Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy
Pioneering community-owned renewable energy
We post our news and reflections on energy, and we also like to repost pieces that we find relevant to community-owned renewable energy. Topics touch on policy, finance, energy politics, case studies, breakthroughs, trends, electric vehicles, as well as the broader social, economic, and maybe even metaphysical dimensions of energy.
After several months of intensive planning, the Sisters and lay staff of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, walked their talk and made the first of several solar installments on the Center at Donaldson’s 150 acre campus near South Bend, Indiana. They dedicated the first phase of their solar initiative on the 1st day of
AIRE’s work with Elon Community Church and First Congregational UCC was recently featured in an article on the United Church of Christ’s (UCC) website. Please enjoy the below sample before reading this fine article in it entirety at their site HERE. If imitation is the best form of flattery, then the members of First
Smart Local Investors Do Well and Do Good Read the original article in the Salisbury Post HERE. I love it when I find examples of places where one can do well while doing good. This phrase describes situations where you can invest money or talent, earn a handsome rate of return or a decent living
AIRE was one of the “mover-and-shakers” recently mentioned in PV Magazine’s article Community Solar Niche Poised for Growth. Some of the interesting solar trends the story discusses include: virtual net metering, which allows a ratepayer to credit solar production from one meter (say their community solar meter) to another electric meter (perhaps the one at
“Walking the Talk” – AIRE’s Senior Project Manager Landon Pennington recently installed two 4 ft by 10 ft solar hot water heating panels on his home in Boone, NC with the help of AIRE’s Executive Director, Steve Owen. The Solar Hot Solstice Collectors are manufactured in locally in Morrisville, NC and will produce 24.7 kBtu/day
For several years now, AIRE has been developing innovative approaches for rapidly financing and developing renewable energy, specifically solar energy, here in the Southeast. Apparently, some of the Folks over at Think Progress have been pondering this as well – in fact they’ve shared it with the entire Internet HERE. In the meantime, here’s a
There’s just something fitting about North Carolina renewable energy advocates getting up ahead of the sun – and this is exactly what they did on Tuesday June 12th as they rolled out of bed for the 7:00 AM convening of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association’s (NCSEA) “Clean Energy Lobby Day.” Why such an early
The City of Carrboro’s Board of Aldermen passed a resolution Tuesday to move forward with an AIRE feasibility study exploring how the town might create solar electricity at their farmers market. The township currently spends $15,000 – $18,000 per month on electricity for municipal operations. In an effort to cut energy costs and flatten the
Here’s a post by our Friends at the JOBS Project now featured on Renewable Energy World’s blog HERE. Here’s a quote from the post awaiting you: With the strident partisanism in Washington (clean vs. dirty energy) and the international solar trade debate (China vs. America) in mind I believe President Carter’s words ring true today:
Check out this EXCELLENT post at Grist HERE concerning the rapid, but still too slow growth of renewable energy development in the US. The news is worse for we Folks here in the Southeast. From the post: The state maps showing the concentration of various renewables (too many to show here) also implicitly illuminate the