Solar workshops planned for Milwaukee area

by | Dec 22, 2008 | Uncategorized

A media release issued by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association:

Milwaukee, WI – Through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity and other funders, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) is now offering a wide variety of solar courses in the Milwaukee area. These courses range from introductory seminars to hands-on installation training.

“We are very excited to be working with our partners in the Milwaukee area to offer high quality solar training for home and business owners,” said Tehri Parker, Executive Director of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. “Our goals for this program are two fold: to build a solid base of knowledge and enthusiasm for these technologies among Milwaukee residents, and to train a dependable workforce that can scope, install, and maintain these systems.”

The MREA has been offering workshops on renewable energy system design and installation since 1990. This new initiative will bring more of this training to the Milwaukee area. “Our partnership with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity will provide us with rooftops where students can participate in actual solar electric and solar hot water installations,” explains Clay Sterling, MREA Education Director. “We now have the equipment and facilities available to offer a full range of Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Installation courses.” Over 50 seminars, workshops, and training events are planned for the upcoming year. The full schedule will be on line at www.the-mrea.org starting January 1, 2009.

To help people connect to these programs the MREA now has a Milwaukee address and phone number. In addition the main office in Custer, Wisconsin, the MREA may also be reached at:
MREA – Milwaukee, 544 E Ogden Ave. Ste 700-225, Milwaukee, WI 53202, 414-303-7351.

Watch for the schedule to be posted here after January 1, 2009.

Racine school adds solar electricity to sell to utility

by | Dec 19, 2008 | Uncategorized

From a story John Dobberstein in the Racine Journal Times:

RACINE — Bringing a modern amenity to an aging building, contractors Thursday continued installing solar panels on the roof of Walden III School.

The sun peeked out from the clouds during the frosty morning as electricians wired up two banks of solar panels that, when operational, will boost Walden’s certification with the state as a “Green and Healthy School.”

Between three major grants and several student fundraisers, the community at Walden III, 1012 Center St., raised more than $140,000 in about a year’s time to have 70 205-watt panels purchased and installed on the roof.

Walden will sell the electricity generated by the 14.4-kilowatt system back to We Energies at twice the rate the utility sells it for. The profits, estimated at $4,000a year, will be used for more energy-saving projects at the school.

Walden has been threatened with closure because of its age, said high school English teacher Tom Rutkowski. One area of the campus dates back to the 1860s.

“There is some educational value for students and it’s good for the school to see something new happening here,” said Rutkowski, who helped spearhead the solar project.

We Energies contributed $52,000 for the project and also paid for a weather station to be installed on the roof.

Wisconsin-based Focus on Energy, which promotes energy-efficient and renewable-energy projects, kicked in a $35,000 grant.

And the Kenosha-based Brookwood Foundation, which focuses on education, renewable energy and religious projects, also contributed grant money, although the foundation would not reveal the actual amount Thursday.

Educators Credit Union and the Racine Community Foundation are also sponsors of the project.

New study questions commuter rail line; author's integrity quetioned

by | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized

From a story by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A new study by a libertarian think tank claims the projected economic benefits of a proposed Milwaukee-to-Kenosha commuter rail line have been inflated and questions its ridership estimates.

But a business leader noted that the author of the study, Los Angeles-based transit consultant Tom Rubin, took a far more positive view of the $200 million project in June, when pro-transit business leaders were pushing the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority to hire him as the authority’s consultant. And a regional planner said the commuter rail projections were sound.

The Reason Foundation study, being released today, says the transit authority should consider express buses as an alternative to the KRM Commuter Link, which would connect downtown Milwaukee and the southern suburbs to Racine and Kenosha with 14 round trips each weekday.

Rubin said his latest study wasn’t meant to bash the KRM, but to highlight the advantages of bus options.

“We’re not saying that KRM is a dumb idea and it should be dropped,” Rubin said Monday. “I am not saying that KRM is going to fail. I am saying there are other options that should be studied before you make that commitment.”

Energy efficiency evaluation can save homeowners hundreds of dollars

by | Dec 15, 2008 | Uncategorized

From an article article by Deneen Smith in the Kenosha News:

Shawn Henoch can’t wait for frigid weather and the first serious heating bills of winter.

“I’m really looking forward to January and February to see,” Henoch said. “Who is excited to get their electric bill? But I am.”

Henoch hired a company to do an energy efficiency overhaul of her 60-year-old Kenosha home this year. The work was completed in June, and she said she’s already seen a dramatic reduction in her energy bills and an improvement in the coziness-factor of her home.

The project sealed air leaks in the house, added insulation in the walls and ceiling, and replaced an old, inefficient furnace and air conditioner.

Before the overhaul, her typical winter heating bills were about $400 “and that was keeping my heat set at 67 or 68,” she said. “Now I can really keep my house at 72, and my last bill was, I think, $136.”

Learn more about an energy efficiency evaluaition at Focus on Energy.

Mini wind turbine proposal blows into West Allis

by | Dec 12, 2008 | Uncategorized

From an article by Mark Schaff in West Allis Now:

West Allis residents will get the chance next week to tell the city if proposed restrictions blow too gently or too hard when it comes to an alternative energy source for local homes.

A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, on an ordinance that would allow West Allis residents to install mini wind turbines on their properties. The public hearing will come at the beginning of the Common Council meeting at City Hall, 7525 W. Greenfield Ave.

On Dec. 3, the Plan Commission unanimously recommended approval of the ordinance.

Wind proponent
Earlier this year, resident Conrad LeBeau asked the city to change its municipal code so he could install such a system at his residence.
LeBeau, who has long been interested in alternative energy, had purchased a wind turbine with a 46-inch rotor diameter — a device capable of generating about 400 watts of power in a 28-mph wind.

In an interview earlier this fall, LeBeau, 65, said he could power his garage and lawn lights with the turbine, but hopes to continue experimenting to someday reduce his energy bill to zero.

Setting the rules
City officials responded to LeBeau’s request with a proposed set of rules that address safety and noise concerns.

Under terms of the ordinance, home-based wind energy systems could only be placed outside homes in certain places.

A tower for a wind energy system must be set back 1.5 times its total height from any public road right of way and all property lines and utility lines not serving the property.

As proposed, the system could only be located in a backyard, and all electrical wires must be underground. The base of the wind system must be at least eight feet from the ground and the total height could not be more than 60 feet.

The system could generate no more than 60 decibels of sound — the rough equivalent of normal conversation, according to the University of Wisconsin’s College of Engineering— as measured from property lines.

Too restrictive?
City officials stressed safety in drafting the ordinance because of West Allis’ small lot sizes and high-density neighborhoods, said Steve Schaer, planning and zoning manager.

LeBeau said he shared those same concerns, but he also wanted the city to keep costs and restrictions at a minimum to give homeowners flexibility.