Some local communities are not waiting on Georgia Power or the Georgia legislature.
Mary Landers, Savannahnow, 4 December 2014, Tybee Island’s solar interest spreads to county,
Solarize Tybee aims to allow more home and business owners than initially anticipated to tap into its collective buying power to reduce the cost of rooftop solar installations.
A Thursday meeting about the project attracted more Continue reading
People are starting to wake up as the solar sun rises above their horizon. This could be the year the Georgia legislature finally passes a bill to amend the law that inhibits solar financing. Even the City of Valdosta seems suddenly interested in helping with that.
Michael Caputo and Grant Blankenship, GPB, 12 December 2014, (VIDEO) Will Solar Power’s Surge in Georgia Make It To Homeowners?,
Early adopter Creighton Rosental of Macon is what you’d call a solar pioneer. The early adopter said that he had the 4-kilowatt panels installed on the backyard side of his roof about five years ago. Two-thirds of the upfront cost—about $30,000—was covered by a federal tax credit and a Georgia state credit.
“They built a frame and mounted it to the roof, which was a substantial fairly substantial enterprise.” Rosental said.
Continue reading
The Army Corps of Engineers has released a Draft Environmental Assessment and a Draft Finding of No Significant Impact for putting more sand on Tybee Island beach, also known as “renourishment”.
Mary Landers wrote for ajc.com yesterday, Tybee beach renourishment plans move forward,
The renourishment process involves using a cutterhead dredge to move about 1.7 million cubic yards of high quality sand from an area located 1.5 miles from the southern tip of Tybee Island. The deposited sand would be enough to compensate for the erosion expected to occur over the subsequent nine years. The project will include placing sand up to the north terminal groin. This northern area was included in previous renourishment cycles, but not the 2008 renourishment.
“It is good news,” said Tybee council member Paul Wolff. “Obviously we depend on the beach for our economy. Everything that gets done to move the process forward helps. We’re optimistic we’ll get the federal cost share again.”
Hm, I wonder if this contact information would work for other projects: Continue reading
Here are videos of Saturday’s
Solar Energy Forum
at the
Center for a Sustainable Coast (CSC)
in Savannah,
with
introductions by
Steve Willis, CSC Board President,
and
David Kyler, CSC Executive Director,
presentations by
Paul Wolff
of the
City of Tybee Island
about energy independence through renewable energy (including much new information
since
his February appearance on this blog),
about how they
incorporated in June out of frustration at
Georgia Power and Southern Company stonewalling on solar energy,
the
GaSU filings with the
Georgia Public Service Commission
that got the PSC
to recommend GaSU go to the legislature
to interpret or amend the
1973 Territorial Electric Service Act,
and much information about
the financial projections that underlie
GaSU’s business plan,
We will probably post more later on the presentations by Paul Wolff and Robert Green, and the ensuing questions and answers. Meanwhile, here’s a video playlist of the entire event:
Videos, Solar Energy Forum
Solar Energy Forum, Center for a Sustainable Coast (CSC),
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia, 1 December 2012.
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This morning WTOC interviewed Paul Wolff, Tybee City Council, and
Karen Grainey, Coastal Chapter, Georgia Sierra Club,
about
Wind Works: for Jobs, for Georgians, 6-9 PM tonight 31 August 2012 Tybee Pier.
Paul Wolff said we have a potential for 14.5 gigawatts off the Georgia coast, without interfering with shipping lanes or the ocean ecology. He noted big wind turbines need everything down to ball bearings, much of which can be (and some already is) produced in Georgia. LAKE blog readers know Paul Wolff as somebody who has put his money where his mouth is, with solar on his roof.
Here’s the video. Also PR from SACE and a facebook event.
WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather
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PS: Owed to Seth Gunning.
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Paul Wolff showed us his solar panels on Tybee Island:
That’s 28 panels. They’re SolarWorlds, roughly 18% efficiency rating, and it’s a 5.525 kilowatt system.
And another thing I tell people if your roof is at all questionable… right now there’s a 30% federal tax credit on the materials for an EnergyStar roof….
Here’s the video:
28 SolarWorld panels, 5.25 kilowatts –Paul Wolff
renewable energy,
Paul Wolff, The Volta Collaborative (TVC),
Tybee Island, Chatham County, Georgia, 17 February 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
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Paul Wolff told us how he came to invest in solar energy:
I did the math on it ahead of time. I had a bunch of mutual funds that hadn’t done anything in a long time. I figured out given the state and federal tax credits what the payback would be, and it came out to be about eight years. So I just divided that out, and by selling mutual funds and investing that money in solar panels on my roof it’s an eleven percent return. And in this economic climate I have nothing else yielding anywhere near that. So that’s a selling point.
Here’s the video:
11% return on solar panel investment —Paul Wolff
Tybee Island, Chatham County, Georgia, 17 February 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
The one on the right is 10 SEER (he had two);
the one on the right is a 17 SEER (the new one).
The new one has a separate dehumidifier and a two-stage
compressor.
It doesn’t have to cut on full blast every time,
which cut Paul’s energy cost for cooling by 40%.
Here’s the video:
Heat Pump —Paul Wolff, Tybee Island, Chatham County, Georgia, 17 February 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
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Paul Wolff at his house on Tybee Island
said air practically whistles through open electrical plugs,
so stopping those up saves a lot on heat and air conditioning.
Here’s the video:
Electric outlet plugs —Paul Wolff @ Tybee Island 2012 02 17
renewable energy,
Paul Wolff, The Volta Collaborative (TVC),
Tybee Island, Chatham County, Georgia, 17 February 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Paul Wolff showed us his programmable electric meter
at his house on Tybee Island.
It shows night, day, evening hours….The still picture shows Paul and Gretchen comparing notes on solar generation and usage over time. He writes his on a pad of paper. She records hers on an iphone. Either way works.That’s exclusive of the solar. This is strictly what I’ve used off the grid. The solar, I keep a spreadsheet.
Here’s the video:
Programmable electric meter —Paul Wolff 2012 02 17
renewable energy,
Paul Wolff, The Volta Collaborative (TVC),
Tybee Island, Chatham County, Georgia, 17 February 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq