William Charlson's Blog

Well, ever so often we see something come across our desk, saying Gee maybe I should look at something like that for myself. Well this two bedroom award winning floor plan, I did just that in 2000, I purchase this property for its location being so close to everything in Murrells Inlet and The Garden City area.Shortly after I purchase not only that one but two others converting all of them too rentals, the units took first place in the local parade of homes.But the real reason why I did purchase the three, well the numbers worked.The complete operational expenses were well below what the rent amount was in this area. The HOA is stable and well manage.The grounds are well kept and the small clubhouse and pool was perfect for the size of the community.
Well here we are 11 years later and it's time to move on. My wife would love to consider building our retirement home since the local contractors are begging for work and materials in general are down in cost.

So if you happen to know someone who looking for a great rental keep us in mind.

While alternative energy sources have been available for quite some time, recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of individual homeowners deciding to "go green". This eco-friendly trend can be seen in many places, but few statistics illustrate our nation's hunger for sustainable energy like the increases seen in geothermal heat pump and solar panel installation.

By recycling, purchasing more energy-efficient vehicles and home components, and supporting businesses that leave less of an imprint on the environment, the past few years have certainly shown that we, as a nation, have made a cleaner, more sustainable future one of our priorities. Recently, however, we've seen an incredible increase in the number of folks willing to take conservation to the next level by outfitting their homes to use alternative energy sources.

Residential Solar Panel Installation

If the number of homeowners who install solar panels continues to grow at its current rate, President Obama should have no problem achieving his goal of doubling the production of alternative energy in the next three years. Though it is difficult to calculate the total number of solar panels installed each year, we got the figures from ServiceMagic to see just how much interest in these devices has grown. In 2006, ServiceMagic counted 4,269 requests for solar panel installation nationwide; by 2008, their count was a whopping 67,062! If you do the math, that's an increase of 1471 percent!

Geothermal Heat Pump Installation

Though not quite as dramatic, significant increases have also been seen in the amount of homeowners opting to install geothermal heating and cooling systems. Two years ago, ServiceMagic processed 5,449 requests to install geothermal systems; in 2008, that number rose to 24,269.

The Cost of Going Green

A modest solar panel installation suitable for running a few devices can easily be had for $1,000 or less, but costs of $20,000 or more are common when creating a completely solar powered home. Geothermal heat pumps are generally considered the most cost-effective way to heat and cool a property in the long run, but can be several times more expensive to install than a conventional heating and cooling system.

Though the expense of these devices might seem like a deal-breaker, especially with the nation's current economic uncertainty, increasing federal and state incentives, good planning and financing, and the proven long-term savings of getting fully or partially off the grid can each play an important role in making a green upgrade more affordable. For example, anyone building a new house or entering a new mortgage may be able to add the cost of installing solar panels or geothermal heat in the loan; in many cases the amount you save every year on utility bills will be more than enough to exceed the amount that was added to your mortgage by installing the system.

Is Your Home a Good Candidate for Solar or Geothermal Power?

If your main reason for installing a solar or geothermal system is an environmental one, you can rest assured that both of these technologies can make quite an impact in reducing the pollution your home produces. However, as many homeowners are concerned not only with their property's eco-friendliness, but its overall cost effectiveness, too, it is important to talk to a professional before you decide to upgrade. Though certainly both geothermal and solar power are suitable for nearly every area of the country, variation in drilling difficulty and fluctuating levels of sun exposure from place to place means that the benefits of installing one of these systems needs to be taken on a case by case basis. Only a professional can tell you the specific costs and benefits for your property, and how well the pros and cons will stack up for your particular situation!

Media Contact:
Jennifer Dixon
407.328.0500 x2
jennifer@jamisongolf.com

Rumor and reality rundown for the soon-to-be unstealthed fuel cell miracle worker

After almost a decade of development and hundreds of millions in investment, Bloom Energy is coming out. 

Until now, all we've been able to garner were "no comments" from their marketing people.  But this weekend, there's a Bloom piece airing on 60 Minutes that will feature none other than Greentech Media editor-in-chief Michael Kanellos.  And next week is the official press conference and unveiling.

