Valverde Energy

After the Spring Snow Storm Solar Keeps Going!

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:53:39 +0000

What appeared to be an endless stretch of gorgeous days hovering in the low seventies may have given Taoseños a false sense of security that Spring had sprung in northern New Mexico. What a surprise it was to look out our windows yesterday to see enormous wet snowflakes tumbling from the sky!

What wasn’t surprising? Our solar customers throughout northern New Mexico including: Taos, Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Chimayo stayed warm and juiced up with sun-powered energy which, as you can see in the photograph of the roof of our Taos headquarters above, was bright as ever this morning.

Please read through our Solar Basics page for detailed information about installing solar panels, whether PV or solar thermal in your home or building.

Valverde Energy Featured in the Taos News!

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:37:21 +0000

Larry Mapes, founder and CEO of Valverde Energy, helps set nationwide solar energy standards. Read more about solar thermal in Taos, Los Alamos and Santa Fe.

Taos News Article on Solar Energy Innovator, Larry Mapes!

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:57:11 +0000

Taos News ran a feature article on Larry Mapes, founder and CEO of Valverde Energy, a solar company in Taos, New Mexico, serving the entire northern New Mexico region including: Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Chimayo, Espanola and Taos! We are both excited and grateful for the thorough and well written article penned by Susan Carpenter Sims. Here’s an excerpt:

Larry Mapes, owner of Valverde Energy, became interested in the electrical trade at an early age. “My first word actually was ‘lights,’” he says with a chuckle. “I was always tracing wires or figuring out how this worked or that worked.”

Back when photovoltaics was a new technology, Mapes’ stepfather managed the electrical side of the Mariner spacecraft program. Mapes says this was his first solar experience, and that he still has a little solar module from that project.

Mapes also inherited drive, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a strong work ethic from…

Photograph by photographer and Taos web designer, Susan J. Preston.

Over 30 Years of Solar Experience

admin — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:54:45 +0000

Taos, New Mexico is an unusual area for solar energy because of the very high solar resource and Taos architecture is varied and often experimental. Larry Mapes, the founder of Valverde Energy, has worked in the solar heating and solar electric field for 30 years in the Taos and Santa Fe region. During the last 30 years, most of the country experienced a solar DE-Renaissance, Northern New Mexico continued to be at the forefront of leading edge, cutting edge, and sometimes the bleeding edge of solar technologies as it does today.

This learning environment has given Mr. Mapes a wealth of information of what works and what does not over a long test period in severe conditions. These years of observation have proven invaluable in designing and installing reliable solar energy systems and how best to integrate solar energy into each application. The knowledge and experience gained has lead to the formation of another company, ThermaSun. ThermaSun develops and manufactures repeatable solar thermal packages designed for low cost of ownership for the solar equipment owner. To learn more about ThermaSun, click here.

Santa Fe Solar Panel Installation

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:39:18 +0000

Larry Mapes, hard at work installing solar panels in Santa Fe on City LIghts Rd. Look at those mountains!

Solar Heat for Taos Adobe Chapel

admin — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:51:50 +0000

The solar heating design for this adobe church in Taos, New Mexico won Valverde Energy a national award for Simplicity of Design from the Radiant Panel Association (RPA). The RPA is an organization devoted to the improvement of radiant (floor heat) systems. Larry Mapes (CEO) has contributed to RPA publications.

The solar thermal system is very basic. Floor tubing is laid densely (6″ spacing) over insulation before the 6″ of concrete was poured. The concrete is the storage medium and the heat is provided by 3-4×8 flat plate collectors. The heat transfer fluid is pumped from the solar panels to the floor with a PV ( solar electric) powered pump, so this system is completely self sufficient and requires no infrastructure to deliver energy except the solar system. This type of solar heat system is a good choice for smaller applications and have proven very reliable. The back up for this system is a wood stove. The Chapel is well insulated and does not get below 60 degrees in the winter due to the massive storage of the concrete floor and our very high New Mexico solar resource, even when the back up is not being used. We call this type of solar energy storage “Point of Use Storage” TM. A favorite of ours. One moving part!

Taos Solar Panels

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:44:10 +0000

Here’s a creative image of one of our solar thermal panels in Taos, New Mexico.

Solar Panels atop Valverde Energy HQ

admin — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:53:47 +0000

The solar panels atop the roof of Valverde Energy provide the majority of power for our warehouse.

For more information:
Santa Fe solar panels
Taos solar panels
Los Alamos solar installation

Solar Sky Lights

admin — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:51:12 +0000

At Valverde Energy, we have the coolest sky lights around! Not only do they add light to our Taos solar headquarters, they also provide energy for our office.

Why Solar?

admin — Sun, 15 May 2011 00:45:41 +0000

Buying a solar energy system is a powerful and direct way to invest in your future, because you are buying the equipment to harvest free energy.

In many cases, depending on the energy source being displaced, the break even (when the money spent equals the money saved from energy use) can be from 5-15 years. Typically solar systems are designed to last 20-25 years plus. Valverde Energy maintains solar systems the founder installed 30 years ago in homes that are still producing energy.

Many people install solar energy systems to reduce dependency on other energy sources or to be more energy independent, especially when there is an electrical or gas outage.

Other big picture views include reducing our dependency on foreign oil and reducing our carbon footprint. These two issues have huge impacts on the long term sustainability of our Country. In 2008 alone, the US sent out over $400 billion for oil imports alone, often sending our money to people who do not like us.

As far as carbon foot print and how it relates to Global Warming, solar is one of the best energy sources to reduce carbon output. Whether you regard Global Warming as a belief or a scientific fact, the stakes are very high if the predictions prove true. Too high to ignore.

Purchasing a solar energy system puts you in action by directly reducing your personal carbon footprint.