Category: Idaho Solar

I love getting out and telling people about what solar hvac can do to help them save on energy costs!
People are always amazed to hear how efficient our systems are; while they can see the benefits of whole home holistic services now they often overlook the fact that the savings lead well into the future!

A recent study  which analyzed about 22,000 home sales (with just under 4,000 of which were solar homes) across 8 states between 1999 and 2013, showed an average price premium of about $4 per watt of installed solar PV, with an average price premium of about $15,000 for a solar home with a typical system (3.6kW) installed.

In addition, one of the best investments that you can make for your IRA or retirement is Solar. By investing in solar you are stabilizing your energy costs for the future! You won’t have to worry about your income keeping up with the increasing energy costs when you’re getting your energy from the sun. These savings are tax free and will pay dividends on a monthly basis as well. Our Whole Home Holistic Solutions for homes generally payback in less than 8 years — that’s even with estimating a 5% energy escalator.

Please consider this as part of your investment strategy! Solar in Idaho has never made more sense! Call: 208-577-6537 for a FREE solar site visit.

Renewable Energy NW, LLC completed another “affordable solar solution” for a great family in New Plymouth ID.  The project included an energy efficient American Standard air to air heat pump, a variable speed blower, an efficient media air filter system, a humidifier, an on-demand electric hot water heater and a two panel solar thermal system for heating the hot water and assisting on comfort heating.

The complete system is saving the customers more than 50% on their utility costs for their home.  The air quality is significantly better with a consistent humidity and clean filtered air.

This install is a great example of a holistic renewable energy solution that will provide affordable, efficient and clean comfort for you home for years and years.

 

In May we installed 8 Lava solar thermal units in a car wash in Idaho. The Lava units have a 50 gallon insulated non pressurized tank to store the energy collected during the day. The energy is then consumed heating the hot water for the car wash.

The energy can also be used in the winter to assist heating the radiant floor system for the car wash bays.

We also installed a Hi-bred water storage system in the mechanical room with a 95% efficient boiler.  The project funding was  assisted with the help of a USDA REAP Grant of 25% and a US Treasury Grant of 30%.

The owner of the  car wash is very happy with the savings and performance of the system.

The car wash is able to turn the natural gas off in March and then turn the gas back on in October due to the increased energy heating the radiant floors.

– See more at: https://www.renewableenergynwllc.com/blog/solar-water-heating-car-wash#sthash.aYcQGrmz.dpuf

One of the biggest challenges for for most dairy farmers in the Magic Valley is to chill the fresh milk in the holding tank as quickly and as gently as possible. Doing so maximizes the milk-fat percent in the saleable milk.  This is hopefully accomplished with an energy-efficient chiller which then captures the heat offset using free heaters to pre-heat the water for process clean-up.  The next opportunity is heating the rest of the process water which needs to be 180 degrees for clean-ups.

Renewable Energy NorthWest, LLC (RENW) of Star, Idaho and Progressive Dairy Service (PDS) of Jerome, Idaho recently partnered together to tackle these issues in a collaborative method at the Dairy Farm of William Bokma in Twin Falls, Idaho..  PDS is in the process of installing new Mueller chillers and compressors at the Bokma Dairy  and are expected to save the operation $2,500 per year in energy costs over the current system.  The big gain on the new chilling system comes in the improvement in the milk-fat percentage in the milk. The project expects to improve the milk-fat percentage by 15%.   A new free heater is also being installed to capture the heat that is generated in the chilling process.

Renewable Energy NorthWest just completed their portion of this project by installing 20 – 30 tube evacuated panels. The new panels are  expected to generate 1,000 gallons of 180 degree water on a daily basis.  During the commissioning period and after some modifications on the current water flow process, the milk tank wash down hit 158 degrees. The usual tank washes were 140 degrees.  The 158 degree wash was accomplished with free energy from the sun.  Each solar thermal panel offsets approximately three tons of carbon each year of production.   The expected life of the system is twenty years or offsetting 1,200 tons of carbon.

This Renewable Energy Solution project is funded in part by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).  The expected payback on the project including all the equipment discussed in this article – is less than six months after grants and incentives.   The College of Southern Idaho (CSI) in Twin Falls, Idaho  was represented in the project with three students and two  faculty members from the Renewable Energy Program.  The students and faculty members were able to see, assist and learn that this program provides the best return value on investment for available renewable energy products.  One of the students commented,  “It’s good to get some hands-on experience with this product.”

 

The chillers were just installed and initially we are seeing great results.  Prior to the project the milk would enter the holding tanks at 84 degrees.   The milk is now entering at 37 degrees.  We are all excited to see the improvement gains for this project.