… from the sun that shines above
Staff article with contributions from Frederick Greenhalgh, Digital Marketing Manager for ReVision Energy, LLC
Shire Inn Riverview — Woodstock, VT
This is a classic old inn, nestled in a picturesque historic town. The innkeepers, Vince and Dorothy DiCarlo, are committed to preserving the environment in this old building, which is essential for tourism and the reason people travel here! They had been looking for ways to ‘go greener.’ Solar PV offered a great solution. Revision Energy LLC installed 27.8kW of LG collectors, with a black-on-black finish, and which offer a sleek, low-profile aesthetic that runs along existing roof lines. In fact, the system is so low-profile that the town’s historic committee gave the system a big thumbs up. Solar production is monitored and made available on a web portal that is visible to guests who can see how the inn has committed to reducing its carbon footprint.
The Shire Inn Riverview’s location is at 46 Pleasant St. www.shiremotel.com (802) 457-2211
The Italian Farmhouse — Plymouth, NH
The Italian Farmhouse is part of the Common Man family of restaurants, who have seen tremendous fuel savings with previous solar thermal investments, and so they decided to make another investment for this restaurant. Revision Energy LLD designed and installed the solar hot water system which consists of nine Wagner E20 collectors, which heat a 320 gallon custom-fabricated storage tank, with SOM7 providing the ‘brains’ behind the pump station, and a Resol DL2 data logger that reports how the system is doing.
The oil savings for this project have been tremendous. The solar hot water is able to provide most if not all the hot water needed in the busy commercial kitchen, especially in summertime, and also preheats some apartments which are part of the complex.
Located at 337 Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3), you can reach them at (603) 536-4536. www.thecman.com.
The Common Man Restaurant — Concord, NH
One of the first projects that Revision Energy did, as part of our relationship with The Common Man, was a lovely American restaurant in New Hampshire’s capital. The system is larger than the one at the Italian Farmhouse – 12 collectors – but is designed essentially the same way. The solar thermal collectors pre-heat a huge hot water storage tank, and that heated water either runs directly into the restaurant, or, if it needs a bit of supplement, is supported by the existing water heater.
The Common Man Concord is located at 25 Water Street and can be reached at (603) 228-DINE (3463). www.thecman.com.
Sunset Hill House — Sugar Hill, NH
Sunset Hill House Inn is New Hampshire’s premier mountain resort inn, family-owned and operated by the “World’s Happiest Innkeepers,” Lon and Nancy Henderson. This is a 100-plus- year-old historic inn which is trying to marry tradition and the future. The owners have preserved 70-plus acres of land and already earned the “Environmental Champion” award in New Hampshire for previous greening efforts. For their solar system, Revision Energy LLC installed fifteen American-made flat-plate solar hot water collectors which heat a custom-fabricated 650 gallon storage tank. On a bright summer day, the system will produce over 420,000 BTUs of clean solar energy, enough to provide close to 100% of the inn’s domestic hot water demand. Backup hot water is provided by a Phoenix direct-fired propane hot water heater. Sunset Hill House Inn can be found at 231 Sunset Hill Rd. (800) 786-4455 www.sunsethillhouse.com
The Farm at Eastman’s Corner — Kensington, NH
This place is very impressive because it’s a seasonal produce stand that also is cultivating value-added products for farmers and prepared foods from local farmers. The model is a nonprofit and all proceeds are donated to their host town, Kensington. The Farm serves as a hub for local food culture where consumers get to meet their farmers, farmers get another market for their product (and earn funds for produce that would not be saleable post-farmer’s markets), and local roots get re-established! The solar system, again installed by Revision Energy LLC, consists of 13.26kW of all-black, American-made solar photovoltaic collectors on the roof, which will provide most or all of their electric needs for the current farm stand. They are looking at expanding soon and plan to put solar electric and hot water on that as well.
Find them at the corner of Routes 150 and 107. (603) 347-1909. www.eastmanscorner.com
Leave a Reply