On July 7th the installation of our new 18 panel 6kW solar array was complete and began producing slightly more energy than our current consumption. It will take about 1.5 years of running on solar to become carbon neutral for the production, transportation and installation of these panels. As we now have solar power we replaced our very old propane hot water heater with a new energy star high efficiency hybrid heat pump electric hot water heater. These hybrid hot water heaters (see photo below) are 3 to 4 times more energy efficient than the traditional electric hot water heaters. Both installation were done by Solar Revolution, Folsom.
This highly efficient system is completed by a passive solar hot water pre-heater, built by Robert Hohn, a board member of the Saranaloka Foundation. We are also grateful to our longterm supporter Neil Henderson, for his knowledge and time in helping to sort through research and bids. Great gratitude goes to all donors who made this inspiring project possible and to Ayya Ahimsa for overseeing it from beginning to end.
Hybrid heat pump electric hot water heater