Seeking solar

By Bob "Hot rod" Rohr
Radiant Expert

Without a doubt, the word solar is getting a lot of well-deserved attention. Again. Finally. If you pick up any trade magazine, or even some consumer magazines, these days, you will see the word solar somewhere between the covers.

For the most part, this excites me and many of the older solar dogs that were around during the last solar renaissance. Solar fits well into the mix for homeowners and businesses looking to green things up. Some buyers are looking to green up their image and are less concerned with payback or energy harvest. Equally enthusiastic are the average, working class home and building owners looking for a small piece of energy independence. I've discovered that this astute group of working class shoppers is interested in what solar energy can actually produce, not in the green "statement" being conveyed.

Just as interest hits an all time high, so does the number of system and component providers. As with any "hot" product, salesmen from every product background are suddenly solar authorities. Products sounding too good to be true are showing up across the World Wide Web.

Let me share with you some of the tools and resources available to help separate the pipe from the hype. Also, I can direct you to Web sites that have the numbers and data to help you walk a straight path to solar success. Spend a day or so familiarizing yourself with the mechanics behind solar. Attend manufacturers' training but also explore the Internet for information on solar in general, without any sales spin attached.

Thanks to Al and the invention of the Internet, solar, weather, location data and even views from space are a click away. Determining the best positioning of panels at your location can be easily determined with free data available at the sites. Here are some sites to help with the design and calculation phase of the job.

Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth allow you to view your customer's home and check for any conditions that might hamper a solar installation. You can place a compass overlay on the "view" and also add the panels onto the picture to show the homeowner. See the picture below of a recent installation "preview."

The Solar Pathfinder is a tool to aid in locating the panels and noting any effect of shading. A video demo of its operation can be found at www.solarpathfinder.com.   

The Solarmetric SunEye, at www.solarmetric.com, is another great tool to aid in tilt and orientation. This electronic tool has optional GPS interface. The information is similar to that of the Solar Pathfinder, but the approach is more high tech.

The SRCC Solar Rating Certification Corporation, www.srcc.com, has some excellent information also. Everything from basic solar collection to panel certification and testing standards can be found here. This is the best place to find data to compare the various brands and models of panels. Dig deep into every category at this site to get a good overview on solar thermal.

Solar design software is also readily available. The following are some of the most frequently used programs. With these programs you can do designs and predict output as well as economic analysis of the proposed installation. All provide you with a means to run "what if" options before you propose a system to a customer.

A free downloadable program developed by Natural Resources Canada is at www.retscreen.com. This site also has a lot of information on other alternative energy topics, including PV, wind, hydro, cogen, geothermal and fuel cells.

A favorite among many old and new solar designers, www.f-chart.com, has been around since the 1970s. A demo version is available at this site.

At www.mauisolar.com, SolarPro, a thermal program, has been added to the popular PV design software. Check out the screen shots or their products at this site.

The popular t-sol program can be found at www.valentin.de. Be sure to click on the British flag when you arrive at this site. In addition to the design and calculation features, it provides colorful schematics. Manufacturers of solar products will often have a program customized to their products by Valentin. Check out their basic, free online calculator also.

Another program used by some manufacturers, the PolySun 4 design program, is available at www.velasolaris.com. It includes a nice icon menu to draw your systems. PolySun is available in nine languages. Solar product manufacturers and dealers will often have one of these programs designed to include their products and system configurations. After you input the design conditions and proposed system, it will give you a parts list, piping and economics of the system. This is an excellent presentation package to review with your customers. It shows professionalism and assures that the customer gets what they are expecting and paying for.

Money is a concern for most homeowners and affects customers' choices. The Web site www.dsire.org will show you a state by state list of incentives, in addition to the current federal program.

View the current federal program at www.irs.gov/formspubs/lists and search for Form IRS 5695

The site www.solar-nation.org does a good job of reporting on how our lawmakers are voting on solar initiatives. You would think that this would be a non-partisan issue. Think again!

You can see how the government tracks solar collector shipments at www.eia.doe.gov. Look for form EIA-63A. This site will show you the solar growth from 1997 to the current year. By October you should see the stats from 1997 to 2007.

Solar DHW (SDHW) systems are fairly straightforward to design and install. It should be an easy technology for plumbing and heating contractors to get involved in. If you currently provide and install hydronic systems, it will be a simple technology for you to add to your offering. Many of the tools you use for hydronics will cross over to solar, specifically the pipe installing tools and pumps needed to charge the systems with solar fluid.

Embrace solar technology! Do spend some time to learn the basics. Don't be afraid to quiz the old solar dogs out there. (Older solar pioneers can sometimes be easily spotted by their gray ponytails.) Most have seen the good and the bad from the previous solar boom and bust era. Open your mind and business to the opportunities solar thermal can provide.

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing correctly. Sunny skies to all.