Posted on: March 10, 2008
Let The Sun Shine In
Solar technology soars to new heights in a Colorado home that would make any environmentalist green with envy
By Jeff Schnaufer
CTW Features
Image courtesy John Averson
When it comes to solar power, John Avenson is a model citizen.
For more than a quarter century, Avenson has lived in a solar-powered home in Westminster, Colo., that was designed with assistance from the Solar Energy Research Institute, which is now known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This solar-technology hotbed features 28 solar panels, automatic window shades, a superheated rock box that can help heat the house and a home-environmental computer like something out of “Star Trek.”
As the coming of spring brings the promise of more sunshine, Avenson's home is a model for how Americans everywhere can see the light – and its money-saving, environmental benefits – for themselves.
"I have done many upgrades that others can do," says Avenson, who troubleshoots mobile-phone systems for a living.
For heating, Avenson discovered a product called the Solarsheat, a glazed recirculation solar air collector designed for space heating that can mount on a wall or roof.
"You can turn any non-solar house into a solar house with these sheets," says Avenson. "It takes the air out of a room, runs it across the black surface and returns it back into the room. It raises a 12-by-12 foot room up by about 10 degrees during the day. These panels can be mounted on the wall or on the roof. These will go on the solid wall. These are about $1,500 a panel. I have two of them and I'm going to put a third on next fall. They're keeping my basement warm."
From morning until night, Avenson says, he never flips a light switch. That's in part because of a new product he installed called a Solatube, a roof-mounted dome that looks like a furnace duct and uses mirrors inside the tubing to pipe sunlight into even the darkest room.
"It's like a skylight," says Avenson. "It's very gorgeous. You can actually take out your hallway ceiling light and replace it with it, so all day long your hallway is lit up with no electricity."
The product, which can run between $300 and $500, can also include hidden lights that allow you to illuminate the hallway or room at night. Another option of the Solatube includes a damper that will shut off the light in a nursery or if you want to watch a movie in darkness.
Avenson says the installation of these products, as well as his solar panels, electric window shades and other environmentally conscious systems, keeps his energy bill down.
"I'm a luxury user of electricity," he says. "And I save about $65 a month on electricity."
