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Upcoming
Webinar
The Solar Business
with Jeff Spies
November 2 -- 10:00 am PST
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Upcoming
Hands-on Workshops
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Upcoming
International workshops
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SEI thanks our new business members:
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Solar Energy International has a strong community presence on
social networks. Please consider joining these SEI groups:
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Solar
in New Jersey
photo courtesy of PSE&G
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New Jersey ranks second in the nation in solar behind
California with a solar capacity of 128 MW. And solar promises to
keep growing in the garden state. The New Jersey power company
PSE&G has a program underway to install 200 watt PV systems on
200,000 utility poles and street lights by 2012. Once installed,
the solar systems are expected to provide 40 MW of clean energy,
enough to power approximately 40,000 homes.
SEI has some exciting workshops coming up in New Jersey in
November:
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Solar
Restaurant Opening Soon!
The
soon to be completed "Restaurante Solar"
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The Solar Women of Totogalpa, the inspiring women that SEI
works with in Nicaragua, are soon to open the first solar
restaurant in Latin America. The restaurant, in the small village
of Sabana Grande, will offer solar cooked foods, solar dried fruits
and coffee, and will be PV powered.
In December, SEI is offering a workshop in Nicaragua with the Solar
Women and Grupo Fenix. SEI workshop participants may
even be the ones to install the PV system on the restaurant! If
you'd like to join us in Nicaragua, or learn about installing PV in
Costa Rica, check out the opportunities below -
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Community
Energy Franchises
CEC
Community Solar Garden
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Are you interested in starting a community-owned renewable energy
project? The Clean Energy
Collective (CEC) is now offering its customer-owned renewable
energy project tools nationally, complete with all the tools and
technology required. The company launched a successful community
solar project in Colorado down the road from SEI and is building
out at least 2MW more!
The CEC worked with many national tax and energy attorneys to
create a safe contractual framework for organizations who want to
develop their own community energy projects.
Some of the tools include:
- RemoteMeter software (electronic billing system)
- MyCleanEnergy user portal that provides web and mobile-based
access to real-time solar data (including smart phone
applications)
- Company, operations and maintenance structure
- Tax structure, processes and documentation
- All contracts needed to sign up customers and utilities
Under the CEC community-owned model, members receive the best of
all worlds: the same rebates, subsidies, depreciation and tax
credits that are available to home and business-based systems, and
the ownership of solar through a turn-key, affordable avenue.
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SEI
at Solar Power International
Carol Weis and Henry Red Cloud receiving their IREC
awards
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SEI staff spent an incredible week at the Solar Power
International 2010 conference. SEI staff member Carol Weis won
a special recognition award from the Interstate Renewable
Energy Council (IREC). The special recognition awards go to
individuals who have been critical in advancing the growth of
renewable energy technologies. IREC recognized Carol for her
dedication to bringing top-notch training to so many people, for
her inclusiveness and caring, and for her commitment to raising the
bar for the renewable energy workforce.
Lakota Solar Enterprises, along
with their partner Trees, Water &
People, received the IREC award in the Clean Energy ARRA
Project Category, for developing the Red Cloud Renewable Energy
Center.
SEI also led a one-day PV installation workshop attended by over 70
people. This intermediate Level PV System focused on National
Electrical Code (NEC) requirements, best practices, and safe
working procedures for installing and troubleshooting solar
systems.
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Sustainable Residential Design
Project
Straw bale raising at 2nd St. LIFE project
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The 2nd St. L.I.F.E. Project, run
by SEI straw bale instructor Laura Bartels, is
an applied research project for sustainable and affordable
residential design in cold climates. It is a great educational
opportunity and model for design professionals, contractors, code
officials and homeowners.
The design strives to limit use of high impact materials such as
concrete and petroleum based products while creating a super
insulated low impact and high performance home. The project employs
small footprint passive solar design, perlite underfloor
insulation, straw bale walls with post and beam framing, heat
recovery system, high performance windows, solar hot water, earthen
floors, earthen and lime plasters, timber frame exterior detailing,
and more.
Upcoming events include a Timber Framing Workshop Nov. 16 - Nov.
21st, and other workshops including plastering, earthen floors and
Tadelakt. To learn more about internships, sign up for email news,
or attend an event or workshop, visit www.greenweaver.com.
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New
PV Products at SEI Eco-campus
SEI
Ecocampus
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SEI recently hosted two PV industry representatives on the
Paonia campus. The purpose of the visits from these industry
representatives was to demonstrate new products available for PV
installations.
John Berdner, with SolarEdge, made a visit during a recent PV lab
workshop, to present SolarEdge's new "inverter and DC power
optimizer" concept to both staff and students alike. At the
conclusion of his stay, he generously donated an inverter package
that will enable SEI to demonstrate this new technology during
future PV lab workshops.
Quick Mount PV also made a recent visit to the
Paonia campus. Johan Alfsen stopped in to update SEI staff on new
products and certifications for Quick Mount PV's product offerings,
and to help produce short video clops on their products for SEI's
educational use. Quick Mount PV made a generous hardware donation
to keep our lab systems up to date with the latest in roof flashing
products for the PV industry.
Thanks to these companies and many others, SEI has one of the most
up-to-date and comprehensive PV training facilities in the
nation!
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Rivers
for Life
A
banner protesting the El Zapatillo dam in Temacapulin
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SEI International Program Manager Laurie Guevara-Stone recently
traveled to Temacapulín, Mexico to present at the Rivers for Life meeting
organized by International Rivers. The
meeting brought together dam affected people and their allies from
60 different countries, and offered a unique opportunity for
information sharing, training, strategizing and making
friends.
Large dams have displaced an estimated 40 to 80 million people. At
present about 2 million people are displaced every year by large
dams. This does not take into account people whose livelihoods are
impacted by dams The small town of Temacapulín is threatened by
the El Zapotillo Dam, a 105-meter dam that would flood three nearby
villages and disrupt the ecology of the Río Verde.
To learn more about protecting rivers and defending the rights of
communities that depend on them visit InternationalRivers.org. Read
a summary of the Tamacapulín event here.
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When
Clean Energy Gets Dirty, and Dirty Energy Goes Clean
 Renewables
aren't always clean - especially when criminal organizations are
involved in their deployment. Some recent high-profile arrests in
Italy and Central Europe illustrate the very real problem of Mafia
groups strong-arming their way into the renewable energy
sector.
Listen to the podcast on RenewableEnergyWorld.com to
learn how Mafia groups are getting into renewables.
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Featured
Alum - David Lipschitz
 David
Lipschitz (third from left in photo) is the founder and director of
My Power Station, a renewable energy company in
South Africa. He recently helped complete a 1.6 kW PV array at the
Gecko Rock eco adventure nature reserve, near Touws River in the
Western Cape. The system will be used to supply power for a
residence on the property and a conference and training facility
for the nature reserve.
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