by jboullion | Oct 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
by Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
October 2009
After reviewing several proposals, Focus on Energy selected two locations for showcasing this particular solar energy application.
One of the Focus on Energy-funded demonstration sites is the Cooperative Educational Service Agency, located in Chippewa Falls.
Better known as CESA 10, this agency provides energy management services to 30 school districts in northwest Wisconsin. A low-rise building with plenty of unshaded roof space, the CESA 10 office presents an ideal setting to test a solar application that could very well be a good technology fi t for the schools served by this agency.
“We hope this installation will enable us to practice what we preach,” said Todd Wanous, an energy manager at CESA 10 and the driving force behind this demonstration. Placed in service in August 2009, CESA 10’s innovative installation features Wisconsin’s first example of a modular rooftop air heating system called SolarDuct®.
On the roof are three banks of corrugated collector panels, each connected to the building’s air handling system. The dark-colored panels are covered with ventilation holes that draw in outside air. Sunlight striking the panels warms the air passing through the holes. Through the ducts running behind the arrays, ventilation fans draw the preheated air into the building’s air handling system.
CESA 10’s SolarDuct® unit is designed to supplement, not replace, the natural gas furnaces that used to be the sole source of space heat.
However, this system does not necessitate additional fans or blowers to move the preheated air throughout the building. As a result, there is no parasitic energy loss to factor in.
Continued.
This article first appeared in Sustainable Times, October 2009
by jboullion | Oct 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in Sustainable Times:
After reviewing several proposals, Focus on Energy selected two locations for showcasing this particular solar energy application.
One of the Focus on Energy-funded demonstration sites is the Cooperative Educational Service Agency, located in Chippewa Falls.
Better known as CESA 10, this agency provides energy management services to 30 school districts in northwest Wisconsin. A low-rise building with plenty of unshaded roof space, the CESA 10 office presents an ideal setting to test a solar application that could very well be a good technology fi t for the schools served by this agency.
“We hope this installation will enable us to practice what we preach,” said Todd Wanous, an energy manager at CESA 10 and the driving force behind this demonstration. Placed in service in August 2009, CESA 10’s innovative installation features Wisconsin’s first example of a modular rooftop air heating system called SolarDuct®.
On the roof are three banks of corrugated collector panels, each connected to the building’s air handling system. The dark-colored panels are covered with ventilation holes that draw in outside air. Sunlight striking the panels warms the air passing through the holes. Through the ducts running behind the arrays, ventilation fans draw the preheated air into the building’s air handling system.
CESA 10’s SolarDuct® unit is designed to supplement, not replace, the natural gas furnaces that used to be the sole source of space heat.
However, this system does not necessitate additional fans or blowers to move the preheated air throughout the building. As a result, there is no parasitic energy loss to factor in.
by jboullion | Oct 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jim Dawson and Devin Powell on MinnPost.com:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Team members from the University of Minnesota were tense as they prepared their 565 square foot solar home for a visit by jurors from the engineering and lighting judging panels. Experts in their respective fields, the jurors’ visit would determine the team’s score for the aesthetics and functionality aspects of their design that cannot be properly evaluated by measurements alone.
The judges would also be taking comfort zone and appliance measurements, and the students were worried about every operational detail inside their $501,000 house.
The Minnesota team was in 7th place out of the 20 teams that built entirely solar-powered homes on the National Mall in downtown Washington as part of the Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon competition. . . .
At the other end of the Mall, the team from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was struggling. The team was in last place, and were struggling to get the house’s sliding doors to move smoothly on their tracks. Their house, valued at $485,000, had tabletops made out of pressed paper and cashew shells and the ability to warm up just from the heat of the people inside.
But its last-place standing reflected a 3-inch problem in the design.
“The west end of the house was 3 inches too tall to go through Indiana [on the transport trailer],” said Eric Davis, the project’s chief engineer. “So we had to go down through Illinois, then cross Kentucky.”
There was another height regulation problem when they got to the edge of Washington, and it took another 20 hours to finally get their structure to the National Mall. While the other teams were fine tuning their home’s systems, the Wisconsin team was still wearing hard hats and putting their house together.
“We missed the metering contest, so our score is down,” Davis said.
by jboullion | Oct 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
Students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee assemble their solar-powered house in preparation for the start of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2009 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, Oct. 06, 2009.
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee architecture and engineering students have erected one of 20 buildings in a solar village that has risen on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Over the past two years, the students designed a small, energy-efficient solar home on campus, as part of the Solar Decathlon competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
After being built on campus, the home was taken down in pieces and shipped to Washington, where it was put back together over the past week.
UWM is one of 20 teams selected to compete in the Solar Decathlon and is the first entrant in the competition from Wisconsin.
“We’re excited about it,” said Greg Thomson, assistant professor of architecture. “We’re happy to be there. There’s a big chunk of the Big Ten, and also teams that are made up of multiple universities.”
The competition is international – with teams funded in part by the governments of Germany and Spain.
The UWM home – named Meltwater – features 28 solar panels producing electricity and two solar panels powering a hot water system. The name was chosen because its design was inspired by the power of the sun to melt the glaciers and create the Great Lakes.
The students and faculty involved in the project designed a home that would be comfortable in Wisconsin’s climate.
The walls are extra thick and injected with more than twice the insulation of a typical Wisconsin home, Thomson said.
Photo by Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
by jboullion | Oct 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an announcement made by the U.S. Department of Energy:
The Solar Installer Instructor Training network promotes high-quality training in the installation of solar technologies. Nine regional resource and training providers support the professional development of trainers and instructors of solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar heating and cooling (SHC) technologies across the country. . . .
The nine winners were announced on October 8, 2009. The award amounts listed reflect the maximum possible amounts in total funding for each awardee, not only Recovery Act funds:
Midwest Renewable Energy Association, Inc. ($3,307,709)
The Midwest Renewable Energy Association will provide instructor development opportunities and organize a network of instructors, installers, engineers, administrators, and other industry stakeholders to create and share instructional resources. The program will use team learning methods and collaborative technologies to create instructional resources.
Other grants were made to:
+ The Pennsylvania State University ($3,500,000)
+ North Carolina State University ($3,008,826)
+ Kennebec Valley Community College ($2,886,782)
+ Hudson Valley Community College ($3,497,595)
+ Salt Lake Community College ($3,110,140)
+ Houston Community College ($3,566,058)
+ University of Central Florida ($2,800,000)
+ California Community Colleges Board of Governors ($3,499,828)
