EMTC students view solar power demonstration

BANGOR – Chris May might fit in just fine on the “Home Improvement” set if that TV sitcom were still on the air. He was dressed Thursday in a plaid flannel shirt and jeans, and carried with him a good attitude toward an audience of students at Eastern Maine Technical College.

The message May and his brother, Blair “Tump” May of Waldoboro, delivered was that the cost of electric power likely is going to increase, the supply will be down, and it is not likely that new power plants can be built fast enough to keep up with demand.

Chris May should know. He’s from Redway, a town in California, where there are many power woes today.

But even that was not May’s main topic. He was telling the class at EMTC how to install and maintain photovoltaic solar generation in client homes. The brothers brought with them a trailer loaded with electrical equipment and a solar panel to run it so they could demonstrate what their bicoastal company, Solar Winds Northern Lights, is all about. Blair May runs the East Coast operation from Waldoboro.

For anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 a homeowner can buy a system that will make him less dependent on oil-fired generation. The system owner often can sell excess power back to the utility company and may find that the system will pay him back after the initial cost has been considered. Some states offer incentives to build such systems and a bill is before Congress that may allow a federal tax incentive for people building solar power stations.

Running a solar power plant turns the typical business of electricity on its head. It makes secondary power sources out of companies like Central Maine Power or Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. Soon, more people will consider the local power company as the alternative power source as more buy into a system that is expensive at first but pays back its owner through 10, 20, or maybe 40 years of use, the Mays said.

While the message to 20 to 25 jeans-clad students gathered at Rangeley Hall was one of building a system for a client and what codes they must follow to avoid burning down the house, a broader message goes to power consumers that greenhouse gases are real and constitute a serious problem that only gets worse when people continue to demand more traditional sources of electricity while failing to use any conservation methods at home.

Paul Morrissey, an energy audit engineer for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, agrees with the May brothers. It was his department that brought Solar Winds Northern Lights to visit four technical colleges. Now there may be thousands of Maine people using solar generating plants, Morrissey said.

By having a team like the Mays visit Washington County Technical College, Northern Maine Technical College, Kennebec Valley Technical College and EMTC, at least some of the future electricians will be well-versed in what to look out for when they are asked to put in such systems for clients.

“We’re starting to see more interest,” Morrissey said of photovoltaic generation. “Now, electricians are unfamiliar with these systems, but this is a good start with the students here … who are likely to run into systems when they get into the workplace.”