September 21, 2006 Newsday | Home Work | by Gary Dymski

Places in the SUN— A Long Island house tour where solar energy is the ticket

Nearly everyone has doubts when purchasing those big-ticket items. From a new house to a new furnace to a remodeling project, questions swirl. Am I getting a good deal? What's the best, most durable, most efficient? How do I research what I'm buying?

Next month, Long Islanders will have a rare chance to inspect unique alternatives to conventional energy solutions. The National Solar Tour will open the doors of nearly 100 Long Island homes that use the sun to generate electricity, hot water and even heat swimming pools.

"To really kick the tires and to see how solar works, you have to get out and talk to the homeowners themselves," says Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, the Bridgehampton-based nonprofit that is staging its third Long Island tour. Nationwide, from September through November, virtually every state will be participating in the tour, which is organized by the American Solar Energy Society, a Colorado nonprofit that promotes renewable solar energy.

The free Long Island tour is Oct. 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with more than 2,000 people expected to visit local sites. Last year, about 1,300 people toured 62 residences and businesses.

With the spiraling cost of energy, the solar industry is expecting a surge in consumer demand. Upfront costs of materials and installation remain high; an average-size solar photovoltaic, or PV, system that generates household electricity can run $32,000 before rebates and incentives. However, the benefits - reduced utility bills and clean, renewable energy sources - are significant.

For example, Drs. Brian Margolis and Rachel Bergeson, whose East Setauket home is on the tour for the second consecutive year, have cut their annual electric bill by about 20 percent with a 3.8-kilowatt PV system.

"The tour is how people can see the utility bills, see the savings and talk to homeowners who have invested in solar energy," says contractor Gary Minnick, whose Riverhead company, Go Solar, has installed 100 PV systems. "It's a way they can make an intelligent decision about whether they should get involved in solar energy."

With that in mind, here's a mini-tour of four houses on the tour.

Robertson Hatch
East Setauket

A retired assistant attorney for Suffolk County, Robertson Hatch, 73, is looking over a spreadsheet of his annual electric bills. Three years ago, the yearly electric bill for his small ranch house exceeded $1,100. He and his wife, Gabriele, a research assistant, knew one thing for certain: Over time, their electricity bill was going to increase.

"We've always been interested in the environment," says Hatch, looking at the printout, "and it just got to the point where we wondered about how to do something about our dependency on oil.

"This was one way."

Hatch makes a sweeping gesture with his right arm to his solar roof, a collection of integrated tiles manufactured by Atlantis Energy, a California company. Unlike solar PV panels, which are mounted on rooftops, Sunslates is an integrated building product, which means it has more than one function. The tiles form a conventional roof, protecting the structure against rain and snow, and also serve as a miniature power plant.

More than 380 tiles cover two southern faces of the ranch's roofline. The rest of the roof is covered by traditional asphalt shingles. You have to look twice to notice the difference. The Sunslates, which make up a 5.1-kilowatt PV system, originally cost nearly $52,000; rebates and incentives cut the price to about $25,000.

Hatch admits the initial cost was expensive, but then he talks about the savings. Two years ago, the annual electric bill was $235.97. Last year, it was $341.41. If not for the Sunslates, based on 2001 rates, last year's bill would have been more than $1,400.

The integrated tiles are more labor intensive and run about twice the cost of conventional panels, but the appeal to Hatch was aesthetic. "I like the way it looks," he says. "That's what hooked me."

Hatch figures his personal power plant generates about 80 percent of his electrical needs. He says it's an investment with a return of about 4 percent a year. That rate should climb as electricity rates increase. The bottom line: The payback on his original $25,000 investment should be about 12 years.

Dr. Brian Margolis & Dr. Rachel Bergeson
East Setauket
Brian Margolis is a medical doctor with a private practice in Smithtown, but part of him is dying to be a stand-up comic. "What I really want to show you is my solar clothes dryer," he says.

Wink, wink.

It takes a while to get the joke, but the solar dryer is an outdoor clothesline, where the sun's rays and warm gentle breezes dry fabric naturally. Translation: Solar energy doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars. Sometimes it's just a matter of using your head ... or a clothesline.

But Margolis and his wife, Rachel Bergeson, the director of student health services at Stony Brook University, actually have a great solar story. Some time during Ronald Reagan's first term, probably in 1984, the family - the couple has four children - installed a solar hot water system. A glycol-based liquid is heated by rooftop panels, and then it transfers that heat through tubing to the hot water tank. In summer months, the oil-fired water tank uses virtually no fuel. Even in the winter, the oil used to heat water for domestic use - for showers, sinks and bathtubs - is minimal.