Over the years, we've heard news and rumors on Bloom that included:

• Bloom customers include eBay, Google, Lockheed, Wal-Mart, Staples and the CIA.  Backlog and sales are in the $2 billion range.
• There are rumors of an enormous government contract and a multi-million dollar order backlog from Coca-Cola and FedEx.
• eBay ordered four of the company's 100-kilowatt units.
• Adobe may have purchased some Bloom boxes. 
• The San Francisco Airport has Bloom fuel cells in their possession (not a rumor -- SFO told me this).
• The Google fuel cell installation is 400 kilowatts. (We've reported it before, but in case you missed it, here it is.)  Their first 100-kilowatt unit went to Google.
• The solid oxide fuel cell firm is focusing on a new business model by engaging customers in a power purchase agreement (PPA). With this approach, Bloom might keep the fuel cell themselves (or own it in a joint venture with a utility) and sell the power. PPAs have been effective financing tools for solar, wind and some biomass/manure firms. PPAs also eliminate any fears about maintenance and upkeep.
• They are due for a verdict on their DOE stimulus funds shortly.
• East Tennessee will be the location of  a 100-kilowatt demonstration fuel cell developed by Bloom that could be a precursor to the potential siting of a manufacturing facility in Tennessee.  The system will be at the Electric Power Board HQ in Chattanooga.  The project is funded through a federal appropriation as well as support from the Electric Power Board's research and development organization.  The system is a 25-kilowatt unit and they put four together for a 100-kilowatt system.
• The units run on natural gas, propane, biofuels or diesel which gives them about 48 percent overall efficiency.
• Their revenue is significant; their profit, not so significant.
• Board members and observers include John Doerr of KPCB, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, and T.J. Rodgers, the CEO of Cypress Semiconductor.
• Advisors include Colin Powell and Floyd Kvamme
• The CEO, K.R. Sridhar, has used his investors' considerable clout to shake every questionable politician's hand available, including President George W. Bush, Senator Ted Stevens, Senator John Ensign, and Senator Joe Lieberman.
• Those crop circles in the late nineties?  That was Bloom's doing.

That customer list is certainly impressive, as is the alleged backlog.  And the PPA model really could impact their business model with the firm becoming an electricity supplier as well as a fuel cell supplier.

According to the CBS News article:

Stahl is the first journalist to be allowed into the Bloom Energy lab and factory where currently one box a day is built. The boxes create electricity by a chemical process that utilizes oxygen and fuel, but involves no combustion. Bloom's founder and CEO, K.R. Sridhar, insists all the materials in the box are cheap and available in abundance. Bloom says each large box - which can power about 100 homes - currently sells for $700-800,000. They hope within five to 10 years to roll out a smaller home version for about $3,000 a unit.

John Doerr, the Kleiner Perkins partner who invested in Bloom, has high hopes. "The Bloom Box is intended to replace the [electric power] grid for its customer," says Doerr. He thinks existing utility companies should not be threatened or have a problem with Bloom Energy. "The utility companies will see this as a solution. All they need to do is buy Bloom Boxes, put them in the substation for the neighborhood and sell that electricity," he says.

But there is another hurdle says Michael Kanellos, editor-in-chief of Greentech Media.  Even if Sridhar can mass produce his boxes and sell them cheaply enough, "The problem is then G.E. and Siemens and other conglomerates that can probably do the same thing. They have fuel cell patents," he tells Stahl.

A little patent searching by Mr. Kanellos yielded:

In the fuel cell mode, the methane fuel is delivered to the SORFC anode where it is reformed into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, while oxygen or air containing oxygen is delivered to the SORFC cathode. In the fuel cell mode reaction, the hydrogen and carbon monoxide are converted to water and carbon dioxide which are discharged from the SORFC and preferably stored. Because the reformation of methane during the discharge cycle is highly endothermic, only about half of the heat is generated in the overall system as would have been produced using a hydrogen fuel input. The SORFC generates power during the fuel cell mode.

And:

The present inventors have also realized that the electrochemical system produces valuable byproducts in addition to electricity and hydrogen. The byproducts can include production, consumption, and/or temporary storage of heat, methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water. Carbon dioxide and/or other carbon containing gases emitted in a fuel side exhaust of a SORFC system of a second preferred embodiment operating in the fuel cell mode may be captured and stored rather than vented into the atmosphere. This improves the environmental friendliness of the SORFC system.

Lots more information in the patent disclosures links.

Fuel cells have a 150-year history and the science is well understood.  Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technology, Bloom's focus, is also not a new concept.

What has always been vexing, though, is understanding how to make money from a commercial fuel cell business.  Very few firms, if any, have done that consistently.  If Bloom has figured that out, then their take on distributed energy generation gets very interesting.  And the wait just might have been worth it.

By Bo Petersen
The (Charleston) Post and Courier

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