Welcome to the second issue of SUN-Enews, the latest email newsletter to be launched by Santa Fe-based ConnectPress, Ltd., which boasts more than 190,000 readers for its family of free email digests. At SUN-Enews, our mission is to provide connections for the solar community—linking the readers to a forum for news and information, creating a meeting place for users and providers and offering a starting point for beginners and a venue for advanced users in which to share their experience.

As anyone will guess, SUN-Enews is a work in progress. We want to serve people interested in all aspects of solar energy. We can do this more effectively with your participation and feedback. We hope you'll join us, and encourage your friends to join us, on this journey.
Kate McGraw, Electronic Editor, ConnectPress, Ltd.

Send feedback or submit news here.

Share this newsletter with a friend or colleague here.

SUN-E Side Up

The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago ... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
-- Havelock Ellis (1859-1939), British psychologist

New Question
Q1
I need a solar-wind designer/installer who can coordinate with a ground source heat pump system in southwest Virginia, close to North Carolina border. Thanks!
-- Joyce Johnson Rouse, Earth Mama Productions, www.earthmama.org
Do you have an answer? Send it to SUN-Enews here.

Editor's note: This question highlights the value of the directories we are building. Click here to learn about listing your resource on the SUN-E directories.

Previous Question
Q2, Vol. I, Issue 1
My Trace inverter is discharging my batteries. What do I do?
-- Michael Purifoy, Lubbock, TX

A2
The question does not specify if it is a quasi or modified square vawe inverter or pure sine vawe. The first typically goes to "sleep" if it is not used or is turned off. In stand-by mode it still takes very little power. The sine vawe is on all the time, but when idle it takes virtually no power. Is it possible that the inverter is powering some phantom load, such as a stand-by circuit in your TV? The inverter alone should not present a problem. There are bleeding resistors across the capacitors that waste a small amount of power. This is a safety feature. When your power is turned off, the resistor discharges the capacitors and makes the inverter harmless. If the resistors were not there, the inverter potentially would be dangerous for days after it was turned off.
-- Jerry Kubias, Aquarius Enterprises, Vail, AZ

Send questions! Do you have a question about solar energy? Send it to SUN-Enews here.

Editor's note: We asked for feedback and boy, did we get it—we're delighted! Keep writing; keep us on the straight and narrow! This newsletter is for you...

First, a Compliment...
This is much needed!!
-- Joyce Johnson Rouse, Earth Mama Productions, www.earthmama.org

Then a Few Slings and Arrows...
I'm sorry to see you refuse to see the economic realities of solar and, more important, solar contracting. Our industry never can survive on solar welfare in the form of government grants or tax credits that are used to subsidize it. Your "Solar Glossary" totally ignores the single cost-effective use of solar energy, solar pool heating, even though a solar pool heater can save as much or more energy in one year as would be required to heat (up North) or cool (in the South) a house.

I have been a solar contractor since 1978. If I had followed your "green" advice and focused on photovoltaics, I would have long been out of business. Our industry needs new young blood in order to survive. These people need to be properly directed into profitable areas of solar energy in order to survive and prosper. When and if solar photovoltaics become cost-effective and profitable without solar welfare, I will be happy to engage in it.
-- Jim Roark, owner, Roark Solar

Your solar hot water definition should have a heat storage device, not PV panels, in the description.
-- Steve Graham, Tiskilwa, IL

Editor's note: Mea culpa, you two! I have revised the solar hot water definition in the glossary. Also see Mark Thornbloom's letter below for a fuller discussion of solar hot water technology.

Nice newsletter! [Thanks!] You've probably already gotten a slew of emails from people who have time to read these things the first day they come out, but...

The definition for "solar hot water" or "solar thermal" has an error. The sun's energy is trapped by collectors, usually described as "flat plate" (there is some limited concentrating solar installed in CA and CO, but it is utility-level, not residential) and is stored in water tanks exactly like an electrical or gas-fired water heater tank. Flat plate collectors usually are divided into "unglazed" (typically polymer mats used to heat swimming pools) and "glazed" (typically a flat absorber in an insulated box with a glass aperture to let the sun in. Variations include heat pipes, evacuated tubes, integral collectors, storage collectors). Probably more than you wanted to know! [Never!]
-- Mark Thornbloom, P.E., senior research engineer, Florida Solar Energy Center, University of Central Florida, Cocoa, FL

And A Couple More Arrows...
I was all set to congratulate you on this beautiful newsletter; then I noticed that you have fallen into the trap that so many others have. There's a compound error here when you say: "The ruling does put a 3000-megawatt (MW) cap on solar generation; a customer producing 3000 MW or more will be taxed." [SUN-E Politics, "California Court Repeals Exit Fees," Vol. I, No. 1, April 18, 2003] If you go to the press release at http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUBLISHED/NEWS_RELEASE/24968.htm, you'll see that the cap is 1 megawatt (1 MW). 3000 megawatts is the size of about three nuclear power plants.

