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Going Off Grid with Chris Anderson and Borrego Solar

By Graham Jesmer, Staff Writer
February 14, 2008 | 29 Comments

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Peterborough, New Hampshire [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] When Chris Anderson, COO of Borrego Solar, moved across the country in 2007 to open Borrego Solar East, he needed a place to live and he chose Peterborough, NH. Anderson decided to build his own, entirely off-grid, home. The house is powered completely by solar photovoltaics, a solar thermal system, a wood pellet boiler and a few other unique features. Anderson says the home blends the traditional colonial style of New England with the modern style of the San Francisco Bay area. The 3,000 square foot home took more than two years and approximately $510,000 to complete from start to finish and involved everything from getting a conservation easement put on the land to powering a construction site without grid electricity.

The Home Features

Solar PV: A 6.75 kilowatt roof mounted Borrego Solar system with an estimated monthly production of 550 kilowatt hours. The system uses 27 Sharp 160W modules, 15 Sharp 162W modules, mounted east of south on a 45 degree pitched standing seam metal roof and one SMA SB7000 Inverter. The system also uses two SMA 4248 Sunny Islands that charge a bank of 24 Rolls Surrette S460 batteries to run the house on cloudy days.

Heating Systems: Seven Heliodyne flat-plate collectors using glycol. One 800 gallon and one 1200 gallon storage tank from STSS Co., Inc. One Harman PB105 113k BTUh wood pellet boiler using wood pellets from New England Wood Pellet. Heat systems were designed by Henry Spindler from Optimal Energy Solutions LLC.

Other Features: A hot water recirculation loop, radiant floors, thermal glazed windows, thermostat controls for each zone of the home and energy efficient appliances.

To see an interview with Chris Anderson and to get a look at his one-of-a-kind off-grid home, watch the video below.

For more videos From RenewableEnergyWorld.com click here.

For more on Borrego Solar and Chris Anderson's home check out this week's Inside Renewable Energy Podcast with Stephen Lacey.

Bioenergy, Other, Solar Energy

29 Reader Comments

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1 of 29

richard-elder-67584

February 14, 2008

Nice house if you own a solar energy company and want to show off your products.If the architect had made use of thermal mass walls and floors,  proper window orientation, and partial earth sheltering the PV and solar thermal costs could have been substantially reduced.  Stick framing is one of the worst construction systems ever invented from the point of view of energy efficiency.  Compare it to Durisol block on the basis of fire resistance, temperature stability, mold resistance, occupant health, & sound controlFor examples of superior building design look at Nathan Good's zero energy home on the Oregon coast,  (http://www.nathangoodarchitect.com/portfolio/cannonbeach.htm) or the 25 year old RMI Headquarters building by Amory Lovins. (http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid389.php)Richard Elder (ebuildsystems.com)

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2 of 29

jerry-caldwell-46095

February 14, 2008

State of the art indeed!  That and the arrays are well integrated into the roof aesthetically.  I have a few questions:What drove the decision to go off grid?  How far would utility lines have needed to be extened?  What would that have cost?The array looks like it is mounted by S-5 clamps to the standing seam roof.  Did you take any extra steps to ensure the roof would withstand extra loads imposed by the solar arrays?Congratulations!

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3 of 29

p-duncan-67462

February 14, 2008

If the builder is still following this thread, I'm curious about a few things...

- What are the two different water tanks used for?

- Is there any use of DC directly for lighting or appliances or is everything run off 120AC?

- Why two different types of batteries?

- Is cooling required in the summer, or just natural ventilation?

- Does he have any estimate of the Btu in wood pellets that will be required for a typical heating season?

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4 of 29

william-fitch-22587

February 14, 2008

$500,000 + ... what's to say... most likely not for the masses who are in to 30K to 50K area per year. Solar has always been affordable for those with above average means. Nice house, but than again 1/2 a million $ can buy allot at top shelf prices.. These types of projects do not help bring down the cost of solar but continue to make the masses believe that solar is just for the affluent crowd... Reminds me of the Maine solar house.. high end having Stephen on the job etc., again, not for the masses... hey BUT they are great verbal banter at cocktail parties... again, nice house for sure, no wind turbine though..??..

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5 of 29

jesse-broehl-9395

February 14, 2008

Amazing house!

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6 of 29

paul-mync-22676

February 14, 2008

This is a great example of "walking the talk", a great example of off grid living with state of the art technologies.  Congratulations on creating a great living space.

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7 of 29

g-moser-75276

February 14, 2008

Great project.  I grew up in Northern NH building houses and decided to take the next step which was to get my masters in Alternative Energy.  Still in the process.     I wanted to know where you got your education and certifications related to all the energy systems of the house, and why the price tag was so high regarding the project?Geof

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8 of 29

chris-anderson-3897

February 14, 2008

The home is built for a family of 4 and incorporates a home office and art studio. We are trying to reduce our carbon footprint even further by limiting our commute. We felt the size was reasonable given the mixed use of the building. 

