Living in a Solar-Powered Home
Tuesday, September 4, 2012 - 3:15pm - 4:15pm
Regents 109
Victor M. Yakovenko
Univesity of Maryland Department of Physics
In January 2011, a solar photovoltaic system with battery backup was installed in the home of Victor Yakovenko in College Park. In this colloquium, he shares his experience after the first 1.5 years of operation. So far, the system has produced about 95% of the electrical energy consumed by the house, supplied power during numerous electrical grid outages, withstood hurricane winds, hail, snow, an earthquake, etc. Victor will also share his experience in improving energy efficiency of the house, which resulted in the reduction of electric energy and natural gas consumption by about 50%. This colloquium would be most useful to those who contemplate implementing similar measures in their homes. To put things in perspective, it is recommended that you check your home’s annual consumption in MWh on your electric bill before the colloquium. Victor’s home will be on display at the annual Tour of Solar Homes on October 7, 2012,
Here are the links to his solar Web page,
http://physics.umd.edu/~yakovenk/solar-home/,
and to the real-time data from his photovoltaic system,
http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/5CBb15174
REFRESHMENTS AT 3:00 pm IN REGENTS HALL 109
Host: Wes Mathews
Discussion Leader: Wes Mathews