BEC Solar

Low Wisconsin Temperatures Clears Sky for Sunny Weather...Excellent for Solar Thermal!

2011-01-02T10:59:00.004-06:00

Have you ever noticed that the coldest days in Wisconsin also are relatively SUNNY? These conditions are perfect for a solar thermal heating system. The lack of relative humidity, on bitter cold days, causes the skies to be free from haze (from water vapor) and cloud cover. Warmer air has the ability to hold more moisture.

For example the temperature outside in West Central Wisconsin today is 10F at 11am. It is a crystal clear sunny day. The temperature of solar fluid from a 10 panel array was 126F at 10am, is 142 at 11am, and it will continue to rise until 1pm. This hot solar fluid is sufficient to provide solar domestic hot water production and comfort space heating for the average Wisconsin home with no additional back-up space or water heating needed on this sunny day. This system will continue to resonate heat for a full 24 hours.

Clear skies and a high panel tilt to match the low winter sun angle gives the system the ability to have a higher temperature differential in winter than in summer. In winter, the system is producing 140F-160F degrees higher temperature than the outside air temperature. During summer operation the temperature differential is 110F-130F degrees above the outside air temperatures.

Solar heating, in Wisconsin, in the winter, is AWESOME!!
The above 8 panel system heats an indoor pool, domestic hot water, and radiant floor heat.

Above...panels with morning frost...below...frost quickly melts away...even in sub zero temperatures.

Cold in Wisconsin, but Sunny

2010-12-13T12:36:00.002-06:00

(frost melting off our solar hot water array)
Yes it is cold outside...-11F with the windchill, but we are warm inside with no additional heating source today other than the sun.
At noon today I measured the incoming solar fluid temperature to be 122F. When the sun is shining there is no need to chop wood or fire up the propane boiler. We are warm and toasty today. Thank you SUN!

Solar Heat in Wisconsin

2010-12-08T09:51:00.003-06:00

At 9am this morning it was 7F degrees outside, but not a cloud in the sky. The solar fluid pumping into the domestic hot water and radiant floor heat was 95F degrees. Now at 10am it is 9F degrees outside and the solar fluid temp is 105F degrees.

On days like these the house will see a high temperature of 70F degrees.

This morning the panels were frost covered, but it doesn't take long for the frost to melt away and the solar electric panel to start pumping the hot fluid in the house.

In the summertime this system has over 400' of shunt to dissipate the heat and prevent the system from overheating, but still keep the domestic hot water nice and HOT.

Solar Thermal BEC Solar Controllers For Sale

2010-11-09T07:42:00.005-06:00

We now sell BEC Solar Controllers for Solar Thermal applications. They are manufactured to our specifications for custom solar thermal control.

The BEC Solar Controller allows the ability to combine multiple heating inputs from solar, geothermal, wood, fossil fuel, etc., with multiple loads from low temperature through high temperature applications.

A multitude of adjustable functions and options are possible using 7 relay outputs and 10 sensor inputs for Pt1000, CS10 and V40. Due to its intelligent and easy-to-understand system configuration and its integrated calorimeter, the controller also offers the control of complex systems with up to 4 weather-compensated heating circuits. For data communication and remote maintenance, the controller is equipped with a VBus, which permits two-way communication between modules, PCs or dataloggers.

Contact us today, becsolar@gmail.com, to purchase your new solar controller or consultation for your custom solar thermal system.

Solar Hot Water System for Local B&B

2010-11-05T07:24:00.003-05:00

We installed this 5 panel Solar Hot water system along with the solar electric array at the Fountain Chateau B&B in Hustler, WI. We had help this past summer from two interns from Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids, Jeff Dillow and Nick Schoenoff.

These five solar hot water panels were manufactured by Bubbling Springs Solar
in Menomonie, WI. The solar hot water is pumped to the solar storage tank via a solar electric panel and DC pump. The pump is a March Manufacturing pump made in Illinois. This system is completely independent of any outside sources of power or fuel for it's operation.
The solar heat fluid is delivered to this 200 gallon insulated solar thermal storage tank with a custom built heat exchanger and should provide up to 60% of this B&B's domestic hot water needs.

