Creative Energies co-owner Scott Kane delivered the key note address to a crowd of sustainable living enthusiasts at the University of Wyoming on Earthday, April 22. Scott addressed the state of the solar and wind energy industries, career opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable energy, carbon offset programs, and the cost of energy. A few slides from Scott’s presentation are posted here.
After passing the Senate by a convincing margin, it doesn’t appear that the Cantwell-Ensign bill will make it through the House. We will post updates as the occur, there is more information at the SEIA website.
Federal incentives for renewables have been up and down for both solar and wind since the invention of renewable energy. Currently, the investment tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2008. This means that any system has to be installed and operational before the end of the calendar year to be able to claim the credit.
There has already been two attempts at extending these incentives this year, and a third go-round is in progress. Today, the Senate adopted an amendment to the housing stimulus bill by a wide margin of 88-8. In addition to extending the commercial and residential investment tax credits, the $2,000 cap for residential projects would be removed and there would no longer be an exclusion for utilities.
This bill would have a big impact on the already booming solar industry. The next step is for the House and Senate to agree on a final version to send to the President.
Visit the SEIA website for more breaking news. For more information regarding current incentives, visit WY and federal incentives.
by Phil Schneider
Phil Schneider, Tracy Tollett, and Andy Tyson attended a training last week with Proven Energy (Proven is said with a long “O”, after the company’s founder Gordon Proven). Designed and manufactured in Scotland, Proven wind turbines are gaining popularity in the US. The training (first of it’s kind in the US) was organized by Michael Miller of Teton Power (many thanks!), who is actively developing Proven’s presence in the United States.
Preparing to lower the turbine.
Proven wind turbines are known in the industry to be very robust. Richard Caldow, operations manager with Proven, explained the nuances of the turbine design piece by piece. The turbine has evolved over 20 years of experience in some of the harshest wind on the planet - the salt air coast of Scotland, the bitter cold of Antactica, as well as the heat of Africa. Part of the training was a field trip to Big Piney, WY, where Enercrest has a Proven Energy 6 kW wind turbine installed on a 15m tilt-up monopole tower.
Configurations are available for both battery charging and grid-connected systems, and come in four different sizes ranging from 600 W to 15 kW in capacity. We look forward to working with Proven wind turbines as part of our renewable energy offerings.
Tilting towers make service and training easy.
Richard of Proven Energy answering questions about the unique blade design.