More SEI Fall Workshops

SEI is offering more Fall workshops than ever before. Due to the high demand for photovoltaic training, we are now offering a PV Design & Installation workshop in San Diego. We are also offering a Natural Buiding & Renewable Energy workshop in conjunction with the Green Building Institute in Maryland. Be sure to check out the upcoming workshops:

• Micro-Hydro Power - Oct. 17 - 21, WA
• Residential Wind Power - Oct. 24 - 29, WA
• Solar & Radiant Heating Systems - Nov. 3 - 5, OR
• PV Design & Installation - Nov. 14 - 18, CA
• Natural Building & Renewable Energy - Nov. 14 - 18, MD

Crested Butte School Goes Solar

SEI's Solar In the Schools program is at it again. We just got back from the Crested Butte Community School after a successful week of k-12 renewable energy education, a teacher training, and the completion of a student installed 1.55 Kw Photovoltaic system. The project culminated with a Solar Fair for the entire Crested Butte community. However, the renewable energy education will continue with the SEI supplied curriculum kits and data monitoring system. BP Solar donated the PV modules, and SEI partnered with the Crested Butte Office of Resource Efficiency (ORE) to raise funding and support for this project.

Natural Building for Native Americans

This August SEI worked with Red Feather Development Group and Turtle Mountain Community College in North Dakota on the construction of an Environmental Research Center (ERC) on the tribal college's 100-acre Anishanaube Wellness Center (AWC). The ERC represents the first classroom building on the AWC land. Rose Fellow/Design Director Nathaniel Corum facilitated a participatory design process with tribal college students and staff that led to a load-bearing straw bale design and a range of sustainable components including a building integrated PV system by UNISOLAR, LED lighting, post-consumer cellulose insulation, structural insulated panel system roof (SIPS), interior walls of compressed sunflower seed hull panels and landscaping that features a wide variety of native plants.

Funding for this project came from a USDA community facilities grant, Red Feather Development Group, Turtle Mountain Community College, and the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce.

Solar Decathlon in Full Swing

The Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon brings together 18 teams of college and university students from around the globe to participate in a solar competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered home.

The teams transported their solar houses to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where they will form a solar village. The village and solar houses will be open to the public for self-guided tours from Oct. 7-16. The teams compete in 10 contests to determine an overall winner, which will be announced at 2 p.m. on October 14.

For more information visit the Department of Energy's website.

Special Thanks Go To IREC

SEI would like to thank the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, IREC, a non-profit consortium of state and local government renewable energy officials. The IREC Board recently approved a donation to SEI for $500 in memory of Mark Fitzgerald to support a student's tuition. Mark Fitzgerald was a long time SEI associate and friend who passed away in June. Thank you IREC for keeping Mark's vision of renewable energy education alive.

Your Generosity Ensures our Success!

SEI would like to welcome our new members! As a membership-based non-profit, SEI's members are the heart of our organization and allow us to continue our educational programs. SEI Staff are passionate about the work that we do and membership dues help sustain our renewable energy endeavors.

Please join us! Become an SEI member and support our important work (and receive a free one year subscription to either Home Power magazine or E magazine.)

Click here for details on how to become an SEI member.

To all SEI members . . . SEI sends thanks!