Solar Hot Water is Back on the Rise

Solar hot water was big in the 70's and then took backstage to other technologies. But now it's hotter than ever. SEI just completed a week-long Solar Hot Water workshop and it was a huge success. Guest instructor Carl Bickford, from San Juan College, taught a class full of people from around the country and the world how to design and install solar hot water systems.

For more information on Carl Bickford's RE degree program at San Juan college click here.

Photo by Brian K. Johnson

Renewables in the Developing World

SEI just finished our annual Colorado "Renewable Energy for the Developing World" workshop. It was a great success, with 28 participants coming from as far away as Nigeria and Nepal. Guest speakers provided people with information on renewable energy projects from solar cooking to rural electrification with photovoltaics and wind power. Workshop participants had many lively conversations about social, cultural and political aspects of renewable energy in the developing world.

Next February, SEI will hold a hands-on version of the Renewable Energy for the Developing World workshop in Costa Rica. Participants will install a photovoltaic system, design a solar hot water system, and build their own solar ovens. For more information click here .

Renewables in Alaska

The Manillaq Association has been providing health, tribal, and social services to rural northwest Alaska for thirty years. This summer they have decided to bring renewable wind energy to northwest Alaska. The Manillaq Association's Tribal Environmental Program has gathered college students from a few colleges across the states, including six students from Appalachian State University, to help in achieving this goal. The students are living in the remote village of Kotzebue and are installing multiple wind turbines and clean electricity to the village!

For more information about the Maniilaq association click here.

Sustainable Resources 2003

Sustainable Resources 2003 is an international forum connecting people with hands-on solutions to world poverty. It's a dynamic networking opportunity with multidisciplinary dialogs, practical trainings, and lectures on world poverty and sustainable development. The conference includes exhibits, a showcase of real-world projects, services and products, and the space to create collaborative partnerships. September 29 - October 4 Boulder, Colorado

For more information click here.

University Students to Update Wind Map

A group of Appalachian State University students have spent the last semester participating in an anemometer loan program sponsored by the US Department of Energy. The program allows the students to have hands on learning experience with raising 20-meter and 50-meter tilt up towers. The students hope to update the current North Carolina wind map by measuring wind speeds in different regions of the state. The anemometers they have already set up indicate class 4 and class 5 wind sites in the Appalachian Mountains, and may result in bringing commercial wind farms, and renewable energy to North Carolina!

For more information on Appalachian State University's Appropriate Technology program click here.

SEI Membership

Please join us! Become an SEI member and support our important work (and receive a free one year subscription to Home Power magazine.) Help us continue our programs educating and promoting renewable energy around the world. Click here for more details on how you can become an SEI member.

To all SEI members . . . SEI sends thanks!