Adair Solar

Through several grants and contributions from the town itself, Thatcher is among a handful of smaller Arizona towns to get a strong solar powered energy solution underway. The town of Thatcher is estimated to be able to create around 80 percent of the energy that it needs with the installation of solar panels.

Thatcher is not the only AZ town to welcome solar installs. Thanks to grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the cities of Duncan, Safford, and Pima, and the counties of Greenlee and Graham, Arizona all received monies to go toward energy efficient measures, including the installation of solar panels.

Energy efficiency is on the map in Arizona — quite literally! Each city/county is using the solar energy to replace any number of other outdated or inefficient systems, including replacing old air conditioning units for more efficient ones, retrofitting older buildings, and of course, installing solar panels on government buildings and establishments.

Adair Solar is proud to be an Arizona solar company that is able to offer grant money and rebate programs to Arizona residents. We’re also proud of the Arizona residents that are choosing solar power. It’s good for the wallet, the environment, and the future.

Does it seem counter-intuitive that the United States Military is a major proponent for solar energy? Well if it does to you, think again. According to a recent post from Renewable Energy World, the Department of Defense wants to harness all available sources of energy for a number of initiatives — Facilities Energy director Joe Sikes notes that by using renewable energy sources the military and other government run operations become less likely targets. Why? Well when you use a traditional nonrenewable source of energy, like the current grid in the U.S., the target is quite easy to see and therefore disable, making it much more open to attack.

Even better news? Our military leaders have welcomed the government’s desire to make it the resource for testing new forms of renewable energy, including the ever-evolving forms of delivering solar energy through a myriad of equipment choices and installs.

Not only will the U.S. military forces be using solar and other alternative energy sources, they will also be a huge part of the effort to build renewable energy plants to deliver energy to military bases in Georgia and Florida. The Navy and Marines are heading the military efforts in these pioneering steps toward solar power and other forms of alternative and renewable energy. Nevada, Arizona, and California will be the first among a growing number of states to have geothermal energy plants by the U.S. military. Mind-blowing statistic? The California’s Naval Air Weapons Center has a renewable energy plant that provides MORE THAN 100 percent of the energy it uses.

Solar Energy for Arizona Schools

As solar energy and “going green” catch on across the nation, it’s no surprise that public schools will begin to embrace renewable energy sources — not only will it lower the cost of utilities in government run institutions for education, it may also influence the parents of the children who attend schools that are at least in part solar powered.

Cooler Planet reports that many of Arizona’s own public education facilities will be embracing solar energy in the not-too-distant future. The incentive is huge — it’s not just a matter of cheapening energy for the state or for the schools — the lower cost of energy will allow for more access to more equipment and tools for Arizona public school students. A tremendous achievement of this nature brought on by solar energy in Arizona proves that the state is ahead of the game when it comes to renewable energy resources while also proving it has a new-found commitment to better education.

As of right now, Cooler Planet reports that the first pioneering school districts will be in both Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. Adair Solar gives a round of applause to this win-win effort on the part of Arizona government. The choice for solar energy in Arizona will engender long lasting positive results for the children educated in this state while also reducing Arizona’s carbon footprint. Truly a benchmark moment in Arizona’s history.

Michelle Mauthe Harvey of Greener World Media has great news for supporters of green energy and renewable resources. According to a recent article by Harvey, at least thirty Walmart locations will be equipped with solar panels.

While many consumers think of the giant retailer as a monster and even as a place they won’t even go shopping, maybe it’s time to change things up and listen to what Walmart’s been up to since 2005. According to Harvey and Reuters, Walmart made a commitment to eventually be run one hundred percent on renewable resources, including, of course, solar energy.

This newest development will affect a minimum of twenty to thirty Walmart locations across Arizona and California respectively (to begin with.) Adair Solar is pretty proud to have this going on in its own backyard!

These are no small potatoes — the solar panel install Walmart is working on for these stores will reduce nonrenewable energy emissions by 22.5 million kilo-watt hours yearly. Just to give you an idea of how much that is, Harvey and Reuters explain that this would be enough to deliver energy to about 1,750 homes in the US each year.

Exciting solar energy news is all around us, and the fact that large corporations are becoming leaders in this shift shows a great deal of environmental awareness on their part. To wit, they are inspiring other companies — and what’s more important, they are inspiring their own clientele to use solar energy to power homes.

