Let the sun shine in!
On February 6, 2012, our Eastside Harvest House project (formerly called the Northwest Harvest House) flipped the switch on the home’s solar photovoltaic (PV) system.
Solar PV systems collect solar energy from the sun and convert it to electricity that feeds back into a building site or into our power grid. The home’s utility is Puget Sound Energy who credits the homeowners for the energy the solar system generates that they push back into the grid. A Washington state incentive production tax credit of $0.34 plus .105 savings from PSE results in a net benefit is $0.45 per kWh for the homeowner.
Using part of the first day as an example and extrapolating the results for 24 hours, the system should produce 12,000 watts of electrical power per day. Based on occupant lifestyle as well as historical and regional usage and capacity data supplied by energy management companies, this projected production will be more than enough to power the entire home’s appliances and systems.
Homeowners’ goals and the energy team’s design created a system that has a 17kWh capacity. Variables include weather, roof angles, efficiency of panels, backup storage. Daily results may vary.
This is a huge milestone in moving this soon-to-be-completed, high-performance home toward its net zero-energy goals. Currently, there is a drive toward net-zero-energy certification that would require 12-month occupancy to monitor live results before issuing the new Z certificate.
Please contact us anytime to learn more about solar and other high performance home features on the Eastside Harvest House.
