As the principal designer of the Green Cay Solar House I welcome all constuctive comments. In fact the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The Director of the VI Energy Office attended the Open House and thanked me for the leadership innovative design and commitment to alternative energy. The DPNR requested permission to conduct a special tour this Thursday. I could go on.

But a couple of comments are in order: Whoever said the house is worth $150,000 would be surprised to know that the PV system alone cost $40,000. The land was $50,000 and the balance of materials about $125,000. Add labor. Also the house appraised at $600,000.

We elected not to use propane as that too is a fossil fuel.

Batteries are a highly controversial issue as they are lead acid and present their own environmental issues.

As I say, constructive comments are absolutely welcome.

All the best – Steve

Wreg – I’m not sure of the exact current price for propane here. We filled up a 20lb tank for around $20 bucks last time (the one’s Terry mentioned lasting 4 months each). We used to pay about $65 for a 100lb tank delivered. Those lasted us over a year. By comparison, electricity here is through the roof. Its currently about $0.32 per Kwh, down from nearly $0.50 per Kwh late last year.

PS. We’re still using old-world clothesline. Can you drop us a line about this high-tech line?

We have a battery bank for our PV system and it works fine. After hurricane Omar, we went for days with not even a slight inconvenience from WAPA being non-functional on the east end of St. Croix.

And, thank you, about the clothesline. But these guys are trying to sell to spoiled American-types who’d rather go to the gym than take the laundry outside and get all sweaty actually accomplishing something.

I am very impressed with our propane refrigerator in our RV.

Batteries would make sense.

Toss the dryer and put in a high tech clothesline. It makes stuff smell better anyway.