Oregon Ice Arena Ribbon Cutting Celebrates a Project Completed

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Legacy Solar Co-op Team, 8/1/19

On June 20, Legacy Solar Co-op, member installer Full Spectrum Solar and Renew Wisconsin helped Oregon Ice Arena celebrate the completion of its rooftop solar array. For over a month, the arena has been generating about 25% of its energy from its rooftop solar array. The irony of it is that energy from the sun powers the heat pumps in the building, which help keep the ice as close to freezing as possible. The mere existence of the 560 panels means less sun exposure and helps the arena save dramatically on cooling costs during peak demand.

Oregon Ice Arena Ribbon Cutting, June 20, 2019

Spring tulips by trees with sunlight

Spring is a Time for Action

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By the Legacy Solar Co-op Team, 4/25/19

Spring is a time for action. To get out there and do something. More sunshine means we can tackle that list of projects we’ve avoided all winter, right?

Sorta.

Unfortunately the list of things we could do is far longer than the list of things we can do.  And just like you, Legacy Solar Co-op has a project list that’s longer than our current resources allows us to tackle. It’s not that we don’t want to execute. Helping solar projects come to life is a beautiful thing we never tire of seeing. Our list is long because it’s filled with worthy projects that aren’t getting the love they deserve.

We have to act quickly to change that. Tax incentives and previously awarded grants have to be used before they sunset.

The Co-op is owned by some of the most committed and generous people we’ve ever met, and you all have helped us do some amazing things in the past.  So what about 2019 and 2020?

That’s up to you! Read more

Your Bond Purchase Makes Solar in Wisconsin More Attainable

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Jackie Harrison-Jewell, 2/25/19

When was the last time investing made you feel really good? Sure, investing in bonds is a smart thing to do with your money. It’s generally secure and often pays better, more consistent interest than other investments. But do you really know where your money is going? What it’s doing? Do you feel like you’re making a difference?

Investing in Legacy Solar Co-op’s Slice of Sun bond program is different. With LSC’s bonds you know exactly what your money is doing. All funds raised by the sale of Slice of Sun bonds finance Wisconsin-based solar, installed by local vendors and contractors, with local, primarily nonprofit clients, including city and county government institutions, service organizations and faith-based communities.

Contact us if you want to buy a slice of sun for your community.

This year investing in our co-op will help groups like these:

  • A very popular youth skills training non-profit is looking to secure financing for their 100 kilowatt (!!) project for their new location here in Madison.
  • Three Madison-area churches are vying for support for their solar projects this spring.  We’ll give more details once we have tax sponsors lined up.
  • Three agricultural businesses through the Wisconsin Farmers Union are looking for support for their projects — you could earn up to 5% and help these businesses grow solar for their operations!
  • Two school districts up in northern Wisconsin are looking for material support through the Legacy Solar Co-op.  We need to sell a lot of bonds to help them!
  • One housing development complex in northern Wisconsin is looking for a tax financing solution and considering LSC’s model for part of their development costs.
  • More than one other Wisconsin VFW has voiced interest in building on our success with the Truax-Longmire Post #8483 solar project by adopting projects of their own!

Read more

Project Update

Project Update 1/28/19

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Legacy Solar Co-op’s solar bond program provides part of the financing to pay for up-front costs in the first year of the project’s development. The following projects are well on their way, but still need your support to be completed. Here are a few ways you can get involved:

  • Purchase solar bonds: Available in increments of $250, you can help support this project by purchasing bonds and earn between 4-6% interest yearly.
  • Become a tax sponsor: Provide the major sponsorship needed to make these projects come to fruition. If you are interested or have questions, please reach out to us by contacting info@legacysolarcoop.org.

Here are some project developments in January, 2019: Read more

Renew Wisconsin Summit 2019

Legacy Solar Co-op Honored as Renewable Energy Champion

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Peter Fiala, 1/17/19

At Renew Wisconsin’s Renewable Energy Summit on January 17, 2019, Legacy Solar Co-op was recognized, along with Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Chequamegon Bay. See Kurt Reinhold accept the award on behalf of the co-op.

 

Renew Wisconsin Summit 2019

Renewable Energy Champions Set to Receive Honors at RENEW’s 2019 Summit

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(Issued by Renew Wisconsin, 1/14/19)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 14, 2019
Tyler Huebner, Executive Director
608.255.4044 x 1
tyler.huebner@renewwisconsin.org

Renewable Energy Champions Set to Receive Honors at RENEW’s 2019 Summit

RENEW’s eighth annual Renewable Energy Summit, set for Thursday, January 17, 2019, will furnish the occasion for recognizing individuals and organizations who have made significant and lasting advances in renewable energy development here in Wisconsin. Titled “Scaling Up for the Job Ahead,” RENEW’s Summit will take place at Monona Terrace in Madison; registration starts at 7:30 AM and the program runs from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. The recognition ceremony will begin at 12:45 PM.

At this year’s Summit, RENEW will honor three Renewable Energy Champions for their leadership and accomplishments in 2018. They are:

  • Dane County Executive Joe Parisi
  • Chequamegon Bay Renewables
  • Legacy Solar Cooperative

Read more

Update from Kurt

Fall 2018 Project Update – Continued!

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Kurt Reinhold, 11/15/18

Last month, we updated you on five projects that were on the horizon. As the year comes to a close, we would like to introduce a few more and update you on some we’ve already introduced.

