Forward Wind, Fond du Lac County
Photo by Barger Photography (courtesy of Michels Corporation)
Waukesha home opens for Solar Tour
A press release issued for the Wisconsin Solar Tour:
A Waukesha home will be one of more than 150 sites in the state open for the 2008 Wisconsin Solar Tour on October 4.
The home of Julie and Vince Toman, 2105 Parkview Court, features 30 roof-mounted solar panels following the second story roofline in the rear of the house.
“It produces more electricity than we need for much of the year. We’ve only paid 6 electric / gas bills in the last 15 months,” according to Julie Toman.
“In fact, we get a credit for the amount of excess electricity it generates,” she added.
Businesses with solar installations will welcome visitors on October 3, the first day of the two-day Solar Tour, organized by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA), located in Custer, Wisconsin.
Tour destinations will showcase advances in energy efficient construction, new products, sustainable landscaping, and renewable energy technologies.
“The tour demonstrates that renewable energy is practical, reliable, and affordable in today’s economy,” said Amy Heart, Program Director for the MREA.
“Tour participants have the chance to talk with people who live and work with renewable energy and green building features,” Heart added.
Full details on the Solar Tour and all the open businesses and residences are online at www.the-mrea.org/solartour.php.
Cuba City gains jobs from Wausaukee Composites' wind energy foray
From an article by Craig D. Weber in the Dubuque, Iowa, Telegraph Herald:
CUBA CITY, Wis. — Operating in what was once the Cuba City Machine building, now known as the Wausaukee Composites building, the burgeoning wind energy industry sounds a clarion call in the city of 2,000.
“Wausaukee Composites is excited to play a contributing role in the rapidly developing wind energy industry in North America,” said David Lisle, president and CEO of Wausaukee Composites Inc. “We have been actively developing new manufacturing opportunities in this emerging market segment for more than two years.”
That opportunity includes Cuba City. Wind turbine nacelle cover assemblies are being manufactured in the 42,000-square-foot facility located on the city’s south end. Production began on Feb. 18 with about 12 employees.
“The Cuba City plant will be a dedicated facility to the wind energy industry,” Lisle said, explaining the facility has the capacity to produce up to 800 wind turbine nacelles a year.
Kettle Foods gets it
From the Green Racine blog:
Salem, Ore.-based Kettle Foods says that it has yielded environmental and economic benefits by adopting measures that include offsetting all of the electricity used to operate both its Salem and Beloit factories with wind power. Additionally, the Beloit plant is home to 18 rooftop wind turbines.
“When we decided to go for green – or in this case, gold – with LEED certification of our new factory, we knew it was the right thing to do,” says Tim Fallon, president of Kettle Foods’ North American division.
The company also recycles of 2,300 gallons of waste oil with conversion to biodiesel used to power a company fleet of diesel-engine cars called BioBeetles, and reduces more than three million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually resulting from the elimination of shipping lines between Oregon and the Midwest.
Twin Ports gets wind shipments
From a story on the Web site of WQOW, Eau Claire:
SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) – Seven shiploads of wind turbine components are being unloaded at the Duluth-Superior port for transport to wind farms across the Midwest and beyond.
The components are being stored on nearly 50 acres at the Twin Ports before they’re trucked to Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota and even as far as Montana.
100-ton-capacity cranes lift and load generators, blades and hubs onto specially built trucks designed to hold the weight. About 2,000 wind turbine components have come through the Twin Ports so far this year.
The Duluth-Superior port set a record in 2007 when 310,000 freight tons of wind cargo passed through.