Someone has definitely thought of that!
350.org teamed up with solar panel company, Sungevity, to encourage President Obama to re-install solar panels on the White House. Jimmy Carter installed them during his time in office, but Ronald Reagan had them removed and they haven’t been replaced yet. The panels that were sadly taken down by Reagan were adopted by Unity College in Maine. The students of Unity College along with 350.org’s founder, Bill McKibbon, plan to return one of the original panels to Mr. Obama with hopes that he’ll get a new set for himself.

The only appropriate way to get there: Biodiesel-powered road trip!

“Panels on the White House will remind every visitor to Washington that every roof in America should have solar panels for electricity and hot water on them,” said Bill McKibben, 350.org founder. “The President’s panels will do as much good as the wonderful organic garden that the First lady planted on the South Lawn.”

Check out the route they plan to take here, but if you want even more updates, they will have Twitter account tweeting while on the road.
Join the Twitter conversation with other followers or visit the Put Solar On It website. Make sure to sign the letter to Mr. Obama and receive updates about the trip. (The form is on the right hand side of the main page.)

To learn more about 350.org, visit the website here or watch the animation below:

Fun Fact from Intern Kat: In my Environmental Conservation class, one of our assigned readings is by Bill McKibbon!
Photo used with permission from 350.org.

They were lucky enough to have their names drawn from our raffle for the last solar oven given away at Farm Tech Days!
Shane and Mary, who live at Red Rock Ranch, were delighted to the lucky winners. They plan to use their oven as often as they can. They couldn’t wait to try out all the delicious recipes in the solar oven cook book!

The solar oven was the Solar Oven Society in Minneapolis, MN.
Reminder: For everyone who “Likes” Energy Concepts on Facebook, we will donate $1 to the Solar Oven Society’s Haiti Relief Campaign! Find us by clicking this link!

Not Just for Farmers

Even though Farm Tech Days in Pierce County has already started doesn’t mean you can’t still stop by to say hi to us!

Farm Tech Days runs through July 22nd. To find out more information visit, the Farm Tech Days website for more information.

You can find us at booths 726/727! We’re sharing our booth with Steiner Plumbing, who installs our renewable energy systems for us, and North Power Systems, who is our main supplier for wind turbines.

Here are some fun facts about Farm Tech Days:

• Number of volunteers to help staff Tent City: 1, 600
• Number of booths: 900
• Number of vendors: 600
• Total acreage: 76

Solar Oven Giveaway

We’re giving away another solar oven from the Solar Oven Society, so if you weren’t the lucky winner last time, make sure to drop your name into the raffle. We’ll be drawing the name of winner Thursday, July 22nd around 5pm. As always, we’ll be handing out some solar cooked food, so if you’re hungry, make sure to stop by!

We hope to see you there!

I started going to the Energy Fair twenty years ago. My educational background was in wind and solar technology. My Colorado State University engineering curriculum in the ‘80s included classes on their state-of-the-art solar research campus. Therefore, with those credentials on my transcript, I had more than a tacit interest in the Energy Fair goings on. During my first few times there, I felt like an outsider. I had not yet adopted a solar lifestyle personally, nor had I put renewable energy knowledge to work in my profession. Along in the mid 2000s, I was struggling with how to make the leap into the renewable energy industry both personally and professionally. Talking about renewable energy and sustainability wasn’t enough for me. I needed to be a part of it.

When some personal issues forced me to reevaluate some of my life directions in 2006, I made the decision to embrace renewable energy as my personal and Energy Concepts mission. With this newfound “spring in my step,” I attended the Energy Fair that year. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I was like a sponge soaking up every detail having to do with the nuts, bolts, wires, towers, etc to learn everything about how to actually design and install the systems. I talked to every person who would give me a minute especially those in policy and those already well known in the industry. I sought out their booths and presentations, boldly shook hands, and let them know who I was and what I and Energy Concepts were out to accomplish. If a company had a business card, I took it. My fair experience that year was solely about what I needed to know to start “doing it.”  It was then with my newly gathered knowledge, that I started to build my business mission.

I again attended the fair in 2007 and 2008 with further refinements and embellishments to the quest. I was gaining experience on design and installation matters that facilitated a deeper level of inquiry with the many industry experts on hand at the fair. Peeling the layers of the onion was the metaphor. I saw the need for a leveling up of the commercial solar hot water presentations and so offered one up. I presented to a standing room only crowd under the purple flag tent. I felt very proud those two years to wear a presenter’s badge. I had “arrived” to the inner circle.

Somewhere in this time frame, I installed a solar hot water system and a solar electric system on my own home. I got the experience of living firsthand with renewable energy systems and learning from the technology. I will be blogging about being a solar home separately – stay tuned.

