Location: Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast (and farmstead), Browntown, Wisconsin
Commissioned: May, 1998
System Design: Three 4-foot by 8-foot flat-plate American Solar King solar collectors for a domestic solar hot water system were placed on our south facing roof at about a 45-degree angle and optimized for spring and fall solar gain. The collectors had previously been installed on the Packerland meat processing facility in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The non-toxic and stable inhibited propylene glycol is used in this closed-loop active solar thermal system. The transfer fluid, when heated by the sun to a temperature greater than in the basement storage tank, controlled by the Heliotrope DTT-84 differential temperature controller, is then pumped into the basement with a super-efficient Grundfros 1/12-H.P. pump and passed through a Quad Rod heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to the water from our well. The hot water is stored in a locally purchased standard 80-gallon Rheem water tank that is connected to our existing 65-gallon electric water heater and tank.
Project Designer: Bob Ramlow, Artha Renewable Energy can be contacted at 9784 County K, Amherst WI 54406, Tel: 715-824-3463, E-mail: artha@wi-net.com.
Renewable Energy Systems Dealer: Real Goods
System Installer: Bob Ramlow, Artha Renewables
Use of Solar Thermal (heat): To heat domestic hot water for showers/hot water use. It's estimated that on a sunny day, each collector will collect an average of over 24,000 Btus per day.
Eco-nomics (Cost of 3 Collector Solar Thermal System):
Solar Thermal Funding Support: Provided by local utility, Alliant Energy (at the time).
Ecological Impacts: Since about 10-15% of an average home's energy use goes toward heating hot water, the three collectors will help off-set about 50 percent of the energy normally used to heat water.
Site Integration: Integration of solar thermal system to help meet hot water needs of home-based hospitality business.
Comprehensive Farmstead Overview and Self-guided Booklet: Print out the 20 page booklet, The Good Life Guide: A self-guided tour of Inn Serendipity & the renewable energy systems that make it possible for a more detailed overview of the renewable energy systems employed on the farm.
Demonstration Grant Funding Support: Portions of this website and related Good Life Guide: A self-guided tour of Inn Serendipity & the renewable energy systems that make it possible were made possible, in part, through funding provided by the Wisconsin Focus on Energy program.
