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2011 Solar Home Tour - Peninsula, 1 October 2011

Intro and map –

Note: An address for each location will be provided after registration.

Bus Tour: (marked with an "**" )

1P Virginia Living Museum (leave 10:45),

3P Dolan House,

5P Cuker/Gerbing,

7P Gardens Atrium of Poquoson

** Site 1P - Virginia Living Museum - This site is available for tour from 10:00 to 10:45 AM only.

Features: The Living Green House has PV system, solar water heater, radiant heating, interactive fountain, day-lighting, passive solar architectural design elements.

Admission is waived for this hour only. The new Living Green House demonstrates many renewable technologies and is a great place to start your tour. 3-200 watt solar PV panels connect to the grid. An evacuated tube type solar water heater connects to a radiant floor heating system embedded in the slab concrete floor; portions are visible for the guests to view. Over 25 other green building techniques/products are also on display in this demonstration house. http://www.thevlm.org/living-green.aspx.

The tour is scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM. Participants need to arrive on time at the museum admission area. The group will not be charged for the tour which should last 45-60 minutes.

We will be announcing the winner of the Cabiroy “Energy2Equity” Challenge (http://energy2equity.wordpress.com/) at this tour.

The guided bus tour for Saturday will be leaving from the Virginia Living Museum Parking lot at 11AM.

Site 1P

Site 1P Solar Panels

2P. Elber House - Features: Solar hot water, Solar PV.

Site 2P

** 3P. Dolan House - Features: Solar PV

The home has an 8100 watt photovoltaic system consisting of 30 SunTech 270W panels with a pair of Solectria Inverters that produce an average of 33.4kWh of electricity per day. It meets over 115% of the homes electrical needs via net metering on an annual basis. The system was brought online Feb 2010. The home is in an historic district which limits certain energy efficiency improvements. This tour is outside only.

Site 3P

4P. Royer Technical Services - This home has a Skystream wind turbine (the only wind turbine on our tour) and 25 Sharp PV modules of various kW ratings and mounting configurations, pole, raised seam roofing and flat. All of the modules are using the Enphase micro inverter, which provides for real time web based monitoring. There will also be information provided about a heat recovery unit, which heats your hot water using the refrigerant hot gases from your A/C or heat pump unit.

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** 5P. Cuker /Gerbing Home - This home has a PV system consisting of twenty 220 watt PV panels (by Solar Power), installed by Solar Solutions of VA. The owner designed and built a novel adjustable solar awning for ten of the panels on the south side of the house. The awning is made of 5 units, each supporting 2 PV panels. The awning adjusts for changes in seasonal solar angle. It also provides nice shade for the lower floor windows. The second bank of ten panels is on an east-facing roof. The 4.3KW system supplies the entire electrical needs of the house for the year. The house also features solar hot water, and an owner designed and installed "heat wall" that warms the back addition from fall through spring. Investing in PV has motivated other conservation efforts as well: Clothes lines were also installed on the back porch allowing the electric dryer to stop being used, and the family has two Prius automobiles.

NOTE: This home will not be available for the tour after 3PM

Site 5P

6P. NASA Langley Building 2101 – To tour this site you must register 2 weeks in advance at our web site or 214-6732, giving your name, country of birth, and citizenship. NASA will screen all candidates and unacceptable security risks may be denied. Only two tours will given, at 12:00 and 1:00 PM, so be punctual. Park at the Badging Lot to the right of the main gate and the NASA guide will meet you there.

You will be shown the new LEED-certified Administration building, which features a green roof, rainwater retention, ground source heat pumps, pervious pavement, daylighting, PV panels and PV film. The large PV array used to partially power the Badging office will also be seen. It also won the 2011 Best Green Building Award in Engineering News Record’s southeast region. A blog post announcing this year’s winners is at www.Southeast.Construction.com.

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** 7P. Garden Atriums of Poquoson - Features: “Net Zero” home, Passive solar heating, PV system, Rainwater harvesting, Eco-friendly décor, Xeriscaping, Day-lighting.

