90 days of Solar Power

Our solar panels at Copyquik Printing & Graphics in Hagerstown have been in use for 90 days and have exceeded the projected output. To date we have produced over 5,500 kWh's of power and have saved over $600 of electric! The months of Nov., Dec, & Jan. are the lowest performing months of the year for solar output, by contrast May, June, July have the highest output with 3 times more power generated from the same panels. This difference is due to the shorter hours of daylight and the fact that the sun is tracking lower in the sky during the winter.

We are excited to see the reduction in our electrical consumption and the great response from the community for taking this step. Copyquik is now a Maryland Green Registry Member, which is listing of Organizations working toward a Sustainable Maryland.

Renewable Energy Summit at Copyquik Printing

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett speaks at Copyquik's Green Summit

This week on Oct. 27 Copyquik Printing & Graphics hosted a Renewable Energy Summit. We invited our customers & friends to visit and see our solar PV system in operation. Outside were vendors of Green Energy options.

Representatives from Treemovers, a tree transplanting business; Millennium 3 Energy, the company that designed and managed the installation of our solar system; Kelly's Maintenance & Improvements, the company that did the actual installation; MEC Electric, the business that provided the hook-up of the solar system to the grid; Jernigan's Environmental Service, a company that designs and installs geothermal heat exchangers.

Congressman Bartlett spoke about why we should be considering renewable energy solutions.



NBC25 covered the event
http://your4state.com/fulltext?nxd_id=144026&shr=addthis

Vendor displays at the Green Summit



We are making power!

Today was the big day, around 10 AM this morning, the solar panels on the roof of Copyquik Printing  in Hagerstown started producing power! Of course it was cloudy and gray most of the day, so the system only produced about 25% of its rated capacity, but we are connected!

We all watch...



...as Andy starts the system.





Solar panel wiring




Pulling wires from the solar panels

 

This week, the wiring was completed connecting the solar panels into our electrical panel. Next step is an electrical inspection. If all goes well, we can start producing power next week!



Connecting into our main panel



 







Solar Panels are installed

Steve and Phil Kelly inspecting the completed install.

The installation of all 142 solar panels is complete! The next step is to connect the wiring from the solar panels to our electrial panel.

Solar Panels have arrived!

The solar panels arrived this week at Copyquik Printing & Graphics in Hagerstown, and the crew got right to work on installation! They are making good progress and will soon have all the panels mounted.

Wiring install begins

Sunny Boy Solar Invertors

MEC Electrical Contractors started installing the equipment needed to convert the DC current that the solar panels produce to AC power. This photo shows the 5 inverters that will tie into the solar grid and connect to the power panel inside Copyquik so we can tap into the sun for power.

Millennium 3 Energy  will help you figure out how you can convert Solar Power into electricity. But if you are looking for ways to reach prospects and convert them into sales, that is where Copyquik Printing can provide you with marketing ideas. If you are looking for a direct mail program, graphic design, promotional products, full color printing or laser engraved awards and plaques we can help, give us a call today at 301-791-7400.

Mr. Copyquik turns Green with Solar Power

Why install solar panels at Copyquik Printing? We use about 360kW of electric per day in our printing facility. With copiers, computers, presses and human bodies all producing heat, we run our A/C units every day even in the winter months.

We are always looking for ways to reduce our energy cost. In 2008 we replaced all of our lighting with energy efficient T-5 fluorescent lights. We were able to see an immediate decrease in our lighting bill. Our goal with the solar panels are to replace approx. one-third of our electric usage with renewable energy and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

Today some folks feel that printing is not green and that paper uses up our resources. They are mistaken, paper we use comes from managed forests that are carefully monitored to insure their ability to be sustainable. Copyquik offers many types of recycled paper options and uses vegetable based inks. Our waste paper is recycled and our ink waste are properly disposed. We try to be good stewards of our environment and help our customers market their business effectively with print.

Safety First!

This week installation of our system at CopyQuik actually started! Ok, they just installed the safety fence, so while it is not quite installation of the panels, it is still exciting to see the work actually start. Steve Kelly and his crew got underway by placing orange safety fence around the edge of the roof. Next week the racking is due to arrive that will hold the solar panels in place.

The First Photo!

Putting up safety fencing so they don't fall off. Don't they need fencing for their fencing?

My friend Gary Bernardi in New Cumberland, PA helped really start my interest in using solar panels to offset our electrical usage. Gary installed a system on his roof in the fall of 2009. His system is large enough to TOTALLY REPLACE his electrical usage for his shop AND home.

The system looks really neat and it was cool to see his meter turning in reverse, but it was the five year payback that really caught Mr. Copyquik's attention!

I started researching solar PV systems and in July 2010 signed a contract with Millennium 3 Energy to install a 30kW system on the roof of Copyquik Printing in Hagerstown, MD. Phil Kelly is the owner of Millennium 3 Energy and very helpful to work with.

Also! Here is a link to Phil's business...in case you want one of these yourself: http://www.m3-energy.com/

Mr. CopyQuik goes SOLAR!

Interested in Solar or Renewable energy sources? Mr.Copyquik of Hagerstown has embarked on a journey to replace part of our electrical usage with Solar panels. Please follow along as we install our system. Learn about how a Solar PV panel system works, see the install progress and watch the results. It should be a fun project and we value your input, comments and ideas.

Hope to hear from you soon!