Over 30 Years of
Solar Experience
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...
Read MoreSolar Panel Mounting
Here is an example of Valverde Energy’s solar electric panel mounting. We install solar heat and solar pv systems in Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Taos, New Mexico.
Read MoreNew Mexico Solar Eclipse!
The moon passed between sun and earth last Sunday, casting a perfectly aligned shadow across a band of New Mexico stretching diagonally from Farmington to Roswell. According to the NASA website, a 90% alignment of the annular eclipse would be viewable in Taos. One hundred percent sounded much better to us, so we made a day trip of it, heading to Cochiti Lake, which turned out to the perfect spot for viewing the Ring of Fire. Severe eye damage, including blindness, can result from looking straight into the sun–whether eclipsed of not–for long periods of time. Our first thought was to look...
Read MoreSanta Fe Solar Panel Installation
Larry Mapes, hard at work installing solar panels in Santa Fe on City LIghts Rd. Look at those mountains!
Read MoreSolar Heat for Taos
Adobe Chapel
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...
Read MoreValverde’s Solar Eclipse Story
Being amazed by the sun is a daily occurrence here, but we were awe-struck by this!