John and Joy have had a firm belief in the necessity of developing, cleaner, renewable sources of energy to meet our ever-growing needs. RE Solar was developed as a way to promote and facilitate what we feel is the inevitable coming transition, away from fossil-based fuels, toward solar and wind powered electricity to power our homes and lives.

Solar power shines (no pun intended) in applications where the cost of bringing in other sources of power is too great, and/or generator noise and maintenance burdens are unacceptable to you. This explains the popularity of solar power in off-grid remote homes and cabins, particularly when the distance to the closest electrical service is a quarter mile or greater.

As for grid-connected applications - these are becoming quite popular (and experiencing exponential growth) in states where both the cost of utility-provided electric power is relatively expensive, and state incentives are relatively generous. In the case of Southern Utah, serviced primarily by Garkane Energy cooperative, our power is some of the least expensive in the country, and at this point the Utah state incentives are modest.

So if you’re thinking about adding grid-tied solar power to your existing utility-connected residence, think of it much in the same way that you would consider the purchase of a hybrid vehicle. Both (a hybrid vehicle and grid-tied solar) are purely discretionary purchases that constitute significant investments for the average homeowner, and both will do something in a very tangible way to reduce the burden that you and your family place on the environment from the consumption of energy. Both are now extremely reliable technologies. And just as you’re not likely to fully recoup the additional expense of a hybrid vehicle purchase based on gasoline savings, you’re also not likely to fully recoup your investment in a grid-tied solar system based solely upon savings in your electric bill. If you’re looking at solar for reasons other than purely economic, however, rest assured that the technology is extremely reliable and mature, and will almost always outlast the time that you spend in a given residence.

Residential-scale wind power is often an excellent alternative or a complement to solar power. Estimating the amount of power that will likely be generated from a small scale wind turbine, however, is a much less precise science than estimating the expected output from an array of solar panels. The reasons for this are many, and they include the wide variation in wind energy available week-by-week, the fact that available wind energy is extremely site-specific (as opposed to solar, which is only region-specific), and the uncertainty in estimating the effect that trees, buildings and other obstacles will have in blocking the prevailing winds on any given site. As a general statement, in practical terms, Utah's available solar resource is one of the best in the country, while our wind resource (believe it or not) is one of the weakest in the country. There are a few areas with excellent wind resources, usually on ridge tops, near canyon mouths, and in a handful of other places, most of which are in the West Desert. Just because it often blows hard in your area, particularly in the spring, doesn't mean that you have a great wind site. In order for wind to be a really worthwhile investment, the wind must blow with at least the force of a stiff breeze, almost all of the time year round.

Given the above observations, almost all adopters of renewable energy in Utah end up choosing solar as their primary power generation source, with wind power serving at most as a complementary/backup source of power. High resolution wind resource maps (i.e, estimated average wind speeds) for the entire state have been created in the past few years. These types of maps are never foolproof but are extremely useful in determining the suitability of a given site. We have access to those maps and can help you assess your potential from this and other information that is available. Should you choose to incorporate wind, there are at least a dozen different turbine models of varying size that are readily available for purchase. Keep in mind that the biggest issue with incorporating wind is not the turbine, but rather the tower, and unless you are in an extremely remote site with a lot of buffer acreage, you will need to get a permit from your local town or county government for that tower. Wind turbine systems, either off-grid or grid-tied are very similar in overall design to solar electric systems, the main difference of course being the power source.

As you acquaint yourself with renewable energy concepts and products, be sure to check out some of the many great sites that exist. The web site of Home Power magazine www.homepower.com is a great place to start. The links on the left side of the page will take you to some pages showing examples of the systems that we have done.