Solar Harvest finished its first year as a net electricity producer! A check written by Xcel Energy to Eric Doub and his family confirms the home’s success as a net-zero-annual cost home: Solar Harvest provided more energy to the grid than was purchased over the course of the year.

The home’s contribution of 197 kWh of renewable energy to the grid prevented 1289 lbs of carbon from being produced at Xcel’s power plant. Taking into account the carbon emissions from the 36 therms used for cooking and clothes drying, Solar Harvest missed designation as a net-zero emissions home by a mere 124 lbs of carbon. This difference in can easily be offset by the purchase of RECs; a single purchase of $5.50 through CarbonFund.org will offset 8 times the amount due.

Through the purchase of a very small amount of RECs, Solar Harvest also successfully met the definition of a net-zero-annual source energy home. Alone, the building missed the source-energy mark by 1%. The deficit of kWh causing the home to miss the definition can be attributed to the normal process of learning about how to best manage the home’s energy consumption and production – specifically, in this case, of the 360-gallon outdoor spa heating with electricity, an unintended event at the start of the year, when the solar loop was first being hooked up and started.

Based on the knowledge gained in the home’s first year and the future implementation of accurate monitoring systems, Solar Harvest is expected to meet and exceed the NZEH benchmark by a wide margin in the years to come.