Rants and Rays - Carbon Footprint Followup

Following up on a previous post. Here's an even better carbon footprint calculator from the US EPA. It is much more informative. What I like about it is that it provides specific actions/options for reducing your personal carbon footprint.

My household of 4 people has a carbon footprint of 27,097 lbs. of CO2 per year. Per person we generate 6,774 lbs. of CO2 per year. (Based on usage without Solar).




Suggested actions to reduce my carbon footprint:

• Perform regular maintenance on vehicles.
• Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs.
• Turn up/down the thermostat during summer/winter by a degree or two.
• Use cold water for laundry.

Vehicle emissions are very high so keeping it maintained or replacing with a more fuel-efficient vehicle saves a lot. Replacing ten 75-Watt incandescent light bulbs with 20-Watt CFLs would save $70/year and reduce carbon footprint by 545 lbs./yr.

Solar Production Thru July 31, 2011

We have generated over 265 kWh more energy than the original system estimate. I have updated my savings calculator model (with charts) with the actual solar production to date. I only get an electricity bill once a quarter, so the billing data is based on an estimate.

Total Production To Date:
Production: 1,801 kWh
Percent of Annual Predicted Production (2,781 kWh): 65%
Actual vs. Predicted Production Better/(Worse): +265 kWh
CO2 Saved: 3,014 lbs
Estimated Savings: $360.20

Monthly Production:
July 2011: 352.72 kWh
June 2011: 313.90 kWh
May 2011: 332.10 kWh
Apr 2011: 295.18 kWh
Mar 2011: 262.25 kWh
Feb 2011: 206.07 kWh
Jan 2011: 38.50 kWh (1/26-1/31)

System Specs:
System Size DC (STC): 2.28 KW
System Size AC: 1.93 KW
System Size AC (California CSI rating): 1.63 KW
Panels: 10 SunPower Serengeti 228 Watt
Inverter: 1 SunPower 3000M (SMA Sunny Boy 3000 re-branded under SunPower)
Estimated Annual Production: 2,781 kWh

Direction: East facing