By Jack Carley
Staff Writer
Environmentally conscious Carrboro took one more step toward sustainability when Carrboro Solar Works installed a photovoltaic solar array at the Pacifica Cohousing development.
The array, resting atop the development’s shared Common House, generates about 5,000 watts of electricity monthly while batteries store power in the event of a blackout.
A grant from the North Carolina State Energy Office arranged by Pacifica architect Giles Blunden’s Carrboro Collaborative Development Association paid for the panels.
The panels generate electricity that is measured by a second utility meter and then, through an arrangement with Duke Power and NC GreenPower, sold back to the grid for about $25 per month per kilowatt. The electricity generated by the panels charges batteries, then flows through the grid to where it’s needed.
Solar is ‘elegant’
Ed Witkin owns Carrboro Solar Works and has been in town since 2003.
He teaches solar energy workshops and built a solar-powered water pump for the community garden at Martin Luther King Jr. Park. “It’s the community projects I find most interesting,†he said.
Witkin started working with solar technology in 1989 in Atlanta. “I got into solar by playing music, creating solar-powered PA systems.
“I was inspired by solar because it’s very reliable and elegant – there are no moving parts and the sun is the fuel.â€
He says people are often unaware of where their electricity originates. “I don’t think most people realize most of our electricity in this state comes from coal. And most of that coal comes from mountains that are being destroyed in West Virginia.â€
Witkin says that while renewable energy is important, he believes efficiency is even more so. “Solar is like the icing on the cake,†he said. “We all have to learn to be more efficient.â€
Witkin explains that buying a $15,000 solar array saves less than one-hundredth the electricity that could be saved by swapping $15,000 worth of compact flourescent bulbs for normal bulbs.
David DelVecchio has been working with Witkin for about a year. “People are [installing solar] for environmental reasons,†he says. “They want to do something, so they ask us, ‘What can I do?’ And our answer, typically, is ‘Get more efficient.’ Efficiency is something we can do right now.â€
DelVecchio says that before solar energy can catch on, the state needs to help. “We need to hound the state Legislature for better taxes. They’re not serious about it.â€
Intentional community
Pacifica is an intentional community, designed and built in the spirit of sustainability and cooperation. To this end, residents share management of the community and resources like the Common House.
The cohousing community uses solar energy in more ways than one. Another set of panels is used to heat water, others operate to power pathway lights and the homes are designed with passive solar principles to harness sunlight efficiently.
The community is relatively new. Most of the houses now have residents and within about three months everyone should be moved in.
Mark Kolman, leader of the homeowners’ association, was pleased with the new array. “As a community, we are delighted to have this system,†he said.
On a cool evening, Pacfica residents have assembled outside the Common House. Witkin gives a tour and explanation of the new equipment. Residents of the brightly colored houses listen closely and ask questions about the hefty panels on the rooftop.
As they inspect the batteries, talk turns to eco-collapse documentary What A Way to Go: Life At The End of The Empire by Chatham County filmmakers Tim Bennett and Sally Erickson. Other environmental films are suggested for community movie night. From there, they touch on the possibility of grid failure.
They ask how well the array and batteries could power the cluster of homes if the grid weren’t working. Witkin suggests they try turning off access to the grid and testing the system, but doubts the batteries could power the separate homes for very long.
But with the addition of the photovoltaic panels Pacifica is one step closer to being self-sufficient. Just in case.
See “Solar tour†for details on the Chatham and Orange County Solar and Green Homes Tour this Saturday.