Gas Station Ordered!
Wow, my own Arco
Station!
A few new words are going to be
needed, and
a few eliminated,
for the electric car driver. Let's start with "gas station" If there ever was a
term to be done away with for electric drivers it is gas station.
So, let's say charging station or fueling station or solar fueling station in
lieu of gas.
Julie and I have had the wonderful life changing experience of living in a zero
energy home that we built.
Simple stated, a zero energy home is a home that generates as much energy as it
uses. Accomplishing this is a mixture of about 80% design, low energy use
appliances, passive solar, fixtures and lighting and a conservation oriented
lifestyle coupled with solar P.V. that generates the remaining 20%.
With our selection into the Mini-E program and our positive inspection, we took
the next logical step and ordered an "ARCO station" this will be 3kw
addition to our 4.4kw existing system. In total we will be generating about
11,500kwh
per year. This addition will supplement our existing 93% energy reduction with
the 4.4kw system to 100% and provide an additional 2500kw for the Mini-E
The generation breaks down to approx 9000kw for our annual energy use at Herons'
House and 2500kw for our annual use in the Mini-E for approx. 10,000 miles of
driving.
The average homeowner cannot make fossil fuel. They can make solar fuel. A
huge advantage for solar, the electric car, oil independence, national security,
and the environment just to list a few.
What if I told you that you could buy a fuel station for your home that requires no land, for the same price that you would
pay for 6 years of gas purchased at $3.00 a gallon? And that you would never
have to pay for gas or visit a gas station again for the rest of your life? Just
from an economic point of view, we would undoubtedly jump at the chance to do
so, knowing that most of us will drive and purchase gas for approximately 60
years of our life.
Here’s how it works… Electric cars like the Mini-E and the Tesla average about 4
to 5 miles per kilowatt hour. Using a low number of 4miles per kwh and my
driving average of 10000 miles a year, the car will use 2500kwh. To generate
that much electricity, a solar P.V. system of 1.5kw would be needed. This system
in California would cost the homeowner $6605. (this is based on my 4.4kw system
installed on my home that generated 7230kw last year and the B.P Solar website
for estimated system cost.)
The same Mini Cooper gas model gets 26mpg in combo driving. This is 385 gallons
of gas a year at $3.00 a gallon or $1150 dollars per year. In less than 6 years
of driving the identical gas car, you would have spent more money in gas than
your cost of the solar fuel. Solar fuel that is inexhaustible and will keep on
producing for 50 years or more for the average system.
We thank our good friend Barry Cooper at
Stellar Solar for their outstanding service and
their
assistance in helping us
achieve
energy independence.
Cheers!
Peder )