Western employees soak up the sun

Tyler Rock stands in his backyard in Colorado, pretending to hold the sun, as the solar panels on top of his roof absorbs the rays.

By Jennifer Neville, public affairs specialist

[Editor's note: This story originally ran in The Closed Circuit, Western's employee newsletter.]

Jim Ashurst of Western's Desert Southwest Region (DSW), in Phoenix, and Debbie Rock of the Golden, Colo.-based Corporate Services Office (CSO) are soaking up the power of the sun to help support their homes' energy demands. Both have installed photovoltaic solar system on their houses within the last six months.

"We decided to look into the cost of solar back in April 2008," said Rock, CSO Energy Services' technical support technician, whose husband Steve Rock is a Western electrical engineer. "Our son Tyler's 3rd grade teacher and one of Steve's friends were very excited to show us their systems. Their enthusiasm wore off on me, and I had to find out all that I could."

For Ashurst, a DSW electronic equipment craftsman, the beginning of his quest for solar power came a few summers ago when he opened his electric bill. "I got a wake-up call in the form of a power bill for $360." He decided to put his idea into action this year after Congress passed the Stimulus Bill, which offered a tax credit of 30 percent of the installation cost. An added benefit is that his utility, Arizona Public Service, pays him $3 per watt of generation capacity, which made the idea of bringing solar power to his home irresistible.

Yet Ashurst's environmental consciousness also played a part. "As a citizen of planet earth, I am very concerned about the impact on the environment. So, on one level, going solar is a vote to turn to cleaner alternative energy.

On a more personal level, it is a way to insulate my family from increasing energy costs." By April 8, his system had generated 961 kWh.

Costly or not?

While the cost of installing a home solar system can take time to recoup, homeowners can see lower energy bills right away, as well as the tax credits and an increase in their home value. "Once it's in, you'll never have to pay more for the power you are generating yourself," explained Ashurst. "Nobody can raise your rates on that part of your energy consumption, and it's a passive system, so the ongoing costs are few."

Another benefit is that maintenance and upkeep are relatively low. "Once in a while, I'll need to go hose the panels down to knock the worst of the dust off," Ashurst said. "You can't think of the expense, you have to think of it as an investment," he continued. "Of course, it will take several years to recoup the cost," he said.

Rock said they are seeing benefits right away. "We are already recouping our money since our utility pays for a portion of the system and we will receive the Federal tax credit and have the tree trimming provided by the solar company. It is predicted that we will recoup the cost of the system in five years, but we can do it in three!"

Rock added that her son thinks it's great that the family produces its own electricity with its 3.06 kW solar PV system. Since they installed the system, Rock noted that "he has been learning about solar and wind in his 4th grade class," she said. "His school has a weather station for weather reports and science class discusses solar energy."

Plentiful sun

The 21 solar panels soak up the sun on Jim Ashurst's roof in Arizona.

Arizona and Colorado have many sunny days that help power the home solar systems. "Having solar here in Phoenix is a perfect match," said Ashurst. "Air conditioners are one of the biggest drains to the grid, along with clothes dryers." Many Arizona consumers track their energy use since the utility charges more for energy during peak hours. "The local power company installed a net meter so it can keep track of how much power is used, as well as how much power I feed back into the grid," Ashurst explained. "With this system, the energy we are producing on hot summer days will offset the energy we use, so we don't have to manage our energy use as actively."

When asked what she does on Colorado cloudy days, Rock joked, "When was the last time we had a cloudy day?" But both Ashurst and Rock don't worry about cloudy days because they are still connected to the grid. "Our house receives electricity from two sources, so a cloudy day does not change our plans…we just draw more current from the electrical grid.

She continued, "Besides, in Colorado we have so many sunny days, wouldn't it be great for anyone to produce their own electricity?" Rock asked rhetorically.

Working with the utility

In Colorado, the local utility has to approve the system and its connections. "Xcel was great to work with," said Rock. "All projects have a story," she added, noting that their system includes solar readings that were done when there were no leaves on the trees. Consequently, the utility predicted they would have quite a massive system with no tree trimming required.

"During installation, the solar contractor delayed the project because of two large trees to the south that now had leaves," she continued. "We received a good tree trimming on these old trees and have lots of firewood for whenever we have another cold winter. The solar people made the adjustments without a fuss."

For Ashurst, the solar company analyzed his energy use last year and gave him two estimates—one for a solar system to cover 100 percent of electrical costs and the other to cover 50 percent of the costs. "We went with the 50-percent—a 4,800-watt system, which we can always expand on later," he said.

Since Ashurst's system came online March 10, it has produced about 30 kilowatthours of electricity every day. "One thing that struck home was that the power company set up the disconnect switch with its padlock and two tags," he said. "If they ever need to work in the area with the power out, they will treat that disconnect as part of their switching and lockout/tag out system just as we do when we are working in substations."

Spreading the idea

Both Ashurst and the Rock family have taken other steps to make their homes more energy efficient, including exchanging all of their standard light bulbs for compact florescent light bulbs. Ashurst is looking at adding a solar-powered water heater and the Rocks have added insulation in their attic. Rock also brought home a device that showed where the house was losing the most heat: "Darn fireplace!" she remarked.

Yet, these Western employees are not alone in the search for solar. "Our friends decided to get a solar system and it was installed just last month," said Rock. "When you drive home from work, you do notice there are others with new solar panels and some with older panels that you did not notice before."

Ashurst added, "I'm sure my neighbors will be asking down the road about what I've done and how much it costs and how much I've saved. I've seen other homes with solar around the city. Heck, even DSW has solar water heater panels on its roof. It's the way of the future, and I'm glad to be helping."

Resources

Desert Southwest Region

Corporate Services Office

Arizona Public Service

Xcel

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