Harvesting Energy:
In December 2008 we installed 84 photovoltaic solar panels to create
a 14.2 KW array. Our system was activated in December 2008.
Our goal is to provide up to half of our total energy needs
from the sun. We have been surprised to see how much
electricity is generated by our system, even on cloudy
winter days. This summer we hope to generate far more than
we use and bank the extra generation to use as a credit
towards next winter’s electrical needs. Our system is a
grid-tied system meaning that excess energy that we produce
is sent back to the electric grid offsetting the need for
our supplier, Portland General Electric, to produce and
transmit as much electricity as they did before our system
was installed.
In our first full year of operation,
we generated over 20 megawatts of electricity. |
For over two years we have looked seriously at the
advantages of wind power to augment our solar generation,
especially in the winter months. Currently, the incentives
are not good enough to make it pencil out. We will continue
to study the situation. There are some very interesting
vertical wind turbines that would fit our site and take
advantage of the good wind profile that we have.
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