While we learn more every day about carbon pollution and its effects on our lives, home and building owners are in a unique position to do something about emissions related to their own property. A home energy assessment is an important first step. But many homeowners are ready to take another step forward. ReVision Energy offers these homeowners something new: a whole home approach in the progression away from fossil fuels.
You might think of ReVision as a solar company. ReVision did just wrap up the Solarize Lowell program in February. In reality, the company works throughout northern New England helping building owners transition away from fossil fuels with a “whole home approach” that goes beyond solar panels. This corporation is part of an accelerating culture shift to redefine success in business by building a more inclusive, sustainable economy. They use profits and growth as a means to make a positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment.
Homeowners interested in ReVision’s whole home approach leave the fossil fuels for heating or cooling behind when they pair solar photo-voltaic installations with air source heat pumps for all electric heating and cooling. The solar system generates the electricity instead of the electric grid. The heat pumps use the solar-generated energy to power the heating and cooling system.
The whole home approach also includes heat pump water heaters for an efficient, all-electric way to heat hot water, and backup batteries, like the Tesla Powerwall. In the event of a power outage, a backup battery allows your solar system to continue producing even when the grid is down. Otherwise your solar system is down with the grid. The capstone in Revision’s whole home approach is an electric vehicle charger.
Part of the excitement at the Green Expo on Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Rupert Nock Elementary School is ReVision Energy’s electric vehicle, a 2017 Chevy Bolt. The all-electric car is powered by a ReVision solar array. The Chevy Bolt gets 238 miles per charge and takes 4 hours to fully charge on a Level 2 charger. Electric vehicles are very energy efficient. One ‘eGallon’ costs around $1.50, compared to the $2.50-plus per gallon of gas we are seeing today.
ReVision Energy is also a signature sponsor of the Greater Newburyport Green Expo.
A QuickTalk at the Green Expo by Brittany Angelo, 0utreach manager at ReVision Energy, will explain the details of the whole home approach. With a solar panels as your clean energy source, you can move away from oil and natural gas to heat your home with electric air-sourced heat pumps, power your transportation with an electric vehicle charger, and even store your solar power with battery back up for when storms knock the power out. Between all of these technologies, it is possible to create a 100 percent renewable household.
Newburyport is the beneficiary of greenhouse gas reductions from several ReVision solar installations. The River Valley Charter School’s large flat roof solar array of 359 solar panels was installed on summer break in 2018. The system is producing 133,449 kWh yearly. In March 2018, UFP Technologies hired ReVision to install 864 solar panels on the flat rubber roof of the building. It generates 406,346 kWh yearly. A couple of Newburyport homeowners have taken the whole home approach with ReVision. In total, there are 22 solar installations by ReVision in the greater Newburyport area.
ReVision Energy’s 250-plus employee-owners are on a mission to accelerate New England’s clean energy transition from fossil fuels to solar energy. As a Certified B Corporation, ReVision is part of a global movement using business as a force for good to solve social and environmental challenges.
ReVision Energy consistently ranks among the best solar companies in the country and was named top rooftop installer in New England in 2017 and 2018 by Solar Power World magazine. The company has locations in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts and has installed more than 8,000 clean energy systems, including nearly 100 projects in the Upper Valley.
