gets no Northeast or East wind. The solar panels have some shadowing from the trees that are near them.
As you can see the sources are about the same size, kilowatt rating and the both have some issues not making them perfect.

Since the solar project has only been operational since January 16 of this year. It is not fair to make a quick judgement one way or another which is better just yet. I would like to see at least a years worth of data before I make the call which is better.

But what I do have is some data from Jan 16 for both units and you are going to be surprised.

The solar project since it has been installed has generated 421kWh since it was put into service.

The wind project from the same date to present has generated 328kWh.

The solar has out produced the wind by 93kWh or 22%. But keep in mind this has been a weird year so far especially for the month of March where we had a lot of sun which is very unusual for us. This is why I can not say one is better then the other yet. Once we have a years worth of data this will make it more true to life I believe.

The one thing that I am seeing in the numbers is that the sun is more consistant where the wind is not. But there are days that the wind has out produced the solar by a lot. Something that the solar will not be able to do because the wind can blow for 24 hours straight where the sun can not shine for 24 hours.

But stay tune I will keep you up to date as I get data throughout the next few months. You can follow the solar output here.

Snake Oil Medicine Salesmen Coming to Your Neighborhood Soon.

I met with my neighbor last night to talk about a possible solar panel system for her house. She had gotten a quote from another guy that is trying to do the same thing as I am. The reason she had gotten a quote from another guy was because she thought that I only did wind turbines, but I don't. I started out to do solar first but just fell into the whole wind turbines by accident.

But my question to her was is this guy even qualified to do something like this? The guy was a roofing salesman for a roofing company in Traverse City. How can a roofing company install solar panels without being a licensed electrical contractor is my question. That would be like me coming over to your house and trying to sell you shingles. I'M NOT QUALIFIED AND/OR LICENSED TO DO IT!!!!

None the less I was able to beat their price by $6000, their price was for $25,000. I quoted her the a little bit smaller system (just .2kw difference) on a tracker. Which is better because it is off the roof and it moves to follow the sun giving her 25% more power. Their system mounted on the roof and faced to the West that's ok, BUT it really needs to be pointed South.

So buyer beware of the Snake Oil Salesman coming to your door. There are somethings you need to be asking these guys:

Solar installer questions:

1. Are you a licensed Electrical Contractor or who do you use and are they licensed and insured?

2. How many systems have they installed?

3. Are you insured to do this type of work?

4. Do you work with the power company?

5. Do you handle all the permits? If they ask you to get them you need to say bye bye.


Wind turbine installer questions:

1. Are you a licensed Electrical Contractor or who do you use and are they licensed and insured?

2. Are you a licensed Building Contractor or who do you use and are they licensed and insured?

3. Do you have a licensed Engineer that you use? Because wind turbines are a structure and when getting a building permit you need a stamped foundation drawing.

4. How many wind turbines have you installed?

5. Are you insured to do this type of work?

6. Do you work with the power company?

7. Do you handle all the permits? The only permit that I do not get is the zoning permit, but will supply all the paper work needed to get that permit.

These are some basic questions that you need to ask your potential renewable energy installer. This is a big investment and if it is not install correctly your going to waste a lot of hard earned money.

So many times since I have started doing this type of work so many guys have since moved on. I know of three companies that all started about the same time as me and they have since disappeared. But I'm still here. I have since taken over one of the companies customers because he is not in business.

My thing is not just the installation but it's the service after the sale. So many are about the sale and not coming back after the installation. I generally try and make two visits a year to all my installation that I have done because it is important to me that you are happy with the product you bought from me. So many of my customers have become good friends.

So beware of the Snake Oil Medicine Salesmen, one day there here, the next day their gone, never to be seen again with your hard earned money.

Hybrid Renewable Energy

This is my hybrid system that I have at home. So I do have a wind turbine and solar already here at my house. This small system has been working really well for me. I have been really surprised how well it keeps the two batteries charged up. Now I have not let this system run for a long period of time to see how long it would last before the batteries ran out. But I will try this, this Summer and get back with you on well it did. Hope you enjoy my small video and if this something of interest to you feel free to give me a call. (231) 715-1170

Just ran across this today.

I will be bringing this up again in my three part series I am currently doing on the Pros and Cons of Wind and Solar systems and What works best for me in Michigan. The first part of this three part series is finished and has been posted on my blog. I am currently working on the second part which I hope to post in a couple of weeks. But in the meantime I am jumping ahead of myself when I ran across the post on another blog about Skystreams, the good, bad and ugly of this type of turbine. Someone had posted a picture of his wind turbine and 6- solar panels that the person had installed at his home. But the thing that I found interesting was the fact the solar panels had out performed the wind turbine. Here is a link to that post. Just scroll down a little bit on the log and you will see the post. The more I research information for this series I am doing the more I am changing my mind about some the renewable energy systems. This is just a tidbit of the things to come. So keep checking back for this three part series. One last thing, if you want to get the latest info you can follow me on Twitter which I post something almost everyday. I hope to see you on Twitter!!!

TV 29 and 8

Keep your eyes open the next few weeks we will be advertising on TV for the first time. I send a deal for 72 spots that will be featured on TV 29 and 8 starting in Mid- July running through Mid- August. I will try and post the ad on this blog once it has been released.

Turbine in stock

Next we will be starting to try and keep one turbine in stock for immediate purchase and installation. We will not be carrying the tower because of storage issues. But the towers are usually a couple of weeks out from the time it is ordered.

By keeping a turbine in stock we will be able cut that wait time in half before one can be delivered.

The promotion for the month of April is for $1,000.00 off a total installation.

For example a turbine on a 33' tower normally costs $15,150.00 with the $1,000.00 off it is now $14,150.00.

With the 30% tax credit, take another $4,245.00 off. Now the turbine costs $9,905.00, that is $5,245.00 off , a very large savings to you.

Meeder Project

We finished the Meeder Project yesterday. The turbine is mounted on a 45' tower. It went up with out a hitch. Antrim County Crane came out and installed it for us and did a good job.

The weather some what cooperated with us, other than the snow which made it difficult to get the pole moved around. We managed to get the loader stuck.

But no the less it is up, now if we would get some wind things would be much better.

Keep your eyes open the newspaper was there and did a story on us installing the turbine.