Archive for the ‘solar’ Category
29
Sometimes the best ideas come while drinking champagne in the hot tub….
Technically it was sparkling wine but I digress. Actually the hot tub we bought in 1998 has been the best investment I ever made. It hasn’t appreciated in value but it has been the inspiration of ideas that built our energy company and fortold the development of the Green Leaf Inn. A hot tub strips away everything so Catherine and I could share ideas and dreams. No cell phones, computers or distractions- just two people in a hot tub sharing, talking and enjoying each other. That is the experience for every guest at the Green Leaf Inn with a two person hot tub in every room. But I digress again…
Today we were looking at our aerobic waste water treatment system and our mound system that does the final filtering of the water before it goes back to the aquifer. There are limits to what you can put on the mound system becasue you do not want compaction. Catherine has already planned and enlarged chess set in an area that is safe. Catherine is thinking about plantings and I am thinking about energy. Actually, Catherine was wondering where she could move her strawberries, blueberry bushes and grow organic produce for the Inn. The area where the mound system is was all shaded but now is some of the best sunny areas that exist on the property. I suggested raised garden beds on the mound area for the organic produce and an idea was born. Then I thought about the open areas and saw a huge opporutnity for solar as the backdrop to the chess set and organic produce! Community Green Energy will be providing the solar system and owning it and selling the power to the hotel through a PPA or power purchase agreement. http://bit.ly/w30cSE
and then we popped the second bottle…..
07
Project pricing needs to be broken down into components to take advantage of grants and accelerated depreciation-
I am sure our builder and the subs are frustrated to the degree we need transparency in costs of job sections but we know the rules for renewables and Cost Containment Intl (www.c2intl.com ) will be doing oconsulting on a Cost Segregation study to accelerate depreciation. Hotels are usually good prospects for a Cost Segregation analysis and are able to classify 25% to 40% of items from 39 year depreciation to 5 to 15 year depreciation. That can be a big benefit to pay off the investment earlier. More on that process later.
In 2011 you can still get a cash grant of 10% to 30% and have accelearted depreciation. We expect the grant to go away in 2012 but the ITC or Investment Tax Credit will remina in place. Geothermal and Cogeneration or CHP only qualify for a 10% grant(residential geothermal is 30%) and solar- both thermal and electric qualify for 30%. Between the grant or ITC and depreciation, 55% of your solar is recouped (assuming you can monetize the depreciation value) so it is critical to have the cost of these parts of an overall project broken down carefully. Wind is also at 30% and we will run through how the numbers actually work later.
06
This is what you will see above ground but there is a lot going on below ground too including ….
Underground rainwater storage, electric, gas, geothermal wells, thermal water storage insulated to R-80, domestic water well, just like the veins and arteries and nervous system for the entire campus to function in a holistic energy system. Each part of the system is designed to do more than just one thing. Typically the well guy does his thing and the rainwater capture guy does their thing and the geothermal guy does their thing and the aerobic on site waste water system does their thing but in a Holistic Energy System design, the geothermal is integrated to use the domestic water being pupmed out the ground and the heat exchanger opens up the 20,000 gallons of underground water storage and the aerobic waste water treatment ties into the geothermal system as it pumps and treats water from tank to tank before returning it to the earth. And the highly insulated thermal storage tank allows us to shift heating and cooling capacity from off peak times to support and enhance onpweak energy usage time of day.
More on Holistic Energy Systems but they can be applied to communities and cities to use resources they are already have spent capital and energy on to reduce their load and carbon foot print.
15
The Green Leaf Inn becomes a sponsor of EcoFair360
We have committed to sponsor the renewable energy, green building, sustainable living fair to be held by Lake Geneva WI July 16-18, 2010. In fact, we will be one of the tour stops where people can see our wind turbine up close along with a dual axis tracking solar photovoltaic system. More info at www.ecofair360.com
