Bauer Power

Bauer Power featured in Peoria Journal Star
December 12, 2008
Source: Jennifer Davis

The following article appeared in the Peoria Journal Star on December 11, 2008.
Every seminar Mark Bauer gives goes something like this: He asks the crowd how many kilowatts they use on a monthly basis. Blank
stares.

He asks how much they pay per kilowatt. More blank faces. Finally, he asks what their utility bill is each month. Hands shoot up.

What that tells Bauer, owner of Bauer Power Inc. a Michigan-based renewable energy firm that recently opened a satellite office
in Dunlap, is that Americans care most about one thing: their pocketbook. So, starting today and in the near future, he will be
speaking their language by talking about the state and federal tax credits you can get for installing solar energy systems. Bauer is
giving a packed seminar today and has another one planned Jan. 3.

"People spend $20,000 or $40,000 to change their basement or add a garage or spend $10,000 on a new swimming pool. We drop
money into our homes for things that we put value on that have no return on investment. If you put money into energy
generation, you're not only assured to get that money back but what you're doing is so many more things than just that.

"You're doing something that helps everyone in the world, not just yourself."

Bauer Power specializes in solar electric, solar water heating and wind electricity systems for both homes and businesses.

Interest in renewable energy has been increasing in large part because of rising utility costs.

"Interest has certainly been increasing," said Mark Burger, president of the Illinois Solar Energy Association. "How it will grow in
the present economic recession will be an interesting question."

In 2006, when Burger's association started offering educational workshops, they had 150 paid attendees to start. The next year,
the number doubled, and this year there were 400 paid attendees. More statewide workshops are planned and should be listed
on its Web site - www.illinoissolar.org - come January.

Burger believes interest will continue to grow since the price of natural gas, coal and electric - the main sources of home
heating energy - will keep increasing. Meanwhile, solar electric systems are becoming less expensive.

"They are coming down in price. It's not going to plunge like flat-screen TVs, but it is going to come down," said Burger, who
noted that solar thermal systems are "actually creeping up in price because of the cost of materials."

Cost savings

On Oct. 3, President Bush signed a bill that extends federal tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements made in 2009,
including a 30 percent tax credit for qualified solar water heating, photovoltaic and small wind energy systems. Those federal
incentives, combined with Illinois renewable energy rebate programs, are why Michigan-based Bauer decided to open an office
here in central Illinois.

Illinois has gone from giving 37 rebates in 2002 to 165 rebates in 2007 and thus far in 2008, according to the Illinois Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"Not every home is compatible," said Bauer, noting that homes must get enough sun or wind. "For those people, they need to
concentrate on efficiencies, and we can even help with that. We're going to work with the property and the homeowner. Our
goal is to balance performance, func-tionality, budget and aesthetics."

Personally, Bauer used efficiencies to reduce he and his wife's utility bill between 700 and 900 kilowatts to 245 kilowatts - or from
$90 a month to $30 a month.

"Why do we cringe when the bill comes and slowly open the envelope? You know when the bill comes for me now, I tear open
the envelope, looking to see how low my wife and I got," Bauer said. "It's become a moral kind of value for us. It's not whether we
can pay it this month; it's how low did we get it."

Using 245 kilowatts a month, Bauer says "that means that I need one of these little systems and that my final true costs would be
close to $10,000. That's all I would need for 40 years of my electric needs. When you get it framed in a way that it's half the price
of a new car, if you value or care anything about our world and you're not willing to set aside $10,000 or $20,000 for energy for
your home after you've become a little more energy-efficient, then shame on us. Shame on us.

"At some point, we've really, really got to get a handle on this and wake up."

Bauer recommends that homeowners start off with a grid-tied solar system, meaning they are generating electricity but still tied
to the utility. Depending on the home's energy needs and its ability to capture sun, systems can range from $10,000 up to $60,000.

"There is no maintenance for solar electric," Bauer said. "There is nothing to move, nothing mechanical, nothing to fix. You don't
even have to wash it off, the rain will keep the panels clean. They have a 25-year warranty and a 40-year-plus life expectancy.

"You don't want to take yourself off the grid. What you want to do is slow the meter down," he said, adding it's impossible for him
to give a price quote over the phone. He needs to see the home's location and determine the family's energy usage.

"If your usage is high and the output is what it is - so how do we make this all work? Get the usage down because now (solar)
becomes a quarter, a half, or all of your power needs where before it was a pittance little bucket, and it was $20,000 and you
said, 'Get out of here Mister Solar Man. I'll stick with my $90 electric bill and just keep flushing that down the toilet.'

"People just can't get over the fact that if they kept paying that for 20 years they would have bought the solar system. And the
solar system they own, and it's an appreciated asset on the house versus an electric bill, which they don't own, and there's never
a return on that investment. We have been duped into thinking that renting our power and contributing to a dirty generation
source is good for our society, good for America, good for our families."

Beyond the grid-tied system, Bauer also can add battery storage so any excess electricity is sold back to the utility company.

"We start off people with grid-tied, and then we usually add the battery backup to that system in the future when they want it.
We're also seeing a lot of battery improvements coming, so right now we're recommending people maybe start grid-tied and wait
for those technologies to come. Our country is going to go through huge innovation influx here soon because of all the forces
pushing us to this greener economy."

As far as solar water heaters go, those do not use battery technology. A two-panel solar hot water system costs about $8,000 and
should make 70 percent to 80 percent of a family's annual hot water needs, Bauer said.

"Your normal system is always in place supplementing it. You'll have two tanks instead of one. What you'll get is prewarmed water
into your hot water tank because right now it comes out of the ground at about 50 degrees. We typically make it 140 or 120
degrees. That uses a tremendous amount (of energy). It's smarter to feed your hot water system water that is 90 or 120 degrees
versus water that is only 50 degrees," Bauer said.

Solar hot water systems include a pump and some moving parts, but require minimal maintenance, such as changing the transfer
fluid every five to 10 years. The system should last 30-plus years.

"Can everybody do it? No. Just like not everybody can have geothermal or insulate their attic in the same way. But, the reality is,
if you can't do solar energy, you can do efficiencies. If we as Americans lowered our energy needs by 30 (percent) or 50 percent
we wouldn't have an energy crisis."