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9 of 29

john-tabb-49304

February 14, 2008

A nice example of combining features to make a solar (with wood backup) house work in a northern climate.  My only question would be why build it so big?  We need to get away from equating quality and value with square footage.

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10 of 29

william-fitch-22587

February 15, 2008

Hi: Well Matt, its not the bay area is it... its NH, where your nearest neighbors are trees, trees and more trees.. Anyway, it has nothing to do with where the 1/2 million is spent. The point is, that it is available to be spent at all. Do you realize how many people there are out there, that 1/2 million to invest in a home is completely out of there reach, almost out of there dreams!!! But if you are from CA, land of money and opportunity, you probably don't realize those things.... or perhaps you choose to forget them...

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11 of 29

jake-eckel-80478

February 15, 2008

Only 6.75 kw for a 3000 sq. ft. home with a limited solar resource(i.e. Northeast)? Wow... and Cool. Do you not have aircondioning for hot and humid summer days?I am also curious along with Matt. Did you look into a geothermal heat pump or utilizing a fuel cell? What wind turbine will your neighbor be using?Who is the manufacture of you metal roof? How much uplift can there really be if the modules are parallel to the plane of the roof offset ~6"? How close are the clips (i.e. clips that attached the metal panel to the trusses) installed on your roof? How much did the metal roof materials cost per sq. ft.?

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12 of 29

matt-pease-52637

February 15, 2008

Hi Chris --

I'm also curious if you had to clear trees to make room for your house or to allow for the sun to hit the panels.

This is a problem they are realizing now with biofuels - if you clear land for the biofuels you are doing more harm than if you would just be using petroleum. I wonder if the same can be said for new homes with solar panels, or homes that clear trees so that solar panels can better see the sun?

Matt

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13 of 29

matt-pease-52637

February 15, 2008

Nice place!

I'm curious why you didn't use some sort of geo pump to help cool / heat the house. I've read elsewhere that this is a very cost effective way to use the deep earth to heat a bit on cool days, and to cool a bit on hot days.

I like that poster's comment about 500,000+ cost of the home. If he only realized what you get in the bay area for 500,000+. One bedroom apartment in the middle of crack town!

Matt

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14 of 29

chris-anderson-3897

February 15, 2008

As for the choice to go off grid, it was a result of the cost and the environmental inpact to the site that we chose to be off grid. The power lines were approximiately 1/3 mile from the site and on the othe side of a wetlands. It would have been approximately 70k to bring power to the site. The permit process was simple. The local inspector was tough along the way on the house itself, but not the pv or heating system. A sharp man that in the end was very excited to have approved for occupancy his first off grid home in Peterborough. Solar Integrators like Borrego have put in hundreds of systems and can help those who want to go solar fight the battles with local HOA's and municipalities who oppose or don't understand solar. We have been dong it for years and are committed to gererating change.

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15 of 29

chris-anderson-3897

February 15, 2008

It looks like I will go through 6 tons of wood pellets for domestic hot water and heat for the year. At $220 per ton that is $1320 for the year. (this is higher than I expect in the future as we are keeping the house at like 70 degrees b/c of our my new daughter .) As for the generator and its use as the back up to the electric system, I estimate that the generator will be required to run about 300 hours to both power the house during the winter and to keep the batteries equalized on a monthly basis. The generator consumes about 1 gallon of propane per hour. At $3 per gallon that is $900 for the year.

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16 of 29

chris-anderson-3897

February 15, 2008

To follow up on some of the questions:The size of the pv system and the wind turbine are addressed in the pod cast. To summarize, a friend is building next door and his going to incorporate a wind turbine. The plan is to tie the 2 houses together and share the pv and wind power sources. My array was designed to accomodate this future growth and a shop type space that we will share between us. There is only one type of batteries: Rolls Surrette. The Sunny Island is the inverter/charge controller.The two different tanks in the basement are addressed in the pod cast.Ventilation in the summer is done through natural convection. There is a fresh air intake to bring in fresh air in the winter.With the desire to use the S5 standing seam clips, the south side of the roof was requried to be screwed to the framing every 16" o.c. in order to have the structural integrity to resist the up lift of the pv system.

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17 of 29

Graham-Jesmer

February 15, 2008

For answers to some of these questions, including more specifics on the house's systems, listen to this week's Inside Renewable Energy Podcast with Stephen Lacey.

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18 of 29

greg-mcquay-40731

February 15, 2008

Nice job. Why no wind turbines? Seems a logical compliment to all that was done. Can you describe the ROI you used to determine the economy for running the home vs. what you are experiencing in practice? What was the attitude of the local politicians when you asked for permits? This appears to be a significant obstacles for most owners wanting to take the plunge. What was your best source of information and education as you were researching your project?