Then, at the 2009 Energy Fair, I was recognized by Focus on Energy with their Market Provider of the Year Award. Read the press release and watch the video here. I began to feel that all my hard work had started to pay off. It was with a bittersweet mixture of humility and pride that I accepted the award – center stage – under the big tent. My state of Wisconsin colleagues had recognized that something unique and noteworthy was happening here at our Hudson business. The renewable energy industry was in need of the engineering first and licensed trades work model that Energy Concepts adopted.

This year’s 2010 Energy Fair proved to be completely different experience than the others. My time at the fair wasn’t dedicated to learning about new products or stuffing my pockets with brochures and business cards. No longer was I an outsider. I networked and socialized with colleagues. I didn’t need to search for new products because I knew Energy Concepts already had the best mix possible for our client needs. It was reassuring to know that Energy Concepts as a SunPower Premiere Dealer could offer the crème de la crop. I walked through the Energy Fair ground’s with pride in my company and how far I had come. In four short years, I had gone from the kid in the candy store to one the state’s mover-and-shakers in our burgeoning industry.

Since I first started visiting MREA’s Energy Fair, I have grown as individual by adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. In addition, my company, Energy Concepts, has grown and transformed along with me. I now recount that I have achieved right livelihood – passion and profession are one and the same. It is with pride that I know that Energy Concepts is at the forefront of renewable energy in Wisconsin and Minnesota and expanding to encompass the Midwest.

I trust that Energy Concepts and myself will continue on this journey as leaders in the field of renewable energy.

Early Friday morning, our solar oven contest winner, Trent, stopped in to pick up his brand new solar oven! He brought along his two daughters who were ecstatic about their new clean energy cooker! They were especially excited to make brownies, and maybe would even bring the solar oven up to their cabin to help them to help them celebrate the 4th of July!

Trent won the solar oven by entering his name in our solar oven contest, that was held during the weeks surrounding, SolarDay. He visited us at the Farmers’ Market in Hudson, where the girls tasted the delicious solar oven-cooked baby carrots we had made. The girls wanted to make those as soon as they got home.

Congratulations, Again, Trent!

We hope you enjoy your new solar oven!

Once again, SunPower demonstrates that its monocrystalline silicon solar cells are out ahead of the pack! Try saying monocrystalline silicon solar cells five times fast. Regardless of their tongue-tying jargon, SunPower knows how to work those solar cells to the max. Check out SunPower’s amazing developments in renewable solar energy here.

SolarDay is a national and international day of recognition of Solar Energy, Clean Technology, Energy Independence, Sustainability and Protection of the Planet.

Last week we blogged about the events Energy Concepts was hosting to celebrate SolarDay: SolarDay 2010 – June  19

We went to the Farmers’ Market in Hudson, WI and held a solar tour to celebrate SolarDay!

You can view more photos on our Flickr album of the tour!

Hudson’s Farmers’ Market

Solar Tour

The tour was both fun and educational. One of the best parts of it was meeting people just as interested in renewable energy as we are! It’s always nice to know that there are so many people with an eye on the future.

♥,

Kat & Kelly

Here are some quick facts about us:

Introducing the Intern Blog!

Our blog will highlight what is going on behind the scenes, upcoming and past events, and anything that might fall into the category of social networking.

Read our first blog on SolarDay, and look for new blogs on the Energy Concepts website!

♥,

Kelly & Kat

Won’t you please join us at one of our events to help promote clean, renewable energy and move toward greater energy independence!
Please check out our website or see what is happening in the Energy Concepts Current!

Attend a SolarDay Event – Energy Concepts will be hosting:

• Solar Oven Demo -  June 17 Hudson, WI @ Plaza 94. From 8:00 am – 12:00 pm Come and sample foods “cooked” by the sun’s energy.
• Solar Tour -  June 19,  10:00 am – 12:00 pm, Meet at Energy Concepts headquarters.
• Car pooling/ride share coordination for the Energy Fair - June 18-20, Midwest Renewable Energy Fair. Save $5.00 and energy by driving with someone.  Find a ride on our discussion board on Energy Concepts’s Page on Facebook.
• Harnessing the Power of the Sun Solar Info Session – June 22, 6:30 – 8:00 pm “Harnessing the Power of the Sun” presentation and slide show. Energy Concepts multimedia room at our Hudson office.

Go to our website – to learn more and sign up to win a FREE solar oven. We will do a drawing after the Harnessing the Power of the Sun Solar Info Session! You do not have to be present to win, and can also submit your name on our website. Just click “Solar Oven Contest”!

Join us on Facebook: Facebook.com/EnergyConcepts Become a fan and we will donate $1 per person who “Likes” us to the Solar Oven Society’s Haiti Relief Campaign.
Follow us on Twitter, too! Twitter.com/energy_concepts

Send this email to your friends and let everyone know about SolarDay 2010 – renewable energy is here to stay.

Kathy Tarr

Energy Concepts, Inc.
2349 Willis Miller Drive
Hudson, WI 54016
715.381.9977
715 808 1835 iPhone
www.energyconcepts.us

(please note that the pdf is about 1MB and may take a few moments to completely load.)