My father passed along a public awareness advertisement that he'd seen floating around in email.  The link is posted below.  It is well worth a watch.

http://video.vividas.com/media/vicgov_save_energy/

If your in the mood for a good documentary pick up, ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

My friend Bill Waite recommended the film and it turned out to be wholly entertaining and truly enlightening.  Prior to watching this movie I had very little understanding of what ENRON did to make money or why they captured so much media attention during their collapse.

Happy 2007!  Along with a new year, West Virginia begins net metering.  

 
This has been a long time in coming.  Net metering is available already in states such as Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.  Now in West Virginia, excess electricity generated by a small independent producer will be credited by the utility.  This credit will be applied to subsequent bills for a period of up to 12-months.  One nice feature of the West Virginia rule is that the system cap is set at 25kW - some states cap the eligible system size at 10kW.  Perhaps the weakest feature of the rule is that the "total rated generating capacity of all [net metering] customers...shall be limited to one tenth of one percent of the Company's single hour peak load during the previous year." 

The Green House exhibit will be on display at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. until June 3, 2007.  My father and brother went to see it over the holidays with me.  It serves as a neat showcase for recycled building materials and some state of the art appliances.  If you happen to live near the District or if you are passing through town, I'd recommend going to see it.  I think that if you are considering a renovation or new home construction you would find it to be especially worthwhile.

 http://www.nbm.org/Exhibits/greenHouse2/greenHouse.htm

What follows are some photos from the Abundant Renewable Energry (ARE) 442 turbine install that we worked on in Wisconsin.  This is the second 442 to ever be placed into service.  The 442 is a 10kW-class turbine whose peak output is close to 12kW.  The 442 uses two SMA 6000U inverters in a cascade configuration.  This particular turbine was installed on a 112' guyed-lattice tower as part of a workshop hosted by Mick Sagrillo and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.