Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 18, 1993 TAG: 9310180054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
Gray. Overcast. Not a sunbeam in sight.
"I'm getting electricity right now," Dick Giessler delighted in telling the amazed onlookers at his Floyd County home. "There's enough sun out there in the clouds to charge my batteries."
As a matter of fact, he continued, the solar panels - with less surface area than a satellite dish - on his roof that track the sun across the sky are more efficient in cooler weather.
Giessler and his wife Diane are building a home that is energy-independent - meaning they do not have a power line running to their house. Meaning they do not have a monthly electric bill from a big utility, like Appalachian Power Co.
"Apco wanted to charge $4,200 to bring us electricity so we could pay them $100 a month for the rest of our lives," Giessler said.
Instead, they invested about $3,500 in solar panels, Diehard car batteries, a power inverter, wiring, special windows, fluorescent light bulbs and other equipment to be Apco-free.
Their home and two others in Zephyr - a cooperative, alternative community in southern Floyd County - were part of a national tour Saturday of energy-independent homes.
The tour was sponsored by Real Goods, a California company specializing in solar equipment and energy-efficient products. Coordinator Karen Hensley said that 160 homes in 44 states participated in the tour, which the company plans to conduct yearly.
"We've had an incredible response," including thousands of phone calls and coverage in Time, Newsweek and other national media, Hensley said.
"People are really seeing the need for a change in our energy policy, and seeing that every little bit helps," Hensley said. An estimated 100,000 homes in the U.S. are energy-independent, she said, although thousands more generate some electricity from the sun, wind or running water.
About 50 curious people passed through the Zephyr homes Saturday. Some had heard of solar energy and wanted to see if it really worked. Others, starting their own homes, were looking for tips.
"I've always been interested in alternative [energy] sources," said Glenn Thomas, a retired employee of a North Carolina utility who drove to Virginia for the tour. He wants to build an energy-efficient house on his Floyd County property, but just how alternative he goes "depends on how much my wife will be able to put up with."
Plugging into the central power grid and relying solely on Apco would be a lot easier, but the way Thomas figures, it'll be cheaper in the long run to use solar.
Apco spokesman Don Johnson said an average household in Virginia spends between $700 and $750 a year for electricity. The utility charges customers to extend lines underground. For overhead lines, he said, customers pay to clear the right of way.
Others who toured the Floyd County homes said they wanted to be more energy-efficient for environmental reasons, blaming coal-burning utilities for contributing to air pollution that may cause global climate changes, acid rain and smog.
Bob and Jane Avery-Grubel, who live at Zephyr, have a homemade system that's been a 13-year experiment. And Bob is still tinkering with it, finding better ways to heat water, run lights and save energy.
"Part of what living like this does is you think conservatively," he said. He's never gotten a shock, either, he said.
Unlike the other two homes, the Avery-Grubels do not have a backup generator. Sometimes during the winter, he goes to a neighbor's to get recharged.
Energy-independent homes combine several energy-saving strategies. Holding tanks create gravity for water pressure. Pipes under the floors circulate heat. A stone mass - usually a chimney with a fireplace - in the middle of the house will help heat in the winter and cool in summer.
Jody and Tom Franko built the back corner of their house into the ground, using large stones to form the wall. The stones are in direct contact with the ground and maintain a constant 55 degrees - the earth's temperature, Jody Franko said.
Homes with a "passive solar" design have a lot of windows facing south to let sun in during the winter. Franko said that even on days when the temperature outside is below freezing, they let the fire in the wood-burning stove go out - if it's a sunny day.
"Active solar" power requires photovoltaic panels, made from thin slices of silicon, that convert solar energy into electricity.
An energy-efficient home requires between six and 12 solar panels, which cost about $300 each.
by CNB