Imagine you could go to Home Depot and for a few hundred dollars purchase an appliance that plugs in like a blender and generates a chunk of the energy your home needs, renewable and emissions-free.

Once a pioneer at Real Networks in Seattle, Chad Maglaque invented the Jelly Fish wind turbine–It’s a 36-inch-tall rooftop wind turbine that you can plug into a socket in your home–no fancy setup required–and generate up to 40 kWh a month, about enough to power a home-full of LEDs or a room full of CFLs. It also comes Wi-Fi and WiMax equipped. He calls it the PC of renewable energy; meaning, the Jellyfish will do for the wind power industry what the personal computer did for the computer industry.

 “The Jellyfish Wind Appliance is a small 36-inch tall vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) with a solid-state controller and a variable-speed induction generator that plugs directly into an existing wall socket and automatically generates power whenever the wind blows. The Jellyfish can be mounted on rooftops, wind towers or even existing street light poles – which are already pre-wired to the grid and have the tower already in place! And, it can generate up to 40 kWh per month in moderate winds enough to light an average home using energy efficient light bulbs with a target price under $400 the Jellyfish would be an affordable option for many households and developing communities looking to harness wind power for the first time. His idea is that the utility or the city will subsidize the $400 cost down to $199 or less with tax rebates. One vision is that the Jellyfish may help enable district wind energy co-ops. Neighbors may be able to join together to work with the power utilities:

 Working in tandem with the existing power grid, the Jellyfish enables large-scale distributed-generation, delivering power exactly where it’s needed and reducing the demand for costly transmission infrastructure.”

As a new member of the Dallas Green Building Alliance, I was picked to start off our weekly blogs for the month of February. Sunday morning rolled around and my blog was due Tuesday, so I was starting to sweat it! Well as I was sitting at my breakfast table, drinking a cup of coffee sifting my way through the World Wide Web, an idea dawned on me. “That’s it!” I said to myself. My first blog has to be about a green system that will put some cash back into the consumer’s wallet. Instantly, net metering came to mind.

What is Net Metering? It is a provision that allows consumers to connect their alternative energy source (like wind or solar power) to the electrical grid. The consumer will first use the energy they have created before consuming energy from the electrical grid. This will ultimately reduce your energy bills dramatically and relieve some of the stress on the electrical grid, especially in peak hours. The Ultimate goal with net metering is to generate enough renewable energy to self-sustain your own energy consumption. If you are supplying more than is needed, than the excess energy is fed back through your meter to the electrical grid, and you are given credit. Not to mention, to help get your started, Uncle Sam issues a tax credit of up to 30% of the total cost of the system, so you will be receiving a savings instantly!

Check out this Video on Net Metering!

Written By:

Wesley Scott

Archways & Ceilings Made Easy

www.archwaysandceilings.com

(Resources: Photos from isolarpowerforhomes.com & solar-panel-homes.net)

One of the bigger financial benefits of installing a geothermal system is the tax credit that you will be eligible to receive. When the Energy Improvement Act of 2008 was passed it offered a one time tax credit of 30% of the TOTAL investment for homeowners who install residential ground loop or ground water geothermal heat pumps. So let’s say for instance you install a geothermal system at your home and the total cost is $32,000.00 the tax credit that you will receive is $9,600.00! That’s not bad! Doing what is best for the environment and getting money back from Uncle Sam to do it!

To qualify for the credit the system must meet or exceed EnergyStar requirements and be installed after December 31,2007. Units that were installed in 2008 are subject to a $2,000.00 cap on the credit. If the unit was installed from 2009-2016 then the homeowner can take advantage of the full 30% uncapped credit. Covered expenditures include labor for on site preparation and assembly or original system installation and for piping and wiring to connect the system to the home. The structure must be located in the United States and used as a residence by the taxpayer, although primary residency is not required.

Homeowners can file for the credit by completing tax form 5695, which has yet to be published for the 2009 tax year. The tax credit can be used to offset both regular income taxes and alternative minimum taxes. If the federal tax credit exceeds tax liability, the excess amount may be carried forward into future years. The tax credit will be available until December 31, 2016.

This tax credit “The Energy Credit” can also be applied to solar-electric systems, solar water heaters, and wind turbines. If you are thinking about using alternative energy sources then this is a good time to move forward. The tax credit gives you a little bit more incentive to “Go Green” with your energy systems.

For more information and to see a draft of the Form 5695 you can visit the IRS website.

I am currently shopping for a windmill for my 5 acre property to supplement my electrical bill. when I was searching for financing options,  I stumbled upon Santee Cooper (a electrical provider in South Carolina).

A low-interest loan from Santee Cooper (current rate–1.25%),  allows you to finance energy efficient improvements and renewable energy resource projects for your home that should help you reduce your energy costs. You can apply for energy efficient improvement loans ranging from $500 to $20,000 with up to 60-months to repay loans over $1,000 or renewable energy resource loans up to $40,000 with up to 120-months to repay. All with no money down. Maximum outstanding loans per customer cannot exceed $20,000 for energy efficient loans and $40,000 for renewable energy resource loans. Combined maximum outstanding loans per customer cannot exceed $40,000.

Unfortunately these loans are only available to Santee Cooper customers in South Carolina. If anyone knows of anything like this available in Texas; please let me know.

Photo credit: sunshinecity

Take advantage of the tax credit available for purchasing a qualified energy-efficient exterior door or window by  December 31, 2010.  In short, the door must meet a U Factor and SHGC rating of 0.30.  Congress raised the per-item credit to 30 percent of the cost up to $1,500.  They also extended the deadline for making the improvements through the end of 2010.  If you have already purchased a qualified efficient door or window you are not left out.  The act is retroactive to Jan. 1, so if you installed a product meeting the previous criteria it qualifies for the larger credit. 

Seventy percent of the GHG emissions related to single-family envelope energy consumption can be attributed to homes built before California had an energy code (1983).  The statewide carbon impact of retrofitting these homes with upgraded energy features was explored.  Spending $10,000 retrofitting a 1960s home could save 8.5 tons of carbon at a cost of between $588-$1,176 per ton (…)  Increasing the energy efficiency of a new home by 35% would cost about $5,000 and would reduce emissions by 1.1 tons at a cost of $4,545 per ton. Retrofitting existing homes with energy-efficient features is four- to eight times more carbon- and cost-efficient than adding even more energy efficiency requirements to new housing.

 Not all ENERGY STAR rated doors qualify, contact BMC West for assistance.  Visit energystar.gov for credits in solar-energy panels, water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, small wind-energy systems and fuel cells as well.