Rebecca Waldo

Sunpower recently chose Waldo Renewable Electric, LLC as their newest Connecticut solar dealer. Sunpower has the highest efficiencies of any pv panel on the market. Market reports show Sunpower holds the highest percentage of the solar market above any other solar manufacturer. Waldo Renewable Electric, LLC is proud to install Sunpower products.

Sunpower has financing options for Connecticut residents. A solar loan is currently available for Connecticut homeowners and a solar lease will be available to Connecticut homeowners starting in the Spring of 2012.

The Clean Energy Finace and Investment announced the proposed funding for 2012 residential projects. Connecticut homeowners will be elgible for up to $3.49/watt. The rebate will help residential pv projects get five year paybacks. The first block of funding is slated to open February 1, 2012. This funding will be exhausted quickly - the rebate amount is much higher than we have had in the last couple years.

Merry Christmas!

Funding for commercial and affordable housing solar photovoltaic projects will be closing December 30, 2011. The Best of Class on site renewable distributed generation program offers up front capitol to offset the installation costs of a solar photvoltaic project.

The Clean Energy Finnace and Investment Authority (CEFIA) is funding the program. Their website is www.ctcleanenergy.com.

As part of the CEFIA Best of Class application interested parties need to conduct an energy audit and have a P.E. sign off that the roof is capable of holding the solar panels.

Much of Connecticut is out of power due to the fall nor’easter that came through this past weekend. In the summer it was easier to live without power, as temperatures were comfortable for most of us. However at the end of October most of us have the heat on. The only way to get heat in a power outage is to have a back up system. There are a lot of options when it comes to back up systems; manual transfer switch generators, automatic transfer switch generators, solar battery back up systems, battery back up systems, etc.

The cheapest option is the manual transfer switch for a 5000-watt generator. An electrician can wire one in 4-8 hours. Electrical material costs about $500 and a 5000-watt generator can be purchased for $500-1500.

An automatic transfer switch for an 8000-watt generator is the most convenient method. This back up system will automatically transfer to using backup power as soon as the utility power is down. This will cost about $4,500 plus this system requires a gas hookup. A gas company will install a tank and fill it regularly as part of their service.

A solar battery back up system is the easiest on the environment, but can cost much more than a back up generator. The cost depends on what needs to be backed up. For instance heat, water, and refrigeration are the most common emergency loads. Heat and refrigeration are easy loads for a backup system to handle, but water is not. Well pumps draw lot electricity and would require several batteries. For just heat and lighting loads a system starts at $3,000, but depending how many loads are added to the system it could go as high as $30,000.

Mark Waldo talks with Keven Hogan, Channel 3 News, about backup power.