[ijusluvit]

Originally Posted by Tom Hannon

Tom, One of my customers I had while in business (Machine shop) is a solar engineer/ solar scientist. I forwarded him your idea and below is his reply...



I would contact the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa Florida, not far from you at all! There has to be someone there that can speak intelligently on the various state and federal programs your community can pursue.

Tom,
Congratulations on keeping this thread alive for 14 months! I encourage you to pursue it further and ask for more suggestions or help when you need it. If you are able to reach the right people hopefully you will be able to develop a viable plan. My feeling is that if a feasible plan specific to TV is published, the resident participants necessary to make it work will follow.

i love the idea, am so tired of putting money into non renewable energy, and sending our hard earned dollars overseas...it is about time we take care of ourselves.
now what to do? start small with retro-fitting one village as an experiment....surely there is some university or some sort of grant available to fund this sort of thing. we do have retired engineers hers, and others who have a lot of experience in the energy business?
thanks.

[PJ]

This is a great idea, count me in!

[Philip Winkler]

Originally Posted by Tom Farrell

I spent over 40 years in the power construction energy, and have lived in the Villages for 3 years. I think we have the unique opportunity to try for a project to change the Villages to a solar energy national project. If we look into converting to solar energy (not just hot water), it would cost approx $40k. No one is interested that. However if there were about 40,000 houses that would get it done on a government sponsered stimulus program, the costs should could be substanially reduced, and we could be a model for the country;s green energy program.
How would the Villages be qualified for such a program? I am assumming we have about 40,000 houses based on our population of 75,000. We are in one of the sunniest areas of the country. Almost all houses are single story of standardized designs with ashphault shingle roofs. All are conducive to solar energy. They are grouped into an organized owner structure with individualized owners. The Villagers are a dynamic group that is constantly looking for improvedways of living.
I sent a suggestion for this to obtain stimulus funds for such a program to the Dept of Energy and the White House Stimulus Coordinator. I did not receive a reply from the WH (not sure if my email got there). THe Dept of Energy suggested I follow through the States stimulus progrom. I have presented to the Owners group with no response, and also to the POA organization again with no response.
I believe if we could get stimulus funds under the green energy prram for a Village Energy Project, we should be able to target the costs for a house to $10k where you could actually receive refunds for back flow of electricity to the grid. Also part of the program would be to update the energy efficiency of your house, to further reduce your energy costs as part of the government program.
I am open for suggestions as to how to get stimulus funds and Village support for such a green energy program, or if you think it far out, to drop it. Tom Farrrell

Tom,
Here is a Department of Energy funding opportunity:

SunShot Initiative: Rooftop Solar Challenge to Induce Market Transformation - The goal of the Rooftop Solar Challenge is to achieve measurable improvements in market conditions for rooftop photovoltaic across the United States, with an emphasis on streamlined and standardized permitting and interconnection processes. This FOA will take a phased approach, addressing four main action areas (listed below), designed so awardees that succeed in all action areas will have the necessary policy and process framework in place to support a robust solar market in their region:
· Permitting and Interconnection Processes
· Net Metering and Interconnection Standards
· Financing Options
· Planning and Zoning.

Letter of Intent Due Date: July 18, 2011
Application Due Date: August 31, 2011

For-profit entities have to team on this one so please contact as soon as possible. In order to submit a full application you must submit a letter of intent by July 18th.

I'd be happy to help on this.

Best,
Phil Winkler