SunWind Power Systems

 SRECs are credits that are associated with the production of megawatt -hour of electricity.  Electric companies and suppliers in many states are required by law to supply a percentage of their electricity from solar energy.  They can achieve this by producing their own solar power or by purchasing SRECs. As a solar system owner, you can sell SRECs to electric suppliers. An aggregator company would issue you quarterly checks based on the amount of credits your system produces.

Yes, because the solar panels absorb various spectra of visible and invisible light. However, the energy produced by the system will be less than when it is clear (click here to view Tim Darst's solar output on sunny and cloudy days).

 
Renewable energy has the following benefits:

• Lower Energy Costs - Reduces your electric bills
 
• An Investment - Increases the value of your building or home
 
• Produce electricity from Free Sunlight - Watch your meter spin backwards!

• Offset greenhouse gases -  Photovoltaic systems produce electric power with no carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Carbon emission offset is calculated at approximately 6 tons of CO2 over the twenty-year life of one PV system.

• Price Stability - Protect against future electric rate increases (which will happen since gas and coal are limited resources!)
 
• Easy - Most systems are low maintenance and simple to operate.
 
• Durable - PV Systems have a typical lifetime of 40+ years.
 
• Energy Independence - Helps to reduce CO2 levels, reduce your dependence on fossil fuels, and help the planet.
 
• Unlimited supply of energy - There is an infinite supply since the sun, wind and water are in abundance, unlike coal and fossil fuels.
 
• Cost-Effective - Renewable energy sources are cost effective over the long-term. Unlike coal and fossil fuels which are limited and will always increase in cost, these abundant renewable will never increase in cost to produce. In addition, renewable energy sources have financial incentives offered by for solar and wind power users. Federal incentives have just been renewed recently and provide tax relief (click here).
 
• Reliable Power - Renewable energy may allow for more reliable power for you in the future. The North American Electric Reliablity Corporation published a study indicating the North American grid is rapidly aging and transmission capacity continues to lag behind demand. In addition to these pressures, severe weather as recently experienced in Kentucky and Indiana during the wind and ice storms caused week long outrages for many. SunWind Power customers who were off-grid were happy to share the fact that they had power with us.
 
• Blackout Prevention - Solar and wind systems keep businesses operation and homes functioning by improving reliability, responsiveness, and power quality of the electric grid. It decreases the likelihood of failures and blackouts.
 
• Peak Capacity - Your solar or wind system can help your community meet its energy demand on hot sunny dats during critical peak demand times.
 
• Quality Jobs - More jobs are created from solar electricity than conventional sources by 7 to 1 (SEIA)

If you can afford to make payments on a car, then chances are, you can afford one of these systems.  We offer financing for all systems we sell and install. In addition, there are many more affordable options. Some people choose a smaller system that can be added onto in the future as finances permit.

There are Federal and State incentives for such systems as well. The Federal government recently extended renewable energy tax credits until 2016. Solar domestic hot water, PV, and wind have a 30% tax credit with no maximum (view). Businesses also receive credits as well (view). Kentucky and Indiana also have incentives, grants, and loans at the state level. For more information regarding cost of solar PV, click here.

Other renewable products such as the natural tubular skylights, also come with Federal tax cuts. Click here for the IRS form 5695.

According to the Appraisal Journal, the value of a home is increased by $20,000 for every $1000 reduction in energy cost. In addition, the resale value of adding solar or wind systems is an additional benefit (Read more).

Solar panels are most often installed on roof-tops but can also be installed on the ground (See photo for the solar system we installed for Hoosier Energy in Indiana as an example), on trellises, carports, deck coverings, awnings, pole mount (See photo of solar sytem we installed in Eastwood, KY as an example), and more. They can even be arranged to follow the contours of your rooflines and blend in with the look of your home or business.

Net-metering is a special agreement between you and your electric utility. For example, if your solar system product more electricity than you can use during the day, your meter will run backwards! The excess electricity that you have will generate a credit on your utility account under such an agreement. At night when your solar system does not generate electricity, you will use the credit upon consuming electricity received from the utility.

Your electric meter tracts the difference between the amount of electricity you receive from the utility and the amount of electricity you generate from the solar system. The monthly statements sent by the utility will show the net amount of electricity consumed or produced during the month. Credits and usage will vary from month to month. Sunny months lead to more credits but these will be used up in cloudy months.

