Emily and David Takahashi are committed to living a low-carbon lifestyle. In 2012 they moved into their 60-year-old, 900-square-foot Boulder, CO home. David explains, “Our aim is to be independent of the electric grid as much as possible.” Their first step was to have their home retrofitted for energy efficiency, e.g. insulating ceiling and walls… Read More
Posts Tagged: residential solar
The third week of March 2018, I spoke with Ipswich, MA home owner Charlotte Kahn on a day that she was home, “hunkered down for our third nor-easter in ten days.” “Today is our third severe storm in less than two weeks. The first storm hit Ipswich pretty hard; it caused astronomical tides and flooding. We… Read More
For as long as artist Jacqueline Rieder Hud can remember, she has been an environmentalist. Respect for nature and the creatures of the Earth has been fundamental to her work – and her approach to life. Jacqueline taps into the natural world and Jungian archetypes for her inspiration. Mythic horse arrived on thunder He asked… Read More
On a recent brilliant Colorado blue sky day, I wended my way back into the hills above the Front Range town of Lyons … seeking the house of Independent Power Systems customer, Billy Shaddox. The land back here is gorgeous—rounded red rocks, juniper trees, pinyon and ponderosa pines, brilliant wildflowers. I pull up into a… Read More
Because of the design of the Wallace’s Longmont, CO home, there was not sufficient roof area for panels to generate the power they wanted. After researching how a ground mount system might look and operate, they decided an AllEarth Solar dual-axis tracker was their best option. What prompted you to decide to invest in a… Read More
Richard Marchese contacted Independent Power Systems seeking an off-the-grid power system for his home which sits above the tiny town of Ward, Colorado at 9,500 feet on a south facing slope with a view of Colorado’s front range. A long-time on-and-off Boulderite, a self-professed sixties hippie of New Jersey origins, Richard is finally retiring to… Read More
Marty Butley contacted us to design a custom 20kW ground mounted array that integrated aesthetically with his landscape and fence line. He sought such a large system in order to meet the energy needs of his veterinarian business as well as his future acquisition of an electric vehicle. We were able to meet his very… Read More
The benefits of a tracker solar system: on and off the grid Tracking solar arrays are a beautiful thing to behold; like sunflowers they optimize their energy absorption by following the path of the sun throughout the day. Trackers come in two basic designs: single and dual axis. The latter type maintains perfect perpendicular orientation… Read More
The Toor family’s Boulder home is a model of energy efficiency. Its walls and roof are well insulated; there is a solar thermal system on the south facing roof which provides all the hot water; heat is partially provided by a wood stove. Their electricity is fully provided by a grid-tied 2.87 kW solar PV… Read More
“I am creating the world I want to live in.” In 2006 there was a mere 100 kilowatts of grid-tied solar in Colorado. It took the voter passage of Amendment 37 – the nation’s first voter-approved Renewable Energy Standard (RES) – to change that. As 2015 comes to a close, there are thousands of… Read More