Latest Energy Projects

Sage School Sustainable Solar Fish Farm and Commercial Greenhouse

This landmark project started out as a means to revitalize as unused large commercial greenhouse attached to the local alternative school (middle and high school grades) that was too costly to heat. It morphed into a volunteer project where I assisted the students in self-designing the new solar heating systems themselves and then they self-installed them with expert professional help (Sagebrush Solar / Billy Mann to the rescue). The new solar system heated raised vegetable beds and a fish farm raising thousands of tilapia fish – all sold profitably on the local restaurant market to help fund school programs. I enjoyed teaching heat transfer concepts and basic physics to the students as they broke up into competitive design teams to promote their system design approach. A classic critique using the students themselves as the jury was the most rewarding experience. There were a few bloody knuckles, all in the name of ‘learn-by-doing”!

Student design teams compete, critique and learn heat transfer concepts by doing

42 kW Photovoltaic Solar Power Project – Carey, Idaho

The latest edition to what are large scale solar projects in this part of the state. This is a ballasted array with ‘built in America’ components. C&R Electrical a local contractor performed the install. Soon to be commissioned.

There are 3 rows like this. start-up Spring 2012

HVAC Retrofit and 25 kW Photovoltaic Solar Power Project – Wastewater Treatment Plant, Hailey, Idaho

This 25,000 watt solar electric system is the largest PV solar power project in the County or Central Idaho municipal area. I just finished this project and it went online this month producing up to 25+ kilowatts of power for the City of Hailey. We have an online data logger to view output. All of the Power is consumed onsite of the City’s largest energy consumer. This project was the result of a large Federal Grant that funded The City of Hailey. Tracy Anderson and I were the primary Grant Authors. I engineered the project, wrote the RFP and acted as Project Manager for the City of Hailey from bid through commissioning. The PV system is a unique self-tracking design specially designed for flat roofs. Rick Roberts the Electrical contractor discovered this new product made in California – the entire project is from USA-manufactured products. The project also includes an air-air heat recovery retrofit (ERV/HRV) of another building on the same site.

Horizontal thin film array 25KW

Here’s a link to an article

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005133926

500 Tube Solar Thermal Array – Blaine County Jail, Idaho

Commissioned early 2011, This is another giant solar project for this area, This four row array of 500 evacuated heat pipe solar collector tubes is roof mounted and self-tracking. The system stores 1200 gallons of solar heated hot water in an atmospheric site-built drainback storage tank. The facility it serves (a County Jail as well as the County law enforcement headquarters) uses over 50,000 gallons of hot water a month, the solar system offsets over 75% of that energy load with a simple economic payback within 12 years. Billy Mann of Sagebrush Solar Inc. headed up the concept and design of the system. He and I partnered to win a juried competitive bid to win the project award. All materials in the project are American made. Billy and I installed 90% of the system ourselves with the help of Precision Plumbing and Roberts Electric. A real hands on project for me again. This is the largest thermal solar project in the area – the only other project of this size is another 500 tube system very much like this one that I engineered and installed about 120 miles away for a remote airport site which was also completed this year. That system is a radiant floor heat system with a large wood fired boiler backup.