Credits usually accumulate for up to 12 months. Most utilities are not required to pay you for excess electricity or unused credits so make sure your system is sized appropriately to cover the energy requirements in your home. Please note that energy cooperatives or REMCs are not required to offer net-metering in Indiana, though there is a net-metering policy for utilities. Currently, efforts are being made to improve net-metering in Indiana. In Kentucky, there is also a net-metering policy but was not a requirement for municipals. One of our cutomers had to challenge the Frankfort Plant Board prior to us installing her solar system for her in KY (Read more). There is now a net-metering policy in Franfort, KY.

It stands for photovoltaics, a process in which a solar cell converts sunlight into electricity.

PV cells are made of semiconductor materials such as silicon.

When sunlight strikes a PV panel, the electrons are excited withn the silicon solar cells. These electrons leave the solar panel via wires and enter your home through your circuit breaker and electric meter. This energy is used to power appliances and electronics in your home. Often, a solar system may produce more elctricity than is required. When this happens, the excess electricity is sent back to your electric company. At night, when there is no sunlight, your house is powered by the electric company. A solar system is low maintenence and has little ware; therefore, it will last for many years.

It is a photovoltaic (PV) system interacting with the electric utility, and can be with or without batteries PV systems that utilize a relatively new breed of inverters, can actually sell any excess power produced by your solar array back to the utility grid. If you are concerned at all about your utility rates going up and would like to do something to reduce your monthly electric bill, then a grid-tie solar system may be just the thing for you.  These systems are easy to install. Some do not have batteries for back-up, and the lack of batteries in these systems means no messy maintenance or replacements to worry about.  The solar modules can be mounted on your roof or out in the yard where they sit quietly generating power from the sun that you can either use directly or sell back to the utility company.

If that sounds pretty interesting, you might want to look into what it would take to install a grid-tie PV system.  The first thing you should do is contact your utility company to see if they will allow you to connect a solar system to their electrical grid.  While there is a national law that requires investor owned utility companies to allow interconnection of a solar or wind power system, rural electric cooperatives are exempt from this law.  If your utility company will allow you to connect your PV system to their grid, the next question to ask is if they will buy the energy back at the retail or wholesale rate.  Ideally you want the utility company to buy back any excess electricity that you produce at the same retail rate that you buy electricity from them at.  This is called "net metering" and is the simplest way to setup a grid-tie PV system. One of our customers had get her munipal utility to change their policies on net-metering before SunWind Power installed her solar system for her in KY (Read about it). 

In such a system you only have one utility kWh meter and it is allowed to spin in either direction depending on if you are buying or selling energy.  In a non net-metered system, the utility company will require that you install a second kWh meter to record any excess energy that you sell back to them and they will only pay you the wholesale rate (usually only a few cents per kWh).  To find out if your state offers "net metering" or any other incentives for installing a renewable energy system, click on the following link (www.dsireusa.org).

Remember, a "net metering" law for your state doesn't necessarily apply to rural electric cooperatives so give your utility company a call before going any further.  Once you have an answer (either way) call us and we'll take it from there.

Because our hybrid renewable energy systems take advantage of natural cycles, their overall production is optimized.  This results in a smaller capital investment for equivalent annual power production. Typically, the sun is not shining when the wind is blowing the most and conversely, when the sun is at its strongest, winds drop to a breeze at best. Consequently, both systems can be downsized from what would be necessary if just one technology were to be implemented.  This phenomenon forms the basis for the name of our company.

Photo of hybrid system in Merom, IN for Hoosier Energy

The actual wind resource on your site will vary depending on topography and structure interference. And a localized site with good winds, such as a ridgetop, may not show up on the maps. Also, most wind maps are based very few data points, so the data is not necessarily accurate for locations between measuring points.  You should also be careful with wind measurements from airports because airports are often located in lower wind areas to protect aircraft.

If you need to have a firm understanding of your wind resource then you should consider performing a wind study.  We provide the equipment and analysis services to accomplish this task. For more information on wind, click here or contact us.

They permit interconnection of renewable sources of electricity with the grid and specify the price paid for electricity generated and the amount of time the payments will be made.