Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy
Pioneering community-owned renewable energy
The Indiana Chapter of the American Planning Association will be holding its semi-annual professional development conference on July 30th, 2020. We mention this event because it promises to be informative in addressing an important yet, often overlooked topic– land use after solar is installed. But more importantly to us, it showcases the bold and brilliant
What does solar power have to do with Cheerwine? Nothing really unless you’re pondering the question “where does electricity come from?” Most of us would say from our utility, and most of us would be right. However, the utilities have constructed a self-serving myth that we are merely passive consumers of a commodity beyond our
• We now have all of the system components on hand (e.g. solar panels, inverters, racking, etc.). • Required filings have been completed at North Carolina Utilities Commission. • System interconnection request has been filed with Duke Energy Progress. • Installation is scheduled to be July 27th, maybe sooner. Looking back at the crowdfunding campaign
Blue Ridge Public Radio’s Cass Herrington, interviewed Burton Street’s DeWayne Barton for a piece aired on June 30th. Always quotable, the following excerpt from the interview illustrates why Barton is such an inspiring leader and visionary, and why nearly 300 unique individuals came together to crowdfund the solar project that will be installed in the
I saw this image in a coffee shop on 9th Street in Boulder, Colorado back in February. Its meaning has much resonance to me right now. Maybe I’d change the labels some but the idea is to put it all together, which I’d call PRAXIS. The deep dive isn’t the point here though. Sticking to
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
AIRE ended a great week today, Juneteenth 2020, having had an inspiring display of solidarity in crowdfunding the Burton Street Community Peace Gardens Solar (also here and here). We’ll be installing that solar project very soon. This successful effort has me thinking about common threads. I’m hopeful more people know the critical history of “Juneteenth”
WILLIAM “SHORTY” IRBY and a monument meant to endure… Because the crowdfund campaign for the solar project has been so successful, it’s allowing the gardens to leap right into its Phase 2 solar vision, which is equipping the garden’s hands-on lab with equipment to train for solar. This is very significant and here’s the story.
Everyone by now has seen commentary on the “looting” that has taken place amidst the smoke in Minneapolis and other cities. It’s true that lots of looting occurs in the United States. The problem is that the word “looting” is being used dog whistle style, mostly by politicians and others to deflect attention away from
We’re about to launch a crowdfunding campaign for maybe the most important solar project ever. It won’t be the biggest by any stretch but there’s no doubt its impact will amplify the power of this special place. The Burton Street Community Peace Gardens has been a place for absorbing trauma and for healing for a