Awnings double as solar panels in new home

This coming weekend will be a big one for a close-up look at solar energy in action.

Statewide, Columbus-based Green Energy Ohio will conduct its 2014 Green Energy Ohio Tour Friday through Sunday with tour stops in Licking County and Granville.

Closer to home, C-TEC will host the Licking County Solar Conference Saturday morning followed by an optional self-guided solar arrays tour in the afternoon with many of the same stops on the Green Energy tour.

One of the houses on the tour is owned by David and Jeanne Rouse. They recently built a unique home at 6297 Lafayette Road in Granville with solar panels that double as awnings.

“He’s got solar panels on the roof, which is pretty typical, but he’s actually engineered solar panels to serve as awnings over the windows,” said Jeremy King, sustainability coordinator at Denison University as well as co-chair with Richard Downs of the Licking County Solar Cooperative. “It’s a really, really interesting and unique way of going about it.”

“The Rouse family home puts Granville on the map as a great example of innovation along the Green Energy Ohio tour,” said Bill Spratley, executive director of Green Energy Ohio. “Solar power, renewable energy and sustainable design, truly help families reduce their electricity bills and support jobs and businesses in Ohio’s clean energy economy. I hope members of the community come out to David and Jeanne’s home and see how renewable energy works first-hand.”

Rouse said he started out with a 2,500 square foot passive solar home but then realized he had a need for awnings on a southern exposure.

“It turned out we got a quote from an awning supplier and it was going to cost more for the awnings than it would for the solar panels,” Rouse said. “That’s probably the most unique thing about the house.”

Richard Downs, who helped Rouse with the installation, agreed.

“It is very unique, absolutely,” Downs said. “We got double duty and double value out of the solar panels because we hung them on a vertical wall, which is really, really unique. They not only generate electricity but they also provide shade in the summertime. So it’s very cleverly done, I think.”

Rouse added he has batteries in the home so they can sustain an extended outage, “but I don’t really anticipate trying to stay off the grid permanently,” he said.

How much money will the system save? That’s hard to say, Rouse said.

“My plan is to take measurements throughout the next couple years. So instead of guessing, I’ll really know how well I did on the design of the house.”

In any case, Rouse said, “We wanted to do something that was consistent with the future. Being a member of Green Energy Ohio, our goal was to build a beautiful sustainable home for the present in terms of reduced energy consumption and the use of clean energy as well as the future in terms of built to last and the use of renewable materials. As a member of the Granville Solar Coop, it was clear that the use of solar panels should be a key ingredient for our new home.”

Also on the tour will be the home of Tom and Laura Evans at 226 South Main Street, next to the Olde Colony Burying Grounds. That home was the site of the first solar panel installation in the area by members of the Licking County Solar Cooperative.

“Both the Evans house and the Rouse house will be on the tour,” King said, as will the Denison Homestead, the Denison Polly Anderson Field Station, CTEC’s Net Zero House and Mark McVay’s house. McVay is the owner of Cat Run Ranch, just around the corner from the Rouse home.

The Licking County Solar Conference Saturday morning will feature a keynote lecture by Dr. Joe Reczek, associate professor of chemistry at Denison. The lecture will discuss the current state of solar energy in Ohio and the United States.

The keynote lecture will be followed by concurrent sessions featuring several topics, including: Experiences of residents who installed solar, How does one Do-It-Yourself, Going off the Grid, Turn-key Installations and the Economics of Solar, New Technologies and Solar Cooperatives. Information tables by local suppliers, contractors and utilities will be available.

Solar conference Saturday

The Licking County Solar Conference will provide information about how to install solar arrays and apply for incentives, sustainable and NetZero building design, reputable solar installers and even career and educational opportunities.

The conference, free and open to the public, will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at CTEC Adult Education Center, 150 Price Road, Newark.

The conference is sponsored by Denison University, CTEC, The Works and Licking County Concerned Citizens.

Registration is required. The conference is limited to 150 people.

To register visit http://go.denison.edu/solarconference/.

For more information log on www.denison.edu/campus/green.

Green Energy Tour

The 2014 Green Energy Ohio Tour, organized by Green Energy Ohio, will be Friday-Sunday. The GEO is the Ohio Chapter of the American Solar Energy Society. The 12th annual statewide tour is part of the ASES National Solar Tour. The tour features several Granville area stops. For more information log on www.greenenergyohio.org