Welcome to Advanced Energy Solutions

On Saturday, October 3th from 10am to 3pm Southern Illinois homeowners opened up their homes to showcase solar energy technologies! The tour was mostly on the Southern Illinois wine trail through the beauty of the National Forest.

Dates & Times: Saturday, October 3rd 10:00a.m.-3:00p.m.
Community: Carbondale, Anna, Johnston City, East St Louis
Presented by: Southern Sustainability Advanced Energy Solutions
Description: Tour the beautiful Shawnee National Forest and all our wineries while visiting a few off the grid solar homes
Fee: FREE
Instructions for taking this tour:
For more information, contact: Aur J Beck, 1 800 229 0453, tech@aessolar.com
or visit: HeartlandSolarTour.org

On Saturday, October 4th from 10am to 4pm Southern Illinois homeowners opened up their homes to showcase solar energy technologies! The tour was mostly on the Southern Illinois wine trail through the beauty of the National Forest.

We are sorry that you missed it. These locations are still available to be viewed, however, we need you to set up appointments for any locations you wish to see. Please call to set up your appointment.

We are looking for more passive solar homes to be on future tours. There are a lot around Southern Illinois. If you have a home and would like to add it for future events please call us at 800-229-0453.

Below is a list of the locations that took part in the 13th Annual Solar Tour and a breif description of each location.

This Home and Farm consists of multiple systems; one powers the barn and consists of 300 watts of Photo watt photovoltaic (PV) solar electric modules, 4) 6 volt deep cycle batteries, and a 1500 watt inverter to produce 110 volt AC to run the lights, radio, and the occasional power tool.
The house system is also a stand-alone system that powers the living room. This system is small but simple. The panel (195 watts of PV, 4 modules) charges four 6 volt sealed deep cycle batteries that power a little 300-watt inverter. A plug strip in the living room provides a simplistic breaker. Also a RV trailer system, consisting of an BP 85 watt module charging a battery which runs lights, laptop, cell phone, fans and a radio. Also see two solar powered attic fans in operation.

A 2.1Kw PV array completely powers this off-grid, owner-built home. This system adequately powers a shallow well pump (cistern source), a chest freezer, a standard size fridge, laptop, window ac unit, front-loading washer, microwave, compact fluorescent lighting, bread machine, etc. Our domestic hot water is heated by a solar batch heater in the summer, and a loop through the wood furnace in the winter. We have 2 solar hot air panels set up for demonstration, and for those interested in such things, a low-tech composting toilet is located in the outhouse (we also have indoor facilities). And we grow edible mushrooms--on logs, not in the outhouse. As for food, if the sun shines, we will have something baking in the sun oven, and chips and salsa will be available for grazers.

This Farm is a grid connected back up PV system that produces electricity for the farm. System includes 1200 watts of Siemens PV solar modules, a 403 wind gen-set, run through two Trace 4048 inverters producing both 110 and 220 volt AC, with 16 Surrett Rolls 6 volt deep cycle batteries for back up power.

This Home system is 2000 watts of Kyocera modules strategically placed on the roof, with an Outback charge control, a Xantrex inverter, and 8 6 volt deep cycle batteries for back up power.

The first straw bale home in Southern Illinois which is being built by Eco-logic Construction who specializes in alternative construction techniques and high efficiency homes. This site is open year round by appointment.

The SIUC solar power system consists of 176 BP Solar 3160 photovoltaic (PV) modules, each rated at 160 Watts. The array is divided into 2 subarrays, each consisting of 8 parallel strings of 11 modules in series. At the maximum power point, the array produces 28.16 kW at 386 Volts and 72.8 Amps. The arrays are ground mounted at a fixed 30 degree tilt angle to maximize annual energy production in our climate and latitude. The DC power output of the array is routed to a single inverter which converts it to AC power at 208 Volts, delta configuration. This AC output from the inverter is routed through a 1:1 dry-type isolation transformer, which converts the power to 208 Volts, wye configuration. Then the power is routed through an AC fused disconnect and connected directly to the SIUC Campus electrical grid. The inverter monitors the PV array output and the grid power quality continuously and controls the interface between the two. When there is solar power available and the voltage and frequency of the grid are within acceptable limits, the inverter will convert the DC array output into AC power exactly matching the grid frequency and voltage. All this solar power is used immediately on campus as it is produced, reducing the purchases of electricity from AmerenCIPS. The system was commissioned in the summer of 2004 and to date has produced over 60,000 kWh of clean solar energy.

The system is located on the SIUC Campus along Rt. 51/Illinois Ave. between the power plant and the tennis courts. There is an informational sign located outside the power shed behind the solar array. Please feel free to walk around and view the system. If you have any questions about the system, please email them to Justin Harrell at justinh@pso.siu.edu.

This is a passive solar design. The passive solar components of the home are many south facing windows with a two foot overhang that allows sun to shine in during the winter months but prevents direct sunlight shining into the home during the summer months. Indirect sunlight does enter the home in the summer months that minimizes the amount of artificial lighting needed. The basement windows also have an overhang as the main level is cantilevered over the basement by 16 inches. The home is built with 2X6 that are 24 inches on center and each cavity is sealed with caulk to prevent air infiltration. The standard 7/16 inch sheeting is joined only at wood members to also minimize air infiltration and typical fiberglass is used in the wall cavities. The attic is insulated with blown-in cellulose insulation. The home is heated and cooled with a ground source heat pump that provides a portion of the hot water needed also. The dishwasher, refrigerator, and front-loading clothes washer are all energy star appliances which minimizes the electrical and hot water usage. The combination of all the highly efficient but readily available technologies of this home provides for significant energy savings and total monthly utility bills (including all generation, distribution, and taxes) of $70, $75, and $85 in the shoulder, cooling, and heating months, respectively.

This system is a bit off the road on the shop and the grid intertie system consists of 32) Evergreen 180s flush roof mounted and going into a SMA SUNNY BOY 6000U WITH DISPLAY