21st Midwest Renewable Energy Fair

2010-06-26T05:36:00.003-05:00

Thanks to all who came out to visit our booth at the 21st Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Custer, WI this past weekend.

It was good to see new and familiar faces.

2.94kW Solar Electric Array at the Fountain Chateau B&B

2010-04-18T08:03:00.013-05:00

This grid-tied solar electric array was installed at the Fountain Chateau Bed & Breakfast in scenic Hustler, Wisconsin.

The Fountain Chateau B&B is located right on the Omaha Bike Trail that runs from Camp Douglas, WI to Elroy, WI.

This B&B is a member of Travel Green Wisconsin, and the owner, Susanne Soltvedt, is delighted about the installation of this renewable energy system for her business and promoting green travel in our beautiful state.

The panels are set at a 45 degree tilt to shed winter snow loads and to optimize year-round production in Wisconsin. This array is estimated to produce nearly 4,000 kW per year.

Solar Works in Wisconsin

2010-03-25T06:19:00.003-05:00

The past few weeks have been very full for BEC Solar. The owner has taken and passed his Master Electrician Certification exam and is now enrolled in a two week training to be a RESNET (Residential Energy Services Network) certified Home Energy Rater (HER).

In the meantime, we found a great blog post written by PamelaCargill for RenewableEnergyWorld.com . Pamela does a fine job of stating and rebuking the common misconceptions about solar power in a colder climate. The article is geared towards folks in the Northeast, but you'll see it's applicable to the Midwest as well.

Why Solar Works Where It Snows
by Pamela Cargill
I've been hearing objections for years against solar energy in the Northeast.

* It's too expensive.
* It's not reliable.
* No one will be around to support it.
* We get too much snow- it doesn't work in the winter.

These objections come on the heels of bad experiences many homeowners had under the Carter years when solar domestic hot water systems were installed at a breakneck pace by companies of varying degrees of reputability, with even more varying degrees of workmanship and integrity. These homeowners instilled the distrust and malaise to their children, who grew up in homes with these sometimes completely broken systems. Many of these homeowners were completely abandoned and in the dark after the installation was complete, with no idea if their system was working or not. It was the Wild, Wild West days of solar.

And then the Sheriff came to town.

Regan pulled the plug and the solar tax credits that have built up the industry came to a screeching halt. Most of the companies fell off the turnip truck like an accident during harvest season. The industry in the Northeast crashed and the road was a mess.

Only a few companies survived these bleak days, usually through clever service contracts, branching out to passive solar work or creativelty partnering and developing new programs and seeking out new renewable energy opportunities throughout the region.

Now what?

Solar is back thanks to creative financing options, great rebate and tax credits, and the international support of top-notch manufacturing and material science. However, the distrust has not subsided. The burn felt from the early maelstrom of activity has not been easily forgotten.

In the Northeast, where fuel oil prices are poised to rise significantly again, where electricity rates are some of the highest in the nation and rising rapidly, there is no better time to better examine these objections than now.

1. It's too expensive.

The cost of inaction is even more expensive, but much harder to quantify in a simple way. However, the good news is that due to the rising costs of fuel oil and electricity, the falling costs of solar equipment, and the increased level of employee training and certification for installers are all contributing to making solar much more cost effective.

Even further, financing programs like power purchase agreements (PPAs) and residential solar electricity programs like SunRun are making solar a low-cost, low-to-no-risk proposition. If you could put a complete solar electric system on your home or business for less than $3,000, would you consider doing it today?

2. It's not reliable.

Sure as the sun comes up every morning, solar energy is there working for you. The question of reliability is really a question of "how do I know if it is actually working?" Just think, would you drive a car with no fuel gage or spedometer? The great news is many companies are offering easy-to-use and understand monitoring equipment that can help you see real time data about the performance of either your solar electric or solar hot water system. You'll know immediately if something is wrong. In many cases, systems can automatically notify your installer of a problem before you even know. Monitoring technology has come a long way since the 1970's to help people have a little peace of mind.

3. No one will be around to support it.

Many companies providing solar energy solutions have or are building full support and service centers to help customers understand problems with their systems or just to be there when confusion arises. Installers are improving their websites; taking notes from the successes in the IT industry and providing online databases of frequently asked questions, online support forums, user forums, and much more.