The house is cluster zoned to maximize land use. It is heated 100% by passive solar heating, and 100% of the electricity needs are met by photovoltaics. 95% of the water needs are met via rainwater harvesting. No off-gassing materials were used; it has zero VOC paints, dye-free carpets, and solid wood cabinets. The CO2 level is kept the same as outdoors via broad-leafed plants, and oxygen levels are much higher than outdoors. Air toxins are eliminated via indoor plants. The site is terraced to maximize water absorption; no irrigation is needed. Day-lighting is maximized for better eye health, and windows are minimized for improved sound insulation and quietness. Recycled granite veneers and wood floors are used throughout.

Site 7P

Site 7P_Inside

8P. Ward House -Features: PV System, Solar water heating system, Ground-sourced heat pump and rainwater collection system.

The PV system which was originally installed in July 2009 with 16 Sunpower - 215 watt panels and a 5000 watt inverter provided 3720 kilowatts which was 25 percent of the household electricity use for the first year. In July 2010 8 more Sunpower panels were added to bring the system up to 24 - 215 watt panels producing 5547 kilowatts or 39 percent of the household electricity use for the year. The solar water heating system was installed in 2006 and has produced water temperatures as high as 165 degrees in the summer and 100 degrees in the winter. The "homemade" 600 gallon rainwater collection system captures rain from three downspouts and will refill with 1/2 inch of rain. With this rainwater supply, we rarely have to use the house water supply to water the plants. In April 2011 the oil fired heat, water heater and standard central air conditioner systems were replaced with a ground-source heat pump system using four 200 foot deep wells for heating and cooling.

Site 8P Solar

Site 8P_Thermal

Site 8P_Cistern

9P. Sizemore House - Features: Solar hot water, Solar PV

This home has a solar hot water system installed in 2006 and a second collector was added in spring 2010. A grid-tied solar photovoltaic system (3.2 KW capacity, 16 panels) was installed in spring 2010. Both systems were installed by Solar Services of Virginia Beach. In the first month after installation, our net electricity usage was two-thirds less than the same month a year ago. With federal tax credit and state rebate, we expect to recover our investment in about seven years.

Site 9P Solar

10P. Franck Home - Features: PV System, Ground-sourced heat pump, Energy efficiency.

This home has three solar PV arrays containing a total of 36 Shuco 210 V MAU-1 panels. This 7.5 kw system generates on average about 26 kwh per day. It also has a closed loop ground source heat pump. Energy efficiency features include: Triple layer insulation system in the roof and exterior walls, conditioned crawl space, low-e windows, and tankless water heater. It was completed May 2010. See more at www.shellbanksolar.com

Site 10P

11P. Lee Home – Positioned on the main channel of Cobham Bay in Williamsburg, the Lee’s home and dock solar installations are visible representations of what each of us can do to produce our own energy from renewable sources. The marine solar array on the dock powers their boat lifts. When the dock isn’t using all of the solar energy produced, the excess is fed back to the main house where there is another solar installation. Their (34) solar panels are Made in the USA and form a 7.99kW solar array. The system uses micro-inverters so you can see what each panel is producing at any time. It is all monitored by both Urban Grid and the Lee's via an online web portal. This tour is outdoor only.

Site 11P house

Site 11P Boat House

12P. Compass Rose - Features: Solar PV, Solar Hot water, ICF construction, water conservation, daylighting.

Go to www.nettrekinc.com/taxfreehome/ to see the many features of this home. It contains a 4 kW Solar PV, Solar hot water panels capable of 350,000 btu, Radiant floor heating using the solar heated water, and ICF block construction with Icynene spray-in foam. Landscaping (using drought tolerant plants) slows water run off and rain barrels are in place. Solar tubes, natural lighting, and CFL are used in all rooms. The high efficiency of house results in an annual electric bill of ZERO. The home was designed and built by the owners.

Site 12P House

Site 12P_Pouring

Site 12P_Radiant Floor

Site 12P_Thermal

13P – Morant House - Features: PV, solar attic fan

This Home has a Westinghouse 4.55kw 26 panel PV system installed by Future Renovations, Inc. in April. It features online monitoring and has capabilities of online thermostat setting for the HVAC system. This house also employs a solar attic fan which also keeps the energy bills low. The electricity bill has not exceeded $40 ever since the install.

Site 13P Morant House