Sustainability Board Holds Energy Forum

Members of the public were invited to learn about alternative energy at a forum hosted Monday night by the New Castle Sustainability Advisory Board.

The forum, held at the Chappaqua Library, was called “Save Money and The Environment," and hosted by board member Steven Wolk. It featured a panel of energy experts from Blueprint Energy Group, Earth to Air Systems and Mercury Solar Systems.

The focus of the meeting was to introduce and answer the public’s questions about three types of alternative energy being made available to homeowners. In presentations, the audience was given information about Geothermal Systems, Solar PV (photovoltaic) technology and micro CHP (Combined Heat and Power) systems.   

“By being here tonight, you are saying you are interested in saving the environments for future generations,” said Wolk. “There is no such thing as clean coal.” He argued that fossil fuels cost taxpayers financially, in the way of health care

John Kulacz from Earth To Air Systems talked about geothemermal power.

In a geothermal system, the Earth’s crust is used as a heat transfer. During the summer, your house would be cooled by sending heat down into the ground, while in the winter, heat would be brought up in a closed loop system that requires no water, anti-freeze or water pumps. It can be hooked up to your current heating system.

“Al Gore chose Geothermal over any other system in the world," Kulacz said. “It’s the least understood technology.”

It was explained that a geothermal system can reduce heating and cooling costs by 80 percent and can last 25 or more years. In addition, this system can raise your home’s value and comes with a 30-percent tax credit from the Federal government. However, a geothermal system is not cheap to install. It is estimated that a newly installed system with all new duct work would cost around $60,000. However, according to Kulacz, the system will pay itself back with energy savings in three to five years. 

According to Ben Waller from Mercury Solar Systems, the Solar PV system, out of the three presented had the biggest tax incentive with a 30-percent tax credit from the Federal government and a 25-percent tax credit from the state.  Solar energy is so popular that there is a push to get The New York Solar Jobs Act of 2011 finalized before the end of the legislative session.

In a Solar PV system, solar panels take light from the sun and convert it to energy. However, the energy from the sun converts into direct current (DC) energy so it is sent down to a converter to change it into alternating aurrent (AC) that is used in the house. In the solar PV system, you would still be connected the power grid for times when there is no sunlight.

The weakness, however, of a Solar PV system in the Westchester area is the multitude of trees and shade.

One audience member was concerned about a strong storm blowing the solar panels off the roof.

“The house will blow away before the panels will,” responded Waller. The panels are rated for 120mph strong winds, those equal of a category 4 hurricane.

The last presentation came from Matthew Fairy of Blue Project Energy Group about micro CHP or Co-Gen systems. In a CHP system, heat and energy are generated in one process, by using the heat generated by making the energy, rather then letting it go to waste. In essence, a CHP system is like a personal power plant.  It was stated that these systems have an 85-percent efficiency rate.

“Transmission wastes about 50-70 percent of the energy produced at the power plant.” Fairy said. “Grand Central Station has been using a Co-Gen [CHP] system for years now.”

The meeting was very informative and members of the community like Rick Waller enjoyed it.

“I will be honest, I was expected to be bored and I wasn’t," said Rick Waller, who is Ben Waller's father. "It was really interesting stuff."

He added, “If I was a young home owner and I had a payback period, I would go for it.”