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19 of 29

john-briggs-69597

February 15, 2008

This is really an amazing house.  I think there are many different ways to "go green" when building a house and this house represents one particular mind-set.  Personally I find this approach very appealing because the style of the home looks so beautiful to me.  As for the cost, think of it this way.  There are many people who have the money to build a really nice home and don't even consider the environmental impact.  The name Al Gore comes to mind, but he shouldn't be singled out.  In my neighborhood there are many many million dollar plus homes being put in that don't consider the energy issues at all.  No solar (active or passive), only 4" of fiberglass insulation in the walls, etc.      So when someone has the money, it is nice to see it being spent in this way rather than a five car garage or another 1000 sq ft.    Nice work.ThanksJohn C. Briggs

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20 of 29

john-briggs-69597

February 15, 2008

LMagic007,   I am not sure if the $2 to $4 per day refers to the electricity.  My interpretation was that this was the cost of the wood pellets to heat the home.  But I might be wrong.    But your point is still well taken.  I am getting solar PV (Grid-tied) put on my house and I think that $0.20 to $0.30 per kWh is probably a reasonable estimate of the electricity cost.   ThanksJohn C. Briggs

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21 of 29

lmagic007-lmagic007-58442

February 15, 2008

Can I Buy Green Power in My State? New Hampshire The table shown here summarizes green power products available in New Hampshire and nationally available renewable energy certificate products. http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml?state=NH

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22 of 29

lmagic007-lmagic007-58442

February 15, 2008

Now in Texas you can get certified 100% green energy for Only 12.49¢ per kilowatt-hour! on a Certified Green one year plan. Not to mention all that equipment you would have to maintain at home. This would equate to an average daily cost of $2.21c based on the 17.74 kwh daily usage.

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23 of 29

lmagic007-lmagic007-58442

February 15, 2008

<div>It's costing them 22.5c per kwh based on the $4 per day figure mentioned in the video or 11.25c based on the $2 per day figure, based on the 550 kwh per month or 17.74 kwh per day. Thus if we take the average of the two we get 16.9c per kwh average power cost. This equates to about $3 per day on average.</div>

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24 of 29

deep_patel

February 16, 2008

Chris is right about being energy efficient first, when shopping for a solar energy system for some reason energy efficiency is the last issue on the mind of the typical consumer. Best practices suggest that a consumer must reduce then produce to get the maximum benefit of a solar energy system. The difficult part of this concept is it is difficult for Americans to grasp because we are used to wasting and hogging energy. Consumers are surprised on how much they can shave off the final cost of a solar energy system by just making some simple life style changes, adding insulation and becoming aware of saving energy at all costs.

-Deep Patel
www.gogreensolar.com

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25 of 29

pfiddle

February 16, 2008

I cant see why people are moaning about the building costs. Sure it was expensive to build - it's a first.!!
Prototypes always cost far more than later models. Though I agree with some who point out that Durisol block or it's equilivant would have been better than "stick-framing" especially as one figures he's saving $500 a month on PRESENT fuel prices and at these prices the house is fully paid-off in 96yrs just in these savings.

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26 of 29

phoenix-woman-63139

February 18, 2008

I love all the people attacking Chris Anderson because he didn't bow down and worship their pet technology.  Instead he built a home/office/studio that was functional, efficient, and not an ugly eyesore.

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27 of 29

phoenix-woman-63139

February 18, 2008

"Nice house if you own a solar energy company and want to show off your products."As opposed to owning a company selling a different technology using the comments section to shill for his technology?  ;-)That's not the way to get people to click on your links, mon ami.

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william-fitch-22587

February 19, 2008

....having to think about it, just the normal way to do it. It should be required in every local zoning code and not having it requiring a variance. This would drive down the costs and begin to start this country on a path of energy independence. All these “show homes” are great but that is not where we need to be….....Bill

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29 of 29

william-fitch-22587

February 19, 2008

Hi Phoenix:  For my view, just to clarify, I think the house is very nice and energy efficient. That is not, and was not MY point. Solar in order to main stream must be shown to be obtainable in the 75K to 150K range, and I don’t mean some little 1KW PV thrown on a standard cookie cutter development house. I mean a well thought out energy efficient home that looks nice in the above range. It is not only possible to do this, but inexcusable not to have this as the standard home being built today. Every house built in this country, unless you are building on the north side of a mountain or in a forest of very tall trees, should have solar thermal DHW. Hands down, not even .....cntd...

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Graham Jesmer

About: I am currently a second year Law Student at Vermont Law School where I work as a Research Associate at the Institute for Energy and the Environment writing and ... more »