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The Path to a More Sustainable Life

Jan 12

18

Solarize the Future

Posted by Mac on January 18, 2012
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sabin Green

By David Sweet, Solar Oregon member and Solar Ambassador

Ralph Nader famously remarked, “The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.”  But that was before we created the Solarize Portland model that has opened up solar energy to hundreds of Portland households and is about to open it to hundreds more.

Solarize Northeast had its start in the fall of 2009, when my friend Kelly Rodgers and I decided to see if we could replicate the Solarize model that had been created in Southeast Portland.  We brought our plan to the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, which took it on, and the result was 204 solar installations in Northeast Portland.

The idea has really taken off, and over the last 2½ years, neighborhood-based Solarize projects in Portland have resulted in over 700 solar installations.  In all of 2008, by comparison, there were 38 installations.  But the Solarize totals are only part of the story, because the number of non-Solarize installations in Portland is exploding as well—there were more than 500 in 2010 and more than 1000 in 2011.

What’s going on?  Social scientists call it “innovation diffusion”—the spread of a new idea.  Typically, innovations are championed by activist “change agents,” and first tried by so-called “early adopters.”  Our goal with the Solarize projects is to move solar technology to the “tipping point,” where it spreads beyond early adopters and into the mainstream.  Among the factors that determine whether and how quickly an innovation spreads are its complexity and its visibility.  The Solarize model addresses these factors.

We simplify the complex decision making with a predetermined contractor, a fixed price, and community workshops to demystify the process.  We also make solar technology more visible through our outreach, our workshops, and the number of panels going up in our neighborhoods.  People are also encouraged to try something new if it’s being done by people they know—people like them—their community.  Which is another reason that the Solarize community model is so successful.

Solarize is also a model for the cultural transformation we need to make.  The end of the oil age is upon us.  The subsidy of ancient sunlight that has brought us the wealth and wonders of a global industrial society is ending.  In the very near future, we will need to be locally self-reliant and self-sufficient.  We will need to produce most of what we need, including energy, very close to home.  We will also need strong bonds of community to support us through this challenging change.  Solarize Northeast is a shift toward local self-sufficiency and it is an exercise in community.  And community, like a muscle, becomes stronger when it is exercised.

Eighty years ago, Thomas Edison told Henry Ford, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy.  What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”  Well, we haven’t quite run out, and we’re beginning to tackle it.  Solarize Northeast Phase II is going to be even more successful than Phase I, and I’m excited that I get to be part of it.  My gratitude to NECN and to everyone here who is working to create a more resilient, self-reliant, and stronger community.

The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods is proud to announce a second round of Solarize Northeast, a community driven project to simplify solar electric installation for North & Northeast Portland residents. Mr. Sun Solar has been selected as the solar contractor for this effort.

Interested neighbors enjoy savings through a community-driven bulk purchase of solar panels. Solarize Northeast hosts workshops to educate residents about solar options, site assessment, installation, and financing options.  For more information, including dates and times of workshops see …  http://solarize.necoalition.org/

Jan 12

12

New Year’s Resolutions

Posted by Mac on January 12, 2012
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Rants, Raves & Musings • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Lately I’ve been reading up on how to be a successful non-profit board member like Nonprofit Management 101 and How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization. In doing my homework, I came across this list of resolutions for nonprofit board members that I just had to share with all of you. I also sent this to the boardmembers I serve with on the Earthshare Oregon and Solar Oregon boards. Please indulge (and pardon) me … I don’t mean to preach and I do mean well. I hope you’ll take these ten things to heart and apply them so our non-profit organizations can be as successful as possible.

It’s that time again—for turning over a new leaf, for reexamining our work and lives, for refocusing on what we really want, and for refreshing our commitment to good works.

Here are some great New Year’s resolutions for nonprofit board members. If you do these, you’ll set an example and be a “spark plug” for your organization — and you’ll also help make the world a better place through your favorite nonprofit.

 1. Get more engaged. Your non-profit needs you to pay attention to your job as a nonprofit board member. We don’t need disengaged bosses.  And yes, you are the boss – you’re the legal fiduciary guardian of your nonprofit. The staff all report to us and they need us to lead, to question, and to act.

 2. Have a bias towards action. Do something. Non-profits need more than talk out of you. Don’t be one of those board members who thinks his or her job is to come to meetings and pontificate. Look for real actions you can take to help the cause. Ask the staff what they need you to do this month, this quarter, this new year. There’s too much at stake to just sit around and talk!

 3. Think big. You can make a huge difference if you think BIG! We’re not going to change the world, save the environment, feed the hungry, or change the community, by thinking small. There is great power in a big, wildly exciting vision. A big vision helps you attract people and resources  to your cause. Energy is everything when you are trying to create change.

 4. Be optimistic, no matter what. Be a board member who sees the glass half full. Ban the handwringing and nay-saying. Negativity is self-defeating , wipes out passion and deadens momentum.  Be the board member who has the point of view of abundance rather than scarcity. You’ll influence the rest.

 5. Go back to your vision over and over and over. It will keep you excited, focused, passionate, and results-oriented.  If you feel jaded or bored, ask yourself why you care about this cause and this organization. You’ll feel deep personal satisfaction when you see the results your organization is creating in people’s lives.

 6. Be the catalyst; be the provocateur. Challenge the status quo. Remember Jack Welch’s quote: “If the change is happening on the outside faster than it is on the inside, the end is near.”  Well, guess what – that goes for nonprofits too. Too many nonprofits plan for the future based firmly on the past. Be willing to ask, “Why are we doing this?”

 7. Make your own personal gift to support your organization. And … encourage the other board members to give generously. If you don’t put your money where your mouth is, you have absolutely no credibility. Set an example. Don’t be afraid to bring up the subject of board gifts in board meetings. Be willing to talk to other board
members about their annual contributions and commitments.

 8. Support the staff. Ask them what they need from you or how you can support them. The staff is carrying the weight of the organizational responsibility on their shoulders. Pay them competitive salaries. Don’t let them overwork in the name of the cause. Return their phone calls and respond to their emails. Tell them what a great job they’re doing. An acknowledged, self-confident staff is a higher-performing staff.

 9. Introduce ten of your friends to your cause. See if you can get them on your organization’s bandwagon. You’re not asking them for money, you’re trying to get them to join the cause. Have an open house and invite your friends to meet your Executive Director, or take a group on a tour out to the field to show them the good work your organization is doing.

 10. Spread your organization’s viral news wherever you go. Ideas are like viruses – they are contagious, spreading from person to person. You want to create an epidemic of good buzz about your organization all around. All your friends, family and business associates need to know about your passionate involvement in your cause.

 Bottom Line:

  • Don’t be a bystander.
  • Don’t waste your time in meaningless meetings
    and committees.
  • Make your service on the board meaningful. Make
    a difference.
  • Support your staff.
  • There’s way, way too much at stake.

I challenge us all to make it happen in 2012. Let’s put our ideas into ACTION!

Best Regards.

Reprinted from Gail Perry, January 2010
© 2010, Gail Perry

Gail Perry is the author of Fired Up Fundraising: Turn Board Passion into Action and founder of Gail Perry Associates, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based consulting and training firm.

Jan 12

5

2012 New Year Message

Posted by Mac on January 5, 2012
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

                                                         Happy New Year!

Last year Solar Oregon spent a great deal of time working on our three-year strategic plan, building and training staff, relocating to a new home, and working to ensure solar energy incentives are available for everyone in Oregon. As we look back, we’re proud of all that we accomplished, but we’re even more excited to begin the New Year.  Our organization is committed to bringing together citizens, government, business, educational groups, and sustainability advocates to help solve our energy issues and improve the quality of life in our beautiful state.

So we approach 2012 with a renewed vigor with new initiatives aimed at better supporting our mission. We intend to expand our influence and will be working with communities to provide support for a multitude of Solarize and educational programs across the entire state. We’ll also be improving our internal processes, systems and website to allow for easier access to information and improve communication for our members and residents.

Oregon is such a special and diverse place abundant with natural resources and majestically beauty. Many of us choose to live here because of this quality of life. If you made a resolution to live a more sustainable, less polluting, and healthier lifestyle this year, then Solar Oregon has plenty of opportunities for you to make a difference right away. Please contact the Solar Oregon office to inquire about how to get involved.

Join Solar Oregon today – together we can make 2012 a year of action!

http://solaroregon.org/join-solar-oregon

Our best years are ahead of us as an organization because solar power is the
future! As leaders of Solar Oregon, we are honored to serve the organization, our members, partners and residents of Oregon. Let’s work together to make our ideas and values a reality.  Regards,

 Mac and Claire

Ron "Mac" McDowell, President

Claire Carlson, Executive Director

Dec 11

31

Bye-Bye 2011

Posted by Mac on December 31, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Rants, Raves & Musings • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mt. Hood Oregon - December 2011

The renewable energy industries are under attack and for mostly political reasons. In solar, we are even at war with ourselves as stakeholders have turned against each other, while the powers-that-be sit on the sidelines. All of this is distracting our attention at a time when we should be creating great demand to balance this (over) supply, and get us off of fossil fuels as soon as possible. I urge you to join an ASES chapter, like NorCal Solar or Solar Oregon, because they work hard to create supportive policy for solar power, educate our citizens, and drive demand into the heartland of America – only $5 a month for a membership!

 

Dec 11

21

Letter from the President

Posted by Mac on December 21, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

El Presidente with Executive Director Claire Carlson

Dear Friends: With 2011 quickly drawing to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to express how grateful I am to everyone who supported Solar Oregon this past year. THANK YOU! to those of you who joined as a member, volunteered at an event, or sent a donation in support of our mission.

I am thankful I belong to a community that shares the promise of solar energy and one that values sustainability, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

Solar Oregon recently celebrated our thirty-second anniversary and no doubt this year will go down in our history as a period of significant challenge and achievement. We are proud of our accomplishments and we remain committed to being a trusted resource to our members, the general public, policymakers, advocacy groups, the media, and our professional partners.

Recently we strengthened our resolve with a newly-developed strategic plan and revised mission and values statement.

 Our Values – community, optimism, leadership, passion, results, and distributed and scalable solutions – form the core of everything we do at Solar Oregon.

Community: Solar Oregon has developed a community where Oregonians who are interested in solar energy have a voice and feel empowered to be the solution for a clean energy future. We provide a forum for sharing local perspectives, knowledge, and experience.

Optimism: Solar Oregon believes that a clean energy future is possible, and that solar will move us to a clean energy future.

Leadership: Solar Oregon leads the way for a clean energy future by demonstrating the successful use of solar energy. Through our Solar Ambassadors, community organizers, and our members, we inspire people to share their practical experience. Solar Oregon provides leadership through our depth of knowledge and connections across Oregon.

Passion: Solar Oregon loves what we do! We are a mission-oriented organization motivated by the meaningful work we do. At Solar Oregon, you will find a workplace surrounded by people who share their passion and values, motivated by the idea that there is always something new on the solar horizon.

I’ve lived and worked in Oregon about half of my life and raised my family here. I feel at peace in a place that is so green and beautiful and I’d like to keep it that way for generations to come. I feel we all have this responsibility and it is one of the main reasons I am an avid supporter of renewable energy. To my way of thinking it is a no-brainer to reduce fossil fuel consumption by utilizing a different technology to energize our homes. Solar makes that all possible.

From all of us at Solar Oregon, I wish you the merriest of holiday seasons and a happy new year. I hope to see you in 2012!

~ Ron “Mac” McDowell, President, Solar Oregon

 

Dec 11

14

Hey, where’s my gavel?

Posted by Mac on December 14, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Solar  | Tagged With: , | No Comments yet, please leave one

2012 Solar Oregon Board of Directors (I'm right front)

This week, I facilitated my first Solar Oregon Board meeting as President and I must say it was satisfying.  We approved the 2011 Q4 budget and took a peek at what 2012 holds. In short, there is much work to do, but I think we’ve got the strategic plan, motivation, and skill-set to meet our mission for years to come.

Following the meeting we enjoyed a board/staff party at our new headquarters in The Pearl district of Portland. It was a bonding experience and I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to spend my time with. I requested a picture of our new board of directors and this is the result [minus one member].

I wish them all a Happy Holidays … and to you too, my dear readers.

Nov 11

18

Living with Solar – If you live amongst the trees, expect debris

Posted by Mac on November 18, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • naturehouse • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

“I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.” ~ Joyce Kilmer

A storm blew through our region last night, and man, it was windy. It was the typical wet ‘n wild pacific storm track that we get in the Northwest this time of year. I do love the Fall – college football season of course – but it’s nature’s changing colors, filtered light, and the chill in the air I appreciate the most.

Southwest Arnold Street – Portland Oregon

We live on Arnold Street, a scenic place of creeks, trees, moss, wildlife, and no sidewalks. In times past, our
neighborhood was considered the woods just outside of town, although we’re just seven miles from downtown. I’ve seen data that shows Arnold Creek as the most canopied neighborhood in all of Portland.
The street itself parallels a stream that bears its name and it runs through a dense forest until it spills into Tryon Creek SP (640 acres) which is at one end of our street. The neighborhood butts up against Mountain Park, so we have elevation and hills to contend with, and our house is on a slope surrounded by tall evergreen trees of all kinds. We feel fortunate to live here, except on a day like today. In the aftermath of this storm, our neighborhood is a disaster with broken tree limbs, downed power lines, tree leaves and debris scattered everywhere.

For rooftop solar collection, this is an especially difficult time in the Pac Northwest. Trees, hills, shade, and storms are enemies of solar efficiency, but even without those things, solar resource is something we sorely lack in the Willamette Valley this time of year. Last winter I lamented and wrote a piece called Winter is a time of doubt … http://solarflareblog.com/?p=1772

Our solar panels needed cleaning after the storm

It is common knowledge that when choosing a site for solar collection, one must consider sites with minimal tree coverage and free from shadowing by chimneys, dormers, power lines, structures or hills. A professional solar contractor will conduct an assessment and locate the best solar collection site on your property, but since we live in a forest-like setting, this was a difficult proposition. However, we sited our solar array in a place that allowed for over 75% total solar resource fraction (TSRF) [required by the Energy Trust of Oregon for their solar rebate program]; which is a small building in the backyard unattached from our main residence where we placed our 20 Sanyo HIT solar modules.

It’s important to keep panels gleaming for maximum electrical output. Dirty panels reduce efficiency.

Tree debris, pollution, dust, tree sap, pollen, soot and other fine particles, build up an opaque layer of grime on the panels. Even bird droppings can significantly reduce the power output by shading the silicon cells under the protective glass layer. In places where there is abundant rainfall, solar panels require relatively little cleaning or maintenance. In fact, I’ve hosed off our solar array only four times over the past two years. See Keep ‘em clean … http://solarflareblog.com/?p=1079.

In colder climates solar electric modules tend to self-clear snow and most dirt and grime is removed by the melting snow or rain. In the Southwest region of America, it rains so infrequently that this just isn’t an option. Besides, the desert dust mixes with the oils and dirt on the road then is picked up by the winds and deposited on residential rooftops. So, to clean requires more maintenance and in many cases a biodegradable “earth friendly” detergent is used to remove the oil-soaked grime from the panels.

I’ve never used a cleaning detergent. I simply spray off our panels with a garden hose, which takes only about six minutes from start to finish [including the time it takes to clean out the rain gutters!]

I’m careful to spray under the modules to prevent debris from accumulating as it can reduce airflow and might cause water to back up in a severe rainstorm.  I was also sure to spray the trough – the bottom side of the panel – where pine needles and grime tend to gather. I didn’t even need to use the soft brush this time.

Be careful!

Extreme caution should always be taken when on a roof or a
ladder. Consider hiring a professional service to perform regular cleaning if
your home is multiple stories, or if you cannot use a hose from a distance more
than 50 feet. Use a soft brush on a pole so that there’s no chance the panels will be damaged by any weight being placed on them. Although the tempered glass surface of a module is quite durable, it will break if you walk on it. Any crack in a tempered glass usually requires replacement of the entire module … and this is something you don’t want.

Even in paradise trees shed debris – look out for palm fronds!

Why should I clean my solar panels … I thought they’re “maintenance free”?

You paid good money for this system and you want maximum output of course. Dust, bird droppings, tree debris and the like can accumulate, thereby reducing module efficiency by 20% or more. The only maintenance most require is a semi-annual washing. For regular dust accumulations, you can simply hose the modules off, but if there’s significant accumulation of tree sap or other residue, cleaning with a sponge or squeegee, using a mild soap and water solution, may be required.

Will cleaning my solar panels invalidate my warranty?

No, just the opposite, regular maintenance of your solar panels will protect your warranty and is recommended by the manufacturer. Most solar electric (PV) modules are guaranteed for 25 years and regular cleaning will keep your warranty valid.

Is getting my solar panels cleaned by a professional expensive?

Pricing is based on the size of your system, accessibility to your solar panels, water source and power. For most residential applications the one-time cost is between $40-$60, however many solar contractors offer discounts for quarterly or monthly cleaning contracts, which is not a bad deal if you live in a dusty region of the country.

I love trees and solar power ... they are nature's gifts!

TREES

by Joyce Kilmer  (1886–1918)

 I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest, against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

 A tree that looks at God all day, and lifts her leafy arms to
pray;

 A tree that may in summer wear, a nest of robins in her
hair;

 Upon whose bosom snow has lain; who intimately lives with
rain.

 Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a
tree.

 

 

 

Nov 11

10

SolarFlare – News Flash

Posted by Mac on November 10, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • About • Solar • Solmac Solar  | Tagged With: , , | 1 Comment

The Solar Oregon Board of Directors met and welcomed three new members who were elected by the organization’s membership at the annual meeting on November 5th.

I am pleased to present the new board members to solarflareblog.com readers …

 Robert Cross  * Erin Greeson * David Petersen

To them, I say congratulations on being elected to the board of directors and welcome! 

The Board also elected new officers and I’m proud to present the executive committee:

Ron “Mac” McDowell - President

Linda Barnes - Past President

Kacia Brockman - Treasurer

Ellen Crivella - Secretary

Yep, that’s my name right there – I am the new President of Solar Oregon!!

I was honored to be selected.  Thanks to my fellow board members for your approval and encouragement.  I look forward to taking on the responsibility of the position, but I must warn you, I have a lot of energy for this organization and our mission. :-)   

Solar Oregon Leadership - Claire Carlson and El Presidente

It’s an exciting time for solar power in America. I look to Solar Oregon as more than just a stakeholder – I see us as a leader and a difference-maker. I’ll work with Claire Carlson and our great new staff to ensure that we are indeed. 

The future for Solar Oregon looks as bright as the sun, my friends.

I am your humble servant.

Nov 11

7

Looking forward to thirty three!

Posted by Mac on November 7, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Solar • Solmac Solar  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Last week was a good one for Solar Oregon!

 

Some of my friends jokingly call Solar Oregon “the little non-profit environmental engine that could”.  And boy, could we. This past week we hosted our first fundraising dinner, celebrated our 32nd year as an organization, held our annual meeting, showed off our electric cars, and then added three new people to our board of directors. Whew … no wonder we’re tired.

Solar Oregon Staff - Emily (L), Adam, Imogen, Claire, Joe

I may be biased, but I think the Solar Oregon staff, under the leadership of ED Claire Carlson, is doing a remarkable job.  They’re a relatively new team and are just starting to gel, but they’re getting the job done and our members are expecting big things from them this year. They are the foundation for all that is possible.

A Cena Ristorante

Solar Oregon Community Dinner

Kudos to staffer Adam Sage, Director of Development, for dreaming up this fundraising dinner and getting the board to go along with it. He then went forward and made it the successful event it was! Indeed a memorable night of fabulous food and great company – as advertised.  [Thanks to Roberto and Cap’n T. for tagging along with me.]

A Cena Ristorante owner Chris Custer and Chef Gabe Gabreski served a five-course dinner of traditional Sicilian pastas, secondi, and sweets, paired with local wine. [OMG the breadsticks!!] So, thanks also to Chris and his staff for a tremendous evening.  If you’re looking for the best Italian food in the Portland metro area, then head over to Sellwood and visit a cena ristorante y enotec http://www.acenapdx.com/.  [Hey, this is my very first restaurant recommendation!]

Dinner event at A Cena

Thanks to everyone who joined us in support for Solar Oregon. We were humbled by your generosity.

Has it been thirty two years already?

I’ve already blabbed about the 32nd annual celebration and meeting in a previous post http://solarflareblog.com/?p=3092 … so I’ll move on to the shoutouts.

Thank You Solar Oregon’s Professional Members for participating and supporting the work we do for solar in our beautiful state. Many of you were there at our dinner and at the  Saturday event too and we appreciate that.

Thanks also to the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association and our friends and members for bringing their electric vehicles to share with others.

Kacia Brockman explains things

I was impressed by the standing-room-only presentation provided by Kacia Brockman. Her topic was Solar: The ABC’s of Residential Solar Financing and she talked about the differences between leasing a solar system and owning it. This choice is hotly debated within the residential solar market and I’ll write about this later. In the meantime, Kacia said she’d post her presentation on the Solar Oregon website, so look for it there soon.

We had several past board members stop by our meeting to say hello and show support – thanks guys, it was great to meet you!  Claire presented the highlights of this past year, and we celebrated our successes, and acknowledged our solar ambassadors and dedicated volunteers.  In all, the event was well worth taking most of my Saturday afternoon.

One door closes …

Kathy Bash (R) chats with Imogen Taylor at NW Solar Expo

Kathy Bash announced she is leaving the board of directors. Kathy was the President of Solar Oregon when I first became involved with the organization. Her dedication, passion and leadership compelled me to join the board and I will miss her terribly. She tells us she’ll still be involved with the Goal Net Zero

Kathy conducted many workshops for Solar Oregon

Interest Group to teach others about net zero energy design and construction … and that’s a blessing.

Kathy is a LEED accredited professional with a Master of Architecture Degree and a Certificate for Teaching Technology in Architecture from the University of Oregon.

You may recognize her from the movie “Deep Green” written and directed by Oregon’s Matt Briggs. Kathy was interviewed for this documentary and I’d like to honor her by sharing a part of it with my readers. I embedded a clip from the movie to give you some idea how important Kathy is to the sustainability community in our region.

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFhwYjcVvlY

“All I know is, I’m alive now and I can do something today, and I can’t in good conscience wait for somebody else to do it. I think the time is now; for me the time is absolutely now. It’s the only time anybody has”. ~ Kathy Bash from “Deep Green” (2010)

Pictures from the annual meeting - World Trade Center, Portland, Oregon

Fall is the time for colorful LEAFs

 

Cindy Hickman shows off her LEAF to Doug and Jason

 Claire Carlson welcomed the attendees

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

 

 SA Anders of the Citizen’s Utility Board (CUB) also presented at our meeting.

Chad Biasi of EV4Oregon was there too!

http://solaroregon.org/events/solar-oregon-annual-meeting-1/view

We hope to see you next year at our 33rd annual celebration!    Go Solar!  Go Oregon!

Solar Oregon is a chapter of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) http://www.ases.org/

Oct 11

31

EVs help celebrate Solar Oregon’s 32nd annual event

Posted by Mac on October 31, 2011
Posted in A Sustainable Life • Electric Vehicles (EV) • Solar  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Please join us Saturday, November 5th, noon-4pm to celebrate Solar Oregon’s annual get together at the World Trade Center in downtown Portland.  The public is invited.

If you’ve been reading this blog you know I’ve been associated with Solar Oregon for several years, first as a volunteer, then as a Solar Ambassador, and now as a Board member. Well, I’m proud to announce that this coming weekend, Solar Oregon will be hosting our 32nd! annual celebration and membership meeting.

This event is an opportunity for Solar Oregon staff and board members give thanks to those who have contributed time, energy, money, and love, to the solar cause. We include a pinch of networking, a dash of information & education, toss in a few electric vehicles and chargers, then add just the right amount of organizational business, to make this a worthy event for anyone who attends.

This is a FREE event … please check the agenda to get the details … http://solaroregon.org/events/solar-oregon-annual-meeting-1/view    

or  >>click here to RSVP

 

***** 

What a week it will be for electric vehicle enthusiasts in Portland Oregon!

The new movie “Revenge of the Electric Car” is opening at the Hollywood Theater this Friday, November 4th and the director, Chris Paine, will be talking with the audience after the 7:00pm showing. The Oregon Electric Vehicle Association (OEVA) will be there and I’ll be there too to share in the revenge!

The very next day, Solar Oregon members will be showing off their own EVs at the World Trade Center courtyard. It should come as no surprise that our members are some of the very first owners of a Nissan LEAF or Chevy Volt. Many members are early adopters and electric vehicles and solar power go together like peas and carrots. 

Indeed, the theme of last year’s annual event was “Driving on Sunshine” and the OEVA participated and sponsored presentations such as: electric utility preparation for PEVs, testimonials from solar-powered EV drivers, and an update on the Oregon EV Project by JD Howell of ECOtality NA. It was a good turnout and everyone seemed to enjoy the show ‘n tell and the formal presentations, so we thought we’d do it again … only bigger!

Therefore, we asked our members to bring their new EVs to the party – in order to give neighbors a good look (or ride) – and to talk with others about their experience.

“An electric vehicle movement is afoot in Oregon.  Oregon is paving the way for EVs to gain momentum, garnering national and international recognition from automakers as a launch market for newly developed electric cars coming to market in 2011 and beyond, as well as attracting millions of dollars in federal monies to build out EV charging infrastructure.  The seeds for clean transportation have been planted with Oregon’s green ethos as shown in the highest concentration of hybrid cars in a very informed and motivated marketplace; in combination other factors such as integration of land-use and transportation (including bicycles and mass transit), visionary policymakers and favorable policies, and creative local companies – clean transportation is poised to take root and grow.”

~ Quoted from Drive Oregon website:  http://driveoregon.org/

Over the past year, there’s been a flurry of electric vehicle activity in Oregon and so much is going on that it is hard to keep track … like did you know???

  • Hollywood Fred Meyer store is the first in the nation to have installed one of ECOtality’s fast-charging EV charging stations;
  • AAA Oregon/Idaho will be one of the very first to add EV quick-chargers to their emergency roadside fleet;
  • Drive Oregon is about to hire their very first executive director;
  • Electric motorcycle co. Brammo Inc. raised $28 million in funding led by motorsports player Polaris Industries Inc;
  • Solar power and electric vehicles are both disruptive technologies.  [That’s right, but they are harmonious to one another.]

June’s edition of Solar Today featured this cover …“Driving EV – Best practices for establishing electric vehicle-charging infrastructure” and included a great article by Daniel Davids, President of Plug-in America, about lessons learned; and just last month, fellow Solar Oregon board member, Bruce Barney, a PGE employee, wrote about his experience combining his PV system with his EV (Nissan LEAF) in Getting to Zero Net Energy for transportation. http://solaroregon.org/news/getting-to-zero-net-energy-for-transportation/?searchterm=barney.

Professional member, RS Energy, knows that solar & EV go together like peas and carrots

Please contact Solar Oregon at 503.231.5662 if you’d like to volunteer, or join up to get plugged in www.solaroregon.com

Bruce Barney’s story was widely read and we often publish these personal stories on our web-site, newsletter, and on my blog.  For example see …

http://solaroregon.org/news/solar-oregon-ambassadors-celebrate-pv-ev-at-home

http://solarflareblog.com/?p=968 

http://solarflareblog.com/?p=1315

http://solarflareblog.com/?p=633

Hope to you see this weekend!

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