Thursday, February 14, 2008

A Neat Experiment in Zero Energy

I saw an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal for an effort by BASF to build a zero energy house, in Patterson, NJ. I followed up on the web and found the site interesting and well organized. Some technical information on the site, though more details could have been included.

(Not so) Strangely missing was the cost data for the house. It would be interesting to review the economics of the house in terms of payback for the installation of the metal roof, solar systems, high spec HVAC, etc.

On the solar electricity generation, the site uses thin-film solar panels, from attached directly to the metal roof (one of BASF's key contributions). The solar panels are supplied by United Solar Ovonic.

Looks like an interesting effort, though I would like more technical details.

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