Author Archives: Randy Velker

Buy or Rent? Energy Production Version

Clean energy systems (solar) all have an up front capital cost (around $15,000 for a 3 kW system). The whole system must be paid for before the first kWh of energy is produced.  You essentially own your energy production and … Continue reading

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Taking aim at Nanking ends up hurting Knoxville!

Since 2009, Simple Energy Works has been designing, selling and installing complete residential and commercial solar energy systems throughout Tennessee. When we started out, about three years ago, there were only about five solar installers in the middle of our … Continue reading

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Posted in PV costs, PV Modules (Photovoltaic Panels), Solar Incentives | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Obama, Be Nice, the Chinese are our Friends!

The news is filled with speculation and consternation about the complaint filed by Solar World claiming that the Chinese are flooding the market with inexpensive PV modules and damaging American manufacturing.    The complaint requests that the ITC (international trade … Continue reading

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Posted in Grid Parity, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

SketchUp for solar- 3D modeling brings home the sun!

Site designs have been 2D for years, simple sketches that show where the solar array will be mounted to the house. That is normally effective and can give the general idea of what a solar system will look like installed … Continue reading

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Posted in blog-posts, Good PV Design, Increase Energy Production of PV system, Learning Solar, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Take the money and Run! TN has a new Solar Grant!!

The state of Tennessee recently (January 11th) announced that they have a new grant for businesses that are trying to be more energy efficient. The grant is specifically for those businesses (municipalities, non-profits are also eligible) that are going to … Continue reading

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Troubleshooting PV- for the Lazy (and frugal)!

“Happy MegaWatt Day” I didn’t realize it, but the solar system on our house recently produced one full Megawatt hour of electricity (1000 kwhs). I haven’t been tracking closely, but my friend has! I realized it when I got an … Continue reading

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Posted in DIY (is it a good idea?), Energy monitoring, Good PV Design, Increase Energy Production of PV system, Learning Solar, Micro-Inverters, PV Modules (Photovoltaic Panels), Uncategorized, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy 3rd Anniversary Kingston Fly Ash Spill!

TVA is constantly trying to figure out how to provide energy for the Tennessee Valley area. This quasi-governmental “New Deal” era agency (whose directors are appointed by the Federal Government) are regularly looking at the next 50 years and trying … Continue reading

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Solar Energy Will Never Replace Coal!

Solar will never work. It is just too expensive. We will never replace coal and oil as the primary fuels because they are so ubiquitous. Simply a microscopic fraction of our energy is now made from solar energy. It is … Continue reading

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Posted in Electrical Grid, Energy reduction, Grid Parity, PV costs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Solar’s “Breaking Dawn”

Ok, I’m not much for Vampire movies. I’ll admit it. I have watched a few of them with my wife (to be social), and wouldn’t say that I was bored….. They just aren’t my movie preference. Of course, I would … Continue reading

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Posted in Grid Parity, Increase Energy Production of PV system, PV costs, PV Modules (Photovoltaic Panels), Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The 1603/USDA two-step!

The end of 2011 is a deadline for some of the solar incentives. It makes sense to research now about those incentives and see if now might be the time to move forward with solar!   The news is busting … Continue reading

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