VFW Post 8483 in Madison - First Day of Construction

First day of construction – Roof of VFW Post 8483 in Madison

VFW #8483 Truax-Longmire (Madison).  During the week of 11/5/18, Member Midwest Solar Power of Madison added panels to the VFW roof in the beginning of the month! 40 kilowatts of solar thanks to bondholders, RECIP and Solar 4 Good grants.

Oregon Ice Arena.  LSC Member Full Spectrum Solar will be installing 190 kilowatts on the pitched roof facing due south just east of Highway 14 and just south of the High School in the city of Oregon.  On Ice Promotions worked with the non-profit’s board and got this big project the green light after first being introduced to the ice arena 2 years ago.  The project will generate about 20% of the ice arena’s electricity use and its 560 flush mounted solar panels help keep the inside of the ice arena’s roof nice and cool during the hot summer months making the solar power even more attractive. Read more

Update from Kurt

Fall 2018 Project Updates

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Kurt Reinhold, 10/23/18

The fall season is bringing with it lots of excitement for LSC and our members for project development.  We have the following projects either being built right now or in the process of signing contracts to be built in the coming months.  Most of these are fully capitalized, but we will let you know when we need an infusion of bond assistance from our members to close the year’s project loans.

  1. City of Beaver Dam.  Member North Wind Renewable Cooperative of Stevens Point just started working on City Hall this week and will start next month on the Watermark Center, and together with LED retrofits for the former, will complete over 200 kilowatts of solar and save over 279,000 kilowatt hours a year!
  2. VFW #8483 Truax-Longmire (Madison).  Member Midwest Solar Power of Madison is also starting this week to install 40 kilowatts of solar atop this VFW post and should be completed by mid-November.  Our Co-op helped finance $25,000 worth of this project — thank you to our bondholders — plus helped the VFW apply for (& receive!) RECIP and Solar 4 Good grants.
  3. Sawyer County Housing Authority (Hayward).  Member Carlson Electric of Hayward is starting construction on solar arrays that will cover 6 separate buildings with interconnections feeding individual residences for this low-income housing non-profit.  The total wattage for these projects will be over 175,000 kilowatt-hours of clean and quiet solar energy for 52 families in Sawyer County.
  4. Humane Society of Burnett County (Webster).  Carlson Electric is also going to built a ground-mount system for this wonderful shelter and education center.  The system will be 19 kilowatts in size (58 pv modules x 340 Watts each) and help offset over 50% of the center’s annual electrical use.
  5. Bethel Horizons (Dodgeville).  Member WES Engineering of Madison will be sponsoring and installing this project that will cover 2 buildings with 20 kilowatts each.  The Prairie Center and the Venture Arts Retreat Center will each be generating about 50% of their own power for their electrical needs at these two sites.  Our Co-op will be making over $30,000 in loans to this project to help make it more financially sound for all parties.

There are 4 other host site clients that may be signing contracts in the next week or so. We will feature them in the next e-Newsletter.  Thank you all for your membership, your readership, and your support in purchasing bonds that help finance and make these projects happen!  See you next month.  Until then,

Sunny Regards!
Kurt

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City of Beaver Dam Votes Yes!

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By Kurt Reinhold, 8/23/18

In the late evening hours, after several other contentious decisions, including re-branding the City’s image and logoy, the City of Beaver Dam Common Council Monday night voted 10 to 3 to hire Legacy Solar Co-op to work with (member) North Wind Renewable Energy Cooperative and (member) E3 Lighting to construct two 100-plus kilowatt solar arrays (on the city hall and the Watermark Community and Senior Center) and perform over $31,000 in LED lighting retrofits for the City this fall. The city had announced their hope in a July 27, 2018 article.

This decision sets in motion a new Bonds Campaign to Members who would like to earn up to 6% on Slice-Of-Sun (or SOS) Co-op Bonds.  Legacy Solar Co-op will be making a loan of up to $80,000 to the Tax Sponsor for the solar and lighting project in Beaver Dam.  We have close to $40,000.00 in our Bond Loan Fund currently, so we need to sell another $40,000 of SOS Bonds in the next 6 weeks to meet our goal and complete the capitalization of this very important project. Read more

Update from Kurt

Quick Update from Kurt

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By Kurt Reinhold, 7/8/18

Happy July to you all! I feel like the luckiest guy in all of Wisconsin to be working with such a forward leaning group of people in our Co-op.  I want to thank all of you who decided to join our Co-op ($25/yr or $100/lifetime equity membership) in recent months.

Our membership has grown from 96 in December of 2017 to now over 115 by the end of June of 2018.  We have provided over $800,000 in solar loans through our Slice-of-Sun bond program, and hope to double that by the end of the year.

That’s right, double.

Because of the success of our programs, we have as many as 15 new community institutions who are hoping to get solar projects funded by the end of the year.  That means we need to grow our membership and our bondholders along with it.

So far in 2018, our Co-op has helped organize and develop nearly $1 million of solar in Wisconsin.  We want to stay on this trajectory and develop (and help finance) another $1 million of solar projects in our fine state before year’s end.

Please join our Co-op today and consider our Slice-of-Sun program for your next community solar purchase.  Stay tuned for updates on our many potential projects for the 2nd half of this year!