Solar Tour
2021 is the year of Solar Tours! PSEA will host a local Solar Tour in partnership with the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) on Saturday, October 2nd. We are currently recruiting Solar Homes who would like to participate, either in our Virtual or In Person Tours or both. If you would like to learn more, please contact us at lizhrob2@gmail.com.
We also expect there will be a Solarize Philly Solar Tour in August this year. Stay tuned for more information.
We are building this section out to include a broad range of commercial and residential solar projects, to demonstrate the range and versatility of solar power and many of the ways it powers our farms, businesses, and homes at the same time that it improves our health and local economies
Keep checking back as this will keep expanding!
Virtual Solar Tour of some exemplary PA solar projects
Front Flats: Philadelphia’s Net Zero Multi-Family Building
Ron Celentano, PSEA’s Technical Director, served as the technical mastermind behind Front Flats, an extremely innovative multi-family building in Kensington. This 28 unit apartment building is literally clad in solar panels, not only on the roof, but also on the south, east and west sides, in an effort to supply all the electricity the building requires. This Onion Flats project approaches Passive House standards, and indeed will produce more electricity than it uses.
The story in Solar Power World and the Onion Flats website: http://www.onionflats.com/projects/passive-house/phase-1-front-flats.php will give you more detail.
Virtual Meter Aggregation: the Best Kept Secret
While PA still does not have a good Community Solar law, we do have Virtual Meter Aggregation, a tariff that permits an owner of multiple properties to put solar on the sunniest of these and to get credit for any excess usage on any of the other meters if the properties are within a 2 mile radius and the meters are in the same name.
That’s what makes this project possible. Liz Robinson, PSEA’s Executive Director, and her husband wanted solar on their home for many years, but weren’t willing to cut down their 100 year old oak trees, so when they bought a rental property at the bottom of the block, it didn’t take long to install a solar system. This 5.4 kW system, installed by Solar States through the Solarize Philly Program, provides 100% of the power required by the 1st floor apartment and approximately 75% of the power at their home up the block. Liz also installed a new roof and coated it with cool roof coating in order to extend the life of the roof and increase the performance of the solar system. She plans to simply recoat the roof every ten years or so, and believes she will never have to take the PV system down to replace the roof.
Liz’s husband, Paul (center) with 2 Solar State installers
A Zero Energy Home: An Architect’s Mountaintop Retreat
In 2010, Macht Architecture completed work on their zero energy mountaintop retreat in the Poconos. The home is powered by a 5.6 kW solar array, and is designed utilizing passive solar concepts, as well as a ground source heat pump, super-insulation and an energy recovery system. Firm Principals, Paul Macht, and his son Kyle, are experts in energy efficient design and engineering. This home is similar to the other homes they design, in terms of their focus on energy efficiency, health considerations and durability. To get a virtual tour of this state-of-the-art house (below), click here.
