
GLREA News
Michigan Solar Home & Sustainability Tour will be held this Saturday, October 6 as part of the ASES National Solar Home Tour. Tours are being held in 14 communities on Saturday, Oct. 6 (unless otherwise noted): Caro, Chelsea, Clarkston, Commerce, Detroit, Holland, Lansing, Laingsburg, Linden, Fowlerville (Oct 6 & 7), Riverdale, Saline, Traverse City, and Ypsilanti (Oct 7). You can find specifics at www.glrea.org.
GLREA is having a “Renewable Energy Photo Contest – 2018” with awards to be given out at our annual meeting in December. If you have a great picture of a renewable energy system or event, submit it. The rules are simple. The photo must have something to do with renewable energy and be taken in 2018. There will be two categories, one for business entries and one for individual entries. Photos must be submitted by November 30. To get a flyer, email Dave Konkle at konkle@toast.net.
Michigan News
Parker Village, a proposed “Smart Neighborhood” and Community Resource center, has commissioned its second solar installation at its campus in Highland Park. The collaborative project features a mural (see photo above) by up and coming artist, Waleed Johnson, who won an Art-Ops grant to produce it. The mural depicts the past of the city, but also incorporate images of what the planned future holds at Parker Village, including Renewable Energy, Technology, Aquaculture, Health, and Wellness. The installation will provide irrigation to the Aquaponics garden and a power station for charging tools, computers or phones. The project provided an opportunity for several youth to learn how to install solar. More details.
Michigan Energy Office (MEO) will provide financial support to qualified college teams competing in the 2019 U.S. DOE’s Solar Decathlon Design Challenge. Teams competing in the Design Challenge create residential or commercial building designs over one or two semesters. Up to 48 finalist teams are selected to compete at the Design Challenge Weekend, held annually in April at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, CO. Teams may be reimbursed by MEO for up to $5,000 for registration fees, materials, and travel to NREL. Limited funding is available and will be awarded on a first-come basis. All teams must complete their team application by 5 p.m. on November 6. For more information on the competition, visit the website. Participating teams may apply for MEO sponsorship here.
Exelon Constellation will provide 100% renewable electricity to furniture supplier Herman Miller’s operations in Spring Lake, under a four-year deal. The power will come from the 59.4 MW Harvest 2 wind farm in Elkton and 25,000 MWHs of electricity will be delivered each year. The Spring Lake campus is responsible for about one quarter of Herman Miller’s global energy consumption. More details.
Heritage Sustainable Energy has executed an 80 MW wind power agreement with Senvion. Located in Delta County, the Garden II project will consist of 20 Senvion 4 MW turbines with a hub height of 82 meters. The installation of phases one and two will occur in 2019 and 2020, respectively. More details.
Consumers Energy’s first utility-scale battery facility can supply one hour of power to about 1,000 homes. Installed across the road from Consumer’s solar garden on WMU’s Parkview Campus, the one MWH battery will store power from the solar array. MSU consultants will study data generated at the facility to better understand the potential for battery storage and WMU engineering students will also have opportunities to participate in research. More details.
Beyond Michigan
California’s Legislature has passed a bill with a goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. The legislation also requires that utilities get 60% of their electricity from renewables by 2030, an increase from the previous 50% by 2030. While zero-carbon sources are not defined in the bill, lawmakers said nuclear and some types of large hydropower that wouldn’t count toward the renewables standard would be allowed. More details.
10,000 New Residential Solar+Storage systems have been installed in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria left more than three million without power a year ago. Those new installations nearly double the number of residential solar systems on the island. Few of the older systems were paired with batteries. More details.
German Startup Sono Motors is testing what it says will be the first affordable electric car that gets an added boost from sunlight. Sion says its solar boost is an extra 30 km, but that is based on assuming 8 hours of daily sunshine. Sono has developed a solar module with a high efficiency rate – 24%. The car, which will cost €16,000 ($18,300), plus €4,000 for the battery, is scheduled to hit the streets in 2019. The company plans to produce 200,000 Sions within the next 8 years. More details.
Researchers at University of Cambridge have used semi-artificial photosynthesis to develop new ways to use sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Natural photosynthesis is not efficient because it makes the bare minimum amount of energy needed – around 1-2% of what it could potentially convert and store. Although artificial photosynthesis has been around for decades, it isn’t used for renewable energy because of its dependence on expensive and toxic catalysts. The new study is part of a growing field using enzymes instead of catalysts. More details.
USDA’s Rural Energy for American Program (REAP) has announced loan guarantee and grant deadlines. The deadlines to apply for grants are Oct. 31, 2018, and April 1, 2019. Applications for loan guarantees are accepted year-round. More details.
EventsSolar Celebrations are being hosted by Vote Solar, GLREA, and MISUN. Come join us to hear from Michigan businesses, homeowners, churches and others who already benefit from solar. Enjoy snacks, see the solar installation, ask questions, and discuss how we can work together to expand solar access in Michigan. Find events near you…
October 9 Madonna University, Livonia
October 11 West Bloomfield High School, West Bloomfield, Michigan
October 14Berrien Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, St Joesph, Michigan
Solarize Meridian Workshop will be held on Saturday, Oct. 6, 8:30-10:45 amat the Meridian Township Hall, 5151 Marsh Rd., Okemos. Networking, coffee & bagels will go from 8:30-9:00 followed by presentations about Meridian Township’s new 20 kW ground mount system and Haslett Community Church’s 20 kW rooftop system. At 10:00 am there will be a tour of the township PV system and at 10:30 am there will be a tour of the church system.
Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Workshop, hosted by Michigan CAT Power Systems and DTE Energy, will be held on October 17, noon to 3 PM at Founders Brewery in Grand Rapids. This workshop to learn about CHP is for facility managers and business owners located in the DTE Gas service territory. A limited number of seats are available for non-DTE customers, consultants or contractors. Register at www.eventbright.com (search for DTE CHP) or contact James Leidel at 248.765.2027 or james.leidel@dteenergy.com.
Second Annual Sustainable Detroit Forum will be held on Oct 24th , 9 am-4 pm at the Wayne State Student Center. The day will include presentations on Detroit projects, keynote speakers, vendor displays, and time to meet with friends and colleagues. Register here.
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