Many companies, too, are at the point where they have a significant history behind them- 10, 20, even 30 years of combined experience in installation, program management, and industry experitise. Do your homework on your installer if you are worried about whether or not they will be there for you in 5 years or 20 years.

4. We get too much snow- it doesn't work in the winter.

Many people in the Northeast don't realize that we have a wonderful solar resource available. In fact, Germany, arguably the world leader in acceptance and deployment of photovoltaics, receives less average solar insolation anually than the Northeast.[*]

So while it snows in the winter, just remember- after the snow falls, the sun comes out and the sky is clearer than on those hazy July days. Soon the snow will be sliding right off your panels and you'll be back to producing clean, renewable power. The average roof pitch of most Northeast homes is quite ideal to solar installation, too, and will encourage snow to shed from panels.

Examine your objections. Make the right choice.

There are many more reasons why people object to solar power, but as the industry and its people supporting it continue to provide better service, offer better financial deals, and continue to exceed the expectations of the doubting public we hope you will join us a become another gleaming solar roof from space and a proud part of our clean energy future.

BEC is a GeoComfort Dealer

2010-03-07T15:18:00.005-06:00

We're very excited to offer our customers the best in geothermal system units. The last thing you want to do when installing a geothermal system is to install a cheap unit. These systems work hard! I've had to make numerous repairs to systems (not my installations!) that had cheap mechanical units.

All GeoComfort units have coated air coils that prevent corrosion, enhancing reliability and life expectancy. They are equipped with a durable stainless steel drain pan, which means no corrosion and a long life span.

Geocomfort uses only Copeland scroll compressors. This proven compressor technology ensures better reliability due to fewer moving parts. Digital controls insure proper operation and a variety of field selectable settings for each installation. Advanced safety controls help protect the equipment.

A hot water generator is standard with all GeoComfort units. This allows the capture of free unused heat, typically cutting hot water costs by 30 - 50%.

All GeoComfort units come equipped with an oversized, rifled coaxial water heat exchanger for increased surface area, providing significantly higher efficiencies than required by Energy Star or ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) standard 90.1

Installing a GeoComfort system in your home is equivalent to removing two cars, and the pollution they create, from the road.

Installing a GeoComfort system in your home is equivalent to planting a full acre of new trees.

Sunny February Days

2010-02-21T11:56:00.005-06:00

Have you ever noticed that we do have a significant amount of sunny days, in Wisconsin, in February?

As the days are getting longer I'm noticing that my southern facing home is staying warmer thanks to the four 4'x10' solar thermal collectors that are helping to heat our radiant floor and domestic hot water.

Even in our darkest month of December, Madison, WI receives an average of 3.9 sun hours per day. In July it shoots up to 10.7 sun hours per day. Wisconsin averages about 7.2 hours of sunlight per day, or about 2635 hours of sunlight per year.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has a great set of maps showing the insolation amounts across the United States. Here is a map for the month of February.

Insolation sounds like insulation, but it has a completely different definition. Insolation is derived from three words: incidence of solar radiation, and these maps from NREL measure the amount of insolation each state receives in terms of kilowatt-hours per square meter per day.

For me, this is a comforting thought as we gear up for more warmer and sunnier days.

Here is another neat sun hour map for the United States:

Met with Renewable Energy Students

2010-02-17T20:28:00.002-06:00

We had a great day meeting with many future RE & Energy Efficiency field workers. We're very excited and looking forward to working with them on upcoming renewable energy projects this summer! Thanks for taking time to chat with us today, we are pleased with the enthusiastic turn-out.

Support the Wisconsin Clean Energy Jobs Act!

2010-02-10T08:52:00.005-06:00

ATTEND A KEY PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE WI CLEAN ENERGY JOBS ACT

The Clean Energy Jobs Act (AB 649/SB 450) was introduced January 7, 2010. The bill, sponsored by four legislative committee chairs (Sens. Miller and Plale, Reps. Soletski and Black) incorporates several energy-related policies recommended by Governor Doyle’s Global Warming Task Force. If adopted, it would increase the state’s Renewable Energy Standard to 25% by 2025. It would institute renewable energy buyback rates that would stimulate the installation of smaller-scale renewable generation. The bill also expands the list of eligible renewable energy energy resources to include solar hot water systems, solar light fixtures, biomass heating systems, and renewable natural gas (from dairy sources).

