Editor's note
One kilowatt is equal to 1,000 watts. Incorrection information was included in the Sunday, July 25 edition.
FAYETTEVILLE — After losing power for 12 days during last year's ice storm, Bill Connor and his wife, Faune, vowed never to rely on electricity again.
The Fayetteville couple now has the largest residential rooftop solar power array in the state, a bragging right confirmed by Arkansas Energy Office spokesman Scott Hardin.
"We didn't plan on it being this big," Connor said. "We started out with enough solar panels to get by. As the project progressed, we just kept adding."
The 21-kilowatt installation, known as the "Roadrunner," was designed and installed last week by Trem|Wel Energy, a Fayetteville-based renewable energy and energy efficiency development company, along with Rocky Grove Sun Company and Besser Installations LLC, two other Northwest Arkansas energy companies.
"The typical residential solar installation is anywhere from 2 to 3 kilowatts, which usually doesn't even cover an average household's entire electric consumption," said Stephan Pollard, chief executive officer of Trem|Wel Energy. "The Roadrunner is nearly 10 times that size."
The tilted, roof-mounted array not only supplies power to Connors' home, but also to a 48-volt, 4,600-pound battery backup system that has 64 usable kilowatt hours. The 1,800-square-foot installation took several months to install and is expected to produce about 27,000 kwh of electricity a year, more than twice the average Arkansas household's annual consumption. Excess energy generated by the Roadrunner is sent back into the grid.
The Arkansas net-metering program is structured so that if a solar-powered home produces more power than it purchases from the electric company, the utility will allow the excess to work as a credit on the home's next bill, said Peter Main, communications consultant with Southwestern Electric Power Company. Also, any credits not used at the end of a year will expire.
The program is not structured to allow a home to sell the energy back to the power company, officials said.
"The credit comes in the form of the retail price for electricity," Pollard said. "It shows up on your bill the following month. Anything they're not able to use after the year is up, you say goodbye to. But, that probably won't happen with about 99 percent of installations."
Emergency Backup
Connor said the benefits of solar power versus gas-powered generators in the event of a long-term emergency made the choice clear for him.
He and his wife rely on breathing machines to sleep and Connor uses an oxygen machine during the day.
"The generator of choice is natural gas, but that's only if you have a gas line that runs to your house," he said. "The next option would be propane, diesel or gasoline. But, what if they're not available? When we had that bad ice storm last year there was only one gas station open and it was on the corner of Joyce and Crossover. We waited almost an hour to get gas. It. It's just not worth it."
Connor, who owns a 1981 300 Turbo Diesel Mercedes that can run on vegetable oil, said he doesn't consider himself an environmentalist.
"That's not me," he said. "I'm just the kind of person who wants to be prepared in case anything ever happens."
Making The Switch
Situated on a hillside in the Hyland Park neighborhood, off Crossover Road, the Connors' home is ideally located for solar power generation.
"It's not for everyone," Pollard said. "You really need a south facing roof. Southeast or southwest is fine too. You basically want six hours of unimpeded sunlight on your roof."
Jack Besser of Besser Installations LLC said the Connors are among a handful of other homeowners in the area that have opted to go solar.
"We pulled the first city permits," he said, adding that he hopes installations such as the Roadrunner set a precedence with power companies in the future.
Pollard said he didn't encounter any hurdles regarding city ordinances when installing the Connors' solar array.
Building safety officials in Fayetteville have been in discussions since the last year regarding what policies need to be changed to both encourage alternative energy systems and ensure their compatibility with the neighborhood, said Jeremy Pate, Fayetteville development services director.
Generally, the regulations being considered are mostly related to wind turbines.
Solar energy installers say the buzz around alternative energy systems is only increasing.
"The market overall is definitely growing," said Orlo Stitt of Stitt Energy Systems Inc. in Rogers. "We're doing two or three (solar) systems a month."
What's fueling the rush is the combination of federal and state tax credits and the general sexiness of alternative energy, Stitt said. Also, in many situations the price of the systems has come down slightly, he said.
"Solar electric overall has come down and I think will continue to come down," Stitt said.
Pricing Power
Pollard said the price of solar panels in Arkansas has dropped nearly 30 percent over the last few years.
Homeowners who go solar also receive a 30 percent federal tax credit, along with stimulus money from the Arkansas Energy Office in the form of a renewable energy technology rebate fund for electric systems.
At $1.50 per kwh generated, the installation is expected to yield approximately $41,000 in rebate money from the Arkansas Renewable Technology Rebate Fund. The funds are distributed quarterly during the first year.
Connor, who chose not to reveal how much he paid for the Roadrunner, said he expects a return on his investment.
"By the time you figure out the tax credits, the rebates and match that up to what a good-sized natural gas generator would be, it's a wash," he said. "You also get credit for the energy you don't use so I believe you get dollar for dollar what you produce."
The cost of going solar varies depending on size. The larger the system, the cheaper the cost per panel.
In Arkansas, the going rate is anywhere from $5.25 a watt to $6.50 a watt, Pollard said. So a 3 kilowatt system that has a direct grid tie configuration and no battery backup would average about $19,000. One kilowatt is equal to 1000 watts.
Though various factors affect the financial benefits, Pollard said the average solar customer won't break even for about 10 years.
Connor said the financial turnaround period was what prompted him to think big.
"We started out with just enough solar panels to take care of our medical needs," he said. "But, then I decided to shoot for something that would be a payback during my lifetime. Most of the time, you don't see the recovery for 15 to 20 years."
At A Glance
How Does Solar Energy Work?
Solar energy can be converted to electricity in two ways:
Photovoltaic (PV devices) or "solar cells" change sunlight directly into electricity. Individual PV cells are grouped into panels and arrays of panels that can be used in a wide range of applications ranging from single small cells that charge calculator and watch batteries, to systems that power single homes, to large power plants covering many acres.
Concentrating Solar Power Plants generate electricity by using the heat from solar thermal collectors to heat a fluid which produces steam that is used to power the generator. Out of the 11 known concentrating solar power generating units operating in the United States at the end of 2008, nine of these are in California, one in Arizona and one in Nevada.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration