Creative Energies Blog

Creative Energies strives to conduct its business operations in as sustainable a manner as possible. Though we examine all aspects of our operation, it is our Lander, Wyoming Main office that that has received the greatest attention.

In 2008 we renovated this 1924 farm house including adding some additional space. We insulated and sealed the building, improved some of the windows and added solar tubes for daylight. In 2009 we installed a geothermal heat pump for the building’s heating and cooling and a grid connected wind turbine. At that point we tracked the energy use for a year and then designed and installed a grid-tied photovoltaic system designed to meet the remaining electric needs of the building.

Now, a year after the installation of the solar PV system, we are finding that our annual energy balance is arriving exactly at zero. Excess electric production during the months from April through October offset our net use from November through March.

Click on each slide for a larger image; some of the text is pretty small.

Isa and Daddy (aka Phil) helped Curtis install his solar panels on his fabulously old (and soon to be amazingly restored) house. Sylvi and I hung out for a short while, mostly long enough to eat some apples from the apple trees, and then left the rest of the work to them. Isa had a blast helping out and even got to get up on the roof. I hope she took notes on the installation, so we can call on her skills at some point– she can be Daddy’s sidekick.

For Immediate Release

Date: 2.18.2010

Contact: Scott Kane, Creative Energies

Creative Energies hired for Largest Solar Project in Wyoming

Town of Jackson contracts with Creative Energies for 810 panels

Lander-based Creative Energies has been contracted to design and install several of the biggest solar power systems in the state and region. The Town of Jackson, WY has hired Creative Energies, to install an additional 810 solar panels on Town facilities, creating the largest solar installation in the state.  When the project is completed this summer, the town of Jackson will have four solar projects with a total capacity of 225kW. The largest of these projects will be at the town’s wastewater treatment facility, where a total of 842 panels will produce roughly 200kW. Of the three other systems, two are already in place — on the stair tower of the parking garage and at the Deloney street public restroom – and the third system will assist a town water project in Karns meadow.

  27kW solar array installed at the Jackson Waste Water Treatment plant in 2008 by Creative Energies. The 2010 installation will be six times as large!

“Our goal with these projects” said Mayor Mark Barron “is to continue to move the ball forward with our commitment to becoming energy sustainable. We have good baseline data about usage and have made significant strides in setting out energy efficiency retrofit strategies. Renewable energy is also a critical piece of our overall sustainability goals, and we are thrilled to partner with Creative Energies and leverage stimulus dollars to save energy, create jobs, and work towards national goals of energy security.”

In addition to the Town of Jackson project, Creative Energies have also been selected to design and build several other major projects. The company won a highly competitive bidding process to secure and a a contract with the US National Park Service to design and build a 76 kilowatt  solar power system for at Mesa Verde National Park in Southwest Colorado. They are also currently under construction on a 50 kilowatt solar installation for the Wyoming Department of Tourism and Travel and WDOT’s  North East Wyoming Welcome Center near Sundance, Wyoming.

The Town of Jackson solar farm will be the largest solar array in  Wyoming and several of the surrounding states, and the Town of Jackson will be the largest grid tied solar customer in the region. “Two hundred and twenty five kilowatts of solar is a very large system for this area” says Creative Energies owner Andy Tyson. “The Town is really making a sound investment in this technology. By targeting stimulus funding on a technology that will yield steady energy generation with minimal operating cost for decades to come, the Town has made a shrewd long-term investment.” The solar panels will create as much electricity as is used by 33 Wyoming homes.

Creative Energies has been designing and installing renewable energy systems in the Rocky Mountain west for nine years. They have completed solar energy systems, wind power systems and geothermal heating and cooling systems for residences, ranches, businesses, schools and state and federal agencies.

Creative Energies

P.O. Box 1777, Lander,  WY 82520
Lander, WY office  307.332.3410
Victor, ID office  208.354.3001
Fax  888.456.6625
scott@creativeenergies.biz    

www.creativeenergies.biz

PO Box 1777 · Lander, WY 82520 · 307.332.3410 · www.CreativeEnergies.biz

Above and following are photos from my recent visit to the Solar Decathlon event in Washington DC. Teams of students from 20 universities design and build small homes that need to meet specific performance and comfort goals. The event is held every two years, when the homes are “built” on the Mall in Downtown Washington DC. Tours are given to the public and the houses are tested and judged. The application of quality building materials and the innovation in small footprints (800 sqft is the maximum) is really interesting to see and experience. There was plenty of variety in the solutions to the meet the engineering challenges of the event, but one thing remained the same as the last Solar Decathlon – Germany won. I had a couple favorites – Ontario and California, with many bits and pieces from other homes. Check out the Solar Decathlon website for virtual tours, product lists and links to competing teams websites. http://www.solardecathlon.org/