"It cost $6,000 to install the system," Margolis says, "and it's virtually maintenance free." The family is more than pleased with the system. It makes tons of hot water. Cheaply.

"I'll tell you how efficient it is," he says. "We have seven people living in our 3,600-square-foot house. Our neighbors have two people in a 2,400-square-foot house. And I know that each of us has the same annual oil consumption."

The solar water-heating system reduces the family's oil consumption about 50 percent annually, Margolis says. Because hot water accounts for nearly 17 percent of energy consumption in the average household, that's a considerable savings. The home also has a 3.8-kilowatt solar PV system.

Bergeson says relying on solar power is rather uplifting. Since the PV system was installed a couple years ago, her family isn't just gobbling energy.

"I was so embarrassed about our energy consumption. I just felt that even if the PV wasn't as cost effective as the water, heating it would, at the very least, make me feel better," she says.

Dean Hapshe
Patchogue

Last summer, the solar energy systems on Dean Hapshe's Patchogue ranch-style home were disconnected. Under extensive remodeling, the ranch was being transformed into a two-story cape. The solar PV panels and the solar hot water system were dismantled and placed in storage.

Energy-wise, it was torture for Hapshe, a longtime solar contractor. "Last July [2005], my gas bill was $125, and that was because my solar hot water system was not hooked up," Hapshe says. "This July, I just checked, and my gas bill was $46."

The solar hot water system and the 4.8-kw PV system are both back in working order. "He was like a little kid this summer," says Hapshe's wife, Anita. "He'd come in from work and say, 'I'm going to take a solar shower.'"

Hapshe estimates he saves about 50 percent on his annual fuel bill, between $600 and $800, thanks to water heated by his solar system. The initial investment runs between $7,800 and $9,500, including a new tank, he says, and the payback is probably six to eight years.

Tax incentives also can reduce the initial investment by almost 50 percent. The federal credit is a maximum of $2,000. New York's maximum is $5,000 on solar hot water or PV.

Hapshe likes the idea of practicing what he preaches. He has been installing solar energy systems - PV, domestic hot water and swimming pool heaters - for more than 20 years. "I love this. I believe in it," says Hapshe, who owns Majestic Son & Sons, a solar energy company in Patchogue. "It works. It protects the environment."

As he explains the workings of the solar water-heating system, he notes that even on this day, a rainy day seemingly devoid of sunshine, his panels raise the water temperature to 86 degrees. "During the summer, the panels will heat the water in the tank to more than 120 degrees," he says.

As for the solar PV, which was first installed in 2001, Hapshe is expecting even more efficiency. During remodeling, the PV panels were reinstalled on the southern face of his new second-story roof, which allows for maximum exposure to the sun. The previous roof had east and west faces.

The PV system should generate about 75 percent of the house's electricity needs.

Marie Domenici
Mattituck

She has experienced an epiphany, and she wants to share her knowledge. "It is the best investment we ever made," Marie Domenici says of her solar PV system. "More people should look at it. We do a happy dance every time our meter spins backward."

Domenici, 58, and her husband, Al, 62, moved from Dix Hills to Mattituck four years ago. When she lived in Dix Hills, she always had issues with her electricity bills. She felt they were too high.

"Back then, I remember looking into windmills for energy," she says, "but it was cost-prohibitive." At her Dix Hills home, she did install a solar hot water system, and she loved it. It worked great, made lots of hot water and reduced her oil consumption.

She became sold on solar electricity when she realized rebates and tax incentives would reduce the cost of her 4.5-kilowatt system from $36,000 to $10,250. With electrical rates certain to rise, she and her husband decided it was a wise investment for their new home in Mattituck.

In 2002, before she installed a solar system in her Dix Hills home, her electricity bill exceeded $1,800 for the year. In 2004, the couple's first full year of solar electricity, their LIPA bill was reduced to $689. Last year's bill was $875.

Now, Domenici serves on a Southold committee that is exploring renewable energy options for residents and businesses.

"More than 160 people showed up at our first seminar," she says of a presentation last month. "There's lots of interest."

TAKE THE SOLAR TOUR

To participate in Long Island's Solar Tour, visit
www. renewableenergylongisland.org
and click on the registration link.

The tour is free. After registering, visitors will get a link to an active map with addresses and directions to homes.

To register by phone, call (631) 537-8282