Solar Tour 2008

Southern Illinois homeowners will open up their homes to showcase solar energy technologies, even an off-the-grid home!

The tour is mostly on the Southern Illinois wine trail through the beauty of the National Forest.

What we provide is directions to those participants who offer an "open house" environment at their residences.

Some educational material will be available at all sites but most of the information is at site 1. View the Federal building in Carbondale, and all the road construction signs in the area that are solar powered. View a solar hot water system located on S. Oakland in Carbondale but the home won’t be open to the public.

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

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.

Directions: Coming south from Murphysboro on 127 about 7 miles to Pomona, turn right on Pomona road following the wine trail. Drive down the hill and at the stop sign turn left, again following the wine trail. Go one mile to Gates Road. Down Gates Road, park and view the systems. Lots of information will be available. Directions to the other sites are also here. This site is open year round by appointment.

This Home is off grid using a 2.1 Kw rated PV array, off-grid system.

Directions: Maggie Lane is 2 miles north of Olive Branch on the Tamms/Olive Branch road. Turn and go 1/4 mile west on the lane, through a gate that says "go solar', and it is another quarter mile to our home (one half mile from the blacktop).

Directions: The Easiest way from Carbondale is to take Chautauqua west and cross over Hwy 127 and then follow the signs for the wine trail. The clinic built from Straw Bales is located a mile or so south of the Pomona Winery.

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.

Directions: Drive south on highway 51 from Carbondale, go past the wine trail signs near Cobden road, past the Karl Sweitzer vegetable stand off the road to the right and start looking for Spanish Bluff Rd. on the left as you come up the hill. Turn left on Spanish Bluff Rd. The road forks, take the left fork. Go maybe a 1/4 of a mile and the road branches into 3 roads, look to the right for parking. See the barn, the system is behind the barn. To go from this site to site 1 go back north on 51 and follow the wine trail to the west through Cobden, Alto Pass, and Pomona. This site is open year round by appointment.

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.

Carbondale:
Address: 84 Dunn Lane which is 2 miles south of Carbondale on S. Hwy 51 near Unity Point School.

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.

Directions: From Carbondale Turn SOUTH onto N UNIVERSITY AVE / US-51 S. Continue to follow US-51 S. 2.4 miles. Turn LEFT onto S ILLINOIS AVE. LOOK for DUNN LANE on the left.

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.

8777 Freeman Spur Blacktop
West Frankfort, Illinois 62896

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