Creative Energies Blog

by Jake MacArthur

As Creative Energies trots around the globe, this next entry comes to you from Switzerland. I have been living in the mountain village of Lenk, nestled between the more renown valleys of Adelboden and Gstaad, in the Bernese Oberland. Switzerland has long been praised for their environmental record and for their progressive federal projects. Upon arrival, I was interested to see how the renewable energy boom has hit this area. In my travels thus far, I have found that most of the development centers around solar, both thermal and electric. A number of chalets have photovoltaic arrays and/or thermal arrays. Given the strict building codes, I was not surprised that most of the arrays are roof integrated. I think that the widespread use of ceramic roofing tiles also lends itself to full module integration. These arrays have an incredible aesthetic quality, but they are clearly labor intensive to install.

Beyond the standard small chalet solar arrays, I have also seen a number of small scale off-grid systems in the mountains. Some of these arrays are used for the simple automation of gates and the like. I have also seen a number of small hybrid systems at high mountain farmhouses and mountain huts. Often, these systems combine a small photovoltaic array and a wind turbine. The Air-X seems to be the most popular choice for wind. These small off-grid systems power lights, communications, and other small loads.

Pictures to come…

While we have several customers that are employing renewable energy systems comprised of two different technologies (PV and wind, PV and geothermal), we now have one customer who has three technologies working hard on a daily basis. This home outside of Cheyenne started with a PV and wind system about a year and a half ago. The system is grid-connected, although includes battery backup to help reduce the impact of their frequent power outages. Late this winter we added more PV and last week a solar thermal system, the latter of which should produce nearly all the owner’s domestic hot water needs. They will now only use propane for cooking. This system was entirely retro-fit, demonstrating the ability of renewable energy to fit into almost any existing home. We applaud this customer’s commitment to renewable energy and energy independence.