The sun leaves no work undone

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

HONESDALE, PA — A natural foods store powered by the sun was a perfect match for Jamie Stunkard and Nature’s Grace. And, the $1,500 grant he just received will make the project even more worth his while, paying half of his total cost.

The Sustainable Energy Fund (SEF) of Central Eastern Pennsylvania works to promote the use of renewable energy in Pennsylvania Power and Light’s (PPL) electric utility service territory, and Stunkard has accessed SEF funding to supply solar power for his natural foods store on Main Street.

Stunkard will install four two-foot-by-four-foot photovoltaic panels on the southward facing roof of his store.

“I’m going to order them today,” he said.

The solar panels will supply roughly one kilowatt (kW) of electricity per day, an amount that seems small by comparison to 160 kW that the store uses every day.

“This will be just a small part of our business at this point, but we will build on it,” Stunkard said.

“We have to be committed to renewable energies and energy systems for the future. If we can get large corporations with flat roofs like K-Mart to install fleets of solar panels, we could generate more public awareness,” he said.

Ninety percent of U.S. electricity still comes from fossil fuels and nuclear power. Solar panels fit the definition of renewable energy because the energy source is not exhausted when energy is produced.

A model of how solar power can work in Honesdale is precisely what Stunkard hopes to build. A typical home uses 15 to 20 (kW) of electricity per day and would benefit immediately from the system that will power Nature’s Grace, according to Stunkard.

Solar power and PPL already stand together in PA. Stunkard will receive payment for the solar-generated electricity that he plans to directly store on PPL’s grid. He will continue to buy the electric company’s power but contribute to renewable energy production. The alternative entails storing electricity on a battery, a method that causes energy loss during conversion and is both expensive and slightly dangerous, Stunkard said.

SEF does not provide funding to homeowners, though it has invested $4,080,000 in renewable energy systems at companies and educational programs in eastern PA.

“A lot of people say that there are too many cloudy days in the northeast, but the coming popularity of solar energy will prove them wrong,” Stunkard said.

“It’s like the thousandth monkey story,” he said.

“Supposedly, there was once an island where 1000 monkeys lived. They would dig up potatoes, and one day one of the monkeys began to wash his potatoes in the ocean surf. It was not long until a whole group began to do the same.”

“Like in this story, once a critical mass begins to participate in the group behavior, the numbers go from 400 or 500 to 1,000 very fast. What is that critical mass that will catalyze the lifestyle of renewable energy?” Stunkard asked.

With visible photovoltaic panels on Nature’s Grace, Stunkard will help popularize solar power, which he hopes will become typical in Honesdale.