My Experiences with Solar Electric and Solar Hot Water Systems

An energy management consultant since 1974, Andrew Rudin shares his personal accounts, the good and the bad, with using solar panels to generate electricity and to heat water.

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Zero Peak Homes: Real Homes, Real Savings

Author: Ryan Kerr

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January 01, 2008

A net-zero energy home (ZEH) has become a familiar construct to most Home Energy readers. But what we at the Building Industry Research Alliance (BIRA) have learned as we have worked to make this concept ... [continue reading]

When Time-Of-Use Costs Too Much

Author: Chris Staskewicz

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September 04, 2007

The California Solar Initiative (CSI) has run into some unexpected hurdles for certain residential customers planning to install PV modules on their homes. Under the terms for those requesting rebates, households are required to ... [continue reading]

Yavapai's Green Building Success

Author: Tony Grahame and Richard Peterson

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July 01, 2007

Yavapai College's Residential Building Technology (RBT) program has been recognized many times over for its energy-efficient, green, and affordable homes - homes that are constructed by students in the program. [continue reading]

Dreaming of Windows

Author: Dariush Arasteh

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May 06, 2007

Q We are building a new passive-solar home and have had difficulty finding commercially available low-U, high solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) windows. The specs quoted for the windows in the Home ... [continue reading]

Energy Efficiency Welcomes the Celebrity Sibling - Solar

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March 20, 2007

Over 20 years ago, I joined the energy efficiency industry and became a volunteer for Home Energy magazine. Over those 20-plus years, we’ve reinvented the conservation, demand-side management, market transformation, and energy efficiency industries. ... [continue reading]

New Solar Homes Partnership

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March 20, 2007

A unique blend of energy-efficient solar homes will emerge in California’s new-home marketplace in 2007, under the California Energy Commission’s New Solar Homes Partnership. “Our program is intended to transform the ... [continue reading]

The California Solar Initiative

Author: Cecelia Barros and Charles Segerstrom

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March 20, 2007

For an increasing number of Californians, renewable energy is an obvious choice. Harnessing the earth’s own inexhaustible energy—whether from the sun, wind, biomass, or other renewable sources—can reduce dependence ... [continue reading]

HERS Inspections of New Homes

Author: Michael E. Bachand

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March 20, 2007

The New Solar Home Partnership (NSHP) is a ten-year, $350 million program to subsidize PV systems in new homes. The NSHP, which is being implemented by the California Energy Commission (CEC), offers performance-based rebates for PV ... [continue reading]