Islander
seeks energy independence
December 23, 2004
By Martha Shaw
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Larry
Schubert in front of a solar electric system, catching some
rays for a waterfront residence in Vineyard Haven.
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If there is one thing that New Englanders are known for, it’s
their independent natures. Larry Schubert of West Tisbury is no
exception. Several years ago he decided to wean himself of his dependence
on the utility industry for energy at home – or at least to
minimize it. In the process, Larry has become the Island’s
main installer of racks for solar panels.
He made up his mind to do something different when the electricity
he was buying from NStar had reached 800 kilowatt-hours per month.
As a self-employed carpenter, he has an office and workshop in his
basement that requires lots of light and plenty of power. The house
also has a constant flow of energy-hungry teenagers. Living in a
dimly lit, under-powered home was not a viable option for the Schuberts.
To maintain the household’s lifestyle, he looked to energy
efficiency. His house is relatively new, with an efficient furnace,
Energy Star appliances, Thermopane windows and good insulation,
leaving few areas for improvement.
By simply switching out all his 60-watt and 100-watt conventional
incandescent light bulbs to 17-watt and 27-watt compact fluorescents,
he was able to get the same amount of light and cut the household’s
total energy consumption by 25 percent. He found the best prices
and the widest range of fluorescent styles — from lamp lights
to spotlights to floodlights — by ordering the bulbs online
from energyfederation.org.
At Town Meeting, Larry had heard about the free energy audit that
is available to every house on the Island from Cape Light Compact
(contact: 800-797-6699). The auditor who came to his house discovered
a loss of energy through the outside doors leading to the basement.
After sealing these leaks up with weather stripping, Larry felt
confident that he had come close enough to maximizing the home’s
efficiency.
His next step was to look into renewable energy production. The
way he sees it, every kilowatt-hour he can produce himself is one
more that he doesn’t have to buy. He contacted Kate Warner,
an architect and solar energy specialist in West Tisbury, to help
him assess how many kilowatt-hours he could generate on his roof
with photovoltaic (PV) cells. Kate and Larry placed a “solar
pathfinder” on the roof to determine the roof’s energy
potential, based on angle to the sun and obstructions casting shadows
at various times of the day and year. Solar panels ideally face
within 15 degrees of true south and must be unshaded from 9 am to
3 pm. It turned out that although there were several tall trees
to the east, and a dormer on the roof’s western slope, an eight-panel
solar array could adequately create electricity.
Kate and Larry decided on a 1,280 kilowatt-hour system consisting
of racks, an inverter and an eight-panel array of 160-watt solar
panels, each panel generating a little more than 160 kilowatt-hours/year.
The cost of the system was $10,500. Of that, a $4,280 rebate was
available through the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust’s
subsidy program.
Today the Schuberts’ roof makes an average of about 145 kilowatt-hours/month,
amounting to about 1,300 kilowatt-hours/year, which is more than
25 percent of the home’s annual energy usage.
A total of nearly 70 solar electric systems now exist on the Island.
Of them, more than 40 new systems were added in 2003 and 2004, including
the Edgartown School, West Tisbury School, Chilmark Community Center,
Aquinnah’s public restrooms, The Nature Conservancy at Hoft
Farm, Chilmark Chocolates, Cronig’s Healthy Additions, Steamship
Authority, and 30 private residences. These recent new systems will
provide the Island with about 84,000 kilowatt-hours per year, bringing
the Island’s total solar-generated electricity to an estimated
110,000 kilowatt-hours per year to date, with more on the way for
2005.
Larry Schubert hopes the trend toward energy independence on the
Island will continue. “I’m an outdoor person who enjoys
nature, so I feel good about producing my own energy, not just because
of the wonderful sense of independence it gives me, but because
it’s better for the environment and sets a good example for
the kids,” he says. “People have preconceived ideas about
how a roof should look, but my kids think the panels on our roof
are great. They like the blue swirls and they’re proud of them.”
If the popularity of solar panels continues to grow at the present
rate, some day rooftops may look odd without them. The world market
for photovoltaics grew a steady 30 percent in 2004, with Japan,
Germany and the United States representing about 75 percent of the
market. The variety of panel styles is growing as well, including
a more traditional looking solar roof slate. As energy prices climb
and, presumably, the cost of photovoltaic panels drops, we can expect
that harnessing the sun’s energy will become a way of life.
u
This article is sponsored by the Vineyard Energy Project through
a grant from the Department of Energy’s Million Solar Roofs
program. The Vineyard Energy Project promotes sustainable energy
choices through education, outreach and renewable energy projects
that serve as a model to other communities. Martha Shaw is a member
of Vineyard Unplugged, a citizens energy group organized after the
Community Energy Workshop in April 2003. For more information on
Island energy projects or how you can benefit by renewable energy
and energy efficiency, go to www.vineyard-unplugged.org. The Times
publishes these columns as a public service.
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