This just got real.

This morning, Matt and I stopped by Roth Green Energy to firm up some details about the geothermal and solar PV systems they quoted us, as well as put in down payments to lock in our contracts. We were greeted by coffee and donuts (they got them just for us!) and enjoyed another really great meeting. In a previous post about estimates I promised to go into more detail about the quotes we received, which I can follow through with now that we've locked in their services.

Geothermal
Considering the planned size of our house, it was determined both by us as well as independently by the folks at Roth that a 2-ton system would suffice. Not only will the system supply heat for our house, but it will also supply domestic hot water (DHW). After some thought, we decided to go with the in-slab heating due to its efficiency, quietness, even heating, and the fact that we won't have to spend the time and money to construct a subfloor as originally planned with the baseboard heaters. Below is the scope of the project:

• Supply and install a 2 ton NSW geothermal water to water heat pump
• Install 60 gallon Waterfurnace load side buffer tank
• Load side pump kit
• Load side Waterfurnace Hydrozone Controller
• Radiant Pex tubing and manifolds and two pumps and digital thermostats for two zones
• Creatherm RID insulation
• Supply and install a 60 gallon electric hybrid DHW tank
• IntelliStart feature
• 2 ton loop field and pump package with non-pressurized flow center

So, the bottom line: Total Geothermal $33,810.97

We put down a 30% down payment today of $10,143.29(!), which is the same amount we can expect to get back thanks to a 30% tax credit. So the total out of pocket is expected to be $23,667.68.

Solar

As far as solar panels are concerned, we figured: go big or go home. Since we are hoping to go net zero, we had to plan for a large PV array to cover all our energy consumption needs, which will be large since everything will be electric. We used a couple different approaches to project our total consumption, including estimating from my parents' electric bill (since we have similar habits, and their bill includes electric appliances and a well pump); estimating using our own current electric bill plus what we can expect from adding in electric appliances & a well pump; and using a worksheet provided by NYSERDA that included a breakdown by appliance. All three methods were surprisingly consistent with each other, and estimated a total usage of roughly 10,000 KWH/year. We also added in an additional 2,000 KWH/yr for an anticipated electric car (eventually). Roth Green Energy came back with the following 12,480(!) watt grid-tied PV system, complete with all materials, engineering/submittals, software, programming, installation and wiring, system commissioning, start-up, check out, and owner training:

• Supply and install 48 Solar World 260W mono panels, roof mounted on front roof - brand new & 100% made in the USA!
• 2 strings of 12 panels
• Provide 2 Sunny Boy 6000US STD inverters
• Production meter
• Monitoring Package
• Solar mount roof racking system
• Provide wire, conduit string combiner, system disconnect, and miscellaneous electrical components to complete the installation

There are all kinds of incentives for solar, including grants, rebates, and a tax credit:

                 Project Cost                       $45,000.00

                 NYSERDA Grant                 ($10,500.00)

                 Initial Costs                        $34,500.00

                 Federal tax credit (30%)    ($10,350.00)

                 NY State rebate                ($5,000.00)

                 Total out of pocket           $19,150.00

We were shocked to see that, thanks to so many incentives, the total out of pocket cost of such a huge PV array is under $20,000. We still recognize that it is a huge investment that will take many years to recoup the costs, but seriously: HOW COOL IS THAT??!? Some people spend money on cars, some people spend money on traveling... I'm happy to invest in solar photovoltaics. Anyways, it was important to put in a down payment today so that they could get started on the paperwork, since it can take months to get it all approved (and boy are we glad they're doing all the paper pushing for us!!). We put in a 35% down payment towards the total project cost, meaning $15,750,00.

Yikes, we wrote two huge checks today :-O ... That fact is still sinking in. These are just the first two of many that are sure to come (or go, I suppose is more accurate). It feels scary to part with so much so quickly, but we are really excited about what this money is going towards. We feel we'll be setting a really great example and are excited to be pioneers in really committing to green energy. We are very happy that we've chosen Roth Green Energy for our energy needs and feel confident they'll do a great job!

Updated budget:
Deposit for Geothermal: $10,143.29
Deposit for Solar: $15,750.00
Total spent so far: $27,703.29