By Gitte Laasby, Post-Tribune staff writer
When it comes to energy efficiency, it's less about flashy equipment and more about doing nitty-gritty, dirty work.
Renewable energy equipment, such as windmills and solar panels, are cool to look at, but they're not an economically feasible investment for most typical homeowners -- yet.
A few renewable energy sources, such as thermal solar systems, can pay for themselves in a few years. But experts say you often get better bang for your buck by lowering your consumption, for instance by insulating your walls better.
"i'm very much in favor of al this alternative energy, but the reality is still pretty challenging for the typical homeowner," said Luke Gascho, executive director of Indiana's only platinum-certified environmental building, Goshen College's Merry Lea's Rieth Village.
"If you start thinking on the scale of what you need and the cost of the equipment for producing this alternative energy, it ends up being 20 years or more to pay off."
Gascho faces an uphill battle trying to convince visitors of that. They are infatuated with the village's 10-kilowatt windmill, which supplies about a fifth of the super-efficient buildings' consumption. What visitors don't realize is it cost $75,000 to buy and install and will take nearly 18 years to pay for itself.
Wind, solar: costly options
Bob Kramer, director of Purdue University Calumet's Energy Efficiency and Reliability Center, said all costs considered, wind and solar power cost about 18 cents per kilowatt hour to generate -- twice what NIPSCO charges customers for power generated mostly from coal.
For example, take a 2,000-watt solar panel, which at its peak generates enough electricity to power 20 100-watt light bulbs. Including installation and an inverter needed to convert the direct current generated into alternating current, the total price would be about $16,000, estimates Bryant Mitol, vice president of Earth Solar Technologies in Valparaiso.
Renewable equipment only runs at its specified capacity part of the time. In Northwest Indiana, the average amount of sunlight is 4.2 hours per day. That means the 2,000-watt system would produce 3,066 kilowatt hours of electricity a year worth $276. In other words, it would take 57 years for the system to pay for itself. The lifetime of a solar system is about 25 years.
To top it off, the system would only supply about a third of the energy an average American household uses.
Besides the price, another challenge is availability. Wind turbines and solar panels are not available in regular home improvement stores, only in specialty stores online.
Logistically, generating your own energy is also difficult. Putting up wind mills 80 to 100 feet tall requires special equipment. Solar power takes technical knowledge to convert the electricity generated from direct current to alternating. Without enough expertise, people could connect parts together incorrectly, presenting a safety hazard and damaging the equipment.
However, for companies that use large amounts of electricity and that are located in windy areas, the investment may make sense, Purdue's Kramer said.
It's also a sensible solution in states such as California and Florida, which offer large tax incentives.
Thermal solar feasible now
The good news is, some types of renewable energy do make financial sense now.
"A thermal solar system is something you can do today," Kramer said.
He's testing a solar collector system that uses six-foot-long glass vacuum tubes to convert sunlight into heat, not electricity. The heat goes to a central collection area, where it can heat up hot water or a house. The system is 70 percent efficient and already available in stores for about $1,000.
"The technology is here now. It's proven and it works," Kramer said. "Such a system can have a payback of two to three years when used to replace a conventional hot water heater and is capable of operating 12 months per year ... A typical home, probably three quarters of your hot water needs could be met in the summer easily."
More tubes can be added for those who need more heat, he said. Installing it is no more complicated than installing a water heater, so do-it-yourselfers who feel comfortable doing their own home repairs may be able to install a solar thermal water heater themselves, Kramer said.
Geothermal also feasible
Another renewable option that provides good return on investment is geothermal energy. It relies on the constant temperature of the Earth about five feet below the surface.
There are two options: Either a ground source heat pump draws water out of a well and extracts the heat from it, then discharges the water. Or pipes are installed in the ground in a loop, and an antifreeze-like liquid is circulated through the pipes. In the winter, the 45- to 50-degree water will heat, in the summer, it cools.
"It's a couple of thousand (dollars) for a heat pump. Loops will add a number of more thousand, depending on the size of the home and the amount of piping into the ground and the size of the unit," said Gascho of Merry Lea. "The key point is that there is a pretty reasonable economic payback on those."
Several local businesses sell geothermal equipment.
Feasibility may change
Although certain types of renewable energy may not make a good financial investment for a typical homeowner now, they could in the near future.
"A lot of it depends on demand. If there's a critical demand for it, it will happen probably sooner as opposed to later because firms are willing to put resources into it. In the 1970s, you would have thought we would have gone to more solar energy, but then the price of gasoline went down and production was halted or slowed and therefore there wasn't the demand," said Virginia Shingleton, chairwoman of the department of economics at Valparaiso University. "Firms ... are willing to engage in innovation, but at some point there needs to be a profit."
Plenty of factors could change whether renewable energy is financially viable.
If utility companies get charged for emitting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, that could increase the price of electricity.
If legislators institute more taxes on oil, or give larger tax credits or subsidize investments in renewable energy, that could also increase demand for alternative energy sources, Shingleton said.
Nitty-gritty changes work
Meanwhile, if you're looking for good savings without a big investment, try implementing some easy tips for saving energy, such as insulating your house better or buying Energy Star appliances.
"It doesn't have a whole lot of glamour in it, but that is a far better investment, even if you're paying somebody to do this insulation and having more efficient equipment in your home. The payback is going to be better than that energy-producing equipment," Gascho said.
Kramer agreed that there's lots of low-hanging fruit when it comes to efficiency.
"When you're looking at that first 10- to 15-percent energy savings, you don't have to spend much money at all," he said. "It may not be as glamorous as a windmill, but if you can do it quickly, it probably makes a lot of sense to consider it."