6/04/08
Going Solar
Mountain Homestyle
Summer, 2008

Having earned a Masters degree in solar architecture from Arizona State University in 1977, Carbondale’s Ken Olson can legitimately claim three decades of solar-energy advocacy, engineering and education. He co-founded Carbondale’s Solar Energy International in 1991 and, in 2003 started Sol Energy, a renewable-energy contracting and consulting firm. Clients have included NASA, the World Health Organization and numerous homes and businesses. Mountain Homestyle recently picked Olson’s brain about the state of solar in Colorado.

YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE SOLAR-ENERGY MOVEMENT FOR MOST OF YOUR ADULT LIFE. WHAT WAS IT LIKE AT THE BEGINNING, AND HOW HAS IT CHANGED OVER TIME?
KO: I began my solar career in 1974. I studied architecture in an age when energy was not a design consideration, which always felt wrong to me. But there was no popular environmental movement at the time. Then the Arab oil embargo captured most people’s attention and became a validation for my career choice. Solar energy was a disparate collection of backyard technologies inspired by inventive individuals. Today, the solar industry has matured its technology and gained traction and exponential growth worldwide.

WHY SHOULD MOUNTAIN-TOWN RESIDENTS CONSIDER GOING SOLAR?
KO: People living in the mountains have an inherent interest in a clean environment. We can produce our own electricity on our rooftops, and we can feed that power into the utility grid. This is particularly useful for second homes–they can push power back to the grid when they are unoccupied. So rather than being wasteful, they can be productive.

HAVE SOLAR PANELS ADVANCED IN TERMS OF EFFICIENCY AND OBTRUSIVENESS OVER THE YEARS?
KO: Yes. Efficiencies are constantly improving. I believe the greatest improvements have come in the form of products that let us architecturally integrate system designs for an aesthetically pleasing appearance. We have a variety of architectural solar products: Open Energy manufactures a photovoltaic tile: Sunslate offers a solar shingle; Unisolar manufactures solar shingles and peel-and-stick laminate for standing-seam metal roofs; and Sharp manufactures tringular-shaped photovoltaic modules to fit to hip roofs.

In terms of efficiency, a homeowner in the Roaring Fork Valley can produce 50 to 100 percent of their annual electricity energy and receive utility rebates and tax credits to offset a significant portion of the total cost. A 10-kilowatt photovoltaic system will occupy approximately 1,000 square feet of south-facing roof area and produce on the order of 15,000 kilowatt-hours annually.

ANY DOWNSIDE TO GOING SOLAR?
KO: Downside? For the past 50 years we have enjoyed a lifestyle fueled by an abundance of cheap, dirty energy. Each of us now has the option of choosing new sources of clean power generation to stem the tide of global warming and provide a buffer from volatile energy prices. I do not believe anyone with a positive stake in the future would see a downside to making that choice.

WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP FOR HOMEOWNERS, WHETHER IT’S FURTHER EDUCATING THEMSELVES OR BEGINNING THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING THEIR ROOFS TO SOLAR?
KO: The first step is to take stock of one’s own environmental impact and realize how precious energy is to our lifestyle. Ask yourself, your architect, your builder or your neighbor how you could take responsibility for using less of the old world energy and begin to generate clean renewable energies to offset your carbon footprint. Sol Energy will make a free site visit and offer solutions. For more info, visit Sol-energy.us.