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2 Huntsville Green homes were featured along with a commercial site.  We met at each house/site & see up-close real houses using Green Energy and the latest conservation features for the average homeowner.

A Penny Saved is
a Penny Earned 

When building their house, about 15 years ago, their main goal was to reduce energy consumption by minimizing air infiltration.

ASA Solar Tour of Homes 2016     
on Oct 1

Conservation

Each site saves on how much electricity they use first.

The 1st site uses SIP & IFC construction to use half the electricity for heating & cooling.

The 2nd site uses LED and H&C Zoning.

The 3rd site insulated his house.

Rosemary & Richard Mudgettt house

just outside and North of Huntsville, off of Maysville Rd

This house uses
half (46%)

the electricity as a conventional home the same size in the same zip code.

BUT looks the same.

2015 Public Talk

on Solar Farm

2016 Public Talk

on Construction

  • R28 in the walls and R41 in the roof due to construction

  • the Mudgetts used ICFs (Insulated Concrete Forms) for foundation walls and SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) for walls & roof to construct their house instead of traditional construction (Stick frame)

  • the unique Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) construction provides a continuous envelope of urethane insulation

  • there are only 2 houses in the county that used this construction – see public meeting from July 2016

  • the structure is 20-30% stronger than stick frame houses

  

  • the 10 kW grid-tied solar farm pays for their utilities PLUS pays them about $500 / yr from the utility company.  [NOTE :  The Mudgetts did the labor themselves.]

  • 40 polysilicon/Polycrystaline  panels

  • Inverter:  two 5 kW SMA Sunny Boy with backup     -- has 2 outlets (if the grid power goes out) with a power of 1500 watts

  • Geothermal Heat Pump which takes 1/3 the electricity to operate than traditional and furnishes their hot water needs during the hot months.

  • Because of the construction the house required a heat pump of half the size, further saving them money

 with their grid-tied 50kW solar farm, Avion has reduced electricity consumption from Utilities by 16%

Avion Solutions

20,140 sf building in Cummings Research Park just off of Wynn DR

Avion Solutions is a national engineering, logistics, software engineering, and test & evaluation small business specializing in material solutions and technical support for military grade products.  They are a world leader in mechanical diagnostics and prognostics using vibration analysis.

Avion Solutions

  • with their grid-tied 50kW solar farm, Avion has reduced electricity consumption from Utilities by 16%

  • building ungraded since 2011 to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards

  • increased (bettered) Energy Star Score (1-100) from 2 to 85

  • Building Automation System (BAS), 80 BTU Carrier i-Vu, uses dampers in the ducts to the rooms to control airflow

  • Occupancy sensors - PW-100 Passive infrared sensor Wattstopper (Lighting only)

  • Switched exterior/parking lot lighting to LED

   - total energy savings of 12%

   - 4-year payback period

   - 23% Rate of Return

  

  • 50 kW grid-tied PV Farm – 185 Suniva 270W Monocrystalline solar modules and 4 Fronius 12,000 W invertors

   - total energy savings of 16%

   - 7-year payback period

   - 9% Rate of Return

  • most of Farm is on the ground but ~20% of the panels are on a canopy structure, under which cars can park

used

some

photos from previous tours

10K grid-tied Solar Farm generates about half of his the electricity

Brandon Hunt's house
SE Huntsville

Brandon is the ASA Treasurer.  See more about him on the Officers page. 

Featured at his house is

  • a grid-tied Solar Farm (10 K & raised) in his backyard, built in 2012 Brandon says the Solar Farm generates about half of the electricity he uses. 

- 20 polycrystalline panels

- max output - 3KW

- payback in 8 years

- net cost ( after grants & tax credit) $16,000 for everything including trellis.

- Inverter brand:  Sunergy

- TVA contract pays him a 12-cent premium (over retail) per kilowatt hour for 10 years, then the next 10 years he will be paid just retail

  • a solar hot water heater, installed in 2010

- brand Name:  Energy Labs Pro-Pac

- payback in 5-6 years

- cost $6,000

conventional electric resistance water heater as back-up when sun isn't shining

  • a Solatube which functions as a Sky Light by day and LED hall light (motion-activated) by night (or in thick clouds)  It can concentrate & bend sunlight around construction obstacles in the attic

  • Brandon says these 2 solar energy systems & insulating his house has reduced his utility bill by over 40 %.

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