Interested in adding a solar power system to your farm, how to pay for it and how it will pay you back? Read Catie Noyes’ story in Farm and Dairy about CFAES’s recent workshop in Wooster …
solar energy
Renewable Energy Workshop is Nov. 4
A solar installer whose headquarters has its own sun-powered system and the largest solar farm in Ohio, which covers an area equal to some 80 football fields, are two of the highlights of the 2015 Renewable Energy Workshop. The event, which CFAES is sponsoring, is Nov. 4 in Carey in northwest Ohio. Read more here. Download the flier and registration form here. (Photo: PSEG solar farm in Wyandot County by Ken Chamberlain, CFAES Marketing and Communications.)
Solar energy could offer significant savings for agriculture
Farmers and agribusinesses can learn more about installing solar energy systems as a way to cut both their costs and their operations’ environmental impacts at an agricultural solar energy workshop at OARDC, CFAES’s research arm, on Oct. 1.
How Ohio farmers are saving, gaining with solar
Reporter Todd Hill writes about Ohio farmers’ growing use of solar power in the April 12 Mansfield News Journal. He talks to, among others, Eric Romich, leader of CFAES’s Energize Ohio program, and Crawford County farmer Rick Niese, who has 200 solar panels on one of his barns.
“As of now, we’ve never received a power charge since we’ve put these in, so everything is apparently doing what it’s supposed to,” Niese said in the story. “If we had to do it again, we would do it. I’ve talked to people who said, even if there was no help out there with the government, they would still do it.” Give it a read.
U.S. solar industry adding jobs 20 times faster than economy as a whole: Report
Thinking about enrolling in ATI’s degree program in renewable energy? Especially solar and wind? Think about this: The U.S. solar industry is adding jobs 20 times faster than the national rate, says the latest National Solar Jobs Census, released Jan. 15 by the nonprofit Solar Foundation. Read stories about the census by CNBC, Fortune and Grist. ATI is CFAES’s two-year degree-granting unit in Wooster.
Nov. 12 forecast: Sunny. Windy. Anaerobic digestively
Experts from industry and academia will share their expertise on emerging green energy opportunities during a daylong workshop to be held Nov. 12 at CFAES’s research arm in Wooster, OARDC. Press release here. Event flier with agenda and registration form here. There’s a discount for early registration (by Nov. 4) and for students. (Photo: iStock.)
In case you missed it; or, here comes the sun rather soon-ish
Within just the next three years, by 2017, more than half the U.S. states, including Ohio, could have rooftop solar energy that’s as cheap as conventional power from the grid. So says a recent estimate by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Reason: The plummeting costs of solar panels and installation. Check out the map.
Want to study, get a job in solar energy? 1 day till Wooster’s green fair
“Employment of solar photovoltaic (PV) installers is projected to grow 24 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for all occupations,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook. If you’re interested in studying and getting a job in solar energy, come to the Wooster Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair tomorrow, April 22 — Earth Day. Faculty from the Renewable Energy Program at CFAES’s Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster will staff an exhibit and will be happy to talk with you!
Harvest the sun: How to add solar power to your farm
CFAES will host a free workshop on using solar power on farms on April 21 in Norwalk. The speakers will be farmers who are already using solar power on their farms and CFAES and industry experts. “Farmers have the tradition of being stewards of the land,” says a 2011 USDA report, “and their investment in renewable energy supports their role of protecting the land, air and water.” The program will cover the hows and why of making such an investment.
Solar vortex: 13 days till Wooster’s green fair
Thinking about adding solar? Talk to three of the exhibitors at the April 22 Wooster Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair: Ashland’s Hyperion Energy Solutions, which offers solar power consultation and management; Sugarcreek’s Paradise Energy Solutions, which installs solar in homes and businesses; and Cleveland’s Carbon Vision, which has designed, installed and managed solar systems at such places as Hiram College and the College of Wooster. Solar power, of course, is renewable and helps cut greenhouse gas emissions. Also of note: Carbon Vision’s solar project manager is giving the fair’s keynote talk.