Vashon Solar Tour: June 30th, 9am - 5pm

This ground mount installation is one of the many systems available to view during the Vashon Solar Tour

Artisan Electric will once again be hosting the 4th Annual Vashon Solar Tour on June 30th from 9am - 5pm.  The self guided tour will feature recent solar installations around the island, giving those interested in renewable energy a chance to view different systems and chat with  islanders about their experience going solar.

Artisan Electric asks that you follow tour signs; parking and sites will be well marked.  Enjoy yourself, ask questions, and most importantly have a great day!

Vashon Solar Tour maps can be picked up at Artisan Electric's booth at the Caulk the Rock festival from 10am - 3pm, scanning the QR code, clicking the individual site links, or by clicking the online site map link below.

For more information, contact Grace Willard at: grace@artisanelectricinc.com

1.  Arenson Residence

11515 105th Place SW

This is a west-facing array that performs extremely well due to relatively few horizon obstructions and the low pitch of the roof.

2. Vashon Household/JG Commons

17300 96th Place SW

3. Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust

10014 Bank Rd SW

Both the V/MI Land Trust and the Vashon Household/JG Commons are Community Solar Projects made possible by Sustainable Vashon’s Solar Initiative.

4. Brown Residence

19834 Vashon HWY SW

An example of a  ground mount installation.

5. Vashon High School

20120 Vashon HWY SW

This is an educational and demonstration PV array for the students of VHS and the greater Vashon community that was funded by a Careers Technical Education Grant.

6. Caldwell Residence

21412 Tramp Harbor Rd

A steep roof installation on a beautiful craftsman owner renovated home.

7. Mackey Residence

24430 Old Mill Rd SW
Another fantastic example of a ground mount system.

8. Lockwood Residence

6207 SW Luana Beach Rd

9. Brown Residence

5213 SW Point Robinson Rd

Solar panels form the roof of this installation.

10. Rogers Residence

28029 133rd Ave SW

This installation is a “single size” array, with a relatively small footprint. The resident found another use for the array – storing her kayak to keep it out of the rain.  

View all sites on the 2012 tour on this map:

http://tinyurl.com/2012solartour

Access the map using your smartphone:

Caulk the Rock Energy Fair: June 30th, 10am - 3pm

GreenTech was one of last year's exhibitors will all electric vehicles
 (Image courtesy of WisEnergy)

WisEnergy will be hosting the 3rd annual Caulk the Rock Energy Fair on June 30th from 10am to 3pm in the Island Lumber parking lot.  The fair will feature 40 different vendors specializing in green/renewable energy from throughout the Puget Sound or the greater northwest area.


Caulk the Rock Energy Fair is also the official head quarters of the 4th Annual Vashon Solar Home Tour - stop by to see our demo Silicon Energy solar module, pick up a Solar Tour Map, or sign up for a free solar site evaluation.


You might also want to check out our partners Sustainable Works, Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union, and Revolution Green Power who will also be present at the fair.


Visit WISEnergy Vashon's website to see the full roster of 2012 vendors.

Community Solar at Jefferson Park

March 21st marked the first day of Spring and the inauguration of Seattle City Light’s first Community Solar project, located at Beacon Hill’s Jefferson Park. The installation consists of three stand-alone solar picnic shelters, using a total of 120 Silicon Energy (SiE) 195 watt Cascade Series modules and four SiE5300 inverters. The arrays are configured to have two strings of 15 modules per inverter. The two smaller shelters located next to the community center consist of 30 modules (6 rows of 5) with a 5.85kW DC power rating each, and the large shelter to the north consists of 60 modules (6 rows of 10) with an 11.7 kW DC rating. The base structure is made of intentionally rusted 6x6 steel columns, beams and rafters. The system was installed by Artisan Electric, Inc.

