Domestic Solar Water Heater (DSWH) Project

Wind

Solar

Distributed Generation (DG)

Net Metering

Solar Water Heater Program/Survey

CRN Consultants Chris Robertson, Joe Bourg and Jill Cliburn, VEA Ambassador and DSWH participant Peter Gazsy (center) inspecting the solar systems.

At various cooperative events over the years, at meetings and in one-on-one discussions, many Valley Electric Association members expressed an interest in alternative energy and for VEA to investigate its potential for member use. VEA staff decided to follow up on this interest in solar energy and we chose to investigate the merits of offering a domestic solar water heater (DSWH) pilot program to the members.

VEA partnered with DCSI which provides reliable advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solutions TWACS by DCSI is a proven power line and radio frequency communication system with full two-way access to the meter.

Since VEA used the TWACS meters throughout its service territory, it only made sense that we use them to collect the data for this program.

VEA also partnered with the Cooperative Research Network (CRN), a research arm of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), who is helping fund much of this program and collect, analyze and document the information for other utilities to use throughout the country.

VEA has utilized SCHUCO, a German solar water heater manufacturer for the DSWH pilot program; TWACS meters for the monitoring equipment; MARATHON energy efficient water heaters; and CRN, who is helping fund much of this program and is collecting, analyzing and documenting the information for the program.

The Project:

After intensive investigation, VEA concluded that objective hard data (outside data of the DSWH sales industry) was all "rule of thumb" for this type of program. And technically, installing and using DSWH would likely be a challenge for many people, at least in the beginning. Also, the financial aspects of DSWH for VEA are not clear cut Therefore, preparatory to a full-blown DSWH program, VEA opted to start a DSWH pilot program.

The Changes:

VEA invested $66,000 in its DSWH pilot program, mainly to buy a total of 10 DSWH units from Schuco, a German solar water heater manufacturer and also for monitoring equipment, which includes the TWACS meters. The co-op worked in conjunction with the VEA Ambassadors, members who want to be super informed about the cooperative, and CRN to create the white paper. VEA is monitoring homes in all parts of its service territory, gathering data and monitoring kilowatt hour usage through the TWACS meters on not only solar water heaters but taking it a step further and monitoring high efficient water heaters; high efficient water heaters with a timer; and standard water heaters. Two- and four-person households for example will be monitored over a 12 – 24 month period, and the pilot program evaluated throughout the first year. The cost split between VEA and the member on the $6,000 DSWH unit breaks out as follows: the homeowner pays 25 percent of the up front cost (to qualify for a $1,500 federal tax credit), and VEA finances 25 percent of the cost for each DSWH unit with a zero-interest loan that the consumer will repay to VEA over one year (10 members reimbursing VEA a total of $15,000 over the one-year life of the pilot program). VEA pays the remaining $3,000 for each DSWH unit installed.

Member service:

VEA is on target with the DSWH pilot program The units and the metering systems are installed and the data will be ready to publish the first quarter of 2008.

Governments, especially in the southwest, often have mandated DSWH in their jurisdictions. Most utilities, therefore, have not had a chance to do adequate research and cost-benefit analyses beforehand for DSWH. Regardless, the federal government offers a tax credit (30 percent, capped at $2,000) for DSWH installations. There is a property tax exemption for installing DSWH systems in Nye County.

At meetings of the participants, they share comparisons of reduced kwh usage and savings in their power bills as measured against their individual historical data They express unanimous satisfaction with the system. The non-scientific comparisons differ in individual households but are all positive in varying degrees All of the participants are willing to follow the guidelines to gather the most accurate data and see the program through to the conclusion of the study Everyone hopes that the statistics gathered in this pilot program and the results that come to light through their efforts will enhance the lives of the entire membership. The kilowatt-hour (kwh) usage and other data will be collected from all the participants and analyzed to determine whether it is financially feasible for VEA and its membership to embark on a full-scale DSWH program A positive outcome from this research program could include incentives to those who install solar water heater units in the future.