Early in our development experiments we closed of 35' of the unit and planted all northern trees that required on the average of 800 hours of chill. It required 2 blowers on thermostats to attain 45 degrees. The first part of December we would close the area off and cool until the middle of January. At that time we allowed the geo thermal to take over and within 2 weeks all the trees Peach, nectarine, plum black cherry and some berries all come into bloom at the same time. We had fruit in June, the problem was there was no interest in the project and the nectarine although dwarf took over the whole area but it produced heavy crops of excellent fruit. We replaced those trees with citrus. Our original citrus production for an 8' circle is 150 lb. @ $3.50 yields $ 525 we grow other crops in the ground under the trees and grapes above. The average Eureka lemon in our stores are around 7 ounces ours average over 10 probably due to waiting for them to mature and enhance the lemon flavor over the citric acid. In the latest units we have developed a growing system that allows for tomato production year around and we have picked ripe tomatoes in February. We are now working on using the new type LED panels that are very affordable and require only 14 watts. this looks very possible as we are now using them under the citrus to help with Photosynthesis on the north side of the plants in winter. It seems to be working. The climate we have attained with the geo is pretty close to the winter climate of San Diego and our sunshine is very close to San Diego. Everything we have done for over 35 years is experimental and trial and error but at this point we can safely say if these units are built on the high plains and the design is adhered to they can open up this area to 12 month growing which hasn't been profitable until now. The cost of a typical 78' automated unit would be under $20,000 if a person could do some of the construction man power. These are units that can be left unattended for 3 or 4 weeks in the winter and a week in the summer.

Attached is the link to the official info. Click on the 2010 tab. Geothermal, Solar, Wind turbines and Fuel Cells are the only things that count for new construction. Here is a link that might be useful: Energy Efficient Tax Credits

Just curious...Where in the country are you? My old friend/neighbor in Michigan built a new home with Geo (incredibly impressive feat of engineering). I'm now in San Diego and researching PV solar to replace the the existing thermal solar for the pool, home built in 2000, not certain when the thermal solar was added (not done in the best way) so we're repairing the roof. One solar co said the solar is on it's last legs. Started some research & found it should last about 30yrs, but normally warrantied for 10yrs. Need to continue research & find truly reputable company that would give me an honest answer. Hope everything is going well with your build & decision.

Hello, bbgunn seems to be dialed in to the state. The problem I have found, is the local yokels are not equipped to do anything that is out of the ordinary. When I asked multiple city governments in my area of Texas about geo, they never returned calls, and just hung up the phone. Netmetering is a big thing in California, but in a state that pionered the laws on net metering, it is not done. If you ask Austin about net metering, they point to the utility providers. The utility providers cannot spell net metering. From my standpoint, a trained HVAC person, the State of Texas talks a good game, but can't perform worth a damn. Forget about all that you hear about Austin. It just don't happen in the burbs. As a side note, I have worked on energy conservation for the last 10 years. I am currently working on a solar generator for the home. I am a member of the Texas renewable resources group, that has branches all over the state. Geo is good, but very expensive. I would suggest a simple change of condensers to a water cooled system. Much cheaper to install with most of the benifits of geo, but the installation cost is 1/6 of geo. Look at 'Allied Thermal Systems' 'http://www.alliedenergysystems.com/' in Austin area for an example. Commercial methods save considerable operating costs.