The other error, my pet peeve, is that the watt, kilowatt, or megawatt rating is an instantaneous rating. No one produces megawatts. To produce or generate megawatts is a nonsensical statement. (PV systems generate or produce watt-hours or kilowatt-hours. Note on your electric bill that you pay for the kilowatt-hours (kWh) that you use, you don't pay for kilowatts. Your light bulb might be a 13-watt compact fluorescent but you leave it on for an hour and that's 13 watt-hours, and eventually all your appliances add up to kilowatt-hours, and that's what you pay for.)

Here's a more correct statement than what you printed: "The ruling does put a 1-megawatt (MW) cap on solar system size; any system of 1 MW or larger will be taxed."

In addition to that, the press release says:
"When the combined total installed generation reaches 3000 MW, or when the generation in the third category reaches periodic lower caps set by the Commission, any additional customer generation installed will pay all surcharges. The overall cap is based on the 10-year forecast of departing load that DWR relied upon when negotiating its contracts, and therefore any self-generation installed under that cap does not result in shifting of costs to other customers. The caps on nonrenewable self-generation are to ensure that priority is given to renewable and ultra-clean generation sources."

You probably didn't need to say any of that. But it's where the 3000 MW number comes from. Anyway, thanks for reading on. I had to get that off my chest!
-- Elaine Hebert, Northern California Solar Energy Association

Elaine, your group and other organizations can click here to learn about listing your associations on the SUN-E directories.

Keep it coming! To submit Sun-E feedback, click here.

Santa Fe Solar Businessman Wins SBA Award
Kudos to Paul Benson, president and general manager of Dankoff Solar Products, a Santa Fe, NM business that makes and sells solar-powered water pumps and distributes other solar products. On April 25, Benson will be honored as New Mexico Small Business Person of the Year by the New Mexico Small Business Administration.

Benson's leadership has created a 927 percent sales growth in recent years for Dankoff Solar Products, which is why the business also got a ranking (242) in Inc. magazine's top 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States last year.

To submit news items for the weekly newsletter, click here.

Lobbying Coalition Opposes U.S. RPS Legislation
An eclectic coalition of 18 lobbying groups has stated its opposition to a national renewable portfolio standard in the United States. In an open letter to U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) warned that the RPS energy legislation to be considered by the committee would create a White House "climate czar" and an expanded bureaucracy to "promote global warming alarmism."

Domenici postponed any consideration of climate change matters until the floor debate on his energy bill, which effectively tabled the draft bill with RPS discussion. "My decision to postpone consideration of climate change matters is not based on the merits of any particular proposal, but, rather, recognition that a consensus does not exist on the energy committee, and the matter is better considered by the full Senate," Domenici said in a one-sentence statement.

The action may have pleased CEI lobbyists. "The climate policies in the current draft energy bill would put the United States on a slippery slope to energy rationing if enacted," said CEI policy director Myron Ebell. "Legislating a White House climate czar and office will institutionalize global warming as a problem, which means that it will never go away, even after global warming alarmism has been discredited."

Many countries have become concerned about global warming, which scientists say is in fact occurring because of greenhouse gases incurred in part from burning fossil fuels. To try to stem the warming of the earth's atmosphere, some countries have enacted Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) laws that require power companies to generate a certain amount of "green" energy-from solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable sources. While the U. S. Congress is resisting enacting an RPS law, several individual states have done so, including Domenici's home state. In New Mexico, the RPS requires that power companies provide 10 percent of the state's electrical power from renewable energy sources by 2011. For an excellent FAQ on the science behind RPS proposals, go to the Union of Concerned Scientists' website here.

CEI (www.cei.org) describes itself as "a public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government." The letter to Domenici was signed by representatives of the Coalitions for America, Americans for Tax Reform, American Conservative Union, National Taxpayers Union, Christian Coalition of America, Small Business Survival Committee, Citizens for the Integrity of Science, U. S. Business & Industry Council, English First and the American Council for Immigration Reform, among others.

If you have a different viewpoint on RPS or other legislation, please feel free to tell SUN-Enews here...or you can contact the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee by clicking here.

