There’s no one way to put sunlight to use. Depending on the infrastructure and the homeowner’s investment, the sun can produce electricity, maintain a house’s temperature and heat water, usually for a steep front-end cost in exchange for a long-term return.
On Oct. 8, 10 local homes and businesses that have found different ways to make the most out of Southwest Colorado’s ample sunshine will be showcased in the Four Corners Office of Resource Efficiency’s solar home tour, which is being revived after a hiatus.
Each featured structure has at least two resource efficiency attributes.
Ken Morrow, whose East 5th Avenue home will be open to visitors Oct. 8, used to own a house in Dalton Ranch. The homeowners association’s design standards didn’t allow the solar infrastructure he wanted, so he moved downtown and installed a south-facing panel on his rooftop two years ago.
“It’s produced about 19,000 kilowatt hours, which is most of the energy we’ve used over the last two years,” Morrow said.
The panels power electric baseboard heaters in a portion of his home, which is supplemented by a gas-free Vermont casting stove and a mini split heat pump in an upstairs bedroom.
The front-end cost was about $25,000, which Morrow justifies with the environmental benefit, about $1,000 in annual savings on electric bills and the fact that his investment will pay for itself in just under a decade, if the electric billing structure doesn’t drastically change.
All of Morrow’s efficiency measures were additions to his house, which has undergone several remodels by multiple homeowners since it was built in 1896.
Others measures, like at Jim Hoffman’s house, are foundational.
Hoffman built his house on Peaceful Drive with an insular layer of polystyrene, creating a thermal break between the foundation and concrete. Building it cost about 5 percent more than a traditional house.
He also has a 7.5-kilowatt solar array and hot water solar panels. The latter has tubes running through the panels; the water is heated by the sun and is stored in a 700-gallon tank on the property.
“Other than a connection fee, I don’t have an electric bill,” Hoffman said.
But he wouldn’t do it the same way again.
“Photovoltaic panel prices have dropped so drastically in the past six years, I don’t think it would make sense to do a solar thermal system again. And with water, there is always the risk of leaks,” he said. “Instead, I would do more solar panels and put more money into insulating.”
Local solar companies agree solar thermal systems to heat domestic water are a thing of the past.
“We barely do those anymore,” said Shaw Solar owner John Shaw, who worked on some of the featured homes. “They’re more expensive to produce the same amount of energy, require a lot of maintenance and tend to not look as good. It might cost 20 percent more than a solar electric installation.”
jpace@durangoherald.com