Rather than attaching solar panels to a preexisting roof, Seattle City Light (SCL) designed the shelters to be dual functioning, using the modules themselves as the roof structures. Most solar modules are structurally weak and unsuitable to be used as a roofing material. However, the Silicon Energy modules use glass on both sides of the solar cells, forming structurally robust frameless “tiles” that allow light to penetrate around the edges of the cells. Between the overlapping modules, gaskets were attached to block rain blowback from prevailing winds. The picnic shelters were not designed to be waterproof, however, and some leakage around the bedrails or “mounting feet” is expected. If desired, this type of shelter could be more rain tight by installing vertical gutters sandwiched between the mounting feet and steel rafters, diverting all water shed by the shelters into the existing attached gutter at the bottom of the array.

The new SiE5300 inverters are single phase by default and needed to be reconfigured to 208V without a neutral in order to backfeed into the preexisting three-phase SCL service at the park. Custom service cabinets were built by Skyline Electric, located in downtown Seattle, in order to accommodate the ventilation needs of the inverters while protecting the equipment from vandalism (or stray condiments).

Unlike most community solar projects in the state, the Jefferson Park shelters are highly visible and meant to be an integral part of everyday park usage. Jefferson Park users have sought covered picnic areas for more than a decade, but tight budgets had kept the Seattle Parks Department from providing them until now. The Community Solar project was developed with the help of a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. City Light customers can purchase units of the array for $600 each, which in turn cuts down on their monthly utility bill. According to Seattle City Light, most of the 500 units having already been sold, which will create a rotating fund for the utility’s next solar projects in the near future.

“I’m very happy to be a part of this program,” said Robert Hinrix of Beacon Hill, one of the project’s founding members. “I’ve been a longtime supporter of alternative energy, going back 30 years almost. This is a way I can put my money where my beliefs are and make something happen. I encourage all of my neighbors and fellow citizens of Seattle to consider it.”

COMMUNITY SOLAR PROJECT TO BE PLACE AT THE HARBOR SCHOOL, VASHON

Here's an article that came out yesterday about the community solar project we will be installing next month here on 
Vashon, WA. I'm not sure how accurate my statement is about finding investors, but hopefully people are interested in supporting this effort.


URL: http://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/news/138000353.html


By LESLIE BROWN 
Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber Editor 
JANUARY 24, 2012 · UPDATED 2:47 PM 

Vashon Solar LLC is poised to install the Island’s first community solar project, an array that will be perched next to The Harbor School and could eventually kick out enough power to heat three houses.

Evan Leonard, solar project manager at Artisan Electric and a board member for Vashon Solar LLC, said the group is thrilled to have found a spot for the array, which will be installed in two phases this winter and spring.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming and a lot of hard work.”

The group, led by Vashon architect Gib Dammann, has been searching for months for a site for a community-based system, racing to get a project installed so as to take full advantage of generous state incentives slated to end in 2020. Another group, Vashon Community Solar, a project spearheaded by The Backbone Campaign, is also working to develop a site.

Leonard said the site at The Harbor School is ideal. The array will be situated on the ground on the south side of the building, where on a sunny day it would have 98 percent sun exposure — meaning that “from sun up to sun down 98 percent of the time the sun is hitting that surface,” Leonard said.

“That’s pretty rare. We’ve got a lot of trees on Vashon,” he said.

The project will be funded by Islanders investing $5,000 to $35,000 each, Leonard said. The group expects to have about 20 investors, ponying up a total of $250,000.

A federal tax credit gives each investor a 30 percent construction refund for various green energy projects, meaning that an investor who provides $5,000 toward the project can reduce his or her tax bill by $1,500.

The state Legislature, meanwhile, sweetened the pot with a bill it passed two years ago in an effort to stimulate a solar panel manufacturing industry: For every kilowatt hour produced by a system manufactured in the state and placed at a public building, the entity that created the project receives $1.08 — or 10 times the market value of the electricity — to be divvied up among its investors.

The Harbor School is private but its building and land are owned by the Vashon Island School District. The array will benefit the private school, not the district, Leonard said. But when the school’s lease is up, “It’ll be a good leverage point for the district,” he said.

Finding investors won’t be a problem, he added. “Already several people have shown a high level of interest,” he said.