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From HGTV's Green Home Giveaway internet site: The Green effort this year...
I've recently edited my own comments. Please post your own experiences and comments.
QUOTE
"HGTV Green Home’s 1.35 kilowatt array, (TangoW's injection: totaling $16,000 installed?, half that to the customer because of tax credits and rebates) consists of EIGHT 225-watt collectors connected in series; the unit has the POTENTIAL to generate 1710 kilowatt hours of energy per year. “That’s quite a bit of power, especially in Georgia where you’ve got a solar-friendly summer and relatively mild winters,” says Mark Stimson, product manager for Bosch Thermotechnology Corporation, the manufacturer of the system. Georgia Power presently buys power from consumers at or above retail cost.* “In Georgia Power’s service area, that’s as high as 17 cents per kilowatt hour,” says Mark. A bit of quick math indicates that the owner of HGTV Green Home 2012 could potentially earn almost $300* a year from the home’s solar system."
UNQUOTE
*He is basing the 300.00 on 17c paid per KwH, not the present 7c being paid. There might be tax credits for the production.
*Ga Power charges $12.50 a month to be connected to the grid.
Roof mounted systems costs' are huge: Installers must deal with complex roof installations and conduits, and have smart design against future damage from the elements, i.e. wind, rain, hail and sun/heat exposure. Repair on the roof is costly.
Using twice the quoted savings, it would take 20+ years to pay off the $16,000 solar system, half of that charged to the taxpayers.
I would suggest just having a solar-panel hot water system on site, with a large storage tank for the hot water accumulated.


Respectfully,
Shoe shine boy.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TangoW,

It does seem impressive though! Over the lifetime of the home the investment would be well worth it, not only for the savings per year.

Since the home is showcase for Green building practices and appliances and fixtures, it makes a great statement: you don't have to sacrifice style to go Green! Plus, the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you have voluntarily reduced your carbon footprint is something that is difficult to even put a price on.

In the past, the tax savings afforded to homeowners that have chosen to invest in renewable resources for their power or heating and cooling has helped to offset the initial investment.

Good to have others' input here.
I am daily amazed that owners of solar haven't put one line here on their solar experience.

GA power customers use 17,800 KwH a year per average household, or 48 KwH a day.
The Green Home's "1.35 KwH array" indicates to me that the solar system produces potentially six hours sunlight average per day around the year, 17% of the GA daily household demand.
A yearly GA electric bill on average totals $3000 if one uses the quoted 17c (I assume that includes taxes and fees) per KwH.
Our FL bill yearly average is 13c per KwH incl taxes and fees. We don't have natural gas to cut down on elec useage.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TangoW,

My neighbors just put in some solar panals, so will have to check with them on their thoughts on the savings. I appreciate your input on the solar.
Tamgo, I just watched all the videos n HGTVremodel so i could learn a little about the green savings. Like you said, no real mention of the solar, but did enjoy the information on LED's, the responsible building materials, the storm water management,the HVAC system and the environmental design and the earth craft guidlelines.

I was especially interested in the water management as I loves plants and flowers..The only savings I have presently is a rainbarrel which I water my potted plants and some of my flower beds with.

The HVAC system which also has humidity regulator as a part sounded real interesting and a plus for the humid Georgia weather.

I use natural gas here in California for all my appliances, but of course my air conditioner is electric, but have seen a savings since I replaced my my foced air and heating a couple years ago.

thanks, nursejudy. I hope all this is a worthwhile read to MBers.
I don't understand the concept of bringing humid air into a GA home, albeit fresh air, then running the HVAC to remove the humidity.
There are often times during the day that humidity is suitable for air exchange...maybe one can control the hvac clock.
Even if the a/c is running constantly anyway, it still is a poor idea to load up more moist outside air to be conditioned, and, to inject allergens where folks are sensitive.
Less moist regions would benefit from this design. In fact, northern climes' furnaces have an outside source. It pressurizes the home slightly, reducing drafts.
I have a notion that the GH designer has a handle on this, and informs his customers of the issues and options of his design.

I hope so, we d not want any mold!

I took the tour of the home this past weekend. You can see the solar panels once you're in the back yard, up the slope, next to the garage.

You do need to keep in mind that this is a heavily wooded area, so I'm not sure a solar hot water tank would work extremely well under these conditions. A lot of the trees have been there a while but there are some newer plantings too, and I'm not sure the roof is going to get all day full sun in the future. I think the tankless waterheater option might be better for this particular situation - I know there's natural gas there because all along the street it's on, all of the other homes actually have 19th century style gas front porch light/torches.

Thanks, Greg. Can you tell us more about the home?
Would you send along some remarks about the home's LEED green home rating, its green applications to design?
BTW natl gas lights are verbotten in some places, but I'm guessing their presence is a safety illumination item where power outages from lightning are more prevalent?

quote:

Originally posted by TangoW:
Thanks, Greg. Can you tell us more about the home?
Would you send along some remarks about the home's LEED green home rating, its green applications to design?
BTW natl gas lights are verbotten in some places, but I'm guessing their presence is a safety illumination item where power outages from lightning are more prevalent?

