Appalachian Energy Blog

So they say this is clean coal? Mountain Top Removal is a cheap process which has become more popular in the last decade. As cost to produce electricity are going up companies are looking into anything to increase their margins. Mountain top removal does this, with a small voice in opposition. One of the ways you can do your part to reduce this practice is to call your local, state, and federal representatives and ask them to stop this practice, but also reduce your electrical usage and install a solar system.

Here is a Bojangles install in Kingsport, TN. We change the mounting system a little to reduce the profile of the panels, as well we would get more bang for the buck with the ballast system (with the increased weight per square foot.) I would imagine you will be seeing more of this type of installation in the future. And nothing beats a egg & cheese biscuit and sweet Tea after a tough night (um…. I mean a long day of installs…….)

So this is one of the first EnerWorks systems we have done so far. The installation went in very well and everybody was happy. As with all of our installations we like the look and the performance of the system.  We should have some more EnerWorks systems posted soon as the guys are installing one today in Biltmore Lake.

Here is a new system we are beginning to use from EnerWorks. We should have some pictures of some of their installation fairly soon.

Words like aloha can be confusing, because they can mean both hello and goodbye. Especially confusing when you’re firing someone. Take an amazing story a recent client of ours shared with us that showed how confusing, and appropriate this word can be. After installing a three panel, 108-gallon tank solar hot water and heating system in their all-gas house, this family recieved an unexpected visit from their local utility provider. This

confused gasman was sent out to their household because something “must have been wrong” with their gas system. The “problem” was that the gas meter hadn’t been running for weeks. Maybe it was broken, maybe a gasline was leaking. After a very misguided conversation all parties involved finally realized what the real “problem” was… a solar thermal system had been installed. Solar had reduced this families gas consumption such that the meter almost completely stopped turning, prompting the gas company to investigate what was wrong with the house! Definately a first. So, Aloha gasman!  

The Richard’s family has been very happy with their system. We installed this 3 panel hot water and space heating system in three days. We will be back at the Richard’s house sometime this summer to help them put the system on “vacation” mode as they head north to Maine for a few weeks. We will keep you posted on how everything is going.

this picture is a great example of how the hot water coil ties into the system.

Here is a picture of the tank with both heat exchangers tied in.

The house shows another configuration that takes advantage of roof orientation, while maintaining a subtle appearance.

This picture shows how seamless our space heating installs can be. We connect a hot water coil insert into your return duct so that it preheats the air, reducing your overall costs for space heating. Can you find the coil?

Here is a picture of the hot water coil from the back side. Maybe it will give you a hint to finding it.

The day we took these pictures the collector temperature was

and the tank temperature was

The outside air temperature was 69 and sunny.  

Why stop with the boiler room? Let’s offer some eye candy of some new installs around WNC.

Below are a couple pics that demonstrate the different kinds of styles we use to take advantage of specific circumstances.

Eric’s water tank shows of streamlined the tank assembly has gotten. Gone are the days of loose wiring. This is a watertank that fits both your budget and your sleek modern aesthetic. After owning one you may be surprised saying for the first time, “Man, that is one sexy water heater.”

Panels can work with a variety of roof materials and angles. Eric’s house shows that even with significant tree cover (in the back) and a low roof pitch, we can make it happen.

After receiving many requests of wanting to see more installations, here is a picture collection of our recent installation at our office at the Fletcher Business Park. This 12-panel system was designed to supplement one of our building’s three boilers.

The panels have an increased angle to optimize their thermal performance during the winter months, when the boiler will be getting the most use. Increasing the pitch means that the panels will be able capture more direct sunlight during the months when the sun has a lower angle in the sky. This type of ballast mounting is used on flat roof installs or in some cases, ground mounting.

Large scale solar install + heavy machinery + several days out of the office doing techy work = happy Danish engineer

Here you can see how several tanks can be tied together on the same project. The modular nature of these systems mean that we can scale them to order, however large that may be.

This week we were very proud to recieve the North Carolina Leadership Award at the NC Sustainable Energy Conference, hosted by the NC State Energy Office. Among two other recipients (Michael Shore and Sen. John Snow) we were recognized for the total savings our renewable energy systems have brought to the state, the historic scale of the potential Rivercane project, the relationships we’ve made in the quickserve industry (Arby’s) and the pioneering work we’ve done promoting the nation’s first solar adsorption chiller. We’ve been busy around here and its always rewarding to have hard work recognized. Congratulations to the other local recipients and all the other people that participated in a great conference this week at NC State University.