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HTSA Green Home Theater Runs on Solar Power
Four solar panels provide 700 watts of power for 19 hours of off-the-grid home theater entertainment each week.
Energy Efficiency Meets High Performance
“The Guiltless Green Home Theater proves you don’t have to cut corners to cut energy use,” says Glikes. “It features some of the highest quality equipment available today, including a Sharp XV-Z15000 front projector, 100-inch Stewart Filmscreen, six Speakercraft in-wall speakers and subwoofer, Integra A/V receiver, Blu-ray player, green power conditioner, lighting by Lutron, control by Universal Remote Control, wiring by Monster Cable and Salamander furniture.”
The Guiltless Green Home Theater was designed and installed by HTSA’s Philadelphia member, HiFi House, in partnership with LG Energy Solutions, which provided the solar panels, and Nolen Companies, the builders at the Whitehorse development.
Every one of the 68 HTSA members received a guidebook on the package during the spring meeting. One of the primary portions of the guidebook helps integrators educate themselves on solar capabilities and the tax breaks so they can talk intelligently with homeowners.
Glikes does not think HTSA members should necessarily go out and get an electrician's license so they can install this package. On the contrary, he recommends they partner with a solar panel installer primarily because of labor rates.
"Most solar panel installation companies charge between $50 and $60 per hour. That hourly rate is well below what our members typically charge," he says.
If the homeowner has priced out solar panel installation labor rates, then the labor rate differential could create problems, bringing the labor rate for the home theater into question, especially if the integrator cross-trains his crew so that the same technicians are on site doing both the solar panel installation and the home theater installation.
Jon Robbins, president of HiFi House, said the installation was simple. He sees this packaged theater as opening up a whole new potential market. From planning to design to installation, HiFi House completed the Whitehorse system in less than two weeks.
"The industry needs something like this right now," says Robbins.
To that end, HTSA is pushing the Guiltless Green Home Theater package out to the media. The group has produced a very slick video designed for dealers to use with customers. In addition, Glikes says that Better Homes & Gardens will likely be featuring it soon. He was also just interviewed by Smart Money magazine about the system.
"It's a way to differentiate, it's green, and there is margin," adds Glikes.
Installing HTSA Guiltless Green Home Theater
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About the Author
Jason Knott, Editor, CE Pro
Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990. He joined EH Publishing in 2000, and before that served as publisher and editor of Security Sales, a leading magazine for the security industry. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He is currently a member of the CEDIA Education Action Team for Electronic Systems Business. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California.
2 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
Ahh, summer is here, the time of year for barbeques, fireworks, and weekend camping trips. While everyone notices the heat during the summer, what you may not think enough about is the source of all that heat, the sun, or more specifically solar power. That increased heat during the summer is because of higher concentrations of sunlight reaching the earth’s surface during that period. That increased radiation means that solar panels have more energy to draw from during the summer than the winter.
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Genius, HTSA!