July 4th 2010 Newsletter:
Hello Friends,
Our dear friend, farming mentor, and the owner of our share barn, Michael Docter is covering the barn roof in solar panels! The following message from Michael includes details of this exciting project and even how you can purchase some of the surplus power:
What’s Next: Our Barn is Going Solar!
Over 150 solar panels will be installed on the barn roof in the coming weeks. A great way to celebrate the 4th of July and gain energy independence from coal and nuclear power and take one small step away from nasty oil slicks.
The panels will cover the entire southern side of the barn roof—in fact we have to enlarge the roof a foot or two to accommodate all the panels. Next Barn Over will use the electricity to power their coolers and lights in the summer and Winter Moon Farm will use the electricity during the winter to run packing and cooling equipment for my winter root crops.
Extra electricity for sale!. Because the system is large and we have already reduced our farm’s electricity consumption, there will be lots of electricity left over to sell through WEMCO’s net metering program. If you are interested in “buying your veggies and your ‘juice’ ” from the farm, email me (Michael) at Mdocter@wintermoonorganic.com (Please note: You must to be a WEMCO customer to participate—you will pay WEMCO through your regular bill and then they will send the payment on to Winter Moon Farm.)
The main funding for the system will actually come from two grants that are pending before the USDA and the MA Department of Agriculture and most importantly, the sale of our “Solar Credits” through the state’s new “SREC” program. The SREC program (Solar Renewable Energy Certificate) was passed last year and it is basically Massachussetts’ very own “Cap and Trade” program. It forces utilities to purchase a certain amount of clean energy generation capacity each year. Thanks to Deval Patrick and other progressive legislators, you are going to see a lot more solar collectors going up in Massachussetts in the next year. We are just happy that we are blessed with a great big roof and plenty of sunshine to make this work!
So... Pardon the scaffolding and construction over the next few weeks. A bright sunny day is coming.
Sincerely,
Michael Docter