Elysia Niemi asked:




In a plan that is less surprising than audacious, Las Vegas city fathers plan to place solar panels on top of carports at a number of city-owned and operated facilities.

The $11-million plan, will reportedly cut the city’s electricity costs by about $300,000 a year when completed, and generate enough electricity to supply 170 homes.

The solar panels in question have a life expectancy of between 25 and 40 years (the first figure being closer to the expert’s usual estimates), and the city’s investment of $600,000 from a “green” building fund will reportedly be recaptured in about 15 years.

The rest of the funding – $4,150,000 of Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant funds (EECBG), $1,276,738 from Community Development Block Grant Recovery (CDBG-R, or ARRA) funds, and $5.1 million from New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, as well as utility rebates for renewable energy – makes up the balance.

The project will initially start with three sets of panels mounted across 34 carport stalls and paid for by ARRA funding, and will be located at the new Stupak Community Center at 300 W. Boston Ave. (across the street from the Chester Stupak Park). The center, built in 2008 at a cost of $7.5 million, is nearly complete and contains 34,183 square feet of ESL and general classrooms, an indoor gym/aerobic fitness and weight control center, a kitchen, a library and a game room. Opening is scheduled for this winter.

Two other solar projects, also slated for carport roofs on public buildings, will finish the 950-kilowatt project, which is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the city’s carbon footprint by 949 tons of carbon monoxide (which would have been produced by burning fossil fuels). Stupak Center solar project construction is expected to start in 2010.

The new Stupak Community Center is slated for completion this fall, with an opening proposed for this winter. The solar carport at the center is expected to break ground sometime in 2010.

The panels, funded from the Community Development Block Grant Recovery portion of ARRA, is the first project approved in the region, which includes Nevada, California, Arizona and Hawaii, and will provide between 10 and 30 percent of the center’s power needs, depending on usage.

The panels also provide covered parking, and they, along with solar installations at the wastewater treatment plant, will move the city to 10 percent of renewable power by 2011, which is close to Nevada’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) of 25 percent of energy from renewables by 2025.

Cooler Planet is a leading solar resource for connecting consumers and commercial entities with local solar Installers. Cooler Planet’s solar energy resource page contains articles and tools about solar panels to help with your solar project.



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Dane Knox asked:




As an avid proponent of Michigan Renewable Energy, I would like for you to offer you my review of The Efficient Planet Kit which is by far one of the best products I have seen for clean energy in a long time.

The kit instructions for the projects are, without doubt, some of the easiest I ever had to follow. I was skeptical to begin with, as are most people, but after reviewing the contents, it was a snap. Not only are the instructions concise, they are fully illustrated as well.

If you can read a pictorial book, then you can build anything you want within this series. Each section is laid out in such a fashion that it’s almost impossible to mess it up. Checks, double checks, it’s all in there. Was you afraid to drive the first time, sure, but you got over it right? Don’t let a fear creep in that you can’t do this because this is seriously NO challenge at all.

If it was, I wouldn’t have done it !

These are just some of the Benefits and Features of this kit!

1 – Build your own wind turbine.

2 – Build your own solar power system

3 – Easy to read and follow instructions

4 – Save yourself thousands each year~!

5 – Receive energy credits through your State!

6 – Become a leader in your neighborhood

7 – Help Save Our Planet Today!

One of the reasons I’m reviewing this product is because Michigan embarked on a statewide promotion of the so-called “green building” or “green construction” which advocates the Michigan Renewable energy saving and environmental friendly practices in place of conventional urban planning, construction method and materials used. Green building enables natural preservation of both the structure and the environment. The result is an earth-friendly place befitting a naturally green lifestyle.

Opting for energy-efficient appliances (those in the list of Energy Star, the US environmental protection agency) and water-saving fixtures.

Designs that takes advantage of natural energy sources apart from the sun, like installation of wind mills, hydro-electric mini-plants and river or lake systems to power the fuel needs of an entire community, a building complex or a home.

Just as a reference, Inclusion of natural vegetation spots such as roof top gardens, pocket gardens and eco-friendly lawns in highly urbanized areas and high-rise neighborhoods to increase oxygen supply, improve air quality and counteract ultra-violet ray intrusion.

Not only does their kit come with everything you need, there are bonus projects as well, not to mention that any new member gets free updated material for life!

I hope this quick review has helped you decide that you are all for going green. I know I am and will continue to build more projects based on suggestions from Efficient Planet.

You can learn more in regards to my review at http://www.MichiganRenewables.com

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Let’s do something together and make this planet safer and more efficient for the future .Go Green!



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