It’s no secret that Denver International Airport (DIA) is one of the world’s largest airports. According to MarketWatch, a photovoltaic solar installation will be the newest addition to the airport. The energy group Constellation Energy plans to operate, maintain, and own the installation with a plan for the Denver Airport to pay for the energy produced by the solar panel install.

This is great news for propelling solar energy across the US, hopefully setting an example for other very large enterprises. That said, this is not the first time that DIA has installed solar panels.  Kim Day of DIA noted that this newest installation is a show of renewed and lasting commitment to solar and renewable energy. In addition, VP of of Constellation’s Green Initiatives tells MarketWatch that he is glad to see DIA continuing to move in the direction of renewable energy sources. MarketWatch reports that the newest installation of solar panels will create somewhere around seven thousand electricity mega-watt hours to the airport for every twelve-month period. This is an enormous saver in terms of nonrenewable energy sources — this endeavor will save tons of money — and will reduce output of carbon-dioxide by around five thousand metric tons every year!

For more information and in-depth facts about the Constellation solar install at DIA, visit the MarketWatch article.

Who would have thought that a beer company would be among those larger corporations to embrace solar energy? A great move for Anheuser-Busch, makers of Budweiser beer.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Anheuser-Busch is expanding their use of solar energy by multiplying their use of solar photovoltaic cells by about a factor of two (twice as many cells as before.) They’ll be using solar company Orion Energy Systems.

Apparently, government programs that help to pay for solar energy installs also cover corporate endeavors, which is great news for large companies who want to be environmentally conscious.

The cells that Orion Energy will install are comprised of lengthy glass tubes which help to protect the sun’s energy captured by the cells from being disrupted by wind. In addition, it means that the weight of the photovoltaic cells is diminished, because there’s no need for them to have frames made of metal to hold them in place.

Other companies are making the transition too, notes the Wall Street Journal. Of those making strides toward solar energy are Nestle and Costco — both major players, both exchanged on the NYSE, and both setting great examples for other corporate entities.

We hope that other large companies will be influenced by the decisions made by Anheuser-Busch, Costco, and Nestle. The time for solar energy is now and there’s no better way to show Americans that it’s well worth the savings, that it’s the right thing to do, and that it can help resolve problems caused by nonrenewable resources.

If this is not solar energy innovation we just don’t know what is. According to the Associated Press, an innovative and daring team of aviators will be flying their prototype solar-powered plane across the expanse of Switzerland.

Given the strongly risky circumstances surrounding such a pioneering endeavor, the team says that weather conditions will play a major role in deciding when the solar plane will take flight.

Pilot Andre Borschberg is planning to fly from Payerne to Geneva, Switzerland. This solar-powered 777 jet airplane named “The Solar Impulse” has big dreams — the ultimate goal is to fly it around the world. As if this was not enough of a challenge, Borschberg will then direct his flight path to Zurich, Switzerland — a daunting task akin to Lindberg’s flight across the Atlantic in the then innovative Spirit of St. Louis.

We at Adair Solar wish pilot Borschberg and the rest of the solar plane team the best of luck and look forward to hearing about their success story.

This was an interesting blog we came across yesterday which poses an interesting question. Blogger GinaMarie Cheeseman of www.care2.com asks why there aren’t solar panels on the White House. Controversial? Perhaps. Environmentally friendly? Yes. Apparently — and this will likely come as a surprise to most — President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed during his presidency. Cheeseman discusses in her blog that a new group of solar energy companies have come together with one another in an effort they’re calling “Globama.”

What’s their angle? Simple. They want to see solar panels back on the White House and have created a website complete with petition to see the effort through. One of the forerunners of the solar groups to put the campaign together is Sunvegivity, who have informed the powers that be that they will gladly install solar panels on the White House at no charge.

According to Sungevity, the solar power generated by the system they would install would save more than $1500 per month in energy costs — clearly a strikingly dramatic reduction. But more than that, a great message to citizens, showing that the Obama administration is serious about green energy for the environment as well as for job creation and reduction in cost of living for people across the U.S.

We’ll be keeping an eye on this story and let you know what else Globama is up to as the news unfolds. To read Cheeseman’s blog, click here.

Perhaps it’s time for an Arizona Solar Company to put togther such an effort for Arizona government buildings.