Seacoast Energy Alternatives Inc.

"Blossoming ... business has taken substantial steps to fully offer sustainable goods or services and is practicing an impressive number of green business techniques. Blossoming partners are acting as trailblazers in sustainability for other Green Alliance partners and Seacoast businesses in general."


SEA Solar Store: Real Green Options
Seacoast Energy Alternatives offers a vast array of innovative, energy saving items, from solar hot water and electric systems, to super-efficient on demand hot water heaters, to small wind turbines. Every single item at SEA is a sustainable version of an everyday product. SEA’s alternative options, from crank radios to solarpowered attic fans, provide Seacoast consumers with real choices. A colossal effort has been put into carrying just the right items and educating why we should use them– it’s difficult to walk out of SEA without some new approach to an old fossil fuel-burning product and a renewed commitment to energy efficiency and conservation.

Located at 187 New Rochester Rd, a mile and a half from the Weeks traffic circle in Dover, SEA opened a year ago and yet has managed to become the “go-to” place for renewable home energy products and solar systems. Owner Jack Bingham has brought a plethora of affordable alternative energy choices to our region, including the most efficient refrigerators, ranges and washing machines on the market, ultra-insulated hot water storage tanks, waterless, composting toilets and a zero-emissions electric scooter that goes 30 miles on a charge.

While SEA offers both electric and hot water systems, it is the solar hot water which has exploded onto the Seacoast as a viable, affordable first step in renewable energy use. Solar hot water is SEAS “greenest” contribution to home energy use; 30% of every home’s fuel bill heats water. SEA’s systems provide 80% of a building’s hot water use for 30 years. High fuel prices have raised electricity and oil costs so much that most residential solar hot water systems pay for themselves in 5-6 years, resulting in 25 years of “free” sun-powered hot water. “No matter how you cut it, you’re paying for energy; either continue to pay the electric or oil companies monthly, or pay for a 5 year  block of hot water upfront and then get 25 years for free,” explains Bingham. “What used to be for the committed environmentalist has become a very realistic and competitive energy solution; something most homeowners can afford. In fact, solar is a solid investment; an energy hedge. Depending on future fuel cost increases and the size of the system, solar can reap savings of $40,000 to $80,000.” Indeed, experts agree that a solar hot water heater is the easiest initial investment in renewable energy an individual can make.

How Solar Works: Flat panels or evacuated tubes gather heat in a solar collector, transfer the heat to the water supply and store that heated water until it’s used. The technology is simple and time-tested; maintenance and operating costs, miniscule. A typical system costs approx. $8,000; about what you pay for an electric hot water heater and its electricity over 6 years. SEA’s systems are designed to maximize efficiency, with on-demand back-up heaters generating only what extra energy is needed and super-insulated thermal storage tanks minimizing heat loss. A solar hot water system will reduce yearly CO2 by 1,500 lbs. - a savings equal to 1,685 miles driven.

Responsible energy use education is the cornerstone of SEA’s business strategy. The website is educational, championing conservation and efficiency as necessary partners to any alternative energy system. Bingham speaks at every local Energy Committee on the Seacoast and gives monthly presentations on solar technology to community and residential groups. He offers workshops at the store, taking the extra time to educate, often without a purchase. “We present alternative energy options as a moral choice, not just a money saving strategy,” says Bingham. “Regardless of your attitude toward the environment, there is absolutely no benefit to wasting resources.” If a customer purchases a solar hot water or PV system, SEA’s installation and monitoring require substantial owner commitment to conservation and efficiency to maximize the solar power generated.SEA has significantly raised the profile and awareness of solar home systems and encouraged individuals to step out of the box and imagine alternatives. In the first 9 months of operation, SEA installed 5 hot water systems and 1 photovoltaic system. In the past 3 months SEA has contracted 8 more solar hot water systems and 2 PV jobs; a testament to their aggressive and effective education efforts.

Green Dreams
Substituting the sun for geothermal is something Bingham sees in the future of solar; using solar heated water in the same way that geothermal systems use the heat of the earth to warm a building. SEA hopes to carry LED lights; the perfect compliment to solar systems that run more efficiently if the lights they power are efficient. As new solar technologies hit the market SEA will offer them. And Bingham is constantly expanding the stores’ non-solar items, with pellet stoves and grey water heat recovery systems the latest additions. He hopes to increase his alternative energy products by 30% in the coming year, expanding into the store’s storage space. On a community level SEA is working with area schools and towns to provide them with “starter” solar systems to increase the awareness and use of renewables.

© 2008 Green Alliance. Used with permission.
909 Islington St., Suite 15, Portsmouth, NH 03801
www.greenalliance.biz