Burns Park

A note on community based solutions to sustainable energy. One of the absolute best books out there, which we owe much of the Burns Park Green Energy Association’s
inspiration to, is Greg Pahl’s book: The Citizen Powered Energy Handbook. The information in this book is absolutely invaluable. Not only for anyone looking to learn about sustainable
energy, but anyone interested in actively taking steps to make the transition away from fossil fuels. A must read for any concerned community member. Find Greg’s book here.

Michigan Database of state and federal incentives for renewables here

Solar Power

Solar energy can be used in many different ways to provide heat, hot water, lighting and electricity. There are two main methods of harvesting solar power; Passive and Active.

Passive solar power involves the intentional architectural design of buildings and homes as to integrate natural sunlight and landscaping into a home’s heating and cooling system.

For the majority of existing homes in Burns Park, unless passive solar architecture was incorporated into your home’s initial design, this option is not very viable.

Active solar power relies on utilizing solar cell panels installed on a homes roof, or property. These systems are tremendously scalable, from very small to very large. Solar panels are quiet, produce no greenhouse gases, and are extremely safe and clean to operate.

Within Active solar systems there are two categories, Domestic hot water and Photovoltaic.

Domestic hot water systems utilize solar panels to replace a homes gas or electric hot water heating system. These are stand alone systems designed to eliminate the energy costs associated with heating hot water for bathing and cleaning, which can account for as much as 18% of a homes electric bill.

Photovoltaic systems (PV) are incorporated into a homes infrastucture to aid in the production of electricity for appliances, outlets, and whatever other electrical load your home might incur. Within PV systems, homeowners can opt for “grid tie” or “off the grid” set ups.

Grid tie systems are literally “tied” into the utility company’s electrical system, and contribute solar generated energy during the day, while relying on the utility company’s grid generated power at night. Although this system is more affordable and easier to operate, it does not make a home independent from the utility company.

Off the grid systems are just that. They operate completely independent from the utility company, making the home self sufficient in generating its own electricity. These systems utilize solar panels on the roof that feed into and charge an extensive battery system, typically found in a home’s basement. The main benefit of off an grid system is that when the utility company’s grid goes out, your power stays on. A downside however, as in all solar, is the fact that solar is not available at night, and a location obscured by clouds or extensive inclimate weather may not generate enough power to operate a normal homes energy load.

How solar Panels work:
http://www.glrea.org/articles/howDoSolarPanelsWork.html

The city of Ann Arbor has a FANTASTIC resource for checking your home’s solar potential. Just enter your address, then click on the “solar potential”tab.http://www2.a2gov.org/Mypropertyinformation/address.asp

Another great solar potential calculator can be found at www.roofray.com

Ann Arbor named solar America City by DoE:

Ann Arbor 5000 solar roofs project:

Wind Power

Wind power is used primarily to generate electricity. And contrary to popular belief, there are now wind turbines sized for virtually every use, domestic or commercial. Modern wind turbine
technology is highly sophisticated and increasingly competitive with more conventional forms of electrical generation. The main factors in any wind turbine system are these three things;

1. The size of your tower

2. The size of your tower

3. The size of your tower

There are many examples all over the world of communities coming together and creating cooperative based wind generated power. This typically entails a group of people scouting a location, having wind data collected, a turbine purchased and installed, and then grid tied to offset residential electrical generation costs.

How wind power works:
http://www.sunflower.net/how_wind_works.htm

Residential wind power:
http://www.awea.org/faq/rsdntqa.html

Washtenaw County wind power:

Geothermal

Geothermal systems are available in most locations and are immediately renewable. Utilizing year round constant ground heat near the earth’s surface, A residential geothermal system incorporates a heat pump to heat building in the winter. The process is easily reversed to pump out heat during the summer.
Geothermal exchange is the most energy efficient, environmentally clean, and cost effective space conditioning system available.

How Geothermal works:
http://tristate.apogee.net/geo/gohow.asp

How Geothermal works (in depth with videos):
http://brainstuff.howstuffworks.com/2007/11/30/how-geothermal-energy-works/

Other geothermal links:
www.geoexchange.org
www.earthcomfort.com

Biomass

Biomass means “natural material.” When biomass energy is burned, it releases heat – just like the wood logs in your campfire.

Biomass energy uses natural materials like trees and plants to make electricity. It can also mean waste products like trash.

Biomass is the second-most common form of renewable energy we use in the United States, providing enough electricity to power more than two million homes.

There are lots of examples of biomass energy right here in the Midwest;

• Leftover wood from sawmills.
• Leftover paper and wood waste from paper mills.
• Corn stalks, corn cobs and seed corn from farms.
• Paper and cardboard that can’t be recycled in other ways.
• Fast-growing crops and trees.

How biomass works:
http://www.helium.com/items/338605-how-biomass-energy-works

Biomass in Michigan (a great site):
http://michiganbiomass.com

DTE GreenCurrents

For us residents in Burns Park, DTE is now offering a new greencurrents program. This allows residential DTE customers to pay an extra couple dollars a month, depending on energy consumption, to offset the operating costs of DTE’s new wind installations found throughout the state. For those interested in going green, but not sure about the initial investment, this is a great way to support clean, renewable energy, while creating awareness for existing green energy programs.

http://my.dteenergy.com/products/greenCurrents/index.html

Carbon Offsets

A carbon offset is a financial instrument representing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Although there are six primary categories of greenhouse gases, carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent. One carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.

How Carbon Offsets Work:
http://www.carbonfund.org/site/pages/how_it_works