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Products - April 2007

All products featured here have been screened and approved by our partners at BuildingGreen. Click here for more information on product evaluation and criteria. If you have an interesting product to showcase, please contact our products editor, Mark Piepkorn, at greensource-products@buildinggreen.com.

Compiled by Mark Piepkorn

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Solarban 70XL Glazing
Solarban’s color-neutral, commercial solar-control glass has a 2.33 Light to Solar Gain (LSG) ratio in a one-inch insulating unit; windows look like glass rather than mirrors, letting in lots of light while controlling solar heat gain better than most low-e solar-control glazing units. The potential to downsize a building’s cooling plant up to 25 percent is appealing; the potential to reduce design energy costs by three to five percent annually—even when compared to other top-notch solar glazing—is the icing on the cake. PPG; Pittsburgh, PA. www.ppg.com; phone 412-434-3131.

GridPoint Connect
The Connect Series provides everything but the solar panels for a grid-connected photovoltaic backup power system. Electronics, inverter, charge controller, recyclable batteries, and other components are combined in a single “plug-and-play” unit that makes sure the batteries are always fully charged and supplying electricity. Excess power is fed into the power grid. If the grid is down, critical loads will be handled by the solar array and batteries. An internet-based management portal provides detailed statistics that can help users understand and modify their energy consumption patterns. Fronius USA LLC-Solar Electronics Division; Santa Barbara, CA. www.gridpoint.com; phone: 805-683-2200.

SunMate Hot Air Solar Panel
The SunMate mounts vertically on the side of a home or building; it circulates cool room air through a solar absorber plate, and then sends it back inside, warmed. A thermostat turns on a small, 7-watt circulating fan in the system when the absorber plate heats up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and turns it back off again when that temperature gets down to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. One panel will heat up to 300 square feet, and multiple panels can be installed in parallel. The insulated, single-piece units, made with stainless steel and aluminum components and sealed solar glass, are long-lived and require almost no maintenance. Environmental Solar Systems; Methuen, MA. www.environmentalsolarsystems.com; phone 978-975-1190.

Skystream Wind Generator
The Skystream 3.7 “residential power appliance” is a self-contained electrical generation system designed specifically for homes and small businesses. The controls and inverter are built right in, and there’s no need for batteries—it connects directly to a building’s wiring, working in conjunction with conventional grid electricity. When the wind blows, the system provides quiet, direct energy to offset utility power. The distinctively shaped 12-foot rotor cuts in when breezes hit 8 mph, and can provide 40 to 90 percent or more of a home’s electric needs in areas with an average wind speed of at least 10 mph. Southwest Windpower; Flagstaff, AZ. www.skystreamenergy.com; phone 928-779-9463.

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SunChiller Solar Absorption Cooling
SunChiller combines evacuated-tube solar thermal technology with absorption chilling to economize the environmental and financial conditioning energy costs for facilities with exceptional cooling loads. During peak demand hours, the hybrid system uses SunChiller as the primary chiller, with electric as backup. The system can also provide space heating in climates with cold seasons and offers solar-heated domestic hot water year-round. As a long-term, integrated strategy, the system is typically more cost-effective than conventional utilities. When matched with desiccant systems, SunChiller can also provide dehumidification. SunChiller; Glendale, CA. www.sunchiller.com; phone 818-240-4500.

Windside Wind Turbines
Windside turbines are distinctive—in the way they look, and the way they perform. These Finnish wind generators are designed to withstand environmental conditions from Arctic blizzards to Saharan sandstorms to oceanic salt corrosion, and will produce more annual power than typical prop-type generators, according to the manufacturer. The turbines are bird-safe, soundless, and start generating electricity in wind speeds as low as 3.3 mph, factors that make them appropriate for urban deployment. All but the largest model will mount on standard wood or metal poles. Manufacturer’s website: www.windside.com, North American distributor: Tangarie Energy; Hillsborough, NJ. www.tangarie-energy.com; phone 603-635-1485, or toll-free 866-994-6500.

SUN HoM Solar System
SUN HoM DHW is a solar hot water system appropriate for any climate, lending itself particularly well to retrofit situations. The active-indirect, drainback system uses a propylene glycol mixture (or plain water in non-freezing climates) in the collector panels and transfers the heat from that fluid to the domestic water system using a heat exchanger. When the sun isn’t out, the system shuts down. Unlike thermo-siphoning systems, this one uses small electric pumps—the hot water storage tanks (available in 80 or 120 gallon sizes) don’t need to be above, or even particularly near, the collector panels. Solar Energy, Inc.; Jacksonville, FL. www.solarenergy.com; phone 904-786-6600.

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