Clean Energy

Going Solar in the City

Ray Bills and Coralee Grebe were Rochester Public Utilities' first customers to convert to solar power.

When Coralee Grebe and Ray Bills purchased their very first house, a typical1970's rambler, they had a goal. They wanted to demonstrate that you don't have to start from the ground up building a solar home, that it is possible to convert an ordinary existing home to solar power and that you can do it in stages. With this dream in mind, they chose a house that had a south-facing roof and large south-facing windows.

Fourteen Sharp photovoltaic panels were mounted along the top of the south face of the roof. Each panel can produce 185 watts per hour of sun --producing 3.074 kWh of power over a year (and avoiding the pumping of 8.32 tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere by equivalent coal-fired power.) A Sharp Sunvista inverter in the garage converts the power from DC to AC. The PV system was designed by Innovative Power System (Minneapolis). Local Master electrician Jeff Kranz installed the wiring. A crew of two people installed the entire system in two days.

Ray and Coralee worked closely with Rochester Public Utilities (RPU), which agreed to sponsor them as a solar pilot project. The system is tied into the power grid: at night or when there isn't as much sunshine, the house draws power from the grid. On sunny days, excess electricity produced by the panels is sold back to RPU and powers neighboring homes and businesses. The photovoltaic system was sized to meet the average electricity needs of the family --some months they have a small electrical bill, and other months they get a credit, but over the course of a year, Ray and Coralee spend approximately $0 on electricity.

The total cost of the PV system, installed in 2004,was $17,951. A Minnesota solar rebate of $5,180 reduced the cost to $12,771. At 2004 energy costs, it would take 16 years for the system to pay for itself but if costs continue to rise, the payback will be sooner. After that, the Bills-Grebe household will be getting its electricity free of charge.

Ray Bills and Coralee Grebe were Rochester Public Utilities' first customers to convert to solar power.

Ray and Coralee are already working on their next solar project: Converting their heating system to solar hot water with in-floor radiant heating. The installation will be later this month, at which time we will update this story and photos.

Ray showed the PV Panels to many visitors during the 2007 Minnesota Solar Tour held October 6th.

Both Ray and Coralee have science backgrounds, but they still found the greatest challenge of going solar was sorting out the options and feeling confident that they had enough information to make a savvy decision. They recommend anyone interested in solar power attend the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Amherst, WI where they participated in workshops and talked to people

who had installed solar panels. Now, after their own successful installation, they generously share their knowledge and experience with others.

CONTACT: Ray Bills and Coralee Grebe

VIEW LIVE UPDATES: http://66.188.210.68:8090/house.shtml