Dear Reader,

At the risk of adding to your list of meaningless "Happy Holidays" e-mails, I took some time to come up with something meaningful - a new intepretation of the Twelve Days of Christmas :-). Please enjoy while singing as loud as you can.

The Twelve Days of Solstice

On the twelfth day of Solstice, my true love sent to me

Twelve Solar Panels
Eleven lengths of conduit
Ten grounding lugs
Nine mounting rails
Eight rooftop workers
Seven spools of wire
Six micro-inverters
Five kilowatt-hours
Four state rebates
Three tax credits
Two local permits
And a South-Facing Roof With No Shade

All of us at New England Breeze Solar wish you Happy Holidays and a Sunny New Year!

Thanks for Reading The Energy Miser,

Signature

Mark Durrenberger
New England Breeze Solar

phone: 978-56-SOLAR
web: http://www.newenglandbreeze.com

Buy Local

In this season of giving, we wanted to stress the importance of buying locally. By supporting local business, you help maintain the vitality of your community. You reduce your carbon footprint by limiting your drive time. And more importantly, you forge lasting relationships with business owners and employees who become friends.

As a business owner, buying locally often isn't the cheapest option, but we do our best to support local hardware stores and electrical suppliers rather than stopping by the big box stores. We source our solar panels as close to home as possible to reduce transportation pollution. We recommend our local businesses to others.

While we truly believe each person can make a difference, we couldn't help being inspired by the NPR story about a "cash mob." Residents select a local business that gives back to the community and each bring $20 to spend on a designated day. Visit the Marketplace.org website to read about Cash Mobs around the country.

Winterize Your Solar Panels?

No need to winterize your solar panels. While we install snow tires, check car batteries, and have our furnace service in preparation for the winter, our solar panels continue to silently operate virtually undisturbed throughout the winter.

Solar water heating systems continue to heat water even in freezing temperatures - provided the sun is shining bright. The heat transfer fluid that flows through the collectors on the roof is a mixture of water and food-grade propolyene glycol. The heat transfer fluid does not freeze and allows your system to produce heat even during the cold sunny winter days.

Both solar electric panels and solar water heating collectors shed snow - no need to clear them off yourself. The panels will shed snow faster than a shingled roof, so beware below. Most importantly, be safe and stay off the roof.

NEBS Facebook Needs You!

Looking for a wintertime activity? How about adding some photos to our facebook page? We would love to see shots of your solar array, energy efficiency improvement, SREC checks or negative electric bills. Thanks for using your photos to inspire other people to save the planet with sunshine.

Here's the link to our FaceBook Page

Here are some anniversary photos:


Solar in Natick- 16 Schuco 180-watt panels Solectria PVI-3000 inverter, Lifetime energy: 3,290 kWh Lifetime CO2 offset: 4,113 lbs SREC Sales so far: $1,500	Solar In Medifeld - Expansion 10 Sanyo 215-watt panels Solectria PVI-3000 inverter Lifetime energy: 2,550 kWh Lifetime CO2 offset: 3,190 lbs SREC Sales so far: ~$1,275	Solar in Belmont 21 Sanyo 215-watt panels Solectria PVI-5000 inverter Lifetime energy: 5,964 kWh Lifetime CO2 offset: 7,455 lbs SREC Sales so far: ~$3,000

TIPS

Make a New Year's Resolution to use 10% less energy in 2012. Start with installing a low flow showerhead and a programmable thermostat. Request a welcome kit from National Grid when you take the 3% less challenge.