On March 21, in celebration of the Spring Equinox, Creative Energies staff members AJ Linnel and Scott Kane raced as a two-person team in the 12 hour Equinox Ski Challenge in West Yellowstone, MT. The object of the race is forteams to ski as far as they can in the allotted time. AJ and Scott tookturns through the day and long into the night and finished with a tally of 184 kilometers. - Scott Kane
Creative Energies has been designing, providing equipment, and installing systems in Antarctica for a number of years. This year we installed and upgraded 5 remote power systems for Antarctic – Logistics and Expeditions. Power in remote areas like Antarctica is important; the system must be reliable and robust for the extreme conditions. As a business we have always worked on remote, small power systems, it is a great application of solar technology. Solar is extremely low maintenance and reliable. The “generator” uses no moving parts and runs on free sunlight (fuel). So Antarctica, space, oilfields, hunting cabins, and bus stops all are remote in their own way, benefiting from free energy from the sun without the burden, cost, and impracticality of an electric grid to connect them to central generation facilities.
Over the last decade electronics have advanced enough to allow all of us to use solar electric energy, even if we are not “remote”, living connected to the electric grid. Choosing the appropriate energy source for the job will be an increasingly important decision in our growing world. Powering things like lights, computers, kitchen alliances and TV’s with extremely reliable and green solar electricity is available to us all, today. We can all benefit from free fuel, no moving parts and the incredible reliability of solar.
(graph is courtesy of NOLS, y-axis is kilowatt-hours)
NOLS Rocky Mountain here in Lander, WY has a 14.3 kW DC grid-interactive solar electric power system. The system has been in operation for over a year now. The system produced about 64 kilowatt-hours per day, and more than 23,000 kilowatt-hours for the year. The system was funded in part by a Rocky Mountain Power Blue Sky Grant. There is more information about electricity usage at NOLS Rocky Mountain on the NOLS blog. Live performance data is available online.
by Jake MacArthur
Given the current economy and local interest in renewable energy, we are frequently asked, “Are you busy?” Well, this question can be difficult to answer at this time of year. After an extremely hectic Fall that bled into January, we have completed most of our installation work. In general, installation in Wyoming and Idaho is difficult during the heart of winter – temps are below freezing and feet of snow rest upon the roofs. Additionally, the winter offers us the perfect respite to catch up on other aspects of the business. We refine our systems, reorganize our shops and prep materials for the summer.
Scott and Andy have been busy refining business documents and working on marketing projects. Toby and Curtis are finishing up a few heat pump projects and also designing systems for the Summer. Phil and Jake have been improving spreadsheets, consulting and designing a number of residential and commercial-size projects, and staying busy with drawings. Joel, AJ, and Tracy continue to do occasional install and service work. And, of course, Cheryl is working hard to manage the residual office chaos (ahh, tax time).
Nonetheless, the phone is steadily ringing, projects continue to roll in, and we are anticipating a great summer. Even with the down turn in the economy, there continues to be excitement towards renewable energy!
by Tracy Tollett
Recently I was involved in the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race. Since before Thanksgiving, I have been spending 2 days a week at the kennel of Stacy and Frank Teasley who run Jackson Hole Iditarod Sled Dog Tours at Granite Hot Springs just south of Jackson, Wyoming. Frank is the Director of the IPSSSDR and his wife Stacy runs their race team. I joined in to help them for the dog racing season. Leading up to the big race, we trained 10 dog teams to run increasingly long distances of up to 60 miles and we raced in two local races (both of which we won!). The Stage Stop was a bunch of fun this year with competitors from Scotland, Quebec, the Northwest Territories, and Alaska. This year the weather was unseasonably warm (perhaps this global warming thing?) and the dogs had a hard time in the above freezing temperatures. The heat gave them cramps and the only thing that we could do was stretch and massage them. One day I gave 4 dogs 30 minute massages each. I wish I could have received the same treatment because by the end of the race I was super tired and sore.
Photo 1: Blue (the MVP of our team) and I
Photo 2: Mel racing to the finish (she won this year’s race)
Photo 3: One of our competitors
Photo 4: At every stage there were tons of school kids who came on a field trip to see the race
Photo 5: Stacy Teasley who I worked with, we came in 7th
by Jake MacArthur
After multiple weeks of high pressure and sunny skies, the snow has melted from the South side of the roofs and PV production has been great! Although more snow is on its way, Creative Energies employees AJ Linnell and Jake MacArthur took the opportunity to ski in Grand Teton National Park. They attempted to climb to and ski from the summit of the Middle Teton. Despite being turned around just below the top, they enjoyed excellent skiing for 6,000 vertical feet.