To submit solar political news or Letters to the Editor, click here.

Solar Webb, Inc. Plans Seminar
An Arcadia, CA-based firm, Solar Webb, Inc. has been providing solar electric generation systems for homes and businesses since 1995. The photo above shows a 2 kW PV system installed in March on a home in Pasadena, CA. The customer has a Xantrex 4048/S inverter system with battery backup. The homeowners have a net meter system but also have a system that will provide back-up power to the house if the utility grid goes off.

Solar Webb also offers seminars on solar installation basics. The next seminar will be 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, May 10 at 136 E. Santa Clara St., Ste. #6, Arcadia (between 1st and Second Streets). Some of the subjects covered in Lesson 1 include Ohm's Law; series circuits; parallel circuits; series-parallel circuits and how a solar electric system works. During Lesson 2 participants study the various types of solar systems and applications, system components and system sizing.

The seminar includes lesson tests and practical exercises. After lunch, provided on site, Lesson 3 covers site location; site evaluation; forms practice and system design. The seminar wraps up with Lesson 4: NEC Codes, electrical permits and safety issues. Get more information at www.solarwebb.com.

How To Send Images
We love images! The basic criteria are: 72 dpi, in RGB color mode, 350 pixels wide (max) and in .gif (preferred), .bmp or .jpg format. To submit an image, click here.

Solar Glossary
A short list of common terms:
Passive solar—Harvesting the sun's radiant heat through greenhouse windows, Trombe walls, transpired solar walls, brick floors and other non-electric uses.

Solar hot water—Sometimes called solar thermal, usually involves storing solar energy in a heat storage device to heat water for household or commercial use. It also can be used to heat a home through baseboard radiators or embedded floor tubing, as well as to heat and cool swimming pools.

Solar electric—Using the sun's energy to run electrical systems, excluding electric heating elements.

Grid-tied and off the grid—Remaining on the electric grid after converting to a solar-electric system is called "grid-tied." A solar electric system that stands alone, and is not connected to the electric utility is considered "off the grid."

Net metering—When you convert to solar energy and remain hooked to the larger electric utility, you have an automatic backup if your solar system does not generate as much electric power as you need to use on any given day. On the other hand, most of the time your solar system will generate more power than you are using, and will let that generation flow into the larger electric "grid." Most states now have "net metering" laws that allow you to connect your renewable energy system to the grid and bank your electrons there, literally making your meter spin backward and reducing your electric bill, often to a credit, rather than a debit charge. To download a table of state net metering programs, click here.

To submit a news item or tip for people just exploring the world of solar energy, click here.

PG&E Pays Largest Rebate
Pacific Gas & Electric presented the largest renewable energy rebate in history, $2,342,000, to the Sewerage Commission-Oroville Region (SCOR) at a public ceremony on Earth Day, April 22, in Oroville, CA. The rebate was for SCOR's solar-powered wastewater treatment plant.

The funds will help pay down SCOR's costs for installing the 520-kilowatt solar electrical system, one of the largest solar arrays in the United States. Sun Power & Geothermal Energy of San Rafael, CA (www.sunpowergeothermal.com) engineered and installed the SCOR solar array, which went online in November 2002 and supplies more than 80 percent of the plant's energy. The rebate is from PG&E's Self-Generation Incentive Program.

Oroville has installed solar systems on its city hall, police and fire headquarters, the city maintenance yard, the pioneer museum and the city-owned State Theater. The civic solar installations, all designed and built by Sun Power & Geothermal Energy, together with SCOR, add up to almost one megawatt of solar power for Oroville.

Federal Rebates for Solar Electric
In addition to California's rebates, federal rebates are available for solar electric installations under the Department of Energy's Million Solar Roofs program. How do you find out about the federal rebates? Click here.

To submit a news item or tip for users or providers experienced in solar energy use, click here.

SUN-Enews has created four directories (with links) on our website, www.SUN-Enews.com. There is a nominal fee for listing, to cover costs of content management. These directories are always growing. To find out more about listing in one of our directories, click here.

• Employment

• Associations

• Education

• Resources

SUN-Enews is creating two calendars to run in monthly segments on the website, www.SUN-Enews.com. The two calendars will list (1) meetings of non-profit associations, and (2) trade shows.

To list your meeting, conference or trade show in the May 2003 calendars click here. Include the name of your association or trade show, date, meeting place (building), town and state/province/country. Also include an email contact, please. Submit May items by April 30.

FYI

The SUN-Enews archives are available on the website. Click here or just click on the Archives button at the top of the page.