Bill and Sarah Drenning have installed solar panels at their home near Woodsboro.
By Karen Gardner
WOODSBORO
-- Even in the dark, cold days of winter, there are lots of times when
the electric meter at the Drenning household spins backward.
Bill
and Sarah Drenning, both 79, built their retirement home on Coppermine
Road about 20 years ago, on the edge of their family farm.
The
house faces 10 degrees off due south to maximize sunlight. There's
plenty of passive solar heat flowing into the row of south-facing
windows in the winter, and shade trees in front of those same windows
block much of the sunlight in the summer.
A few years ago, they
decided to go a step further and install a solar power system. They did
a lot of research and realized their dream last fall. In September,
Standard Solar of Gaithersburg installed 24 flat solar panels on two
larger panels, called arrays, in a grassy meadow 200 feet from the
house. Between the house and the solar collectors is a large garden and
a cluster of trees.
Most solar customers are looking to buy solar
panels for the roof of their house, he said. He thought the panels
could collect more sunlight in the open meadow. An underground conduit
carries the power generated from the solar arrays to the house.
Since
September, he estimated, the solar collectors have saved about 30
percent on the couple's monthly electric bill. It'll be a while before
the Drennings recoup the $55,000 installation cost, but money wasn't
their primary motivation.
"We're trying to do our part to go green," he said.
There
are also a few financial incentives for going solar. The Drennings got
a $3,000 grant from the state and will also receive a federal tax
credit. They expect the state to pass renewable energy tax credits,
which will benefit them in years to come.
And there's that electric meter that spins backwards whenever the sun shines.
"You do get paid for reducing the power company's carbon footprint," Bill Drenning said.
If
the solar arrays collect more power than the household needs at any
given time, the excess electricity is routed to Allegheny Energy, which
causes the meter to spin backward. The Drennings heat their home partly
with a woodburning furnace and partly with a heat pump that uses
electric heat whenever the temperature drops below 30 degrees.
Although
the heat pump is pretty energy-efficient, electric heat uses a lot of
power, Bill Drenning said. Still, the Drennings have managed to save 25
percent on their electric bill in December and January. Drenning is
hoping that savings will jump to 40 percent in summer.
He logs
the house's solar energy usage on a computer spreadsheet and tracks the
price of electricity and the house's total electric usage. The biggest
users of electricity in the house are hot water, cooking, clothes
drying and the well pump.
The solar arrays look a bit like the satellite dishes of yesteryear, before those shrank with technology.
"I think they're beautiful, but lots of people don't," Drenning said.
"The
limit is the number of panels you install," he said. The freestanding
arrays need a lot of room, like the old satellite dishes. The large
arrays follow the path of the sun as tiny sensors on the top of each
guide the panels.
Most solar energy systems in this area are
rooftop systems, but the Drennings had the room to install the arrays.
Freestanding arrays are more common in the West.
The glass panels
are made to withstand winds of 150 miles per hour. Icicles collect on
them in frigid temperatures, but they melt when the sun's rays reach
the glass. The glass could be vulnerable to hailstones, but homeowner's
insurance covers replacement costs, Bill Drenning said.
As he has
noticed the couple's electric bills decreasing, he has also noticed
another trend on his electric bill. The cost, per kilowatt hour, is
creeping up. Electric bills are predicted to rise considerably in the
next two or three years as usage increases.
Bill Drenning doesn't
think solar is the only answer to energy savings -- energy alternatives
should include wind, hydroelectric and biomass.
"Other parts of the country already have renewable energy systems in effect," he said.
Farmers could become major generators of solar power because they have the room, he said.
"They need to get the price down or increase the incentives," he added.
For
now, he said, the return is about like that of a certificate of
deposit. It's not huge, he said, but it's secure, as long as the sun
keeps shining.