The last public hearing on the Clean Energy Jobs Act will be held in the Assembly Committee on Clean Energy Jobs Monday, February 15, 2010 at 10:00 AM at the State Capitol in Madison, RM 412E.

The Sierra Club, John Muir Chapter (Wisconsin), has an easy way for you to register your support online. If you can attend this hearing, then you can testify in person.

The Sierra Club states that legislators have told them that they are not hearing enough from their constituents on the need to take action on climate change in Wisconsin- especially young people who will be most impacted by climate change. They are hearing daily from lobbyists who oppose clean energy.

Please show your support for this important legislative act in Wisconsin.

This notice came thanks to the Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter (Wisconin) and RENEW Wisconsin.

Stressing Energy Efficiency

2010-02-08T21:40:00.004-06:00

Welcome!

We hope to provide weekly insights into our business and news about our passion: Renewable Energy.

For our first post we decided to write about energy efficiency. We believe energy efficiency is the single most important step toward creating better renewable energy systems. Energy efficiency is the ability to perform the same energy functions, but to do it in the most efficient manner. Energy efficiency can be accomplished through maintenance, design, and technology. It is slightly different from energy conservation, which is also important. For example, if a building needs to use a central AC unit to cool then installing a newer, more efficient, Energy Star approved central AC unit would be an efficiency measure. Turning the thermostat temperature up during cooling season would be a conservation measure.

Efficiency improvements can have staggering effects. According to Citizen Power, a public policy research, education and advocacy organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, if all central AC units in the United States are replaced with ones that are 20% to 30% more efficient that would save the amount of energy generated from approximately 46 300 MW power plants. That's incredible...That's efficiency.

At BEC Solar, our focus and main goal for our business has centered around building efficiency measures for our customers. It is why we named this business Building Energy Controls, LLC. Implementing energy efficient measures should be first and foremost.

We help our customers analyze their current energy use and help them by suggesting improvements. Improving efficiency first will significantly improve the performance and return on investment potential of any renewable energy installation. In homes and businesses efficiency can be improved by taking weatherization measures, upgrading lighting, and upgrading to Energy Star approved appliances.

We've found that the group Citizen Power has some compelling information about the stunning impacts of efficiency improvements. Here are a few of our favorites and most pertinent to what we recommend to our customers:

If you replaced your 75-watt incandescent lightbulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent, you'd get the same amount of light but save 1,300 pounds of CO2 and $55.

Using an automatic thermostat to save energy when you are away from home

Saving even a conservative 1 kW per new home and 10 kW per new commercial building means that in 2020, we can avoid another 100 300-MW powerplants.

If each household in the U.S. replaced four 100-watt bulbs with compact fluorescents, we would save the energy output of 30 300-MW powerplants.

Efficiency first is also key in new building construction. Designing the new building to incorporate passive solar, solar thermal, solar electricity, and geothermal systems is key. Designing them in a way to utilize these systems to their fullest potential and most efficient manner is vital and the proper placement of these systems is critical to their operational efficiency.

For example, the central air-conditioning compressor for the building should be located on the shady side of the building to minimize how hard it would have to work in the full sun. Studies show that shading a compressor can shave 1% to 2% off cooling costs. It is also critical to efficiency to make sure that there is proper air flow over the compressor's coils, so placement away from fences, shrubs, and anything else that might block airflow should be at least two feet away.

Taking simple steps like:

Opening drapes and curtains on sunny winter days to take advantage of the sun’s heating power, and then, closing all drapes, blinds or shades at night in the winter to make use of their insulating properties.

Installing ceiling fans can save energy in both the summer and the winter. In the summer, fan blades should revolve in a counterclockwise direction. In winter months, set your fan at its slowest speed and reverse it in order to push warm air down.

Fill empty spaces in your refrigerator and freezer with water jugs. You’ll save energy and money because it takes more energy to run an empty refrigerator and freezer than a full one.

The above are just a few considerations and steps to take when incorporating energy efficiency.

We'd love to have feedback on this, our first blog post, and ideas for future posts. Thanks for reading!