Consider Experience When Hiring Firm to Install Solar Electric System Consider Experience When Hiring Firm to Install Solar Electric System

We really like the idea of buying a small solar electric system for our home, even if it just powers a few little appliances. I like the idea of going green, and this would be a start. Where do we buy small systems?

I think the key to getting a system for your home is to deal with a specialist in photovoltaics, or solar electric, systems.

Yes, you might find ads or phone book listings for electrical contractors who have the skills to install these systems and there are even building supply stores that carry off-the-shelf systems, but getting the right system and having it properly installed is critical to its performance.

The solar industry has made tremendous strides in recent years in terms of both quality of products and the quality of installation.

Today’s systems are better made as well as more efficient, and national training programs for installers help ensure that your home’s system will be properly installed.

There are a couple of strategies I suggest to find a local contractor or company that can work with you on a system for your home:

* One is to check out the Web site www.findsolar.com, a great site that will help you learn all about the systems as well as help you find someone in your area to sell and service it.

* Contact the Solar Energy Industries Association (www.seia.org), the national trade association for the solar industry. They have chapters in 14 states and can provide names of both their national and state member companies.

* Also, call your local utility company and ask for their recommendations for local companies.

I’ve got to stress that experience is a critical factor to consider when listening to salespeople or getting technical information from a company. Though the systems look fairly easy to install – and indeed, many people have successfully installed their own home systems – I think they’re still specialized enough that you ought to work with people with a track record in this field.

Solar electric systems should last for many years (it’s not uncommon to find solar panels that have warranties of 25 years or more) so doing it right up-front will pay off long-term.

Adjusting the thermostat

Please settle an argument I’m having with my husband. I am pretty sure it was one of your articles a while ago that said that constantly adjusting a thermostat up and down is not the best way to keep a house comfortable. He insists that when it gets really cold inside, we need to set the thermostat way up in the high 80s to get the house warm sooner. I don’t agree but am not sure how to explain to him why he’s wrong. What do I say?

There’s really a very specific answer to your question, and tell him that the energy experts all agree on this. No matter what setting you use on your thermostat, the house will warm up at the same rate.

It’s not going to get hotter any faster if you set the thermostat higher than you want it to be.

Raising it higher than you want it to be in the heating season can easily lead to wasted energy if you forget to turn it back down, and this is often what happens. You want the house to be 68 but you think it’ll get warmer faster if you set it to 78 first, so you make the adjustment.

The house reaches your desired 68-degree point, but the furnace keeps operating to raise it another 10 degrees more.

Unless you get up and stop it when it hits the 68 level, all the heating beyond that is just wasting energy – and wasting lots of it.

Ken Sheinkopf is a communications specialist with the American Solar Energy Society. Send questions to askken@ases.org.

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