Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy
Pioneering community-owned renewable energy
AIRE and Co-operate WNC have been in dialogue for several months around the questions of how do we cooperate to incubate a solar cooperative practice that harnesses the power of aggregated purchasing to reduce the cost of solar and how do we nurture a cooperative enterprise that sustains solar adoption and creates livelihoods for underserved
This guiding question borrows from the title of a collection of essays, “WHAT ARE people FOR” by agrarian writer, Wendell Berry. It is provocative because it calls our values into question and challenges assumptions. Our conversations and activities at AIRE have recently asked a similar question out of the same vein– What is solar for?
One of our most inspiring solar projects just happens to have a great teaching component. It’s especially relevant today, the SUMMER SOLSTICE, as a way to remind us all that we’re all part of a dynamic constant– our relationship to the sun. That’s FREE FUEL that doesn’t have to be mined, transported, fought over, used
Think your electric utility knows what’s best for you and the public interest? Your utility is probably not looking out for you nearly as much as it’s looking out for its profits and executives. Can we imagination a better way? Could these big utilities be equitably transformed to “public utilities?” (1) We’re at a real
Because it’s cold outside, but mostly for other reasons, I’ve been thinking about quilts, so I wanted to write about them as a reflection on the past year and in contemplation of the new one upon us. My family made one of those “barn quilts” that we see so much of in rural country for
AIRE does solar development and wayfinding for nonprofits. We certainly do not do partisan political advocacy and this “emergency” is no exception. However, the current moment seems to be such an extraordinary crux for all things solar, and in fact, all things just and sustainable, probably even all things human civilization, so with that disclaimer,