In all honesty, there's not anything I can add about the Green aspect of the home that's not already on the HGTV site. One of the guides who stands in the room was talking to people about it, but I used that as an opportunity to take photos of the room without all of those people standing in the way. LOL. All I overheard was about how a lot of the textiles were organic, and how the passive solar panels on top generate about 1/3 what a house this size would need if you were off the grid - I believe this one just feeds back to the power company and you get power credits on your bill.

We do have a higher than average amount of thunderstorms this time of year compared to some other places. I think the outside lanterns would be somewhat effective in that case - they're on the fronts of some of the homes but not all of them, and don't appear to be on the streets. I'm not sure of the savings, though - running a gas flame 24/7 will add to your gas bill the same as a CFL bulb would add to your electric bill, though the gas is cleaner in terms of production output.

ADDED: Here's a photo I took of the side of the house. You can see the passive solar panels on the roof from here, and see how much shade though, that the home will get at various times of the day from all the Pine Trees surrounding it...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Greg 30127,

Greg, your remark about the trees caused me to check with a solar manufacturer.
Here are some of the remarks about panels that apply to our 2012 Green Home panels:
Remove any tree limbs or other plant growth that block sunlight. Any shade will have a negative impact on a solar panel’s efficiency – but not just because of blocked photons. The shaded area will be a high-resistance “hotspot”, EVEN, to some degree, with diodes installed. These hotspots can accelerate degradation of the module over time and lead to premature failure.
Keep your panels free of dust, dirt, sand and pollen. This is doubly true in areas of high wind. In more polluted cities, don’t let smog settle on the panels. In winter, keep snow and frost off the panels when possible. With light soap solution, panels can be squeegeed off. (But you gotta get up there, first.)
Getting tax credits:
Our local FAFCO solar rep states many folks got upset because they didn't realize the Fed and State tax credits are applied AFTER you make a FULLY paid capital investment of the solar project. The IRS does not give it all back in one year.
Based on your tax year's Adjusted Taxable Income on the Form 1040, you get annual solar credit toward your tax liability. For instance, you would get an incremental solar tax credit the first year, and years after, because the paid taxes are figured via a formula via a tax schedule that works with the tax paid that year; the more taxes paid, the more solar credits applied.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TangoW,

About the tax credit, does it apply to the person who wins the house or the person who built the house. In this IRS form it says "original use must begin with you" within #3 of the form. If they are giving tours thru the house now, would the winner be the 'original user"?

Of course this deduction wouldn't matter anyway unless the winner has the means to pay around 300,000 dollars in federal and state taxes, not to mention property taxes too.

quote:

Originally posted by wsjessup:
About the tax credit, does it apply to the person who wins the house or the person who built the house.

Well, Jess!
yo' gotta be
from Tennessee!
Bless your pea-pickin', kilowatt readin', IRS sensitave heart! If that isn't a pitch right down the middle!

...on this and any info here, please defer to tax experts...
but may I offer this as pretty reliable info? (all right, it is only a bunt.)
The Green Home Winner cannot collect homeowner's tax credits on this home. The solar-Green Home is a prize and us'ns weren't on the orig purchase order as home owner.
The contractor, as he is not the home owner, may not get owner's solar credits, but get other tax support that applies to his COMPANY's tax forms.

Paying attention to maintenance of solar panels on your roof...I have solar on the roof here in Florida.
Our eight synthetic rubber solar panels which heat our pool water are roof-mounted. Two panels had attachment leaks after nine years, I discovered last week.
This results in damage in the attic, drywall and often drips down into the person-occupied area. One can often smell the "chicken coop" odor after a few weeks. I found the leaks through an inspection-repair.
Any solar system's anchorage on the roof will incur wind "tugging," heat/cooling expansion and weathering which result in leaks. Panels should be inspected after severe weather season, and at least each few years. It's your call.
If you Greeners spray foam over the interior of the attic roof, be prepared for crazy leak patterns and for hard-to-find roof damages.

I think solar should be installed off the dwelling entirely if at all possible. This is a major item in home maintenance.
In contrast, The California Energy Commission has changed roof building code in order to make solar panels available on all new homes and commercial buildings. The Natural Resources Defense Council has supported these changes.

Spain (HGTV hasn't come up with this) has placed on their avenues, wind powered street light turbines.
This is a project incorporated into their green mandates. Well, being Spain, maybe it's only on the plain.
Dear Abby,
I'm married to great science. She is beautiful.
As for wind powered street lights, wind dies down at night, most all the time. Lights out.
(or maybe, being windy, I'm the only one who dies down at night!)
I'm for green but this is obscene. Please tell me I am not having a nightmare. :>)
Wait, tell me I am observing an aberration.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TangoW,