October 2005 –

Where it's at:
Renewables, Solar, and Boulder

Among my recent experiences in life, one of the more enlightening (no pun intended) was the Boulder Tour of Solar and Built Green Homes. Eight single-family houses and a "solar village" were open for public viewing on Sunday, October 2. The tour's sponsor was the non-profit Center for ReSource Conservation, based in Boulder, Colo.

"Solar energy" may evoke thoughts of photovoltaic energy. That's electricity produced by microprocessors, called solar cells. It's the most high-tech form of solar, and the most promising, in its potential to wean the world from fossil fuels. But other important forms of residential solar were in evidence on the tour, including hot-water heating, in which your water is warmed by the sun before entering a conventional gas or electric hot water tank; and "passive" solar, in which the sun's warmth enters a home via windows, skylights, etc.

Hosting many of the homes were not only their owners, but the architects who designed them, contractors who built them, and technicians who installed their earth-friendly electrical, insulating, and ventilating systems. Maybe it was a coincidence and maybe it was staged, but at one residence, just as the tour moved through, a contractor was wiring solar panels to the home's electric circuit breaker box.

If it was coincidence, he picked a bad day to get any work done. Tour-goers peppered the contractor with all the expected questions, and some surprisingly sophisticated ones. How much energy will the system produce? How much do the panels weigh? Are they hard to install? What keeps them cool? What did the system cost? Is it grid-connected? What's its payback period?

In a town more ecologically aware than most, it was clear that many on the Boulder tour were well on their way to adopting solar systems themselves. It helps that Colorado voters last fall approved an amendment to the state constitution, requiring a significant portion of electric power to come from renewable sources by 2015. Four percent of the total renewable energy must be solar, with half of that installed on customer property. An estimated $100 million in rebate checks for solar installation may go out in the next decade.

It also helps that Boulder, part of greater Denver, is in one of the sunniest metropolitan areas of the nation. It gets more sun (depending on how it's measured) than Miami or San Diego. And it was a characteristically sunny day in Boulder, as tourists made their way through kitchens, basements, and backyards in their stocking feet, or barefoot. Shoe removal was mandatory, as a courtesy to homeowners.

I wondered how many people in this town arrived without shoes. With its hippie-chic ethic, left-anchored politics, and free-thinking inhabitants, Boulder is reputed in some circles as the world's weirdness capital. But sobriquets such as the People's Republic of Boulder roll off their backs, or are a source of pride. Several of the solar tour stops were in Boulder's best neighborhoods, with seven-figure home prices. The contractor fielding questions was at work in the backyard of a former Boulder mayor.

One thing is clear. People of all social stripes are hungry for information--about solar, wind, and other renewables, and about energy conservation. At the locale where the tour started, the Center for Resource Conservation headquarters, people elbowed their way to outdoor booths to chat with experts on biodiesel fuel and tankless hot water heaters. Energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs were a hot handout.

On the weekend of Boulder's solar tour, similar events were held in Denver, Fort Collins, Durango, and Colorado Springs. The organizers, to some extent, may have been preaching to the choir. But the choir keeps getting bigger, and its chorus louder.

Write to me at  tom@larocque.biz